Those who have read this blog in the past know that I have no tolerance for those who blame Versus for IndyCar's cable television ratings woes.The argument is simple. If you have a product that people want to see, then viewers will find you. Recall that it was not that long ago that a large portion of the NASCAR Cup schedule aired on The Nashville Network. The success that NASCAR enjoyed on second-tier cable demonstrated to national broadcast networks that Cup was a national sports entertainment product that was worth pursuing.
Conversely, IndyCar's poor ratings on Versus are well documented. Apologists have done what they have always done - blamed the telecaster.
A Product in Demand
Well, it seems that people indeed can find Versus if the product is something that they want to watch. I thank frequent commenter Andy Bernstein for bringing this article at Sports Media Watch to my attention.
Wednesday's Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals drew a 2.0 rating and 3.6 million viewers on Versus. The game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers was the highest rated Stanley Cup game on cable since 2002.
Some might argue that the ratings increase is due to the fact that two very popular teams happen to be playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. In my view, that argument is correct. It also supports my point concerning American drivers.
Versus is available only in the United States. Therefore, it benefits from having two popular American hockey teams playing on the sport's grandest stage. What do you think the Versus rating might have been if the Finals had included, say, the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers?
Facts are not always Fair
The market is telling IndyCar that the nationality of the participants matters. It provided a strong suggestion to that end in 2009, when the Indianapolis 500 had a record low eleven Americans in the field and earned its lowest rating in history on ABC. The market spoke very clearly again in 2010, when the Indianapolis 500 had nine Americans in the field, another new record low, and garnered its lowest rating in history for the second consecutive year.
The local market in Indianapolis spoke clearly on Memorial Day, when the rating for the 500 Victory Celebration dropped approximately 33% year over year. There is only one reason to watch the Victory Celebration - to listen to the drivers talk. One-third of the 2009 Victory Celebration audience determined that it was no longer interested in hearing IndyCar drivers talk.
Incidentally, a street spectacle in Baltimore will not solve this problem. In my view, each event that attracts international road racers only compounds the problem.
Argue with my opinions all you like; I welcome differing points of view. However, I do ask that you offer facts that support your conclusions.
In my view, the facts all tend to make the same statement - clearly, concisely, and loudly.
Roggespierre
You're not going to catch much of an argument from me. I'm one of those Fringy McFringersons who don't mind watching a bunch of foreign guys, so long as they're all really, really good at what they do, but it's become more than clear to me over the last six months that there are far more people out there who are not like me than ones who are.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that Randy Bernard has heard this argument from the fans loud and clear. He said at this year's Burger Bash that one of the absolute top priorities for him and the rest of IndyCar (beyond figuring out the new car, which has to get done in the next month or so, or else we'll wind up with Dallara-Hondas until 2013) is to make the feeder series make sense and reward young drivers for doing well. He wants there to be a clear path for anybody starting out in karts, and a system of rewarding champions such that they'll be able to move up through the ranks without having to bring millions of dollars with them to the next level. It may be a year or two before we really see the effects here, but I'm feeling good that we'll see some good, young Americans coming up down the road.
I don't think it's lack of Americans. I don't think it's the Dallara's. Or the Honda's. I just think people don't care about open-wheel racing--street, road or oval--in the United States anymore.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not going to be any help because I don't know why.
I just think people have no interest in it and I'm not sure that tracks, cars or people have much to do with it. They do care about it in other countries, which is why we have so many driver's from other countries.
A very astute observation regarding Versus TV ratings. If people want the product, they will find it. I can't speak for most areas, but on our Comcast Cable package the Vs. channel is right next to ESPN, and Fox Sports. Hard to argue that folks couldn't find that.
ReplyDeleteI think Randy Bernard get's it. If he can't sell the drivers to the American public, things will never get better. And while I count myself as one of those diehard fans that watches regardless of nationality, that just isn't the case for the vast majority of people. Indycar will always have the diehards, if it is ever going to pull itself back into relevance, it needs to interest John Q. Public.
The technical package, while interesting to diehards like us, will only make a difference if it can significantly lower the cost of running a team. Until the price = value, sponsorship will be hard to come by, and ride buyers will still be necessary for 50% of the teams.
There are 2 ways to try to balance the price = value relationship, and attract sponsors
1.) Lower the operating cost (price)
2.) Raise the ratings (value)
The new spec needs to address #1. Marketing "American drivers" will address #2.
The question is, can you get to #2, without first getting to #1?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment that racing is losing some of it favor amongst the American public. But regardless of the cars or tracks one thing people care about, watch and will always be interested in is other people.
With all the discussion lately over the cars, it's become apparent to me that there exists two distinct sets of fans and one set that's a hybrid of both. We have one set that is more interested in the drivers and their display of skill and talent; another set that's more interested in the cars and their performance; and the hybrid set that wants it all.
Ideally it would be great if we could have it all, but what I see is the requirements of one set of fans sapping into the strength of the other, depending on what one's particular preferences or idea of what IndyCar should be. And at the end of the day, I'm not sure there's a middle ground that's not a cemetery.
It would be great if IndyCar was about the stars AND the cars, but the current financial state of IndyCar may lead to the decision between the stars OR the cars.
Personally, I'm a little biased toward the cars but I feel what I want might not be how IndyCar can best serve the market and ultimately itself. When I really drill down on it, racing is a sport and what sports fans seem to value most is the perceptible, person-to-person competition. I don't think Olympic downhill racing would lose many fans if the IOC made all the skiers use the same skies or all the sprinters wear the same make shoes. Where I think they would lose fans is if maybe a lesser talented skier on Rossignol skies won out over a more talented skier with lessor performing skies. Same with the sprinters: people don't care what shoe wins and it would seem to take away from the sport if Nike had an impact in the outcome.
So if circumstances forced my decision, I'd have to put drivers ahead of cars and structure the entire IndyCar business model to serve that end.
-John
Thanks for picking up on that RP. With the other factors of broadcast scheduling and lack of competition factored in, we now also know that Versus CAN attract an audience on Saturday night.
ReplyDeleteLikely all of those hockey fans were privileged to crawls and/ or commercials for the upcoming Texas IRL race: it's one if the promotional activations that Versus does best.
So the picture for Saturday's ratings, and the subsequent argument over the result, is clearly framed. I don't know enough about analyzing ratings numbers to pick a tipping point. Sponsors do.
John, as to the dichotomy of cars vs. stars: In my opinion, the specs take priority. Modifying the cars is not just a sideshow for gearheads, it is the area where the most proactive change can be made to introduce unpredictability and variaty to the racing.
Casual fan >watches great race >tunes in for the next one >gains recognition of the competitors > creates fan favorites.
Run a dull spec event, and he couldn't care less about the racing or its participants.
He doesn't have to care about the reduction in downforce when Jan Beekhuis describes a new template for reduced venturi volume. He just gets to see drivers fighting for the racing line as they enter the turns. That will keep him watching.
Andy
I Am Minion
"The good news is that Randy Bernard has heard this argument from the fans loud and clear. He said that one of the absolute top priorities for him and the rest of IndyCar is to make the feeder series make sense and reward young drivers for doing well."
ReplyDeleteExcuse my french, but screw the feeder series.
Its not the "feeder series" fault that Indy Car owners are asshats who wouldn't know how to sell ice in Alaska.
Guess what? We had 2 Americans win "feeder series" just last year. Where are they at now? NOWHERE. Winning those championships meant NOTHING. They could have just as easily sat on their ass and done nothing for a year and gotten the same job in AOW as they have today.
Conor Daly will likely win Star Mazda this year. Will he be in AOW next year? Probably not. No interest, unless he brings a big checko. His talent makes no difference to anyone here. His wallet does.
The talent HAS BEEN THERE for years. We have seen a ton of talented young American road racers and American oval racers come up through the ranks in the past 20 years. Didn't mean jack squat.
We will likely have 2 American drivers in the field at Watkins Glen on the 4th of July weekend this year. That is freakin embarrassing.
And Indy Car DESERVES to be in the gutter with no fans, no sponsors and no interest in this country. Because they did it to themselves. They didn't listen to the consumer and didn't know who the hell their fanbase was or is or could be. They blamed everybody under the sun for THEIR failings and continue to do so.
Blaming ABC or Versus is laughable. People aren't watching because of a bunch of reasons. What network the race is on, is NOT one of them.
Well, Trick, let's not forget Buddy Rice in sports cars at Lime Rock over Memorial Day weekend, and the luck of one kid named Graham who had his Rahal family to fall back on. Both American, BTW. Remember when the legacy Foyt and Rahal were to be the saviors, along with young Marco?
ReplyDeleteThere isn't much of that to reasonably disagree with, Dickle.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be a gold ring at the top of the ladder to make it worth climbing. Then interest in lower level participation eventually receives a Dickle...I mean Trickle-down effect.
Ons way I suggested doing this is to take $1M of the Izod money allocated for the TEAM program, and making that the prize for the IndyLights Series championship.
That insures Izod, and a prospect like J.R. Hildebrand, a shot at an Indy 500 entry the following year. Maybe one or two other events, with a program like Hamilton or Beatriz has been able to fund.
Izod gets a new young star to promote. Indy Lights is seen as a viable rung on the ladder, and hopefully attracts more entrants for a chance at the gold ring.
The ladder series will take a lot of time and investment to regain signifigance. It does IndyCar no good to promote a training ground for Nascar, sportscar and F1/F2 drivers.
IndyCar has to be the gold ring waiting at the top.
Andy
Hey, Trick. Still continuing to enjoy anything and everything that is IndyCar racing, then?
ReplyDeleteRandy's point (which I forgot to spell out all the way) was that you reward success by actual tangible means, not just with a trophy, a handshake and a "good luck at the next level!" His specific idea for the Indy Lights champion would be a paid equipment deal, such that the Lights champion would be given free tires by Firestone and a free engine lease by Honda that he could then go shop to teams. You think that KV wouldn't have listened to J.R. Hildebrand if he'd had a million plus dollars worth of equipment in his back pocket? Would they rather have had Mario Moraes and his theoretical check of roughly the same size? I'm thinking they'd rather have J.R., what with his increased ability to sell t-shirts over Mario (who I've yet to see a single piece of merch for, either for sale or on somebody's back). I suppose you'd have to ask Jimmy or KK on that, though.
That's what the feeder series thing means. Try to fix the assets you've already got, right? Or, you can go the Trick Dickle route and wait for the whole thing to blow up so's you can gleefully pee on the pile of ashes. Good times.
I'd like a link to that. Also an understanding how that is enough of a tangible reward.
ReplyDeleteAndy
No link. He said it at the Burger Bash. Wait, wasn't your suggestion two comments up a million bucks for the Lights champ? Isn't a Honda engine lease just short of a million bucks? Isn't a season tire bill at least $50,000? Then aren't we talking about the same kind of money here?
ReplyDeleteA full season lease is $935K. That means Hildebrand gets a spiffy aluminum HPD shipping crate to sit on while he waits for a car to race.
ReplyDeleteCash in hand of $500,000 finances a full two week program at Indy. RLR says even a bit less.
As for the source and timing of the comment, I'm trying to find out if Mr. Bernard has read past emails. Responses are rare.
Andy
Crate sitter
Exactly Andy. Good points.
ReplyDeleteHere are the facts...Randy can say anything he wants about "building up the feeder series". But that is just a lot of hot air. Indy Car's own owners could give a damn about the feeder series. Unless Randy is going to start writing $4 million dollar checks to the Hildebrand's and Edwards's of the world, then what is the point?
That is swell that he wants to give some dough to the Star Mazda winner to move up to Indy Lights. What does racing in Indy Lights mean? That series and most of the AOW "feeder" series are a complete joke. They aren't even professional racing series. They are club series, with rich kids spending their family money and hobbyist car owners spending their money and pretending to be "big time".
Winning races there has meant jack squat for Hildebrand or Pecorari or Cunningham or any number of others who either never sniffed a Indy ride or barely got a cup of coffee with a dog crap team. These 3 actually had talent and won in other forms of racing. But that meant nothing, unless they found a sugar-daddy to fund a IRL team.
Others who have won races in Indy Lights(Taylor, Medeiros, Camara, Battastini to name 4) were so pathetic as actual drivers, that they had no business "moving up" to Indy Cars. Again, Indy Lights taught them nothing and their success in the series was more a function on how bad the series was then their actual talent.
So Bernard gives John Edwards a million dollars to move up to Conquest Racing next year. First of all, that would only give him about 4 races. Second of all, the team is a bottom-feeder (so he would likely look bad). And third, there is no guarantee that Conquest would take it anyway if they have some guy from Belgium show up and is funded by the Belgium government for the entire season.
And then if Edwards only does a few races and has a couple of bad results, his name might be sullied and he may never get another shot.
There has been talent that has come through these various road racing "feeder" series. There has always been young talent in USAC. Back in the day when Indy Cars actually had people watching them and sponsors into the sport, those drivers actually were HIRED by Indy Car owners. They didn't need a handout from the sport's CEO. They didn't need beat over the head with a 2 by 4 to hire an American kid. Not sure why that changed (well, I do, but its not time to get into that) but it has.
And we have lost one generation and are currently working on losing another one because of it.
Trick,
ReplyDeleteI think cash in hand would work for the Lights champ. Yeah, that might mean a Conquest ride.
But this year, it could have meant a chance at the seats taken by Beatriz, Scheckter, Bell, Hamilton, Junquera, or the second car at Rahal/ Letterman that went unused.
All those rides didn't suck.
At least you get to the Show and one or two more, maybe place well and get some prize money, or pick up an associate sponsorship to carry you through another event.
It's a shot at the bigtime, right?
Andy
Oh, about American drivers....
ReplyDeleteI'm all in favor. When one of them was offered a job to drive the #19 car, I couldn't believe he opted not to accept.
Reportedly, Rahal didn't want to race an uncompetitive car and get locked into a two year contract. Instead he runs three races in an inferior SFR sled , and now he sits. Hildebrand may have passed on the same deal from Dale Coyne.
So I'm being a hypocrite by shedding tears for J.R., and neither one of those Boy Scouts has much room to bitch.
Props to Alex Lloyd and DCR for a fourth place finish at Indy, and for qualifying sixth in Texas. They are making the most of their opportunities.
Andy
No longer a Scout, but still second class.
Reportedly, Rahal didn't want to race an uncompetitive car and get locked into a two year contract. Instead he runs three races in an inferior SFR sled , and now he sits. Hildebrand may have passed on the same deal from Dale Coyne.
ReplyDeleteAt the time it didn't look like the greatest option in the world, but in retrospect? Tough to call it anything but a mistake now with Lloyd moving that team ahead.
Three things:
ReplyDelete1) Trick, I've been reading your comments for somewhere between 6 and 12 months now. Not only have I yet to read a single word from you that wasn't critical and/or inflammatory, I've also yet to see you make a single actual suggestion of what IndyCar should do, in any situation. Let's start now. What would you do to get more Americans in the series and/or fix the situation with the feeder series. And no, "turn back the clock 20 years and do it right the first time" is not a valid suggestion. I'm talking about reality, right now. You're in Randy Bernard's chair. What do you do?
2) Andy, do you know the extent of talks that Graham has had with Chip Ganassi and/or any other team owner? I don't, but I'm asking if you do, because you sure seem to know something that I don't. The longstanding rumor is that Graham has something cooking for 2011. If that looked to be the case back in February (and still continues to be the case now), then I'm guessing that Graham might not be kicking himself for not taking the Coyne seat (which looked like a long shot at being competitive this year). Anyway, I'll take Graham doing a handful of one-offs this year if it means that he'll be in a car next year that'll allow him to win races. Everybody bitches that nobody who tunes in randomly to one of these races can see anybody who's not driving a red car. If Graham is in with a shot at one of those red cars, isn't it a good idea to try to get in one, if he's trying to catch on with fans?
3) Randy's thought (I think) with the free Honda lease (and free tires, which you guys ignored up there) is that a young driver really needs a full season to gain any kind of traction, both competitively and in the public eye. Yes, we hardcores all know who J.R. Hildebrand is, but the average sports fan (who watched SportsCenter and all of the Big 3 sports) probably thinks that he's the guy who got shot that one season on that prime time soap opera. Let's say that J.R. got enough money from winning the Lights championship to be able to run Indy, plus maybe two other races. He doesn't do much at Long Beach, because he's with a small team and has no testing time (also no shaker rig data or crazy shocks, remember, Andy?). We go to Indy where he...sticks the car in the wall and misses the show (not the most far fetched scenario for a young driver with a small team who knows that this is his only real shot to impress anybody this year). Now, the 3-4 nice articles written about him in the Indy Star and on ESPN.com are worthless, because he's not even in the race on Memorial Day weekend, the public at large still don't have any idea who he is, and we've thrown at least a half million dollars right down the toilet. If he's lucky, he's got one more shot to impress at a track where he might be good. Sorry, but I don't really see how "*hopefully* he'll impress at Indy in his one good shot" differs so much from "with an engine lease and rack of tires in hand, *hopefully* he'll find a team that can find another $1 million worth of sponsorship that'll allow him to do the bulk of the season". Either way, there's a lot of "hopefully" going on.
Tires and an engine lease doesn't get you a ride.
ReplyDeleteThe seats I pointed out as part time opportunities are good rides.
Any ride is better than no ride, I said it before the season and still do. If Rahal has a fat payday coming from Chippy, he could have raced this year and bought out of the DCR contract for next.
I'm using your examples as a reminder that brevity is my friend. Reading has never been my problem.
Andy
3rd grade flashcard champion
SG wrote: "We go to Indy where (Hildebrand)...sticks the car in the wall and misses the show (not the most far fetched scenario for a young driver with a small team who knows that this is his only real shot to impress anybody this year). Now, the 3-4 nice articles written about him in the Indy Star and on ESPN.com are worthless, because he's not even in the race on Memorial Day weekend, the public at large still don't have any idea who he is, and we've thrown at least a half million dollars right down the toilet."
ReplyDeleteAnd therein lies the achilles heel of the driver promotion Bernard talks about. The vast majority of the drivers in this series are "nobodies" from karting, whose results don't even find print in the local weekly's agates...and that's if they're domestics. Very few have a "signature" win of any type. How many are still too young to drink? Additionally, week after week we are treated to nobodies or laughingstocks, like Milka Duno or Marty Roth, while being told this is some elite competition and all that patent BS.
No other major-level professional sport creates its own stars from little to nothing in terms of celebrity. Football and basketball have the college "feeder system," Baseball college and the minors, as does hockey. All have national coverage and viewership. So many players are nationally-known sports stars long before they become all-pro STARS. The public anticipates their stardom, in many cases for years.
Like I said before, perhaps it is time to truly change the paradigm with IICS - franchise ownership, pooling most technical resources, capping team expenses (perhaps with a highly progressive "luxury tax" for those willing to pay), an annual driver draft with exclusive rights, a wholly-owned feeder league that includes Saturday night sprint cars, and a highly progressive driver salary scale slotted by season performance.
And excepted from all this is the 500 - an open Sweepstakes offering a huge purse ($20 mil+) with more open tech rules than the IZOD series.
"I'm using your examples as a reminder that brevity is my friend. Reading has never been my problem."
ReplyDeleteHow cute. My apologies for having opinions that are too nuanced to be fit into two or three "pithy" (and usually nonsensical) one-liners.
Tell you what, Andy. I'll leave my final rejoinder to you here on this website in the form of two words. I'll spot you most of the letters.
F. U. *. K. Y. *. U.
To everybody else, thanks for hearing me out and letting me babble on, even if you didn't agree with me. See you at the track.
Until winning at the top of the ladder is contingent upon the driver and not the car, no amount of tinkering with the feeder series will force drivers up the ladder. You need to pull the talent up from the top, not push them up from the bottom.
ReplyDeleteOne way to make winning contingent on the driver is to equalize the cars, another is to make the cars require far more skill to drive at the limit than the current configuration.
Speedgeek,
ReplyDeletePlease don't be deterred. I hope that you will continue to contribute here, as I value your input.
You recently wrote that you are not an insider. You could have fooled me. Your knowledge and well founded opinions are appreciated.
I'm not an insider, either. I was at one time and I still have a few contacts, but they are far fewer than they were, say, five years ago.
Best Regards,
Roggespierre
Classy response SpeedGeek.
ReplyDeleteSee this is what is so wrong with the Indy Car set today. SG throws a fit and runs away. He doesn't want to hear THE TRUTH. He is in the EXTREME minority now of the rest of AOW and his sport is dying/dead. And when folks point out the reasons WHY, they cover their ears, throw a tantrum and call the poster names.
If you think I haven't given a TON of solutions to what should be done to save this sport and make it relevent again, your eyes don't work too well.
The costs need to come WAY, WAY down NOW. Not in 2012. Now. It shouldn't cost 6 million dollars a year to race the season. Not when nobody is watching and there are no sponsors interested anymore. If Dallara and Honda wake the eff up and get the costs WAY down, more teams could play and more good, marketable, sellable American drivers could join. Some of these teams might even get off their ass and find a sponsor for once and hire an actual driver. But that might be asking too much for a professional racing team.
Kevin Kalkhoven is a billionaire. Instead of taking on 3 wankers, who together have about 3 fans, maybe he could actually INVEST in a kid like Hildebrand (who has WON at every level of racing he's ever been at) and get the kid into the sport and keep him here. That makes sense. That would help the sport. That might get some American folks to get interested again.
Or we can just keep doing what isn't working and hope for a miracle. We can hope Bernard is a magician. We can hope tomorrow or next week all of a sudden, America gets interested in a sport with 2 American full-time drivers. I wouldn't hold my breath though on this happening.
The drivers are there. They have always been there. Find the good American road racers and good American oval racers and INVEST in them. Its what NASCAR has done. Its worked for them. Or maybe the Indy Car folks enjoy getting their ass kicked by NASCAR? Instead of making it easy for them to continue to do so, lets fight them for OUR talent.
Then maybe, just maybe, 5 years from now, we can see 20+ American starters again in the Indy 500 (like we saw for about 90% of all Indy 500's run) and we might actually see an American kid win our damn crown jewel race again. Is that asking too much? If you think it is, you are a fool.
In keeping with my promise of brevity, I'll post a link rather than stir the pot here. Insults are invited in the appropriate venue.
ReplyDeleteAndy
F*CK'D
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/401909-indycar-whos-chasing-who?just_published=1
"... make the cars require far more skill to drive at the limit than the current configuration. "
ReplyDeleteSome people would award that with a "chicken dinner".
It deserves a Filet...uh...Minion.
Andy
Andy wrote in his bleacherreport.com piece: "At least the Boy Scouts of America are getting the representation they deserve from Alex and Dale. That's over 2 million young fans and their families to please. Why the IndyCar Series hasn't done more to promote that endorsement is another example of missing the setup."
ReplyDeleteA better question may be why BSA doesn't better activate its investment. Boys Life drifts through my home monthly, and I don't recall seeing anything of substance in its pages.
Excellent point Rocket, thanks for making it. The BSA endorsement has been reported as a non-funded one, but your example is the kind of opportunity that is being overlooked.
ReplyDeleteCare to join me in sending Boy's Life a polite note? Seems at least a regular post-race report from DCR would be in order.
Andy
Deepthi Engineering with enormous and diverse experience, are one of the leading manufacturer and supplier of scientific and laboratory equipment such as Engine test rig, Heat exchanger trainer manufacturers across in India.
ReplyDelete