Ways to improve slumping ratings?

Something I don't think I've seen metnioned yet is the overall population's change in thier view of the automobile. The love affair we once had with the car has waned quite considerably. It's no longer something that cool and fun, it's more simply a means now of getting from point A to point B. Because of that, unfortunately, our favorite sport is in a period of decline.

I've also seen most people talk about the blandness of the COT. But it's not just the COT that's bland, it's the cars themselves. So many of the cars people drive today are coookie cutter, and so many of them look alike. Nothing stands out anymore, especially of those that we all drive everyday (well, most of us). And since the ones that do stand out are the ones that average Joes either can't afford or can't afford the gas for, there's no relationship that carries over to the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" attitude thats NASCAR has had since the beginning of time.
 
VaDirt said:
Something I don't think I've seen metnioned yet is the overall population's change in thier view of the automobile. The love affair we once had with the car has waned quite considerably. It's no longer something that cool and fun, it's more simply a means now of getting from point A to point B. Because of that, unfortunately, our favorite sport is in a period of decline.

I've also seen most people talk about the blandness of the COT. But it's not just the COT that's bland, it's the cars themselves. So many of the cars people drive today are coookie cutter, and so many of them look alike. Nothing stands out anymore, especially of those that we all drive everyday (well, most of us). And since the ones that do stand out are the ones that average Joes either can't afford or can't afford the gas for, there's no relationship that carries over to the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" attitude thats NASCAR has had since the beginning of time.
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You're singing to the choir, as far as I'm concerned, VA. I grew up in the 50's and my car was just an extension of myself and it reflected my personality, as did the cars of most of my friends. When my car broke I worked on it myself. (Back then, if you had a slot screw driver, a pair of vise grips and a fairly complete set of sockets, you could break a Chey engine pretty much down to parade rest!)
Back then the race tracks were test beds for automotive technology and what we saw on the tracks often transferred to what you could order from the dealer.

Today cars are looked upon as a necessary evil. It's almost impossible for the average person to work on his own car besides changing oil and on a couple of models I know of, even something that basic can be an adventure. Only the most naive would classify the cars we see in Cup as Chevy's, Fords, Toyotas and Dodges. They're NA__AR-designed generic race cars carrying manufacturer logos and running engines which bare no resemblance to what's on the street. They're running hand made engines utilizing technology which was outdated over a decade ago.

Yeah. I think you pretty much nailed it. But, that's just my personal opinion.
 
VaDirt said:
Something I don't think I've seen metnioned yet is the overall population's change in thier view of the automobile. The love affair we once had with the car has waned quite considerably. It's no longer something that cool and fun, it's more simply a means now of getting from point A to point B. Because of that, unfortunately, our favorite sport is in a period of decline.

I've also seen most people talk about the blandness of the COT. But it's not just the COT that's bland, it's the cars themselves. So many of the cars people drive today are coookie cutter, and so many of them look alike. Nothing stands out anymore, especially of those that we all drive everyday (well, most of us). And since the ones that do stand out are the ones that average Joes either can't afford or can't afford the gas for, there's no relationship that carries over to the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" attitude thats NASCAR has had since the beginning of time.
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Don't forget about the global warming lie either. There are people who think car racing is the devil because it increases emissions. :rolleyes:

Why, there are people who think we should ban auto racing (which would only mean everyone would race on the public highways in larger numbers:rolleyes:).

http://www.helium.com/items/1020555-should-congress-ban-auto-racing
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
Don't forget about the global warming lie either. There are people who think car racing is the devil because it increases emissions. :rolleyes:

Why, there are people who think we should ban auto racing (which would only mean everyone would race on the public highways in larger numbers:rolleyes:).

http://www.helium.com/items/1020555-should-congress-ban-auto-racing
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But that really doesn't have anything to do with the slumping ratings. Those typs have always been against auto racing.
 
Ways to improve slumping ratings?
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Tell ESPN to show me the battle for the lead and the side-by-side race for 5th instead of showing me where the 48 car is running the entire race. Don't we already have Hotpass, NASCAR.com Race View and Sirius NASCAR Radio available to us if we want to follow one driver.

FOX and ESPN have so much specialty crap you'd be hard pressed to get them to run through the entire running order ticker once. I don't care about only Jimmie Johnson, I also care about where Harvick, Scott Speed and Allmendinger are running.

Remember when CBS used to do their Race Summary after commercials. They'd show how many laps complete, who's behind the wall and why, who's led a lap and how many cautions there have been? That was in the friggin' early and mid 90s. Surely they can do something similar now with the amount of crappy graphics they use anyways. FOX used to do this with their VISA Race Break, they'd run down the race and show highlights under caution or something. They quit doing that in 2007 and just use that time to advertise their stick and ball sports coverage and "Digger and Friends" now. :rolleyes:

ESPN is a whole nother story, my rants about their crappy coverage could fill up an entire gigabite of disk space. Cutting out of a race with 20 laps to go to air a repeat of some show nobody watches anymore is bullcrap no matter what show it is.:mad:

Of all the complaining everyone did about NBC and Bill Weber, NBC NEVER cut the end of the race. Only one time did they move a race to an alternate network, that was back in 2001 at Charlotte because we declared war against Afghanistan. I remember NBC staying on the air from Daytona until 2 am one year. One other time, they actually had the NFL push the start of a game back 30 minutes and pre-empted pre-game coverage to bring us the conclusion of a race in Texas that was delayed for rain some three hours. In fact, they ran the final 80 laps without a single commercial.

Their coverage wasn't great, but I'd pay to have NBC come back and take over what ESPN and ABC have now.

Dumping races to a network nobody gets (ESPN Classic) is even more criminal. And now the awards ceremony, which used to air live on cable and re-air on broadcast, is dumped off to a network only avaliable in 20% of the country because NASCAR sold their broadcasts to ESPN.:rolleyes:
 
Interest in most forms of racing are down all over the country. It's a pricey sport to participate in and costly to even attend in person. With the economy the way it is, it's only going to go down.

But I think the love affair with the automobile does have something to do with the decline in interest in racing. But as far as TV ratings go, I think people are tired of the dumb-downed broadcasts and the fact that many races last almost 4 hours, longer if you count the mind-numbing pre-race shows.

When the new TV deals were signed in 2000 for the 2001 season, NASCAR wanted all these shows added for extra programming. I think they have oversaturated things and people tend to get turned off because there is so much of it. There's the old saying about there can be too much of a good thing.
 
I have to wonder if MRN has ratings and if so how they are. That was my main source for races for 15 years or so.

Anyone know how radio broadcasts are doing?
 
Three ways to improve ratings...NASCAR fan stimulus package:

1). 1 free case of your choice of beer and 3 large, unlimited-topping pizzas, per race.

2). 6 months free cable or satellite.

3). 1 pair of tickets to your favorite, local NASCAR track, per year.

:beerbang:
 
BobbyFord said:
Three ways to improve ratings...NASCAR fan stimulus package:

1). 1 free case of your choice of beer and 3 large, unlimited-topping pizzas, per race.

2). 6 months free cable or satellite.

3). 1 pair of tickets to your favorite, local NASCAR track, per year.

:beerbang:
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I'd take all of it but the Beer. Just make mine diet coke..:D
 
BobbyFord said:
Three ways to improve ratings...NASCAR fan stimulus package:

1). 1 free case of your choice of beer and 3 large, unlimited-topping pizzas, per race.

2). 6 months free cable or satellite.

3). 1 pair of tickets to your favorite, local NASCAR track, per year.

:beerbang:
Click to expand...


:D I am all about the stimulus packages.:beerbang:

Best idea I've heard.
 
Quit treating every race like it's the first time that the audience has ever watch a race or like they have never seen a racecar before.
 
lower the price

Lowering the price would really encourage more people to attend. Especially in this economy many people are pinching for pennies.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
Damn straight, Skippy. We learned by watching. I think newbies are smart enough to figure it out. But then again, maybe not.
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There is a time and a place to do that... Daytona and Indianapolis. Well, not even Indianapolis because that race is on ESPN now instead of ABC.
 
Top 11 suggestions to improve NASCAR ratings

1.Male Cheerleaders for each team in the pit box.

2.Require that the drivers have the sponsors product in the car (example: If the Skittles car wrecks, the there would be Skittles all over the track)

3. Require that at least half the field be foreign born


4. Have more races in Canada and Mexico


5. Run at least one exhibition race in China


6. Three wide restarts with all lap cars in the front

7.Bring back David Hobbs

8. Weekly TV special live from Fatboys in Mooresville sponsored by Days Inn as a tribute to the late, great Bill Connell.

9. Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen, Tyra Banks, Kelly Ripa and Regis should be pit road reporters.

10. Anyone under the age of 30 currently in NASCAR has to go back to legends and go carts. After reaching the legal age of 30 each driver would have to drive a Detroit City taxi cab with Ted Nugent and Downtown Julie Brown as passengers for 72 straight hours while taking Goody Powders and RC Cola. Then, they must race with Nigel Mansel, Steve Kinser, d*** Trickle, and Jimmy Spencer at North Wilkesboro. The driver must finish in the top 2 in a 100 lap feature driving equally prepared Mercury Capris.

11. The starting field will be determined by how the haulers arrived at the track. After the national anthem is over, the drivers will sprint to the cars, fire them up, and go. No practice. No qualifying
 
83WynnsOlds said:
Top 11 suggestions to improve NASCAR ratings

2.Require that the drivers have the sponsors product in the car (example: If the Skittles car wrecks, the there would be Skittles all over the track)

11. The starting field will be determined by how the haulers arrived at the track. After the national anthem is over, the drivers will sprint to the cars, fire them up, and go. No practice. No qualifying
Click to expand...

HAHAHA those 2 would be so amusing
 
83WynnsOlds said:
Top 11 suggestions to improve NASCAR ratings

1.Male Cheerleaders for each team in the pit box.

2.Require that the drivers have the sponsors product in the car (example: If the Skittles car wrecks, the there would be Skittles all over the track)

3. Require that at least half the field be foreign born


4. Have more races in Canada and Mexico


5. Run at least one exhibition race in China


6. Three wide restarts with all lap cars in the front

7.Bring back David Hobbs

8. Weekly TV special live from Fatboys in Mooresville sponsored by Days Inn as a tribute to the late, great Bill Connell.

9. Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen, Tyra Banks, Kelly Ripa and Regis should be pit road reporters.

10. Anyone under the age of 30 currently in NASCAR has to go back to legends and go carts. After reaching the legal age of 30 each driver would have to drive a Detroit City taxi cab with Ted Nugent and Downtown Julie Brown as passengers for 72 straight hours while taking Goody Powders and RC Cola. Then, they must race with Nigel Mansel, Steve Kinser, d*** Trickle, and Jimmy Spencer at North Wilkesboro. The driver must finish in the top 2 in a 100 lap feature driving equally prepared Mercury Capris.

11. The starting field will be determined by how the haulers arrived at the track. After the national anthem is over, the drivers will sprint to the cars, fire them up, and go. No practice. No qualifying
Click to expand...



Hey, classic, dude!!:beerbang::beerbang:


9. "Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen, Tyra Banks, Kelly Ripa and Regis should be pit road reporters".:D:D
 
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