TV Coverage, how important is it.
Discussion
Currently a lot of time,effort and money is spent raising the funds and getting TV coverage for the TVR Championship.
Its currenty aired on Motors TV and the web a little later.
Whilst the coverage is very nice to have and has solved a few arguments over what happened when etc
Its still quite expensive.
I was just wondering what the gerneral thoughts were on TV coverage, is it seen as vital to help people get sponsorship, or just vanity for the guys racing.
has anyone ever made a decision between series over tv coverage, or only been able to get sponsorship if its televised?
Cheers
Graham
Its currenty aired on Motors TV and the web a little later.
Whilst the coverage is very nice to have and has solved a few arguments over what happened when etc
Its still quite expensive.I was just wondering what the gerneral thoughts were on TV coverage, is it seen as vital to help people get sponsorship, or just vanity for the guys racing.
has anyone ever made a decision between series over tv coverage, or only been able to get sponsorship if its televised?
Cheers
Graham
We are racing drivers and thus we are incredibly vane and like to see ourselves on telly (or in pictures which is why the patrolling photographers sell their photos so well in the paddock).
It is definitely nice for those that know the drivers, or for themselves, but talking to a friend who works in sports marketing the figures for Motors TV are not that great. I tried to get him to do some free research into the audience sizes so I could use it to gather potential sponsors and show them the value of supporting me. He said the ratings were very low and not worth shouting about.
It is definitely nice for those that know the drivers, or for themselves, but talking to a friend who works in sports marketing the figures for Motors TV are not that great. I tried to get him to do some free research into the audience sizes so I could use it to gather potential sponsors and show them the value of supporting me. He said the ratings were very low and not worth shouting about.
Graham said:
Thats kind of my thoughts... Motors TV seem to be only on sky packages, a good 80% of people I talk to cant get it !!!
What is bizarre about Motors TV is:On Sky it is available only on the News and Events Pack, not the sports as you would expect.
On Virgin Media you only have it if your region was previously an NTL zone, and not if you were an ex-Telewest zone.
Though having said that, their coverage of UK motorsport is getting much better and it may draw in more and more of an audience. The problem is that motorsport just doesn't get the crowds it once did (and often deserves) and that is such a shame - especially as there is so much money moving around it.
Well I am on tomorrow night at 8:10 on Motors TV however they have used my crash on the title sequence and its now getting a tad embarrassing!
I think Motors TV would sell better if you didnt have to subscribe to the wretched kickball channel to get it, I hate football with a passion and am damned if I am going to line their pockets further and I also know a lot of motorsport fans feel the same.
I think Motors TV would sell better if you didnt have to subscribe to the wretched kickball channel to get it, I hate football with a passion and am damned if I am going to line their pockets further and I also know a lot of motorsport fans feel the same.
RacingPete said:
We are racing drivers and thus we are incredibly vane and like to see ourselves on telly (or in pictures which is why the patrolling photographers sell their photos so well in the paddock).
It is definitely nice for those that know the drivers, or for themselves, but talking to a friend who works in sports marketing the figures for Motors TV are not that great. I tried to get him to do some free research into the audience sizes so I could use it to gather potential sponsors and show them the value of supporting me. He said the ratings were very low and not worth shouting about.
Vane as in a turning vane, or vain as in vanity?It is definitely nice for those that know the drivers, or for themselves, but talking to a friend who works in sports marketing the figures for Motors TV are not that great. I tried to get him to do some free research into the audience sizes so I could use it to gather potential sponsors and show them the value of supporting me. He said the ratings were very low and not worth shouting about.
IT'll cost you upwards of £25k to get your championship televised, and not many people will watch it, other than those who were actually racing and their extended families. It won't drive sponsors to your door or make it any easier to get sponsors, they tend to want returns that they can see on the balance sheet rather than on the tele.
Stock hatch has been televised this year, I was on the first episode, it was nice to be on, got my name in the results, a few shots of my car, but it's not really that great a deal. I'd save your money and put £25k into a prize fund, or promoting the meetings to take a return on the gate receipts, to lower the cost of track hire and make the racing cheaper.
Yeah Im aware of the costs, its been televised for a few years now, and its an annual battle to raise the funding..
im not sure its an £X on TV or spend the same on something else, as the sponsorship has been specifically for the TV coverage, so we may not have got it otherwise.
I suppose the questions really are if you were given the choise between 2 championship, with similar grids and costs, would TV or no TV be a deciding factor.
Also at club level has any of your sponsorship ever been dependant on or increased by TV coverage
cheers
G
im not sure its an £X on TV or spend the same on something else, as the sponsorship has been specifically for the TV coverage, so we may not have got it otherwise.
I suppose the questions really are if you were given the choise between 2 championship, with similar grids and costs, would TV or no TV be a deciding factor.
Also at club level has any of your sponsorship ever been dependant on or increased by TV coverage
cheers
G
TVR_owner said:
Would the TV restrictions on a weekends racing be a factor?
ie Double Header and Qually crammed into one day to suit TV budget ?
Possibly, I certainly prefer a 2 day program. one soultion there might be to go to 2 qualifiers say 15mins each rather than the current single 20min. then do the qualifiers on day 1 and the races on day 2. that way you only need to film the second day.ie Double Header and Qually crammed into one day to suit TV budget ?
cost would go up slightly though as its an extra 10mins track time..
as an aside im not that keen on the current single qually, start race 2 with the finish positions. a race 1 problem screws your second race 2.
Its all pretty much been said, i dont think sponsors or potential sponsors would see the appeal of it being televised on motors tv that much. I watch it now and again round a mates house when he has recorded it as there are sometimes championships we have raced in and as we are keen club level people. Even if it was on as 1930 on BBC one if you dont have a well trimmed succesfull driver with the logo of something that would appeal to young people across his gear, then i would doubt if anyone would rush out and buy something with this name on it, let alone if it was bombing around on the side of a car.
25K for club level championships would be better spent on reducing entry fee's or even putting some decent prizes-trophies up. Im sure most of the sponsors of club level are done more on good will and the tax implications (something to do with VAT or something) rather than solid advertising money returns to there initial outlay.
25K for club level championships would be better spent on reducing entry fee's or even putting some decent prizes-trophies up. Im sure most of the sponsors of club level are done more on good will and the tax implications (something to do with VAT or something) rather than solid advertising money returns to there initial outlay.
Would anyone want to watch me play golf on TV...No, why do people want to watch club racing on TV? Don't get me wrong, I watch it because I'm addicted but I'm in a very small minority I expect & I certainly would not pay extra on my entry fee to see one of my races. I don't see an value for any sponsors, & lets face it there are very few, if any, real sponsors in club motorsport anyway.
From another point of view here - did anyone watch the Gears and Tears program on BBC1, Mondays at 10.35pm? It was a series of 6 programs about the world of F1 Stock Car racing, and although focusing on Smith/Wainman rivalries, did show a lot of racing on the ovals. This has done wonders for the Stock Car scene! At the last event at Belle Vue, I'm told they had to delay the racing to allow all the crowds in! One lad I know who races was even asked by his local chippy owner in Cambridge if his racing was like "Those Stock Cars on TV".
So, from this I'd say that yes TV can help a series an awful lot, but really you need to get it aired to attract as big an audience as you can really! MotorsTV maybe needs to be advertised more or put into a more appropriate Sky package.
Just my 2p...
So, from this I'd say that yes TV can help a series an awful lot, but really you need to get it aired to attract as big an audience as you can really! MotorsTV maybe needs to be advertised more or put into a more appropriate Sky package.
Just my 2p...
ctsdave said:
From another point of view here - did anyone watch the Gears and Tears program on BBC1, Mondays at 10.35pm? It was a series of 6 programs about the world of F1 Stock Car racing, and although focusing on Smith/Wainman rivalries, did show a lot of racing on the ovals. This has done wonders for the Stock Car scene! At the last event at Belle Vue, I'm told they had to delay the racing to allow all the crowds in! One lad I know who races was even asked by his local chippy owner in Cambridge if his racing was like "Those Stock Cars on TV".
So, from this I'd say that yes TV can help a series an awful lot, but really you need to get it aired to attract as big an audience as you can really! MotorsTV maybe needs to be advertised more or put into a more appropriate Sky package.
Just my 2p...
The reason the programme did well was due to the fact it was a docudrama, focusing on the lives around the two families, the racing was a small part of the overall programme. You need a very good director to get that to work well. Take for example the Jordans of BTCC fame, who did the same thing on Sky trying to put a more personal side to racing, which didn't work so well and probably cost them a lot to do.So, from this I'd say that yes TV can help a series an awful lot, but really you need to get it aired to attract as big an audience as you can really! MotorsTV maybe needs to be advertised more or put into a more appropriate Sky package.
Just my 2p...
On the golf comment - nobody pays to go and watch you on the golf course, while club racers do get a small amount of paying public. I think the analogy to counties level football would be more appropriate as they also have a small paying public to come and watch - though they don't get TV coverage unless they get through to pre-lim FA cup rounds.
Blimey did anyone watch the Autoglymn Lydden Hill Festival races on Motors last night? I was almost getting embarrassed with the coverage I got see all you have to do is have a dramatic crash at the end of the race and thats it! They had close ups of my car, incar stuff etc etc and the commentator kept saying how it was one of his favourite cars but hey I havnt had anyone contact me today and say 'I saw you car on TV last night and would like to do some business'and I have massive lettering over the side of the car.
BTW I have something much bigger in the media world coming off in November but have had to sign a no disclosure clause till November, watch this space as its seriously big and no I aint the new stig!
BTW I have something much bigger in the media world coming off in November but have had to sign a no disclosure clause till November, watch this space as its seriously big and no I aint the new stig!
Edited by Al Weyman on Thursday 9th September 15:47
Al Weyman said:
BTW I have something much bigger in the media world coming off in November but have had to sign a no disclosure clause till November, watch this space as its seriously big and no I aint the new stig!
]
Interesting - can you say what area of the media world - is it to help you race more?]
According to some marketing bumpf I got from Renault at the beginning of this year, ITV's Motorsport UK program had average total viewing figures of 390,000 per episode in 2009. That's mainly highlights from the BTCC support races i.e. Porsche Cup, Ginetta's, Formula Renault's & Clio Cup. If that's the viewing figures on a mainstream channel for some of the bigger series in the country I'd imagine MotorsTV figures are an order of magnitude lower. Figures for the live BTCC meetings on ITV4 would be interesting to see.
Interesting thread.
I did the motors TV karting series a couple of years ago before it was cancelled due to lack of entries. We don't have any paying spectators in karting so the tv coverage was a real bonus on the sponsorship proposal, especially since the event organisers added lot's of additional coverage for those with sponsors. I'm doubtful as to whether it would translate to extra profit for the sponsor but the "status" of being on the telly certainly helped get sponsors on board.
These days stickers on a car are really a minor part of a sponsorship deal so TV becomes less relevant from a money making perspective.
I did the motors TV karting series a couple of years ago before it was cancelled due to lack of entries. We don't have any paying spectators in karting so the tv coverage was a real bonus on the sponsorship proposal, especially since the event organisers added lot's of additional coverage for those with sponsors. I'm doubtful as to whether it would translate to extra profit for the sponsor but the "status" of being on the telly certainly helped get sponsors on board.
These days stickers on a car are really a minor part of a sponsorship deal so TV becomes less relevant from a money making perspective.
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