There he goes again...

HoneyBadger

HoneyBadger

I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
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As many of you know, I've gotten tired of John Daly and his vendetta against ESPN.

Here is a reader comment from Monday's story about Brian France excusing himself from the Daytona press conference:

"Last season, the racing action was really top-notch. The Chase produced an exciting, dramatic finish. The rules package allowed for excitement. The drivers let their personalities shine. In many ways, it was one of the best years of racing ever.

And yet, the TV coverage has been nothing short of awful.

So, here's an idea: how about instead of pulling all the drivers into meetings and constantly tweaking the rules in ways that upset the fans and diminish the credibility of the sport... maybe Brian France and company should be having town hall meetings with the broadcast networks.

We don't need rules changes - we just need TV directors who know where to put a camera, and TV announcers who can keep viewers from napping!"

That comment begs the question of just what exactly France is fixing with the pending Chase changes? Cleaning up the Nationwide Series and giving younger drivers a chance is one thing, but altering the Sprint Cup Series format that brought a down-to-the-wire championship is another.

When ESPN saddles up against an NFL game and televises a Chase race, it has not been the racing that is the issue. In column after column on this site and in comment after comment on the Internet the refrain is the same. ESPN simply does not have the production team to create compelling NASCAR TV.

In the time between the original ESPN contract and now, the entire ESPN family made a very purposeful shift to the stick-and-ball world. Huge new contracts for college and pro product were combined with the network selling the BASS franchise, dropping IndyCar and pushing the NHRA to the back burner.

If this is the direction that the network wants to proceed, that's absolutely fine. The problem comes in the fact that millions of fans are once again trying to make the decision of whether or not to spend several months with Darrell Waltrip, a summer with Kyle Petty and then a Chase run with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree.

Changing the rules instead of the TV coverage is simply going to result in an additional loss of fan interest in my opinion. Fix what is blatantly wrong before tinkering with a concept that is not broken. The issues on the table are easy to understand.
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Whatever, John. :rolleyes:

So, what does he propose?

Prop up the FOX and ESPN Sprint Cup Series coverage with RaceBuddy for every event. Interact with comments from Facebook and Twitter during all the telecasts to make the fans feel included. Offer practice and qualifying coverage online for fans away from a TV.
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TNT already does this, yet their ratings are down, significantly, every single year.

Insist the Sprint Cup Series TV networks use side-by-side commercial breaks so almost one-third of the racing is not covered by advertising. Move the Nationwide Series events to SPEED once college football begins as ESPN does not have a suitable telecast window for these races.
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The companies do not support this... why do you think Coke and TNT "We Know Drama" commercials are pretty much the only ones to air during "Wide Open Coverage"? PS, ratings have decreased for that race every single year since TNT took over the Summer Series. As for IndyCar doing this... watch Versus, they only have two or three advertisers during Versus' "Non-Stop" coverage.

As far as needing people who know how to work a camera and how good coverage was in the 90s, go watch the 1999 UAW-GM Quality 500 on Youtube as it originally aired on TBS -- they missed EVERYTHING.
 
sloggie said:
Not sure why you are so obsessed with his Blog. He's right about ESPN, their race coverage it horrible.
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I'm tired of this guy telling everyone in the media that the decrease in ratings and attendance is their fault... and I'm calling him out on it.

What you call "horrible" race coverage is not the only reason ratings are down and is not the main reason. At best, it's a contributing factor.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I'm tired of this guy telling everyone in the media that the decrease in ratings and attendance is their fault... and I'm calling him out on it.

What you call "horrible" race coverage is not the only reason ratings are down and is not the main reason. At best, it's a contributing factor.
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So, in your opinion, what is the main reason ratings are down year after year?
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
The Chase, the COT, Jimmie Johnson, Junyer's underperformance.
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Well, I'll tell you what I think. I think the ratings are down because young people don't identify with NASCAR like previous generations did. As the old farts die, they are not being replaced by younger viewers.

So I think that Daly is right when he says that NASCAR needs to deliver the product in the way that young viewers want if the sport is to remain relevant.
 
BINGO, Andy.

It is so typical of pee-poor management. Take a defective product and blame lack of sales on the sales personnel, the stores themselves and the advertising agencies.

Yes, part of the decline in TV ratings IS the kindergarten-level coverage. BUT, the biggest reason is the lack of racing itself. 400 and 500-mile contest where the best chance of seeing actual racing is within the first and final twenty-five laps. On a cookie-cutter mile-and-a-half track with a 500-mile race that means 425 miles of front running drivers just motoring around, trying to put themselves in a position to actually go for a good finish and the rest are just out there, dogging miles and hoping for something to happen which will increase their finishing spot by 4-5 places.

Let's looks at a Daytona or Talladega race for example... Over the past few years we've seen a trend of the normal front runners immediately going to the back of the pack, far away from the actual racing and just waiting there, hoping someone else's screw up doesn't involve them.

The only major series showing a positive viewing trend is the CTS. If interest in racing is fading so badly, why are the trucks actually gaining an audience? It sure isn't because Big Doofus's little brother, Mikey, is in the booth most races! What are they doing differently? Shorter races and drivers with less of a prima donna attitude, but rather drivers who actually give the impression they want to either win of at least finish as high as they can, and if they actually take a chance, it's damn the consequences.

People watch the trucks because at any time there is actual racing and action can happen any time, not just in the first and last twenty-five laps.
 
sloggie said:
Well, I'll tell you what I think. I think the ratings are down because young people don't identify with NASCAR like previous generations did. As the old farts die, they are not being replaced by younger viewers.

So I think that Daly is right when he says that NASCAR needs to deliver the product in the way that young viewers want if the sport is to remain relevant.
Click to expand...

Why did ARCA, Nationwide, Trucks and IndyCar Series post ratings increases while Cup showed decreases.

What do ARCA, NW, CWTS and IICS have in common and what do NSCS and NHRA have in common?

Hint: Involves welfare point systems.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Why did ARCA, Nationwide, Trucks and IndyCar Series post ratings increases while Cup showed decreases.

What do ARCA, NW, CWTS and IICS have in common and what do NSCS and NHRA have in common?
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With every thing coming to us so quickly these days, iphones, ipods, laptop computers with wireless connections, 24/7 news, computer programs updating sometimes more than twice a year, computer games, and the fact that the younger generations (as does every generation) attention spans are short I would say the fact that these series you mentioned all have shorter races than does a Sprint Cup race may be your answer.


AndyMarquisLive said:
Hint: Involves welfare point systems.
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Nope the fact in the time it takes to watch a Sprint Cup race a teenager could have gone steady, had sex, and broken up with the girlfriend all by the end of the race.
 
Hell even my dad thinks the races are too long, and so do I. Honestly him and I only watch the first and last 20 laps of any Cup race. I occasionally check in to see how my favorite drivers are doing, but for the most part, I usually catch the highlight reel on Nascar.com the following Monday of a weekend race.
 
sloggie said:
Well, I'll tell you what I think. I think the ratings are down because young people don't identify with NASCAR like previous generations did. As the old farts die, they are not being replaced by younger viewers.

So I think that Daly is right when he says that NASCAR needs to deliver the product in the way that young viewers want if the sport is to remain relevant.
Click to expand...

Daly is right about that I agree, but what about us old farts that have watched the sport for 40-50 years?
 
blue92 said:
With every thing coming to us so quickly these days, iphones, ipods, laptop computers with wireless connections, 24/7 news, computer programs updating sometimes more than twice a year, computer games, and the fact that the younger generations (as does every generation) attention spans are short I would say the fact that these series you mentioned all have shorter races than does a Sprint Cup race may be your answer.




Nope the fact in the time it takes to watch a Sprint Cup race a teenager could have gone steady, had sex, and broken up with the girlfriend all by the end of the race.
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Haaa...ROFLMAO...good point though...:growl:
 
I wouldn't expect anything less when visiting John Daly's website. I think that he makes many good points. ESPN does not promote the sport as it once did. It was huge many years ago on ESPN and helped get ESPN on the map. Times have changed. ESPN has broadened their coverage of all sports tremendously since those days. The switch to the stick and ball sports at what is now the most important part of the season does nothing to help promote NASCAR. Is that really ESPN's fault? I don't think so. NASCAR has created a situation where all of it's focus is on the end of the season. Sure the run for the championship has always been important in NASCAR but it hasn't always been it's main focus. The individual races used to be important. Now, not so much.

I think that the television networks are at a huge disadvantage in covering this sport. Auto racing does not lend itself to be a television friendly broadcast. What do you cover? Do you focus on the leader or the battle for 6th? Maybe the three drivers that are currently racing for 14th? There are battles going on all over the track most all of the time during a race but they can't all be covered. You know this if you attend races. Have you ever gone to a race, recorded it, and then watched it when you got home? It's a different race. Sure, the same outcome but much of the racing isn't shown. Televising the NFL, NBA, NHL, or MLB doesn't have this problem. Each are played in such a small venue and the main focus is on the area around the ball or puck so you aren't missing any of the action unlike NASCAR.

Maybe the sport is just settling back to the point that it should be? Maybe the sport simply outgrew itself?
 
Yes i agree, the sport got too big, now as most things it needs to contract to a more normal state.
 
From a very long time fan's point of view I don't think there is one thing only which has caused NA__AR to plummet. I think that there are multiple reasons.

(a) NASCAR lost control of the sport back on the 90's and allowed the teams and sponsors to dictate the course of the sport itself.
(b) Faulty decision making by upper management. They decided in the late 90's and immediately after the death of Dale to target a demographic which did not include the loyal long time fans whose support helped build the sport.
(c) The automobile itself has become less of a factor in everyone's life. During the early years of NASCAR the automobile was considered by many an extension of the person him/herself. "The Great American Love Affair with Their Car" was no myth. Many motor sports fans maintained their own autos to a great degree. Car's became more and more expensive, more and more difficult to work on, fuel became higher and higher and the cars themselves became more and more generic and possessed no features which an owner could fall in love with. The car has now become just another thing most feel they have to have but feel no special affection for. Ditto the sport which utilizes the auto.
(d) The only thing left for the fans to follow are the drivers but they have become as generic as the cars, as have the team owners. It's difficult for the average fan to relate to a multimillionaire who is surrounded by handlers, groupies and security personnel, who travels to a race by private jet and live in gated communities on the shores of Lake Norman in the summer and on a Caribbean island in the winter.
(e) The focus of the sport has changed from winning races to winning the season championship, which has changed the sport from a sport of action to a game of strategy.

Throw all, or part of these reason together, either entirely or in part, and you have a recipe for a sport in decline.

Those are my personal thoughts on the matter, anyway.
 
MRM said:
Have you posted on his site to call him out? I doubt he reads this board.
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I called him out on Twitter all the time, he hit the block button. I also called him out on fb. Again, blocked. He thinks tv coverage is the only problem because he filters fan opinion. And he has a vendetta against ESPN.
 
I don't even remember what ESPN stands for anymore but I think they should change it to BasketBallBasketBall network.
 
blue92 said:
I don't even remember what ESPN stands for anymore but I think they should change it to BasketBallBasketBall network.
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It's not just ESPN.

I was at a NASCAR race at Richmond one year and they told us over the intercom that they had delayed the start of the race (they did the anthem but not the command) because they were waiting for a baseball game to end on the FOX network.

I can't count how many times FOX has moved the start of a race to SPEED because of baseball extra innings or a baseball rain delay. This is why the Saturday Night races aired on FX for years, because once FOX took over the Saturday Night Cup races, every single one was being pushed back because of baseball... again, it's the right move -- you start airing a game, you finish airing it. But, contrary to what Daly says, ESPN IS NOT the only network that does this.

This goes back to my original point, Daly has a vendetta against ESPN. He used to work for them, now he's not and he has never had anything positive to say about the network.

If he was about bad coverage, it'd be one thing. But he's about bad ESPN coverage.

SPEED's suck ass ARCA Daytona coverage last year when the cameras were planted firmly on car #7 the entire race (something that pissed off pretty much every other driver and crew member in ARCA)... yeah, Daly said that was fantastic coverage.
 
^ Yeah the coverage of the ARCA race was God awufl! DW talking about Danica every other lap and the camera stuck on her. I don't think she will be in that race this time but man I hope DW isn't in the booth this year anyway.
 
Stewart Fan said:
^ Yeah the coverage of the ARCA race was God awufl! DW talking about Danica every other lap and the camera stuck on her. I don't think she will be in that race this time but man I hope DW isn't in the booth this year anyway.
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I wanted to shoot the damn television set watching that... infuriated me to no end. Those guys running the short tracks in the midwest, they get a break and go run the ARCA race at Daytona... media exposure is usually small in ARCA but the race is televised on SPEED and usually gets about 2 million viewers. That's a big deal.

They get to the track and all the media spotlight is on Danica which is fine, most of the reporters covering that race didn't know a damn thing about racing. "NASCAR ARCA Series", I saw this one on CNN, SI, NBC Sports and other news and sports sites countless times.

But SPEED... Rick Allen and Phil Parsons are the experts. Both are very involved in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. The drivers know these guys and respect them... and usually, SPEED gives every driver a spotlight regardless of who's running the event. So, the fact that Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and the SPEED crew devoted their entire broadcast to being a GoDaddy.com commercial (not to mention the online stream from Danica's in-car on SPEED's website)... that was a great disappointment. The guys the teams could count on for exposure didn't give it to them.

All I heard from Daly that day was how fantastic the coverage was. Anyone who was watching the ARCA race for the race and not for Danica disagrees with him I'm sure. But, everytime ESPN puts the camera on Danica, he whines about it.

Daly would whine if his ice cream was cold (unless SPEED network gave him the ice cream).
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I wanted to shoot the damn television set watching that... infuriated me to no end. Those guys running the short tracks in the midwest, they get a break and go run the ARCA race at Daytona... media exposure is usually small in ARCA but the race is televised on SPEED and usually gets about 2 million viewers. That's a big deal.

They get to the track and all the media spotlight is on Danica which is fine, most of the reporters covering that race didn't know a damn thing about racing. "NASCAR ARCA Series", I saw this one on CNN, SI, NBC Sports and other news and sports sites countless times.

But SPEED... Rick Allen and Phil Parsons are the experts. Both are very involved in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. The drivers know these guys and respect them... and usually, SPEED gives every driver a spotlight regardless of who's running the event. So, the fact that Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and the SPEED crew devoted their entire broadcast to being a GoDaddy.com commercial (not to mention the online stream from Danica's in-car on SPEED's website)... that was a great disappointment. The guys the teams could count on for exposure didn't give it to them.

All I heard from Daly that day was how fantastic the coverage was. Anyone who was watching the ARCA race for the race and not for Danica disagrees with him I'm sure. But, everytime ESPN puts the camera on Danica, he whines about it.

Daly would whine if his ice cream was cold (unless SPEED network gave him the ice cream).
Click to expand...

With Milka in the race will they cover the race in the same fashion they did with Danica, will DW give wondrous remarks about her great ability to drive a race car?
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I wanted to shoot the damn television set watching that... infuriated me to no end. Those guys running the short tracks in the midwest, they get a break and go run the ARCA race at Daytona... media exposure is usually small in ARCA but the race is televised on SPEED and usually gets about 2 million viewers. That's a big deal.

They get to the track and all the media spotlight is on Danica which is fine, most of the reporters covering that race didn't know a damn thing about racing. "NASCAR ARCA Series", I saw this one on CNN, SI, NBC Sports and other news and sports sites countless times.

But SPEED... Rick Allen and Phil Parsons are the experts. Both are very involved in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. The drivers know these guys and respect them... and usually, SPEED gives every driver a spotlight regardless of who's running the event. So, the fact that Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and the SPEED crew devoted their entire broadcast to being a GoDaddy.com commercial (not to mention the online stream from Danica's in-car on SPEED's website)... that was a great disappointment. The guys the teams could count on for exposure didn't give it to them.

All I heard from Daly that day was how fantastic the coverage was. Anyone who was watching the ARCA race for the race and not for Danica disagrees with him I'm sure. But, everytime ESPN puts the camera on Danica, he whines about it.

Daly would whine if his ice cream was cold (unless SPEED network gave him the ice cream).
Click to expand...

Honestly, you are bordering on being a stalker. He's just a blogger on the internet with no influence. Let it go.
 
As much as many of us on here didn't like the wall to wall Danica coverage, it seemed that most of the viewing audience did.

When she ran the ARCA race at Daytona, the race broadcast on SPEED drew 2.4 million viewers, an 87 percent increase over the 1.3 million viewers the 2009 event had. Her Nationwide debut at Daytona became the most-viewed series race in cable television history.

Everywhere she went, it seemed, Patrick drew huge crowds and lots of media attention. Her souvenir trailer frequently had long lines, even at places where other drivers saw sparse sales.

87% increase! And you wonder why they covered her like a blanket when they had the chance? :confused:

The Daly Planet - Where NASCAR Fans Have Talked TV Since 2007. Yep, it says that right on top of his home page. I'd expect nothing less than to read comments on the television coverage on that web site. Good & bad.

NNS: Danica Patrick’s NASCAR Dance Continues
 
If it was NBC or some other network that didn't cover ARCA frequently, I wouldn't care as much.

dpkimmel2001 said:
As much as many of us on here didn't like the wall to wall Danica coverage, it seemed that most of the viewing audience did.

When she ran the ARCA race at Daytona, the race broadcast on SPEED drew 2.4 million viewers, an 87 percent increase over the 1.3 million viewers the 2009 event had. Her Nationwide debut at Daytona became the most-viewed series race in cable television history.

Everywhere she went, it seemed, Patrick drew huge crowds and lots of media attention. Her souvenir trailer frequently had long lines, even at places where other drivers saw sparse sales.

87% increase! And you wonder why they covered her like a blanket when they had the chance? :confused:

The Daly Planet - Where NASCAR Fans Have Talked TV Since 2007. Yep, it says that right on top of his home page. I'd expect nothing less than to read comments on the television coverage on that web site. Good & bad.

NNS: Danica Patrick’s NASCAR Dance Continues
Click to expand...
 
John Galt said:
From a very long time fan's point of view I don't think there is one thing only which has caused NA__AR to plummet. I think that there are multiple reasons.

(a) NASCAR lost control of the sport back on the 90's and allowed the teams and sponsors to dictate the course of the sport itself.
(b) Faulty decision making by upper management. They decided in the late 90's and immediately after the death of Dale to target a demographic which did not include the loyal long time fans whose support helped build the sport.
(c) The automobile itself has become less of a factor in everyone's life. During the early years of NASCAR the automobile was considered by many an extension of the person him/herself. "The Great American Love Affair with Their Car" was no myth. Many motor sports fans maintained their own autos to a great degree. Car's became more and more expensive, more and more difficult to work on, fuel became higher and higher and the cars themselves became more and more generic and possessed no features which an owner could fall in love with. The car has now become just another thing most feel they have to have but feel no special affection for. Ditto the sport which utilizes the auto.
(d) The only thing left for the fans to follow are the drivers but they have become as generic as the cars, as have the team owners. It's difficult for the average fan to relate to a multimillionaire who is surrounded by handlers, groupies and security personnel, who travels to a race by private jet and live in gated communities on the shores of Lake Norman in the summer and on a Caribbean island in the winter.
(e) The focus of the sport has changed from winning races to winning the season championship, which has changed the sport from a sport of action to a game of strategy.

Throw all, or part of these reason together, either entirely or in part, and you have a recipe for a sport in decline.

Those are my personal thoughts on the matter, anyway.
Click to expand...

You nailed it!:beerbang:
 
blue92 said:
With Milka in the race will they cover the race in the same fashion they did with Danica, will DW give wondrous remarks about her great ability to drive a race car?
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it wouldn't surprise me. he certainly won't criticize her.
 
I'd guess that we'd hardly know that she's even there other than a shot of her during pre-race and then again when her car is being towed to the garage.
 
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