Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Miller
I agree TV would be a boost that could help change direction. Thus, for the last 14 months it os something we have been chasing. It is true today that the TV model for coverage is a pay for time model Some organizations buy TV time, and try to recoup selling commercials. This was attempted by USAC in recent history with a vary bad result financially.
We are working with a top producer and shopping USAC as a reality format. We have had interesting conversations as of late, and of course Thursday Night Thunder is still something we heavily pursue.
Times have changed. Reality TV has consumed America. TV does not pay unless the numbers are a huge draw.
Keep in mind too that today's TV is much more fragmented with 200 cable channels, Tivo everything without commercials, and now internet TV.
We are exploring some creative solutions. Internet TV has a strong potential, fed right to your big screen at home. The quality is getting there, and we have been playing with options. However, it is highly dependent on a very strong high quality internet connection, which is not found at most tracks we race on.
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The real sad thing is, however, when I tune into "Speed", most of the time it is some show about selling car parts (disguised as a "how to" show) or a half hour long commercial disguised as a road test. I will watch another channel and see an advertisement for a reality show about wrecker drivers on SPEED. Folks who know me also know that I am a huge racing fan. I rarely tune into SPEED. NASCAR stopped interesting me some years ago.
I do find the "reality" type show centered on racing to be interesting, in fact years ago, I thought that a good show would be to follow a team or group of teams through an entire season, be it a local track or touring series. Of course a big mistake would be to center on the "back stage" drama at the sacrifice of the on track action. The problem with covering live shows is that the target audience on most racing nights is already at the track. That is what made Thursday Night Thunder so popular. I think that when they moved it to Saturday, much of the audience was lost.