The horrible TV deal will be the death of Indycar !!!

[SoCalPVguy]

So I am happily watching today's race on ACB Hi def. channel 1007 and they notify us that the race will be switched to ESPN3 or ESPNWS. Almost 2000 channels of my digital cable box and of course we do not get ESPN3 !!!

ESPNWS is channel 245 and it is not high def- the picture is blurry, I cannot even read the car numbers !!!!

How many of you out there even get ESPN3 or ESPNWS ???

That sucking sound you hear is viewers turning off their sets in frustration as they cannot even get the race; and sponsors like IZOD running for the hills !!!! This race will be lucky to get a 0.0001 rating !

Again (and I will probably get censored for this) Screw you Tony George and thanks again for ruining Indy Car !

[anthonyvop]

So I am happily watching today's race on ACB Hi def. channel 1007 and they notify us that the race will be switched to ESPN3 or ESPNWS. Almost 2000 channels of my digital cable box and of course we do not get ESPN3 !!!

ESPNWS is channel 245 and it is not high def- the picture is blurry, I cannot even read the car numbers !!!!

How many of you out there even get ESPN3 or ESPNWS ???

That sucking sound you hear is viewers turning off their sets in frustration as they cannot even get the race; and sponsors like IZOD running for the hills !!!! This race will be lucky to get a 0.0001 rating !

Again (and I will probably get censored for this) Screw you Tony George and thanks again for ruining Indy Car !

I have ESPN News in HD but just DVRd the race in parts because it was up against Le Mans. Priorities!

[00steven]

Yeah TG did a great job with the tv deal before they booted his ***.

[call_me_andrew]

ESPN3 is not a channel, it is a website.

And for me, ESPNews is channel 102, right between Weatherscan Local and Bloomberg Television.

[heliocastroneves#3]

Are you guys able to get Sky Sports? I can't, so I watch the races via Sky Sports livestreams but they broadcast every IndyCar race and will not switch channels, doesn't matter whether a rain delay takes 1 hour or 3 hours!

[anthonyvop]

I have never heard of a contract that cannot be re-negotiated and one would think that both ABC and NBC would be open to discussion that would improve the product which in turn would improve their revenue stream.
There is no benefit in holding IndyCar hostage. OK maybe ABC does but not NBC/Comcast

[Wilf]

So I am happily watching today's race on ACB Hi def. channel 1007 and they notify us that the race will be switched to ESPN3 or ESPNWS. Almost 2000 channels of my digital cable box and of course we do not get ESPN3 !!!

ESPNWS is channel 245 and it is not high def- the picture is blurry, I cannot even read the car numbers !!!!

How many of you out there even get ESPN3 or ESPNWS ???

That sucking sound you hear is viewers turning off their sets in frustration as they cannot even get the race; and sponsors like IZOD running for the hills !!!! This race will be lucky to get a 0.0001 rating !

Again (and I will probably get censored for this) Screw you Tony George and thanks again for ruining Indy Car !

Sooner or later you will learn to censor yourself; it will decrease your embarrassment.

[Jag_Warrior]

I have never heard of a contract that cannot be re-negotiated and one would think that both ABC and NBC would be open to discussion that would improve the product which in turn would improve their revenue stream.
There is no benefit in holding IndyCar hostage. OK maybe ABC does but not NBC/Comcast

When Tony George was engaged in negotiations to get the IRL a new TV package, if it wasn't clear before, it became very clear at that point that ABC was only taking a handful of other IRL races in order to keep Indy in the fold. For the first time, it became public that the IRL was indeed a money losing TV presentation for ABC/ESPN. Now, I agree with you that improving the TV product would likely do a lot to increase viewership. After watching F1 on Speed and Fox and Le Mans on Speed, after seeing how enjoyable it is to watch and listen to announcers who are fully engaged, knowledgeable and entertaining, I've often wondered why ABC/ESPN (especially) and NBC/Versus can't do better. But I'm not certain what contract terms they'd be seeking to re-negotiate, or what specific things the series would want the networks to do. Maybe there was a time when the Indy Car Series could have gotten a better TV deal. But now that the average race gets lower ratings than a bad reality TV show, they wouldn't be negotiating from a position of strength.

I do think that you're right though: with higher ratings, the ad rates could/should be higher. But I don't think there is ANY indication that the series' network partners have the desire to invest any more money than they already are. One would think that they could do a better job of using modern technology, camera work and graphics, but that costs money. But getting more out of what they have shouldn't cost money. I like Jan Beekhuis. I had the pleasure of meeting him many years ago. As I understand his role, he is the DAG (data acquisition geek), sort of like Speed's Steve Matchett. But unlike Matchett, Jan has this annoying habit of keeping info and data to himself, while offering teases that he knows but won't tell. He does this with splits/sector times much of the time. And when a team told a driver (Graham Rahal, I believe) that he was the fastest driver on the track, Jan giggled and said, "I've got news... he is not the fastest driver on the track." And that's all he said. Jan... buddy... pal... if that driver wasn't the fastest driver on the track, don't you think it would have been nice if you'd told us who was???!!! I'm not a techincal expert like Hoop98 and some others here. But I do enjoy getting relevant data while I'm watching a race. Especially if a driver is stalking (and catching!) another driver, you can use that data to build anticipation and excitement. But unlike F1, GP2 and even Grand Am, they tend NOT to do that on the ICS broadcasts. To me, those are just fundamental broadcasting failures that don't need a full-blown contract review or re-negotiation to fix. But yeah, they do need to be fixed. The most enjoyable race presentation I saw this year was the one where Tommy Kendall sat in the booth. He filled the Davey Hobbs (slap-stick ex-driver) role quite nicely. And though I don't care for him, I guess Jenkins does an acceptable job as the "adult in the room"... the same role that Varsha fills on Speed. But Jan, as much as I like him as a person, now seems to be the weak kitten in the litter. It shouldn't be the case that the drama of F1 qualifying gives me more excitement than an actual ICS race... but sadly, it usually does. And the presentation is the main reason.

[SoCalPVguy]

Sooner or later you will learn to censor yourself; it will decrease your embarrassment.

Un-called for and off-topic. Way to be classy, wilf.

[Wilf]

Who has been the been the broadcast partner of IndyCar since the 60's???? Facts matter. If I incorrectly blamed someone for a TV contract, I would be embarrassed.