| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 345.1 | | DELNI::CRITZ | Scott Critz, LKG2/1, Pole V3 | Mon Mar 21 1994 12:13 | 11 |
| Well, since I live in NH, I watched it on Channel 9 out
of Manchester.
This race looked like the Keystone Kops. They had to shorten
the race to 55 laps because of all the spins and incidents,
etc.
Michael Andretti wanted to prove something, I'm sure. He
was on a mission.
Scott
|
| 345.2 | Bombs Away | TNPUBS::ALLEGREZZA | George Allegrezza @LKG | Mon Mar 21 1994 17:05 | 3 |
| Re: .0
WCVB is on the Internet: [email protected].
|
| 345.3 | Here's my note to WCVB.. | NOVA::BOIKO | Mike Boiko, RdB Performance, 381-2362 | Mon Mar 21 1994 18:07 | 22 |
| Well here it is, another IndyCar season has begun, and still
no coverage by the main ABC outlet (exception Indy 500) in one
of the largest cities in America - Boston!
Why????!!
What do you think is the LARGEST attended sporting event in New
England...a mere 75 miles from Boston? That's right auto racing
at NHIS in New Hampshire, and a very large percentage of those
people come from YOUR viewing area!
The word has gone out far and wide via the Internet, that WCVB has
a blackout on IndyCar racing....and there are MANY unhappy campers
who will not think twice about turning elsewhere for news/sports and
entertainment.
Call me crazy, but when I see subjects like "WCVB in Boston sucks,
No IndyCar race.." on the Internet....read by people worldwide. It
sounds like something you might want to pay a little more attention
to.
-mike-
|
| 345.4 | Another plea to WCVB for IndyCar Racing.. | NOVA::BOIKO | Mike Boiko, RdB Performance, 381-2362 | Tue Mar 22 1994 15:37 | 53 |
| Subject: Boston's WCVB: Don't flame; Explain
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Keywords: WCVB
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 16:45:56 GMT
Lines: 55
As you already know, once again fans in the 6th largest TV
market in the nation won't see half of the Indy car season. Boston's
WCVB-TV, Channel 5, our ABC affiliate, chooses to deliberately
block coverage of most auto racing. They let the Indy 500 sneak through,
but cover almost everything else.
They claim that the ratings are too low. Years ago this could
have been true, but given the success of New Hampshire International
Speedway's Indycar event in July (sold out the last two years), not
true anymore. The track is only 2 hours from Boston, and the event recieves
coverage on all the local stations (even WCVB!). Roughly as many people
go to this event as watch Channel 5's evening news, and ESPN's coverage
also does well. Now, one could argue that not all these fans are from
Boston. True enough, but WCVB doesn't expect news-level ratings on Sunday
afternoons. They block racing with such ratings blockbusters as wrist
wrestling from Petaluma (sorry, wrist wrestling fans) and this year's
"American Sports Awards". The fact is, they have blocked racing for so
long that they don't *know* what the ratings would be. And since they
block all of the ABC promotion for racing as well, they contribute
to the situation.
I worked in TV broadcasting for 15 years, and I know we can change
this ignorant policy. The decision to block racing is not a big deal to
them. At the stations I worked at, mid-afternoon weekend programming was
the least of their worries (except in football season). If WCVB had any
indication that carrying the Indy cars would not *hurt* them, and that
they might even gain something from it, they would carry it. For one thing,
Indycar racing serves an important PR function for car manufacturers. I
believe that most Boston area car dealers (BIG advertisers on local
TV stations) are not aware that Chevy's/Ford's/Honda's multimillion dollar
racing budgets, designed to boost local sales, are being thrown away by
local business colleagues.
This is where you come in. As you have already heard, WCVB is on
the Internet. They are here because they want viewer input! Email can be sent
to [email protected], and, from what I hear, it is read. Of course, they will
value mail from the Boston area most, but hearing from fans from all
over about how wonderful Indycar racing is wouldn't hurt. Maybe someone
in Detroit who has some pull will hear about it. And if you live near
Boston, a phone call to your favorite car dealer regarding "race on
Sunday, sell on Monday" would also be appropriate.
Viewers can affect what the media carry. Media execs are human, and
sometimes make poor decisions based on poor information. Let's make sure
that lack of information isn't the problem here.
Thanks in advance,
Don Hastie [email protected]
|
| 345.5 | Maybe they just don't like Sam Posey 8^) | EXPERI::MENTAL | | Fri Mar 25 1994 16:07 | 7 |
|
So has anyone gotten a reply from WCVB? I emailed them earlier
this week and haven't heard anything, although I'm not holding
my breath.
/ken
|
| 345.6 | WCVB, are you there? | TFH::JROGERS | | Sat Mar 26 1994 07:04 | 3 |
| I sent one in as well, no reply of yet.
Jeff
|
| 345.7 | No reply.. | NOVA::BOIKO | Mike Boiko, RdB Performance, 381-2362 | Sat Mar 26 1994 09:16 | 4 |
| I didn't get a reply either...wonder if they know how to read their
mail 8-)
-mike-
|
| 345.8 | WCVB responded | EXPERI::MENTAL | | Tue Mar 29 1994 08:18 | 42 |
|
Following is the response I received from WCVB - still doesn't explain
why they air NASCAR but not IndyCar.
They are going to air Long Beach on 4/17 to gauge viewer interest.
/ken
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: CRL::"[email protected]"
To: experi::mental
CC:
Subj: Re: BLACKOUT of 3/20/94 Surfe...
In regards to your inquiry concerning race car programming on WCVB TV, we
realize that interest has grown over the past few years. Nevertheless,
whenever car racing does air on our station,, it only garners a "1" rating as
opposed to "entertainment type" programming as Star Search which usually gets
a "4" or "5" rating.
Since not all our viewers are sports enthusiasts, we do try to limit sports
programming to Saturday afternoons, while on Sundays we try to schedule more
entertainment type programs such as Star Search, movies, etc.
As in past years, WCVB will carry the Indy Time Trials on Saturday, May 14,
and Sunday, May 15. The Indy 500 will be carried in its entirety on Sunday,
May 29 from 11 AM until approximately 3:30PM. In response to queries and in
an effect to gauge the viewer interest, we will also air the Toyota Grand
Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 17 from 2 4PM.
WCVB TV will continue to consider the opinions of fans like you when planning
future sports programming.
|
| 345.9 | Me too.. | NOVA::BOIKO | Mike Boiko, RdB Performance, 381-2362 | Tue Mar 29 1994 09:31 | 5 |
| re .8
Yep...received the same canned response from WCVB..
-mike-
|
| 345.10 | Convince them to NOT carry qualifying | SCCA::dave | Ahh, but fortunately, I have the key to escape reality. | Wed Mar 30 1994 16:44 | 9 |
| I sure hope they don't use the Indy qualifying as a test point.
Last year, it easily qualified as "the most boring tv there was
for the whole year".
I ***HATE*** football, and even I had to admit that the 6 hours
of the NFL draft had better entertainment value. And did I mention,
I hate football?
|
| 345.11 | Not a sport unless it uses Gas or Gunpowder.. | SWAM1::BASURA_BR | Politicians Prefer Unarmed Peasants | Mon Apr 04 1994 14:48 | 18 |
|
>>> I ***HATE*** football, and even I had to admit that the 6 hours
>>> of the NFL draft had better entertainment value. And did I mention,
>>> I hate football?
re.10
Me too....
Now if they rode around on some type of gas powered vehicle...
^^^
or Blown, Injected, Nitro
I also have a variation on golf.
One would player would hit the ball as usual. Then the other would
try and destroy the ball by shooting it with a rifle.
|
| 345.12 | Sorry New England | JARETH::WIGGINS | | Tue Mar 07 1995 09:39 | 16 |
| Well, they did it AGAIN!! No coverage of the Miami race on
either WCVB or WMUR. Guess we can probably kiss off Surfer's
Paradise, Phoenix, and Long Beach too.
Fortunately, ESPN rebroadcasted Miami Monday afternoon. Just
hope we can count on them to do the same for the rest of the
races carried on ABC.
I'll be calling WMUR to complain. The situation is compounded
by the fact that ABC is covering several Winston Cup races this
year as well.
Time to get a dish, I guess.
Ken
|
| 345.13 | Write | TNPUBS::ALLEGREZZA | George Allegrezza @LJO | Tue Mar 07 1995 10:47 | 12 |
| Their Internet address is [email protected]. Write and complain, and get
all your friends to do so.
More importantly, send them a thank you when they do carry a race. They
carried a number of IndyCar races after Indianapolis last year,
atypical for them, and I hope all you fans let them know you
appreciated it.
You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a
gun, as Mr. Capone used to say.
George
|
| 345.14 | BTW | NOVA::BOIKO | Mike Boiko | Tue Mar 07 1995 12:24 | 1 |
| WCVB 5 carried the Indycar race at 1:00 AM Monday morning...
|
| 345.15 | Promises from WMUR CH9 | JARETH::WIGGINS | | Wed Mar 08 1995 16:12 | 15 |
|
Just got off the phone to WMUR channel 9. I wanted to find out
if they were going to broadcast the Atlanta W.C. race this weekend.
(They are. According to an entry in the NASCAR note, WCVB is not.)
I also asked about the remaining IndyCar races on ABC. They said
they would be broadcasting the rest of them. I took the opportunity
to reenforce the fact that these are all the same cars and drivers that
race at NHIS and so deserve local TV coverage. The programming person
agreed with me. Time will tell if they carry through.
Hope for the best.
Ken
|
| 345.16 | | STAR::KING | | Wed Mar 08 1995 17:58 | 1 |
| That's great news Ken. Thanks. Martin
|