Five Minutes with … Marc Travers
MAY 19, 2008

Marc Travers and Brian Koster are back for another great season of Canadian MX television and Canadian MX Radio!

photo: Allison Kennedy

By Danny Brault

You can find Canadian motocross in several mediums now; you can read about our sport in magazines and on the internet; you can argue over your favourite rider on chat forums; and you can watch it on national television or listen to it online. Those last two forms of media are much in part to the efforts and personalities of Marc Travers and Brian Koster. These two have been partnered up for years now on the televised Canadian nationals, and, three years ago, they introduced themselves to the radio airwaves on Canadian Motocross Radio. The show airs every Monday night following a national round and it features interviews with different players in racing and the industry and allows for a more laidback approach to the television show. This is an interactive show as well, and the hosts welcome calls from listeners.  Tonight you can listen to a pre-show to the Monster Energy CMRC Motocross Nationals on www.canadianmxradio.com at 9 PM EST. Travs and Koster have a great show planned with five-time champ, JSR, Brady Sheren, and Steve Matthes.


RXC: Marc, how did you come up with the Canadian MX Radio idea and what are your plans for 2008?
Marc Travers: Well, obviously, this is our third year of operation. Driving back and forth from the races years ago, Brian and I were thinking about ways to expand the coverage or other ways to bring it to the industry. The idea itself wasn’t new because there are two or three south of the border. We immediately thought we needed to get on the trail of the internet as we all know is the direction of the future. One thing we knew early on was that we needed to make it as technically professionally as possible, but on the flip side, as light as possible. We wanted to get away from the formal aspect of the TV show and magazine industry. We can be more current; we thought it would be neat to get the winners of the races and get some chatter going on the race that was the day before. That was how the idea started, and then we went through the motions of putting it together.

The first year we had Kodiak as a sponsor and that really helped us get the ball rolling, and then having Blackfoot come on as big as they did really helped us sustain the project into its third year. For 2008, a lot of stuff is going to stay the same because I think we have a good formula, but we are going to change a few things up. We’re going to have a live video feed, so if you’re watching it on Monday night, you’ll be able to watch us in the booth at the same time. One thing we’d like to see more of is people calling and voicing opinions. It’s surprising how few people call because we know they’re listening from tracking their numbers on the internet. We’re not sure why, because we don’t put any guidelines or restrictions on what people say, unless they come on to berate someone because that’s not what we’re about. But if people want to sit back and listen, that’s cool, we have lots to say [laughs]. For 2008, we’re really excited to have Rick Sheren of SixSixOne com on board with brands like Gaerne, Sunline, 661 and Mechanix Wear. That’s a real bonus for us, because as everyone knows in this industry, sponsorship is hard to come by.

The televised Canadian nationals are incredibly popular not only in Canada but around the world. Are you swarmed by young girls when you go to the beach due to your stardom?
I think that has more to do with that we’re scantily dressed in speedos and banana hammocks, but I think if they knew who we were in the banana hammocks, we’d be swarmed even more [laughs]. Surprisingly, in Canada, it goes in line with how reserved people are; they know who we are because they are a fan and know the face and voice, but they don’t come up to you as much as you might think. It’s not make or break for me. It’s nice when someone comes up and says ‘Hey, I love the show,’ but where I really notice it is south of the border. We were at a supercross race in Detroit, and some guys bumped into us and they said, ‘Oh, hey, you’re the guys from Canadian motocross!’ You get noticed more than ever and people are willing come up and say hello. At the Motocross des Nations, we probably got stopped over a 100 times, but it wasn’t just people from the States. We had people from England, Australia, Europe, and all over the place, saying they watch the show.

What is the best compliment that you’ve received on the television show?
I would say the best compliment is the constant feedback on how the show is put together. The commentating is one thing. For me, as the host, I do the play-by-play and we bounce back and forth with colour, but for me, it’s all about hockey. I try to bring a hockey call to motocross. I grew up listening to Rick Jeanerette—I’m a Sabres fan—on the radio. That’s the push I like to give. So when someone says they love the commentating, I do like that because I take it personally, but people enjoy the depth of the battles we show. We go out of our way to make sure we can get in as much action as we can in the allotted time. If there’s a battle for the lead, we’ll stick with that. If not, we’ll go back to second, third, fourth, and down to 15th. They may not get 45 minutes, but they’ll get 45 seconds, and at least you see the guys out there working hard, all over the track.

Any new changes or plans with the TV show for 2008?
I think the new nine round series with the MX2 class will give us a really solid foundation. Not that it functionally effects how we produce the show, but at the same time, what someone sees will be different and they can follow the series like MX1. We have a good formula. Realistically, we’re trying to put in as much racing as we possibly can in an hour. But an hour show, delivered to the network, is only 46 minutes because we put in the commercial time. Then you have to put in an opening and closing and some interviews, and now you’re whittling away at your race time. The direction from above, and that’s Mark Stallybrass’ direction, is that we put in as much racing as possible.

How long does it take to edit each show and how many hours of footage do you have to go through?
That’s a great question and a lot of that stuff I like to keep on the QT. Our broadcast schedule is based on a work-back schedule. What that means, is that the final race of the year, which is Walton, we have a three-week production window. From the moment the race is shot to the moment we go to air is a three-week period. That is based strictly on manpower, cost and how the show is put together, functionally, at this point in time. Normally there’s 15 to 18 hours, depending on how much we shoot, that I have to go through. All of that is condensed down into 46 minutes that is sent to the network. The cool thing is that I’ve seen every second of every single moto since 1999!


Back to the radio show. Are there certain guests or personalities that have stood out above others?
Most definitely. Certainly Ross [Pederson] was one of my favourite guests. He and I go back together to `99 when we started working together. We spent two years together on the road, in the booth, and we were really good friends. It was great to relive some of the memories from the races that we saw, and just listen to him talk because he’s an icon. I also like talking to JSR because I truly believe of anyone in the sport today, he holds the creditibility that regardless of who you are, you can take something from him. One of my favourite interviews was with Blair Morgan. I remember one time when he was on the show, he was driving back from the Calgary round and he pulled off to the side of the road when he knew he had a strong signal because he didn’t want to be on the road with a crappy signal and mess up the interview. I thought that was a classy move.

What are your thoughts on JSR retiring?
I talked him already actually, because we’re going to have him on our first show. I think everyone needs a formal word from what he’s doing. I know it came out in the Blackfoot release. He’s not going to riding and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that his body is worn out and he realizes that he still has a whole life to lead. The guy has accomplished as much as one could in this sport; he’s arguably the best rider that our country has produced; he has lots of money and has been wise; he has a family and he’s looking towards the future. I don’t particularly like when the guard changes, but it has to happen, that’s life. With a guy like that, you just wish he could race forever.

Without JSR in the mix, who is your pick for MX1 in Ste-Julie and the title?
I believe in Ste-Julie it’s going to be [Simon] Homans. I know he doesn’t have the package that he did last year, but he of all people needs to come out and show well in the first two rounds. If he does or when he does, the ball will keep rolling. As far as the championship goes, I think Klatt will be tough to beat. I would also like to see Mitch Cooke up there.

And MX2?
I think [Kyle] Beaton’s going to win. There are a lot of fast guys out there, but I think Beets has shown he has the speed. One thing with Beaton, if you give him a longer series, I think he’s going to do a lot better than a short series. I think it’s too bad that Blackfoot and Beaton couldn’t work something out; I think that would be a dynamite fit.

I agree. Well, good luck on the first show tonight, Marc. We’ll be listening!
Thanks, Danny.