2015 TV Deal - "Innovation is Key" - JW

[GTRMagic]

Story Here

Great to see that the powers that be are looking to mix up the product for the teev audience... hope they dont forget about the attending patrons too.

[NaBUru38]

Each weekend should have one winner. Do two 60-min qualifying races and a main 2-hour race or something.

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Each weekend should have one winner. Do two 60-min qualifying races and a main 2-hour race or something.

Sounds boring to me. What would be the point of turning up on Saturday?

I like the approach they have now with qualifying and racing on both days (excluding Bathurst). Good for TV, good for spectators.

What the format of those races are can be mixed and matched, but this approach is the right one for everybody.

[D.R.T.]

Warbutton mentions Eastern Creek as an example of how night racing can work.

Any chance of him or someone from V8SC attending QR last Saturday evening for more of an insight?????????

[Downoz]

4 ten lappers on the Saturday afternoon, 4 twenty lappers on the Sunday, most points accumulated wins the weekend.

[fomoco]

at least he is looking at ways to go forward, there is some track that lend to twilight racing, many years ago we had utes and porsche do it at the gold coast, awsome racing

[one five five]

Originally Posted by eduardo1

Sounds boring to me. What would be the point of turning up on Saturday?

One race & one winner works for F1, NASCAR etc etc...

They seem to be the most popular forms of motorsport in the world too....

[Senna05]

I think a flick through the past shows some interesting formats.

I did enjoy the 2001 GT-style 2 x 100km sprints with some strategy. I think most race weekends have around 300k's now, so a twin 150k event or 200k event could work. I do feel having the races set up as "twins" is important as well, for consistency.

Qualifying - I think the Top 10 Shootout needs to be retained for Bathurst and Sandown only.

Wouldn't it be great to have some twilight stuff happening in the non-football periods of the year, so Feb/Mar and Oct/Nov? Pack Saturday with support categories and let the V8's unleash from 7pm.

Here's a novel concept - Give each car 12 soft tyres and 24 hard tyres for the weekend, and let them go nuts and manage their own allocation.

[FAS33]

Originally Posted by one five five

One race & one winner works for F1, NASCAR etc etc...

They seem to be the most popular forms of motorsport in the world too....

have a guess what the worlds most popular touring car series is?

seems like they can hold their own...

One race, one winner gets too boring and repetitive, that it's all same style different track, next week same style different track every raceweek of the Calender..etc. theres more Variety in the V8's, sprint races, normal sat/sun races, then you got the Co- driver Endurances, and now Night racing on the cards? Variety is the spice of life.

good times ahead, Bring it Oonnnnnn!

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by FAS33

have a guess what the worlds most popular touring car series is?

What is the most popular touring series?

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by eduardo1

Sounds boring to me. What would be the point of turning up on Saturday?

Watching one or two 60min races?

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by one five five

One race & one winner works for F1, NASCAR etc etc...

They seem to be the most popular forms of motorsport in the world too....

This is true - and it certainly works for them. However they are unique, and dominant, categories and the scale of their 'event' dwarfs anything in V8 Supercars. Look at the F1 GP here - that's the biggest motorsport event in Australia. That's what they do in most places and NASCAR is of a similar scale.


But it's been tried in the past with touring cars in Australia and it doesn't work. And for whatever reason, no touring car category in the world runs to that format. WTCC, BTCC, DTM - they all run multi-race formats.

[DV_08]

I'm happy with multiple race weekends and I think you need to have racing on both days. I would prefer one qualifying session for the weekend and just use a progressive grid. Maybe have qualifying on the Saturday along with a race and maybe 2 races on the Sunday or 1 longer race.

[DX20VT]

I like the multiple race weekends and also the multiple qualifying sessions.

[mountainstar]

Everything gets stale over time and certainly time to mix it all up with the TV package. It looked pretty good in 2007 but looks dated now.

Night races are essential. Bring the flames back with the exhaust.

[racer69]

Would one-day twilight meetings be do-able?

Thinking outside the box....could the likes of Sandown, Winton & Queensland Raceway be given an extra round, Eastern Creek get a round, and run them as one-day/night events on a Saturday during the season.

Would have the knock-on effect of getting more events on TV during the year.

[Scrut]

Originally Posted by racer69

Would one-day twilight meetings be do-able?

Thinking outside the box....could the likes of Sandown, Winton & Queensland Raceway be given an extra round, Eastern Creek get a round, and run them as one-day/night events on a Saturday during the season.

Would have the knock-on effect of getting more events on TV during the year.

You can rule Sandown out. The Dandenong City Council's noise and time
restrictions make this impossible.

To quote the Sandown Raceway Standing Venue Regulations-
Strictly no competition engines are to be started before 0900hrs or after 1800hrs.

[Gaz170]

How NASCAR landed a staggering TV deal despite ratings decline

http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/s...c-deal-ratings

[Crash Test]

...but that money stems from the fact that with the launch of pay TV stations Fox Sports 1 & NBC Sports, the parent companies want to take it up to ESPN. The better product they have, the more money they can command from the various pay TV providers.

Interesting too is the breakdown of the TV money- the tracks get the most, then the teams (through published prize money breakdown, eg see- http://racing-reference.info/driver/johnsji01), then NASCAR. But that's getting OT...

PS. is $125mil in prize money a lot?

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Crash Test

...but that money stems from the fact that with the launch of pay TV stations Fox Sports 1 & NBC Sports, the parent companies want to take it up to ESPN. The better product they have, the more money they can command from the various pay TV providers.

This was very much a cash grab by NASCAR - with NBC sports throwing ridiculous money at them. I cant see the teams being thrilled when it comes selling this tv deal to sponsors and partners.

NBC sports has a much lesser audience currently than ESPN.

Not sure how many people in here listen to Midweek Motorsport podcasts but they had quite a damning discussion on this deal and what it holds for the category's future

[Crash Test]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

This was very much a cash grab by NASCAR - with NBC sports throwing ridiculous money at them. I cant see the teams being thrilled when it comes selling this tv deal to sponsors and partners.

The same number of races will be shown on pay TV as is today- there's zero change there. It's incredibly daft to think the teams would be disappointed when they are one of the major beneficiaries of the pay day...

[Crash Test]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

NBC sports has a much lesser audience currently than ESPN.

NBCSN will grow. When Fox Sports 1 launched on Friday they had over 90 million households, up from the 75 millionish SPEED had. Keep in mind ESPN has about 99 million households, it ain't bad.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Crash Test

NBCSN will grow. When Fox Sports 1 launched on Friday they had over 90 million households, up from the 75 millionish SPEED had. Keep in mind ESPN has about 99 million households, it ain't bad.

Which is more than NBCSN has, so its not that daft.

There were ratings declines prior to scheduled move - so it could possibly get worse.

The teams pay have an improved short term payment, however there existence relies on selling sponsorships and partnerships which is not going to be a strength when heading NBCSN - and that my friend is incredibly daft.

[Crash Test]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Which is more than NBCSN has, so its not that daft.

There were ratings declines prior to scheduled move - so it could possibly get worse.

The teams pay have an improved short term payment, however there existence relies on selling sponsorships and partnerships which is not going to be a strength when heading NBCSN - and that my friend is incredibly daft.

NBCS have 75mil now, and by 2015 both FS1 & NBCS will have the same reach as ESPN. The product they offer and the satellite/cable subscriber base will command it. As I stated earlier, FS1 gained 12mil subscribers on its launch day- there is demand for it out there. The fact is that Disney is tightening the purse strings at ESPN, and thus many major league properties have jumped ship.

So to summarise- the exact same number of races will be broadcast on free-to-air as today, the pay TV alternatives won't be as bad as some pundits make out, with TNT out of the picture there will be much more continuity in the schedule from a fan's perspective, the teams are a major beneficiary of the TV deal- after the tracks, they gain the most $$$, and sponsorship is tough now, and will be tough in the future. Saying that, there are fewer start and park operations in 2013 than in previous years, and teams are bullishly expanding once again (even post TV-announcement).

But then again, you listened to a podcast, so you're the expert on the subject

Sorry for falling OT...

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Crash Test

NBCS have 75mil now, and by 2015 both FS1 & NBCS will have the same reach as ESPN.

Thats quite an assumption. ESPN and its additional sports shows that provide coverage to NASCAR will disappear, NBC Sports Network may have 75million subscribers but it doesn't have the following of ESPN shows such as Sportscenter and the like are an institution. Replacing these with content on NBC Sports Network will be quite the challenge.

Originally Posted by Crash Test

the teams are a major beneficiary of the TV deal- after the tracks, they gain the most $$$, and sponsorship is tough now, and will be tough in the future.

And with this cash grab of a tv deal its going to get a lot tougher. NBC Sports Group overpaid for F1, overpaid Indycar and now it has for NASCAR.

Originally Posted by Crash Test

But then again, you listened to a podcast, so you're the expert on the subject

Don't rate or listen to Midweek Motorsport & the Radio Le Mans crew - hardly surprising but might be worth a listen for education on the subject.