[BTCC] Round Six, Knockhill 30-31 Jul, Races 16,17&18

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by SSmith

Great minds think alike!

If I were to go for two groups, I think this would be my selection.


I think the sheer amount of thinking/deliberating required to draw up these lists is testament to the series really.

I would swap Jelley with Thompson - think he is very underrated and would love him to have a chance in a decent team.

[Evantra]

It's also the Spa 24hr this weekend - didn't David Addison miss the BTCC for it last year? So might not be in comms for Knockhill?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Evantra

It's also the Spa 24hr this weekend - didn't David Addison miss the BTCC for it last year? So might not be in comms for Knockhill?

The press release for the TV coverage reads:
'With commentary by Richard John Neil, Tim Harvey, Jonny Palmer and Paul O'Neill, and reports from Louise Goodman'

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by Evantra

I would swap Jelley with Thompson - think he is very underrated and would love him to have a chance in a decent team.

I would like to see what he could do in an Excelr8 Hyundai or a Dynamics/BTC Civic. If Plato is true to his word there'll be a vacancy at BTC for '23, and I'd hope Excelr8 would switch out one of their drivers for someone a bit quicker for '23 too.

[pimmy]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

12:00pm-3:00pm - ITV (races 16 and 17)
2:55pm-6:00pm - ITV4 (race 18)

The racing starts at 9:05 on Sunday and the break in on-track action is before the first BTCC race, so there isn't going to be any time in the schedule to fit in highlights of the morning's support races.

With every event that passes, BTCC coverage falls further and further behind everything else because it's locked in to an archaic broadcasting arrangement with a network that simply doesn't care. It's appalling.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by pimmy

The racing starts at 9:05 on Sunday and the break in on-track action is before the first BTCC race, so there isn't going to be any time in the schedule to fit in highlights of the morning's support races.

With every event that passes, BTCC coverage falls further and further behind everything else because it's locked in to an archaic broadcasting arrangement with a network that simply doesn't care. It's appalling.

seriously?!
each year ITV show over 220 hours of live btcc and support races on both ITV and ITV4, plus show three highlights programmes after each event on both ITV and ITV4, plus have the ten motorsport uk show that covers all the highlights of the support races, plus have live stream and a catch up service of all events.

and all free of charge

yet that's appalling???
tell me another uk motorsport event that has coverage anywhere near as comprehensive as that!

you must live in some alternate universe

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by pimmy

With every event that passes, BTCC coverage falls further and further behind everything else because it's locked in to an archaic broadcasting arrangement with a network that simply doesn't care. It's appalling.

I have to disagree with that - with the caveat that online coverage could be improved.

We are going into the height of summer sports - and this Sunday in the UK we have:

Commonwealth Games,
F1,
Euro 22 final,
Scottish Premiership,
EFL,
ODI (Sco/NZ),
T20 (Eng/SA),
Rugby Super League
And much more.....


Yet - in amongst all of that - we have six hours of FTA coverage, including three hours on the prime ITV channel - of what is effectively a national series with a few entry level and club support races.

[AnnoyedMoose]

It's hardly free when you have to have a TV license to watch it live. I'm the only person in my entire extended family who has a TV license and that's purely to be able to watch BTCC legally.

I agree it's a lot of coverage but I do question how many youngsters they're failing to catch due to the poor social media coverage, highlights etc.

[pimmy]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

tell me another uk motorsport event that has coverage anywhere near as comprehensive as that!

It isn't comprehensive when it's all repeats. Motorsport UK shows the same support races as the live coverage in the form of highlights.

We're going to be missing 9 of the 17 races this weekend. Crap. Club events have more complete coverage than that.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by pimmy

We're going to be missing 9 of the 17 races this weekend. Crap. Club events have more complete coverage than that.

Five of them are on Saturday, so that's expected.

Please explain which support package to a national series in the UK gets better FTA coverage?

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by pimmy

We're going to be missing 9 of the 17 races this weekend. Crap. Club events have more complete coverage than that.

Agreed, BTCC is great, but annoying to see so many of the supports get the shaft. Makes it impossible to follow those championships.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by AnnoyedMoose

It's hardly free when you have to have a TV license to watch it live. I'm the only person in my entire extended family who has a TV license and that's purely to be able to watch BTCC legally.

That's a feature of UK legislation though. The same would be true regardless of which broadcaster they chose.

The simple fact is - if you want to watch a live broadcast in the UK, even streamed online from a subscription service, you need a license.

[touring fan01]

Originally Posted by pimmy

It isn't comprehensive when it's all repeats. Motorsport UK shows the same support races as the live coverage in the form of highlights.

We're going to be missing 9 of the 17 races this weekend. Crap. Club events have more complete coverage than that.

so therefore you must think that if BTCC did just cheap live streaming with a limited amount of cameras and production then that would be better coverage than it gets on itv?

give me a break

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Agreed, BTCC is great, but annoying to see so many of the supports get the shaft. Makes it impossible to follow those championships.

What would you suggest as the alternative for such a niche target audience?

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

What would you suggest as the alternative for such a niche target audience?

Extend the Saturday livestream a few hours for the races. I wouldn't be against paying a small amount for 'subscription' access.

Pointless to run these races if no-one can watch them.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Extend the Saturday livestream a few hours for the races. I wouldn't be against paying a small amount for 'subscription' access.

Pointless to run these races if no-one can watch them.

I can understand why that might be considered.
I expect though that ITV will have looked at how many people watch the free stream already and consider it not worth the return to run their OB for longer (with all associated costs) for such a small potential audience.

Less than 4% of viewers on a Sunday currently watch the Saturday stream. Yes, that might go up a bit with races being shown, but I think the numbers would be tiny.

Races don't need a TV audience to be worth running though.

[SSmith]

Traditionally I believe ITV/ITV4 have only shown 8 or 9 live races on the Sunday. 3 BTCC races, and then 1 race per support series (occasionally showing 2 races for mainly Carrera Cup, and occasionally some of the other series). The most races I can remember them showing live was 10 I think, maybe at Brands Indy one year.

It is the last motorsport series with all meetings live and with free-to-air TV coverage on a major UK broadcaster so we've got to be grateful for that. It's a £159 TV license + a very expensive Sky or BT package to watch most live motorsports these days.

I agree with @crmalcolm that the online presence must improve. The streaming presence is there for quali on Saturdays and for the season finale they tend to livestream the support races on itv.com/btcc . Given they have the means to do such a thing, it is conceivable that they could consider expanding it for other meetings - but if there's only 100 or so people watching it, you have to question whether the motivation is there for ITV to do it? Its a debate - do ITV cater to a few thousand ultra diehard fans like us, or a broader TV audience of a hundred thousand+? Maybe we need the support series promoters to lobby ITV for better coverage/exposure.

Regarding club racing coverage, the BARC (and several other clubs) on YouTube has a pretty solid stream for their meetings where you see about 10 races a day, it has a lower production value than the BTCC and has fewer eyeballs and fewer major sponsors, but I really enjoy it. There isn't an overly long ad break every 20mins! The TCR UK stream is a bit unreliable. SROs YouTube coverage is excellent.

The BTCC needs the TV coverage however to presumably attract sponsors, unlike lots of club racing series and the SRO GT series. There is some geoblocking going on to. YouTube would open it up internationally which could only be a good thing?

All-in-all, we must be grateful for the coverage we get and understand why it is the way it is, but we can hope for improvements in years to come.

Maybe this is worthy of being in the 'How to improve the BTCC' thread?

[Evantra]

Kicking off the weekend with a Team Hard 1-2!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by SSmith

Regarding club racing coverage, the BARC (and several other clubs) on YouTube has a pretty solid stream for their meetings where you see about 10 races a day, it has a lower production value than the BTCC and has fewer eyeballs and fewer major sponsors, but I really enjoy it. There isn't an overly long ad break every 20mins!

Which is actually more expensive to the viewer than what BTCC currently offers.

TOCA needs to be on FTA to attract sponsors.
ITV needs to sell advertising on the FTA broadcast to cover production costs.

I don't see an alternative that provides the same level of income stream and the same cost to the viewer.
If we want an alternative, we have to accept that it will cost more and production levels will drop.

[pimmy]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

so therefore you must think that if BTCC did just cheap live streaming with a limited amount of cameras and production then that would be better coverage than it gets on itv?

give me a break

I'd be happy with the series getting the same sort of coverage as BARC & BRSCC events, yes. What's the point of only covering half an event like ITV do?

[pimmy]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Which is actually more expensive to the viewer than what BTCC currently offers.

TOCA needs to be on FTA to attract sponsors.
ITV needs to sell advertising on the FTA broadcast to cover production costs.

I don't see an alternative that provides the same level of income stream and the same cost to the viewer.
If we want an alternative, we have to accept that it will cost more and production levels will drop.

How is that more expensive to the viewer? People already have the internet & TV, so that cost won't increase. Ads can ben run online too, you know.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Kicking off the weekend with a Team Hard 1-2!

In fact Taylor-Smith over a second clear, interestingly.

[thetool]

Originally Posted by Evantra

In fact Taylor-Smith over a second clear, interestingly.

Weather / Track : Cloudy / Drying

Which means the times are more-or-less meaningless at this point.

Both the HARD laps at the top of the timing were set in the last couple of minutes.

[pimmy]

Changeable conditions usually throw up an interesting result. Can't read anything into this morning's times really. Usual suspects still at the back though.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by thetool

Weather / Track : Cloudy / Drying

Which means the times are more-or-less meaningless at this point.

Both the HARD laps at the top of the timing were set in the last couple of minutes.

Yeah, realised that. Wasn't by such a margin either, saw an earlier version of the timing screen.

Still, a HARD 1-2 of any sort is one for the history books!