TV news?

[Chaparral66]

Anyone heard of an on-air talent shake up for racing coverage at ABC/ESPN?

[garyshell]

Nope. Spill it. What have YOU heard?

Gary

[BobbyC]

The issue is that there is criticism over certain ESPN crew. Many believe since Marty Reid was assigned Nationwide races over the second half of the season, broadcast quality has improved.

[NickFalzone]

I don't know how accurate this is, since it's the only tv ratings I found on Chicagoland and it's from a poster on the IBJ/score messageboard:

"I've got a .08, with 86,000 HHs for Chicagoland. the previous race, where ever that was, was a .2 with 186,000 HHs"

It's possible that the Chicagoland numbers have been hard to come by, because they were so low. Lower than a .1 is surprising because supposedly the later start time was due to a good lead-in from an MMA event. And I thought the late starting Texas race did pretty well, with a .5. But if these numbers are right, then I'd say that 9pm Saturday IndyCar events are a bad idea. Between the low # of people at the track and the low # of tv viewers, this has to be one of the lowest IRL audience counts ever, and probably is.

[Chaparral66]

Nope. Spill it. What have YOU heard?

Gary

Jack Arute is out at ABC/ESPN after this year for both racing and college football coverage. Damn shame. Jack did a great job, IMHO.
Jack will remain with VS., with whom he signed earlier this year. Must have seen something coming.

[Chamoo]

Jack Arute is out at ABC/ESPN after this year for both racing and college football coverage. Damn shame. Jack did a great job, IMHO.
Jack will remain with VS., with whom he signed earlier this year. Must have seen something coming.

What if ICS isn't on Versus after 2009? Will Jack follow along?

I do have to say, if ABC does the same deal next year, I hope they bring the Versus crew over for the ABC races.

[PA Rick]

Things have gone downhill since Paul left the booth. Granted there are several greater factors but he was an icon and a great ambassador for the series.

[Lousada]

I don't know how accurate this is, since it's the only tv ratings I found on Chicagoland and it's from a poster on the IBJ/score messageboard:

"I've got a .08, with 86,000 HHs for Chicagoland. the previous race, where ever that was, was a .2 with 186,000 HHs"

It's possible that the Chicagoland numbers have been hard to come by, because they were so low. Lower than a .1 is surprising because supposedly the later start time was due to a good lead-in from an MMA event. And I thought the late starting Texas race did pretty well, with a .5. But if these numbers are right, then I'd say that 9pm Saturday IndyCar events are a bad idea. Between the low # of people at the track and the low # of tv viewers, this has to be one of the lowest IRL audience counts ever, and probably is.


That can't be right. Surely that can't be right! :eek:
With DirectTV blocking Versus, the numbers for Motegi and Homestead will be another 20% lower. Can Nielsen even measure such small an audience??

[garyshell]

Things have gone downhill since Paul left the booth. Granted there are several greater factors but he was an icon and a great ambassador for the series.


Some of us think that getting him out of the booth was a GOOD idea. I am among those. He was like fingernails on a blackboard for me.

Gary

[Chamoo]

Some of us think that getting him out of the booth was a GOOD idea. I am among those. He was like fingernails on a blackboard for me.

Gary

I grew up with Paul Page calling races, and it just doesn't feel the same without him in the booth. He might not had been the best or had the best voice for everyone to enjoy, but, there was something about turning on the CART races and hearing Paul Page calling the race.

[garyshell]

I grew up with Paul Page calling races, and it just doesn't feel the same without him in the booth. He might not had been the best or had the best voice for everyone to enjoy, but, there was something about turning on the CART races and hearing Paul Page calling the race.


Oh, to me there was something about turning in the races and hearing Paul Page too... 'cept it wasn't good. What was even worse was the inane banter betwixt Bobby Unser and Sam Posey. I like both of them on their own, but together they were obnoxious at best. I miss Gary Gerold (spelling?) from that day. I really wished he had been given a chance to be in the booth.

Gary

[Jag_Warrior]

I grew up with Paul Page calling races, and it just doesn't feel the same without him in the booth. He might not had been the best or had the best voice for everyone to enjoy, but, there was something about turning on the CART races and hearing Paul Page calling the race.


I agree. I like Paul. I like his voice and his presentation. I enjoy watching NHRA races a lot more just because of him. I spent a good deal of time watching the race from Indy yesterday... and Paul was a hoot! BTW, Ashley Force rocks! And shame on John for his actions and behavior - I lost some respect for him yesterday.

Different strokes for different folks. Personally, I can't stand Jack Arute. He sent me a cowardly, smart ass email several years ago, plus I thought some of his comments regarding Milka Duno were extremely low class last year. Xenophobe much, Jackie boy?

IMO, the Speed F1 team of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett is the best of any TV racing crew. Informative (Matchett is fantastic!!!) and entertaining (the balance of knowledge exchange and banter between Bob Varsha and Hobbs is great). With the IRL, I think they could fire just about everyone, except for Jon Beekhuis, and just start over... and they'd be better off. At the very least, the sooner they can Arute, the better.

BTW, what kind of TV "professional" sends someone an email asking if they're as big in real life as they are on message boards? Either he's gay or he's a wannabe tough guy who wants to meet me... and in either case, he might have found that to be an interesting meeting. ;)

[Blancvino]

I grew up with Paul Page calling races, and it just doesn't feel the same without him in the booth. He might not had been the best or had the best voice for everyone to enjoy, but, there was something about turning on the CART races and hearing Paul Page calling the race.

I remember him as the "Ten Seventy Whirlybird" traffic announcer on WIBC in Indianapolis before the thing crashed and almost killed him.

[dataman1]

Paul and Gary both called the NHRA event this past weekend in Indy. It was sort of trip down memory lane hearing their voices.

[Marbles]

Whoa!!!

I'll admit I grew tired of Page, but I think it had more to do with him being paired with Goodyear than anything else. We grow tired of our best friends and closest family if we get stuck with them long enough. After hearing Page do the CC race from Edmonton with Gidley a few years back; all was right with the world again.

Several classic moments in CART are made even more memorable with his narrative. I think the closing laps of the '89 Indy were the pinnacle of motor sport TV coverage and his participation, or lack of it, had everything to do with it.

/Whoa!!!

[MDS]

Paul Tracy via Twitter "Just looked at the tv ratings for the Irl on vs, I will need a long bike ride to figure out how to spin that one to a sponsor"

But don't worry we have an hour-long pre-race show that some fans actually enjoy every minute of. I won't be watching IRL races until Comcast comes to their senses, but whatever, lets enjoy the suicide pact while we can

[PA Rick]

........I won't be watching IRL races until Comcast comes to their senses,...
??? I have comcast and Versus is down on the analog channels so I can watch on any TV without a box, and on HD so I can watch in HD with a box.

[DBell]

??? I have comcast and Versus is down on the analog channels so I can watch on any TV without a box, and on HD so I can watch in HD with a box.

I'm guessing that MDS is a Direct TV customer and feels Comcast is asking too much for Versus.