Kudos to Spike!

[CARTNUT]

I just thought it should be mentioned that I thought the coverage of today's race was much better than in the past. Even though there were alot of yellows, I think they managed the green flag coverage vs. commercial breaks very well, and they dropped the Dangerous Curves pieces from the race! They showed the battles for position within the race (and there was some pretty good passing going on all race long, even if some of those doing the passing were out of control!) Looks like they are listening!

[G.]

Be it Spike or the on-track action, this was the most enjoyable race I have seen on TV this year. Whatever it is, keep it up!

[Insomniac]

This was a great broadcast! No reuse of Dangerous Curves material and lots of action. Perhaps having it tape delayed helped to reduce the yellow flag coverage.

[overlandave]

But still no one is watching, what is their advertising budget
we need people to know about the show too

[Hard Driver]

Very good. Still a few "segments" while there was green flag racing. But it was an entertaining race and good coverage of it. Even if there was a few sound gaffs when they came back from ads and you could hear the announers before they knew they were on air.

[Rogue Leader]

The loss of speed feeling we got in Monterrey was gone here. Champcar was almost unwatchable compared to F1 that day. But this time I watched F1 in the morning and the Champcars looked just as bonsai afterwards... Much better coverage! (except yes there were WAYYY too many commercials)

[RTKar]

The loss of speed feeling we got in Monterrey was gone here. Champcar was almost unwatchable compared to F1 that day. But this time I watched F1 in the morning and the Champcars looked just as bonsai afterwards... Much better coverage! (except yes there were WAYYY too many commercials)

Got to agree...a better sense of speed, especially after an F1 race in the morning with its' first rate production.It was good to see some back ends slide coming out of the corners. It shows the difficulty of maintaining control and speed. I imagine the amount of commercials are a must...the bills have to be paid. One thing, the announcers should have explained "timed race". I'd imagine it confused some viewers who aren't as versed in the sport as we are....assuming SPIKE is getting some viewers other than us.

[Sean O'Gorman]

The loss of speed feeling we got in Monterrey was gone here. Champcar was almost unwatchable compared to F1 that day. But this time I watched F1 in the morning and the Champcars looked just as bonsai afterwards... Much better coverage! (except yes there were WAYYY too many commercials)

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Monterrey is about as racy of a track for Champ Cars as an autocross course?

[Insomniac]

I agree with you guys. They didn't seem slow at all yesterday. I watched the races back to back too. :)

[Itanimulli]

Kudos to www.yoketv.com also :thumbup:

Being both curious and impatient, I decided to check out their free stream, and was quite impressed. They showed the 1/2 hour pre-race, as well as the race itself. Both without any commercial interruption. :cool: They seem to have shuffled those DC pieces into the prerace, which is where they probably should be. Rick Benjamin should realize that any mike can be on though, because he had a few "colorful" remarks unaware of the hot mike.

As for the race coverage, I believe it was Global Media running the feed. Very Nice. Also, I think I heard that the coverage from Monterrey was through TV Azteca. This, more than anything, probably is the reason for the different feel to the races.

All in all, I'd have to give the race a coupla these: :thumbup: :thumbup:

RPM.

[dando]

Folks gotta keep in mind that Spike has little if anything to do with the production of the race broadcasts. They simply sell the time slot to OWRS/CCWS and sell the advertising (blame them for the number of commercials :( ). Betelgeuse handles production of the broadcasts.

-Kevin

[Lizzerd]

Folks gotta keep in mind that Spike has little if anything to do with the production of the race broadcasts. They simply sell the time slot to OWRS/CCWS and sell the advertising (blame them for the number of commercials :( ). Betelgeuse handles production of the broadcasts.

-Kevin

How can the sell they time slot AND the commercials? I thought if it was a time buy (by OWRS) then OWRS would sell the commercials. In your scenario, it's win-win for Spike. No expences, and two sources of revenue. Something ain't right with that.

[CARTNUT]

Folks gotta keep in mind that Spike has little if anything to do with the production of the race broadcasts. They simply sell the time slot to OWRS/CCWS and sell the advertising (blame them for the number of commercials :( ). Betelgeuse handles production of the broadcasts.

-Kevin

"BETELGEUSE, BETELGEUSE, BETELGEUSE!"

(Oh Crap!)

ME?

http://www.jollydwarf.com/Web_Images/thnaks.jpg

Sorry,

'NUT :gomer:

[dando]

How can the sell they time slot AND the commercials? I thought if it was a time buy (by OWRS) then OWRS would sell the commercials. In your scenario, it's win-win for Spike. No expences, and two sources of revenue. Something ain't right with that.
Apologies. I over simplified. A piece I read a few months back (trying to find a linky) suggested that it was a time buy for a nominal price w/rev share of ad sales to supplement the time buy. Based on the quality of the commercial spots during this year's broadcast, it's pretty clear that someone else is handling the ad sales (no more of the infomercialesque spots of the past two seasons).

In any case, my primary point was that the new production company deserves some credit for the improved broadcasts. And more importantly for the incremental improvement during the season (no more Jenkins, losing the DC fluff pieces, etc.).

-Kevin

[Insomniac]

Was the video feed from a host broadcaster?

[KLang]

Was the video feed from a host broadcaster?

Good question. As someone noted before, it was mentioned during the broadcast that Global Media was involved. The broadcast was shown in HD on HDNet, so I'm not sure if HDNet provided the crews and equipment or if Global Media or some Canadian company had the equipment.