2010 Versus TV-ratings are up

[e2mtt]

Hey anthonyvop what's this well funded new race series coming up?

[Hoop-98]

So where are my new friends?

I think you need to journey into the land of no ovals, no Indy, .....
I'm not much of a soccer fan, but i see no reason to go to Soccer Forums and illuminate them to that fact...

rh

[PAcartfan]

I'm not sure why there is this assumption that Comcast is going to force NBC to air IRL races once the takeover is complete. I mean, is there a Comcast sponsored IRL car or team out there right now? Is Comcast going to come to Ryan Hunter-Reay or Graham Rahal's rescue... making sure they have rides for the rest of the year? Back in CART's final days, and throughout the (short) life of CCWS, I know we as fans wanted to believe there would be a white knight that would ride in and save the day. Not for money or profit, but just to do something valiant. Never happened. It was never going to happen. That's just not how things work. Just today, Comcast got most of the NBC affiliates onboard. Comcast has agreed NOT to shift certain (popular) sports programming to cable, but instead will leave it on free over-air. Can you imagine how they'd react if Comcast tried to force sports programming on them which gets sub 1 ratings, and whose marquee event has been falling in the ratings for 15 years???!!!

Comcast is in this deal to make money, not to find ways to prop up the IRL and lose money (or make enemies of its affiliates).

Points well taken, however doesn't Comcast benefit financially if it's programming- specifically sports programming- becomes more popular, thus attracting more advertising dollars? Moving a race or two to NBC- perhaps even into a special Friday night prime time slot or something creative like that- could ultimately benefit everyone in the long run. I say Friday night because it's a relative graveyard for ratings on original scripted programming. Putting a live sporting event on perhaps could generate the same- if not better ad dollar- than an block of repeats sometime during the summer. The event would certainly do better than the 0.-whatever's that a Sunday race gets on Versus.

[Jag_Warrior]

Points well taken, however doesn't Comcast benefit financially if it's programming- specifically sports programming- becomes more popular, thus attracting more advertising dollars? Moving a race or two to NBC- perhaps even into a special Friday night prime time slot or something creative like that- could ultimately benefit everyone in the long run. I say Friday night because it's a relative graveyard for ratings on original scripted programming. Putting a live sporting event on perhaps could generate the same- if not better ad dollar- than an block of repeats sometime during the summer. The event would certainly do better than the 0.-whatever's that a Sunday race gets on Versus.

Believe me, I wasn't taking a swipe at your post or your point of view. But when the IRL was looking for a new broadcast partner, ABC came out and said that the only race that they made money on was Indy (and that was back when Indy's ratings were about 30% higher than they are now). The broadcast networks make money either by selling time (ALMS, NHRA, CCWS, etc.) or by luring sponsors with high ratings (Lost, Dancing with the Idiots, etc.).

What you're suggesting would be good for the IRL (just as similar suggestions would have been good for CART or CCWS). But given the state of the current and past ratings, I just don't see it happening. Doesn't mean it won't. I just think that outside of a time buy, the IRL doesn't have enough sponsors that would buy commercials (or could attract enough eyeballs to bring in outside sponsors) to make it economically viable or realistic from the standpoint of the affiliates. But who knows?

[anthonyvop]

Hey anthonyvop what's this well funded new race series coming up?

You would be surprised.

[e2mtt]

You would be surprised.

When will it start? What kind of cars? Where will it be televised... what should I search for on the web?

(I'm not being sarcastic or ironic, I'm genuinely curious. PM me if you want.)

[EagleEye]

can you expand on that....

for example:....how much of that is fact vs. opinion

The worst case scenario for the ratings, was if there was rain and the race delayed or postponed. No one predicted that ratings would go down, and a bump of 30% or more was and seemed a reasonable target.

When that did not happen and the ratings came out (and were the worst, ever) there was an unscheduled meeting between Izod and Indycar. Any planes for RHR were dropped, and discussions turned to how to move forward, if at all, in 2011.

Izod, and Indycar officials fully expected an increase, not a decrease in ratings from the series premier event. This decrease hurt in more ways than most of you know. In addition to Izod, you might just start to notice more rumors about teams loosing sponsorship $$. The thinking was that things culd not get any worse...the reality is that it did get worse, and how low will it go. Izod will not ride on a loosing horse....

IF Izod comes back, then I would vote for RB for President of the US (Though given the dunce now in office, I would vote for a fig...). What I hear is they should be back in 2011 but the series is bracing and preparing for the worse. If they can keep them onboard for 2012, and pick up some engine mfgrs, that would be good. If not, look for re-worked Dallara's for a few more years.

How many cars were at the first race? How many cars were at the last race? How many will be at the next race? Is the trend going up, or down?

Also, does anyone else notice the new venues being added and how Champcar did the same? Adding new venues is a quick way to add a few million to the series bottom line, but does little in the way of getting money to the teams. Champcar added several new venues here and abroad, before going away. Desperate times.

TV Ratings = Sponsors = $$ = Teams = Cars = Drivers

If the first part of this goes down, the rest go down too.

[e2mtt]

ouch

[Wilf]

That is the big rumor going around the paddock. It is just a rumor...but two things happening behind the scenes provide credence to the rumor.

#1 IZOD's refusal to continue it's sponsorship of their boy RHR.

#2 ICS talking to other companies about series title sponsorship. I know of 2 companies that have been contacted.
That can mean one of two things. The IZOD title deal is conditional until another big sponsor with a bigger checkbook comes along or that IZOD is out.

it goes without saying that major sponsorship deals comes with conditions attached such as TV ratings and sales. The question is how long is the deal before the conditions kick in. If the ICS signed a deal where a marked improvement was suppose to happen so soon into the sponsorship then somebody messed up big time or desperation was sinking in.

There's another rumor running around SI.com on June 23:
"Izod is in the first year of a six-year contract and is intent on making celebrities chic again at IndyCar events. During race week in Indy, the clothing company held a series of parties with stars ranging from NFL Hall of Famers Anthony Munoz and Paul Krause to Hollywood types such as Mark Wahlberg, Adrian Grenier and the Kardashian sisters.

And Kelly insists his company is around for the long haul."

But then again, it's just a rumor.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz0rpMtJZcc

[SarahFan]

There's another rumor running around SI.com on June 23:
"Izod is in the first year of a six-year contract and is intent on making celebrities chic again at IndyCar events. During race week in Indy, the clothing company held a series of parties with stars ranging from NFL Hall of Famers Anthony Munoz and Paul Krause to Hollywood types such as Mark Wahlberg, Adrian Grenier and the Kardashian sisters.

And Kelly insists his company is around for the long haul."

But then again, it's just a rumor.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz0rpMtJZcc

toyota insisted they were in for the long haul right up until they PAID to not be involved......

just sayin