Whats the point of Motors TV televising races with single figure entries?

[andy97]

Originally Posted by lml698

Interesting debate on this subject.
Let me put some details on the matter
Motors TV were hawking around the idea for this TV deal to lots of clubs over the winter. It costs the race organising club about £25 k to have Motors TV cover your meeting. ( so that sorts out one bet) Almost all the clubs bar AMOC told Motors where to go !!! It costs about a further £38 - £40 k per day to run a meeting like this at Donington.
The words "senses" and "leave" come to mind especially when you have grids of 10 cars and a knobly Lister and a 1932 1.5 L Aston in the same race !!!!
Motors TV INSIST on the 10 min races . So the TV is dictating terms as regards the programe.
It is no surprise to see such a poor turnout and drivers leaving AMOC.
So much for clubs running race meetings for the benefit of their members !!!!

I rest my case, your honour!

[Al Weyman]

According to Gordons Wiki link you may have been right the first time Tim, maybe the wresling was on BBC!

[Tim Falce]

Wrestling was definitely ITV, I think rallycross was on before it at 3.30 until 4pm.

[Andrew Kitson]

An interesting debate. I can see the argument on both sides. What we have to realise is, regarding the F1 & BTCC viewing figures..the target audience is not us old farts who go historic motor racing. Look at the age of the audience in the stands or on the forums...most well under 40. They think Ayrton Senna was the greatest ever and in some cases, the first world champion. No fan under about 45 years old will remember racing cars without wings...ugly F1 cars have had high noses for over 20 years now...the same time span of the modern single class 2-litre BTCC. No fan under 25 will remember the 4 class BTCC. But the younger fans think modern racing and the ugly cars are cool, hence watching in their droves. I've watched the BTCC and support races and returned home with a permanent frown. I don't understand it, the hype, the single make boredom, but my kids and friends I know love it...but they haven't a clue what a Maserati 250F is or a Bevan Imp or a Brabham BT21. It's for a younger generation and i'm sure they'd not understand what they were seeing from an AMOC Donington meeting on TV...hence as Claire says it was tucked away on a relatively obscure specialist channel, rather than mainstream TV for the bloke down the pub and for the masses, as F1 and the BTCC is. To show my age, I much preferred the BTCC when it was called the BSCC and a support race to non-championship F1, F2, F5000 or big sports car events. Club racing on TV back then was a real treat...as was any motor racing despite being in black & white. Remember too, in those days, there were only 3 GPs televised per year...British, Monaco & Monza. Fans today have so much choice, I'd wager the AMOC broadcast would be fairly low down the list...whereas the next 'Brisca Trashing Car Championship' broadcast would be high on the agenda. It's a generation thing and following what's regarded as cool.

[Al Weyman]

But as someone previously stated the reason there is the following for modern F1 and BTCC is the terrestial TV coverage, a sort of chicken and egg situation.

[Andrew Kitson]

I suppose there is a lot in that Al. I recall a couple of years ago ( When Button was with Brawn ), one of the journos told me just for an experiment they went around the London pubs and streets and asked 100 people to name the 3 greatest ever racing drivers. He said Button came top, Jason Plato was 3rd...

[morninggents]

How sad.

[Greem]

The same goes for cricket, tennis, rugby, swimming, athletics... probably almost any sport, really. Unless they're real enthusiasts (clue: most of you who regularly post on here might pass for that!) then the general public is unlikely to know back before their own date of birth, and even then they might not really know unless prompted.

It's not sad, it's just that Joe Public has other things to be interested in.

[Al Weyman]

Like Tennis for example suddenly everyone is interested in that because its Wimbledon, for the rest of the year they couldnt give a damn. Olympics will cost millions but how many people actually are interested in most of the events any other time and go to watch?

[robhollyman]

amoc are televising another meeting this year at snetterton on the 300 in September. it can't be that bad a deal for them to do it twice.

[M Greenslade]

Originally Posted by robhollyman

amoc are televising another meeting this year at snetterton on the 300 in September. it can't be that bad a deal for them to do it twice.

So where does there truth lie?

Bladders............

[Al Weyman]

Contract? Maybe and hopefully they can get a few more out with them now more people know about it and produce some better TV.

[Andrew Kitson]

That Snetterton AMOC meeting in Sept will be the official circuit 60th anniversary meeting...as AMOC staged the first ever meeting on 27th October 1951. I believe the Saturday is on the 200 circuit, Sunday on the 300.

[Peter Horsman]

It would seem to me that televising a Masters meeting might be a more of an interesting watch, and could marginally encourage more spectators, but maybe they have too many long races.

[Al Weyman]

A couple of master races I have watched recently including Donington Revival they were also down to single figures. Too many clubs chasing too few cars so my message to them is get some commonsence going and start dropping your fees and the requirement to belong to every club you enter a car in and sometimes even two clubs if under the umberella of one of the big boys. Whether they like it or not some of us less affleuent racers who may have the facilties and skills to turn a car out and indeed own a suitable car are finding it all a bit tough at the moment with some of these fees being asked.

[Andrew Kitson]

Surely HSCC would be the races to televise? Big grids at most meetings..just look at the entry for Brands, today until Sunday!

http://www.hscc.org.uk/resources/Pro...0Prix%20V3.pdf

[Mike Bell]

Was the Masters Oulton meeting not MTV'd at the beginning of the year? Havn't got the channel so only from memory.

[Paul D]

I would echo what Al says above about registration/championship fees, etc. I have also often thought about maybe doing another race in a different series to my 'regular' outings, but more often than not, if you're a club racer (with the accompanying club racer's budget) the cost of it is just too prohibitive. By the time you've coughed up the joining fee, admin fee, registration fee, subscription fee or whatever misnomer they're giving it today, and then paid you're entry fee for the race on top of that, it's just bonkers - you may only race in that series once, but it's cost you double what you normally pay. People just aren't going to do it.

If some of these clubs with low grids want to fill them up a bit, then why not waive some of these fees if you only want to race with them once, or maybe twice, in a season. Then they would attract a wider variety of machinery from people who want to try different things for a change.

I've never really understood why registration fees have to be so high anyway? Surely a nominal sum should be enough to cover admin, stickers, etc - say £25, even £50 maybe. Yet most championships want £100+ just to register you. Why is that? I'm guessing that the bulk of the money taken by most clubs is from race entry fees - they're not making their money out of 'silent' members paying £25 a year to be a club member are they? So if that's the case, surely having low (or none at all) registration fees would encourage more people to try out your club?

Contrary to what some may think - not everyone who goes racing is made of money! And maybe it has something to do with why some of these televised races are not well supported - are they just not good value for the competitor?

[MartinSmith]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Was the Masters Oulton meeting not MTV'd at the beginning of the year? Havn't got the channel so only from memory.

Yes it was

[MartinSmith]

Originally Posted by Paul D

I would echo what Al says above about registration/championship fees, etc. I have also often thought about maybe doing another race in a different series to my 'regular' outings, but more often than not, if you're a club racer (with the accompanying club racer's budget) the cost of it is just too prohibitive. By the time you've coughed up the joining fee, admin fee, registration fee, subscription fee or whatever misnomer they're giving it today, and then paid you're entry fee for the race on top of that, it's just bonkers - you may only race in that series once, but it's cost you double what you normally pay. People just aren't going to do it.

If some of these clubs with low grids want to fill them up a bit, then why not waive some of these fees if you only want to race with them once, or maybe twice, in a season. Then they would attract a wider variety of machinery from people who want to try different things for a change.

I've never really understood why registration fees have to be so high anyway? Surely a nominal sum should be enough to cover admin, stickers, etc - say £25, even £50 maybe. Yet most championships want £100+ just to register you. Why is that? I'm guessing that the bulk of the money taken by most clubs is from race entry fees - they're not making their money out of 'silent' members paying £25 a year to be a club member are they? So if that's the case, surely having low (or none at all) registration fees would encourage more people to try out your club?

Contrary to what some may think - not everyone who goes racing is made of money! And maybe it has something to do with why some of these televised races are not well supported - are they just not good value for the competitor?

I know we only organise one meeting a year (at the moment) but, we have done away with our membership fee, membership will be automatic with entry, I am a strong believer in getting what you pay for, its why i do not believe in the tax disc, an annual con, why not pay for what you use.....so, we make membership part of the entry, you dont worry about all that registration stuff and you race at our event, MSA are happy, you are happy, we are happy. Thing is we are not a series or championship and what I will tell you is that once your club goes down that route....things begin to get more expensive...the FIA want their cut as well as the MSA, money starts to flow out of the club at an alarming rate!!! so clubs like to keep the permit fees down by way of running it under a "clubman" permit if poss (I will not name names but there is a club secretary out there who its said, if he were given the British Grand Prix to organise....would try to do it on a clubman with NEAFP!!)...and then you have to have membership as all entrants must be members under a clubman.... but I take your point re the actual cost.