NBC PLEASE!

Diane · Moderator Joined: 16 Sep 2004 Posts: 797 Location: SoCal

I didn't turn it on til the segment on Union Rags and his breeder/owner played. That was nice. What was kinda sad was how announcer Bob Costas is aging....I had to look twice, I thought it was Bill Macy's character from Shamless doing the reporting.
I thought questioning Bob Baffert on the walk over was a horrid thing to do. They knew he had planned to not do it and changed his mind this morning. The producer should have at least had the decency and common sense to keep it to 1 or 2 simple questions. The guy kept making him talk even when you could see his work of breathing was increasing.

Bast · Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 5:28 am Post subject:

The desperate interviews with celebrities are traditional. Every year, the interviews attempt to prove The Derby Is Important by showing the presence of these celebrities.

The pit-bottom worst coverage of this sort occurred back in the 1970s when ABC started coverage and largely forgot they were covering a horse race.
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griff · Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 7:44 am Post subject:

Since when has the Derby not been about fashion; especially fashionable Derby Hats?

griff
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steward · Allowance Winner Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 394

Racing was at its peak when it was most fashionable among the elites and wannabees. When that was interrupted by a variety of factors, it became the domain of the seedy.

Hold your noses, and thank your lucky stars that horse racing is being more and more associated with having a dandy time. The record crowd and the growing interest in walk from the backside is to be rejoiced.

Sailor Kenshin · Starters Handicap Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Posts: 606

Did anyone do the live streaming from CD? What was that like?
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Joltman · Grade III Winner Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 1108

griff · Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 11:13 pm Post subject:

The reason exclusive rights to broadcast the Derby are sold is the same as the reason they sell broadcast rights to any other sports evet.. it make money and the TV networks really are the experts on how to make money..

And i, for one, don't have a problem with people wanting to make money. Capitalism has been known to work.

griff
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"We has met the enemy and he is us" [Pogo]

Bast · Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 11:31 pm Post subject:

Joltman · Grade III Winner Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 1108

It's not a matter of making profit. I'm for NBC (even Obama's GE!) making it, but more so for CD for making it. And especially for the owners and trainers for making it.

The 'old Broadcast TV model' in place once again this year is not working well for NBC and probably not for CD either. What will their rating be? Probably the usual.

Granted there is some serious money into CDs coffers from the exclusive contract but think about it.

They pulled in a LIVE crowd of 160,000+. What other events in the sporting world have this kind of following (preceded by 100k at the Oaks which they didn't even cover on the national broadcast). Even the Preakness will have overflow crowds.

They do little real advance promotion and wonder why they

NBC is holding the cards with these racing events. This is upside down. An exclusive contract only works when there is really strong demand for it. Demand for racing TV needs to be created, and it's competition that creates demand. Let the NBCs, CBSs, ABCs, HRTVs, TVGs, ESPNs, and whoever wants to cover the thing as an Event - and compete. That's capitalism. They can Let MSNBC have a side show and do the fluff stuff.

When will the Race Track owners begin to value their Business and their product and the people who put on the show (the Racing community) and create a model that works for racing. Whatever works for racing will ultimately work for them as they have the flagship product.

It's back to the marketing question.

jm
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Shammy Davis · Chef de Race: Classic Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 4451

I ignore the celeb and fashion sections of the coverage. It's a great time to grab a snack, get a cold refreshment, or empty the spittoon.

Historically, every successful track in the nation has reached out to celebrities to attend races. Churchill's own Matt Winn began it first and it put the KD on the map. Del Mar is another.

This is more a statement about our society and how to attract your market share than it is about horseracing or sports in general. These celeb and fashion segments are not going way.

I did note that NBC had a short segment on the "problems of horseracing." They did a terrible job that even a knowledgeable horseracing fan might have had trouble following. I thought after the clip finished, that it would have been better to leave the segment out. The segment about Tony Dutrow was excellent and I thought he was very honest. Certainly a breath of fresh air.

Patuxet · Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 10:08 am Post subject:

I suppose it could have been worse. At least there were none of those Kardashian creeps or Lindsay Lohan like you always see headlined on Yahoo.
Apparently that's what the media powers that be presume the majority of the viewing public wants. And what did racing give them? It's very own own homegrown freak, Kendall Hansen.
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"He is pure air and fire and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him; he is indeed a horse ..." Wm. Shakespeare - Henry V

Lisann · Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 11:19 am Post subject:

I have to say, it was REALLY NICE to see horse racing in HD.

Carlo Algatrensig · Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 1:19 pm Post subject:

Pan Zareta · Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 1:30 pm Post subject:

madelyn · Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 2:30 pm Post subject:

I, personally, will be simply overjoyed when Bob Costas' days covering ANYTHING I watch to be over. What I found disturbing about the NBC coverage was the endless amount of inane drivel interspersed with brief frantic switchover to the horses leaving the starting gate, running the race, and then back to the drivel, for most of the races, leaving my husband quite often without a bet down since he thought there must be more minutes to post. And the races seem to have been blocked from TVG and HRTV - it was announced they could only show them taped in replay, not live. I wish, for once, they could leave their egos at home and do something for the GOOD of the sport - like use real interviewers, interview horse people, and actually COVER the races, and not squabble about whether or not the two horseracing channels can get the races.

Another BEEF I have is CD trying to monopolize the home bettor through twinspires.com and not having CD cards available elsewhere like darkhorsebet.com...
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