Indycool, Where art thou?

[SarahFan]

you have always been heavily involved in Attendance and Ratings threads involving AOWR...

I miss your contributions

are you still interested in the BIZ of the sport?

what are your thoughts on the first three races of the year from a Biz standpoint?

[indycool]

Still around, SarahFan, but have been a bit sick and offline lately. I would think low ratings for Versus would be expected throughout the year, or about the same as the ESPN/ESPN2 numbers. There's a 10-year deal in place with Versus and no one knows the "out" clauses. It LOOKS like a growth-together type deal. Versus has the bullriders and NHL and is trying to build a sports channel. The Indy cars are trying to build an audience. Length of contract indicates both are trying it for the long haul. I don't think anyone thought that it would be an automatic ratings boost of major consequence.

[SarahFan]

Still around, SarahFan, but have been a bit sick and offline lately. I would think low ratings for Versus would be expected throughout the year, or about the same as the ESPN/ESPN2 numbers. There's a 10-year deal in place with Versus and no one knows the "out" clauses. It LOOKS like a growth-together type deal. Versus has the bullriders and NHL and is trying to build a sports channel. The Indy cars are trying to build an audience. Length of contract indicates both are trying it for the long haul. I don't think anyone thought that it would be an automatic ratings boost of major consequence.

two part question..

A. do you think they expected the lowest ratings in the history of AOWR out of the gate for the first three races?

B. both CART and Champcar went out of biz with ratings even a bit better than the .3,.5 and .15 to open the season...... how long can the IRL stay in biz with ratings that low?.... or will Tony's comments of the IRL not having ever turned a profit just continue, with the IRL limping along financially funded from the IMS coffers?

[garyshell]

two part question..

A. do you think they expected the lowest ratings in the history of AOWR out of the gate for the first three races?

B. both CART and Champcar went out of biz with ratings even a bit better than the .3,.5 and .15 to open the season...... how long can the IRL stay in biz with ratings that low?.... or will Tony's comments of the IRL not having ever turned a profit just continue, with the IRL limping along financially funded from the IMS coffers?

Oh, come on Ken give it a rest already. He just said he thought that everyone expected low ratings. What else do you want him to say?

And the second question just dredges up the same tired argument about whether or not Tony was serious in his remark. We covered it already, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. No one knows except King George and he isn't talking.

Been there done that. What's the point of covering the same ground again, when there can be no new answers given, unless you or anyone else can get inside King Georges head to answer part B, or the sponsors' heads to address part A.

Now, before you accuse me of not wanting to talk about the business of racing, I do. But what I don't want to do is go back over the same tired questions that couldn't be answered then and can't be answered now.

Gary

[SarahFan]

Oh, come on Ken give it a rest already. He just said he thought that everyone expected low ratings. What else do you want him to say?

And the second question just dredges up the same tired argument about whether or not Tony was serious in his remark. We covered it already, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. No one knows except King George and he isn't talking.

Been there done that. What's the point of covering the same ground again, when there can be no new answers given, unless you or anyone else can get inside King Georges head to answer part B, or the sponsors' heads to address part A.

Now, before you accuse me of not wanting to talk about the business of racing, I do. But what I don't want to do is go back over the same tired questions that couldn't be answered then and can't be answered now.

Gary

come on gary...

big difference between expecting a low rating and expecting the lowest rating in the history of AOWR

[garyshell]

come on gary...

big difference between expecting a low rating and expecting the lowest rating in the history of AOWR

No question about that, and that was NOT my point. My point was we have already covered it multiple times and unless we can get a sponsor or two to come here and answer the question, I don't see the point of bringing it up again. But to be perfectly honest with you, I think the sponsors ARE smart enough to know that when the decision was made to go with Versus it WOULD mean the first few races WOULD get historically low ratings. But I have said that before.

Gary

[SarahFan]

sorry gary... we are just going to have to disagree here...

IMO asking whether the IRL can survive with not just low... but historically the lowest ratings in AOWR history for the first three rounds*.... is a legitimate question to ask a poster who spent the past decade tracking CC/CART ratings and acurately predicting its demise



*Indycool can confirm we have discussed the pre-indy races TV schedule and its corrolated ratings in relation to the I500 decline in ratings the past 5 or so seasons.....por lead-in has directly resulted in a decline in ratings.... will 2009 be different and break the trend.... time will tell

[SarahFan]

and what else i find frustrating gary...

is the constant reference to the '10 year commitment'...

I work in an industry that has one of the highest failure rates in the hostory of Biz...

and signing a ten year contract to lease a building happens all the time....


and what of Versus?.... heres a new channel commited to growth.... yet it appears .3 is about a regular rating for its higher profile sports....

how in world can a station expect to grow, much less stay in Biz with that type of ratings?..... what happens to the IRL if Vs goes out of Biz?

[beachbum]

No question about that, and that was NOT my point. My point was we have already covered it multiple times and unless we can get a sponsor or two to come here and answer the question, I don't see the point of bringing it up again. But to be perfectly honest with you, I think the sponsors ARE smart enough to know that when the decision was made to go with Versus it WOULD mean the first few races WOULD get historically low ratings. But I have said that before.

Gary

I agree, the situation is about as good as can be expected. Not only does Versus not currently have the coverage as other channels, it probably isn't the channel that comes to mind when a casual fan wants to watch racing. Correcting both will take a lot of time to get the word around that Versus is a channel to watch for open wheel racing coverage. Grumbling about the obvious is just beating a dead horse. The sky is not falling, contrary to the bleating of some.

Now if a year from now the ratings are still at .3......................

[SarahFan]

The sky is not falling, contrary to the bleating of some.

Now if a year from now the ratings are still at .3......................

really?

not like there isn't a precedent here...

IC and I have been discussing TV ratings for over 8 years now.....not like I'm just coming from left field on this...

IC correctly predicted the demise of both CC and CART with dwindling Tv ratings being a significant factor in both