Changes to PTL content

Riot·Jan 13, 2017·2 votes·15,663 views

What’s up fam, we here at Primetime League have got some news.

It’s been a wild two years of making the live show. We’ve been around the world, shaved Dyrus’ head, and dropped far too many F-bombs for broadcast (looking at you Deficio). But as of Spring Split 2017, we’ll be putting the PTL live show on ice and bringing many of the show's segments that you know and love to you in some different ways.

So what does that mean to our fans and Phreak’s parents? Although we’ll no longer be hosting the live weekly show, Mic Check, Penta, and This or That will all be returning with the Spring Split and we’ll be doubling down our efforts to make these shows the best that they can possibly be. This means more sick plays and alternate Pentas, more sing-a-longs and “NICE” screams in Mic Check, and finally some muy caliente This or Thats.

We’re also going to be using our newfound free time to ~~gain elo~~ pilot out new shows featuring pro players, experts, and our casters. We're already at work on many of these offerings, and expect to begin rolling these shows out over the next several months, and beyond. As we move away from the WEDNESDAY MEGA DROPPPPP™ way of releasing content, you can also expect a more consistent experience of new, cool videos and articles throughout the week.

Personally I’m looking forward to our Naked and Afraid spinoff with pro players. Is he joking? Maybe, wait till the Spring Split starts to find out…

As we said earlier, it’s been a wild ride, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun without you guys. Whenever we felt like you guys were just as much a part of the show as we were, we knew we were doing things right. So we wanted to say a big thanks to YOU, the PTL fans, for tuning in every week, and we hope that we can continue to live up to your expectations in 2017.

Your pals,

The PTL team.

29 Comments

Prophet of DunkJan 15, 201710 votes

But, but. Prime time league starts right now... I really enjoyed the consistent weekly show, In my opinion keeping the show and expanding on the analytical stuff while cutting out some of the goofy who's nose is this stuff would have been preferred. I'll miss PTL. Amumu item 3070

III BAKURYU III Jan 13, 20178 votes

The PTL was fun to watch; some weird stuff every now and then but after awhile it became too goofy for my taste. I never cared for the "guess this body part of a certain player" and it just became a show for the casters to have fun on WHICH IS 100% FINE my complaint is mainly it didn't really talk in depth about much of anything important to what the show (I thought) was going to be about.

The outplays are nice and should stay that's fine with a top 5-10 plays etc Great! However what about some caster thoughts on the upcoming games with inside look on each team's performances with also player consistencies etc.
I bring most of this up because each week or (F-S-S) there are 4-7 different casters switching from the table to the casting for games but they talk for 10-15 mins before the show starts, the thing is caster A will say " Ok what does TSM have to do to win their game today" and caster B and C stumble and interrupt each other saying " go ahead" 4-5 times each mainly because they both have 1-2 mins that they want to talk about. So why not have PTL focusing on those certain things so the casters on GAME DAY aren't all talking at the same time to get a word in.

CoddiwompleJan 13, 201711 votes

I agree with this fully! I liked parts of PTL but it got a little too goofy for my taste. I would love to see it develop into an analysis show like we have for all other major sports. I want more than a 5 minute segment on the Fantasy league, I want to know how teams are preping for their up coming matches. Why don't we have regular interviews with coaches at their facilities like they do for pro sports. I know not everything can be done given the small staff but the community has grown past jokes and puns we want real substantive content about the complex workings of the game and the teams. This is or That is basically the league version of "Undisputed" which is a full blown TV show on ESPN! Why don't they do TorT for half an hour without a time limit and actually discuss and have notes and analyze relevant topics.

III BAKURYU III Jan 13, 20176 votes

" I agree with this fully!" and no upvote ;[ HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME lol JK.

Exactly! Like you said the "memes and puns" are cool and all but for the older viewers we want real substance to our shows. Interviews with players, coaches, etc would be a nice change to the show.
How about also content talking about certain milestones from players-teams etc. You remember D-lift getting his 1K kills milestone? It wasn't even talked about until that day of that game like WTF don't these people keep their viewers in the loop for anything.

What I expect PTL to be about.

Memes and puns
5-10 outplays
Showing team standings.
A goofy segment that at the end of it the punchline ends with a pun but serves no real purpose.

What I would like PTL to be about.

Talk about certain player milestones. Such as Xpecail becoming the only player to reach 2k Assists as he currently has 1910 Assists. Reignover to become the 2nd only jungler to have over 1K assists the only jungler to reach that milestone was Meteos who has 1237, while Reignover currently has 868 Assists for a jungler with Amazing closing in himself with (809).
The next upcoming stars possibly to reach the 1k Kills Bjergsen(965) Sneaky(824) Froggen(783) and Rekkles(650) That type of stuff.
Casters talking in DEPTH on who they think will win certain games and give their 2 cents on the topic, with also showing a history of players/teams.
Talk about the Fantasy players to pick up and their reasons on why etc.

That type of stuff is really avoided because it's "hard" instead memes and jokes are much "easier" so that type of stuff most likely won't happen so yeah.

Look at Worlds the group draw show you remember that ? The casters would talk about each group for like 1-2 mins !! For the BIGGEST TOURNAMENT of the year and you only talk about each group with 4 teams in each for 2 mins MAX F-OFF! Oh yeah but the fish bowl with the balls had a longer time on camera then the casters did talking about each team. So there's that!

IF I had the proper tools to set up a youtube channel etc I would do my own show because Riot has their show and it blows.

GG BeersJan 16, 20172 votes

Sadly I think you're exactly right. Can't wait for more episodes of "Who's Eyebrows are These"....

III BAKURYU III Jan 16, 20172 votes

lol !! I wouldn't be surprised ! However I do have faith(some) that Riot can actually have shows that are interesting but also serves it's own purpose to help grow the LCS scene.
The guess who's "eyebrows and other stuff " shows need to go they are dumb. I understand most league viewers are 20 or younger between ages 15-18 mostly but come on it's so annoying to watch 1-2 hrs of that crap to hopefully see 1-2 mins of stuff that is important instead of just memes and jokes to make the 15 year old's happy because it's a "meme"

It might be a dry segment until the casters find their pace to make it interesting and catchy but Riot really needs to start involving stats to their shows and involve the All time leaders in kills, deaths, assists etc because at the end of the day its very important in the long run of the LCS. Look at the NBA or other sports the first thing they go to when debating between players are their stats, championships, etc but yet Riot are so far behind on this subject. Like most of the show could be just doing your homework AKA YOUR JOB, make 1-2 facts and talk about those fact in your own opinions. It's not that hard. 75% of the shows can be opinionated with 1-2 hard evidence on why the certain casters think so and why.

I'm ranting but after the first week where most of the "great ideas" are used and washed they will most likely return to their old days like a 10-20 min segment with the EU cast and their cheesy ass segments. I guess talking about TALENT is way too hard.

KinjishiJan 13, 20175 votes

"We're already at work on many of these offerings, and expect to begin rolling these shows out over the next several months, and beyond. As we move away from the WEDNESDAY MEGA DROPPPPP™ way of releasing content, you can also expect a more consistent experience of new, cool videos and articles throughout the week."

So instead of one day to watch the program(s), it will be on multiple days. Disappointing. There are already more games being played in most regions. How do you (riot) expect people to watch more programs? Just going to have to skip more games or your new programs. Bad decision on your part.

III BAKURYU III Jan 13, 20173 votes

" throughout the week" all that will do is bleed out the substance of the content. Having multiple days talking about certain things is nice however if not executed the right way it may very well be just 5-7 days of the same skit but for each region. So Monday PTL will most likely be about let's say NA and Tuesday be about EU but possibly be talking about the same stuff with the same kind of "games" but with different characters in each role for each skit but the same skit. Maybe

"Cool" I'm sorry but when I see the word "Cool" I think it's more around the subject of "popular, hip or edgy" So i'm instantly thinking of "memes" because that's the "hip" thing as of now so possibly close to the same stick that we've seen for the grasp of 2 years. " Articles" Ha, let's face it when it comes to articles League sucks, I mean how many articles did Riot post about ALL-Stars like 20 that's fantastic OK great, how many talking about roster changes, trades, updates 0 oh sorry like 1 or 2 when the news of those certain "articles" were already covered by ESPN or or just from regular people on the board. Sad.

I might seem like an a$$ when it comes to League or Riot or E-sports and while League or The LCS is doing JUST FINE WITHOUT ME, I only say certain things because I do care and hope the best for them as I want The LCS to be successful well beyond my years.

KinjishiJan 14, 20172 votes

"all that will do is bleed out the substance of the content. Having multiple days talking about certain things is nice however if not executed the right way it may very well be just 5-7 days of the same skit but for each region. "

Pretty much what I'm thinking, too. May just end up watching one region and reading articles (probably not Riot's) about the others. Hope the new stuff is good, but won't hold my breath.

Nah, Baku, you come across just fine. No worries.

III BAKURYU III Jan 14, 20172 votes

It will be interesting to see the first full week of PTL to see where Riot was trying/wanted to take PTL, as you always tend try your hardest in the first few days but after a while it becomes second hand and you get lazy or things become redundant that's where I will be focusing my criticism.

" Nah, Baku, You come across just fine".

Thank you! Some people always take me as a "troll" when I talk "bad" about Riot/League but in reality I'm giving my honest opinions and bring up things that those very same people think but don't say because they think people shouldn't talk bad about Riot even if it's for the greater good. I'm glad you're not 1 of those people and you can tell the difference so for that Thank you!

GG BeersJan 16, 20171 votes

You use air quotes in real life don't you?

III BAKURYU III Jan 16, 20171 votes

Sometimes when I want to "make a point"

TurquoiseYoshiJan 13, 20174 votes

We get "NICE!!!!" but do we get any "NAISUUU!!!!!!"?

CoMMuniSTPiGJan 17, 20174 votes

PRIME TIME LEAGUE STOPS RIGHT NOW!

PeacelurJan 13, 20172 votes

Naked and Afraid ? LOL summoner 6

DarkRitualJan 13, 20173 votes

No runes, no masteries, and no items. Only one level 18 enemy Rengar.

EleshakaiJan 13, 20172 votes

The main part of the PTL I'm going to miss is the news drop. I don't really want to have to keep checking every day in the hope something new has happened, it was very convenient to get a roundup every Wednesday of the important stuff to know for the week ahead.

peahead2Jan 14, 20172 votes

Rip PTL as we know it

UdodoUFeb 6, 20172 votes

+1 Bring PTL back in summer please. Certain segments needed to be removed and reimagined (pick a pro) but the breakdowns from the other regions needs to be done somewhere. Attempting to get other region information is a clusterduck atm. No PTL is quite underwhelming, please get some heads in a room and figure out how to bring back a regional breakdown in some form or another.

People need to see the beast that Huni has become by not playing the last few years in Korea.

Jaysunny420Jan 13, 20171 votes

"What's up fam" top kek

cbmullzJan 13, 20171 votes

So PTL is now less like Chogath and more like item 3512 . Yay!

TrollFan01Jan 13, 20171 votes

Another thing to get used to this season but not that bad.

Yordle XayahJan 14, 20171 votes

The only reason I see you'd be doing this really, is if the full 20 min show just wasn't getting the ratings that would make worth the investment in the larger production... which is very sad because I really enjoyed the program content.

Miror BJan 14, 20171 votes

As someone who started "actively watching" the lol stuff last year (was watching it occasionally during seasons 4-5 similar to how I watch baseball), I can honestly say that PTL didn't really interest me that much. There was very few statistical/"educated" entertainment (that one guy, optimaltom or whatever his name is, was probably the only part of it worth watching for me as he'd come in and bring out all the info without any stupidity), and it felt mostly like fart-jokes/kid humor, the kind of stuff your grandparents would gift you as a teenager only for you to look at in disgust and say "ugh, not this again, why isn't she in a home yet?". Phreak also being a big part of the show is probably why I didn't pay much attention to it, as I can't stand his humor at all and find it to be either incredibly forced or just "bad taste". The jokes he does tend to be the equivalent of a child doing macaroni art/showing their parents trying to seek approval, not realizing that they've somehow aged like 30 years yet still want to get a reaction out of it.

GG BeersJan 16, 20171 votes

Wow! What a let down, I loved PTL and tuned in every week. The stuff you guys are keeping are thing segments I skipped. Who the fuck wants to watch mic check or this or that? I mean, you guys want esports to be taken more seriously right? Why take away the more serious part of the PTL. Enough with the goofy shit already.

GG BeersJan 16, 20171 votes

This means more sick plays and alternate Pentas, more sing-a-longs and “NICE” screams in Mic Check, and finally some muy caliente This or Thats.

Jesus Christ.... Where are they getting their info from?

NimmerJan 17, 20171 votes

PTL was cool in some ways. When it was strategy talk, I liked it. When it was a fun segment, that also included some seriousness, I liked (looking at you This or That). Lastly, something that plagues RIOT at all levels, is the hit or miss cringe. Sometimes you guys are goofy and it works great. Other times... not so much. And it's not like the other time is a minority, it's a majority. You could use a hired expert for your comedy segments in all honesty. Also, stop being PG13. Your chat isn't, your playerbase isn't, the viewers at home aren't. You are mass appealing to an R rated audience. Go ahead and embrace it already.

CoMMuniSTPiGJan 17, 20171 votes

But as of Spring Split 2017, we’ll be putting the PTL live show on ice...

PTL on Ice? Do you guys even know how to ice skate?

CaptainAsia999Apr 4, 20171 votes

I'm glad I found this article, and this makes me pretty sad. But, part of me saw it coming... The segments where they talked about their thoughts on which players were strongest right now and where they broke down certain aspects of the week's games was really cool, and I think I may be one of the only people who missed the corny jokes and puns that all of the casters made. Also, the Last Laugh always made me laugh.

I'll be stacking a tear for PTL item 3070