NHRA's TV Ratings 2002-2007 (1 Viewer)

[Rajunz]

...................go watch swamp buggy racing or something

Crazy ass Cajun!

 

[PJ]

actually its 6 races that were apart of the countdown. And is there not going to be something every year that can be pointed to that attracted people away. Isn't the goal to make us more attractive than whatever the other alternatives are? Wasn't that the purpose of the countdown? I doubt the Patriots were on vs drag racing for each of those races last year.

Were their more viewers in total last year, yes there were but that only goes to show how much worse the countdown did in that it could not sustain those numbers through the countdown.

If the numbers are up leading into the countdown then shouldn't they at the bare minimum remained the same during the countdown? Of course with a move such as the coutndown the goal is to have an increase during the playoffs such as other sports, so even staying the same would have been a failure. Not only did it not retain the numbers vs the previous year but it lost people during the the supposed drama filled portion of the season. Even the rosiest of glasses has to see that. Hell even the nhra realized it wasn't working and changed it this year. It's still not right but at least it is an improvement over last year.


As for facts, you guys really don't want any. The numbers could come back as a 50% drop and sponsors could outright say thats why they left and some here would still find a reason why the opposite is true. Ya know I like rooting for the underdog too but just because my favorite hasn't won a championship yet doesn't mean I want to swing the entire points structure as it is now. It seems other here don't agree.

 

[PJ]

this constant whining is getting ridiculous. go watch swamp buggy racing or something

constant?? I haven't mentioned it in a long time, actually until this thread not much has been said since they announced the last changes,


I've seen that swamp buggy stuff on tv, it does look prety cool

 

[Paul]

I am glad to see PJ is back.

 

[PJ]

I am glad to see PJ is back.

oh now Paul you are the one pro countdown lover that I actually have faith in. I know that you can actually look at the numbers from 06 and 07 over those final races and see that they went down.

 

[d'kid]

What I find funny about this whole thread, is that on any given day, there are only 25,000 households in the entire country that are metered. A view is 6 minutes in the hour. They take this number and project the number of viewers based on the % of the 25K and the total number of households with one or more TV's based on the LAST national census.

In other words, it's just a wild@$$ guess. it is possible that none of those 25K households is watching, and we could still have 6 million tuning in.

d'kid

 

[clwill]

In other words, it's just a wild@$$ guess.

Wonderfully well put. Was in the market research biz a few decades ago, and there were two true facts:

1) if you want real numbers, you have to sample, sample, sample. Extrapolating from 25k to 250M households, or a 0.01% sample rate is voodoo.

Oh, and 2) is, you can make the numbers look anyway the client wants/expects them to look...

 

[Rajunz]

...............In other words, it's just a wild@$$ guess. ....................

I told you guys that all credibility went out the windoe with 7 years of Richmond viewership.

............I've seen that swamp buggy stuff on tv, it doesn look prety cool

Hey, I actually liked the swamp buggies! Must be that Louisiana thing again!

 

[rocketman]

Why would any team give a sponsor a free ride? I don't get it.

 

[Bill]

Why would any team give a sponsor a free ride? I don't get it.

The bottom line is the sport needs more marquee sponsors like Caterpillar. They are a $50B/year global company so hats off to David Powers. The overall numbers are up so maybe a little tweaking is all that is required.

 

[d'kid]

Lance P.

Like I said early in the thread, the Richmond numbers roll in Chicago 2.
Also, the numbers take in separate showings, reading was broadcasted over how many days, with the rain delays and all? So you have the numbers for the qualifying show, the Sunday rained on show, the final broadcast. Same thing for Indy, how many separate shows?

you have to take the number, divide it by the number of 'shows' and that gives you the number of people watching, based on the projected guess. those numbers do not include sets rolling tape/tivo. Those views only count when the tape/tivo are viewed. If that happens after the 8th day, it does not count as a viewer.

just looking, I believe the raw number is closer to 600-700k per show.

just my opinion, your interpretation of the numbers may vary.

d'kid

 

[clwill]

Why would any team give a sponsor a free ride? I don't get it.

Some money is better than no money.

 

[Paul]

oh now Paul you are the one pro countdown lover that I actually have faith in. I know that you can actually look at the numbers from 06 and 07 over those final races and see that they went down.

I am still in favor of the Countdown. I do like it better this year that they have expanded the Countdown to 1 to more then 2 races. After seeing how the Countdown to 1 worked out, there was no room for error. This new format should allow for at least 1 mulligan. We will see how it pans out this year.

 

[d'kid]

I am still in favor of the Countdown. I do like it better this year that they have expanded the Countdown to 1 to more then 2 races. After seeing how the Countdown to 1 worked out, there was no room for error. This new format should allow for at least 1 mulligan. We will see how it pans out this year.

Paul and PJ,
you both have good points, but it is what it is. Personally, I like the old Old Championship, where you had to place in the top 3 in your division to even be invited to the Finals, and it was ONE Race, Winner Takes the Title.

now everyone is going to hate this, but after Indy and we have a top ten, those should be the Only cars that go to the last races. Qualify 8 cars and have them go round robin. That would be a real post season playoff. 2 points for each round win, 1 point each for low et and top speed of the race. Clean, simple and very understandable.

d'kid

 

[PJ]

What I find funny about this whole thread, is that on any given day, there are only 25,000 households in the entire country that are metered. A view is 6 minutes in the hour. They take this number and project the number of viewers based on the % of the 25K and the total number of households with one or more TV's based on the LAST national census.

In other words, it's just a wild@$$ guess. it is possible that none of those 25K households is watching, and we could still have 6 million tuning in.

d'kid

I agree the ratings system does seem off but it all comes down to a so called " scientific sample" and that sample is supposed to demonstrate how a larger group would respond.

Now as I've been told countless times bu pro countdowners this is the system is use so we can't complain about it. If the ratings numbers and system are what we have always gone by then it seems odd to discount them now just because they sho the countdown failed to attract or even keep the amount of people watching the shows leading into it.

 

[PJ]

I told you guys that all credibility went out the windoe with 7 years of Richmond viewership.

Hey, I actually liked the swamp buggies! Must be that Louisiana thing again!

sorry I hit the extra N, I do like the swamp runners

 

[PJ]

Paul and PJ,
you both have good points, but it is what it is. Personally, I like the old Old Championship, where you had to place in the top 3 in your division to even be invited to the Finals, and it was ONE Race, Winner Takes the Title.

now everyone is going to hate this, but after Indy and we have a top ten, those should be the Only cars that go to the last races. Qualify 8 cars and have them go round robin. That would be a real post season playoff. 2 points for each round win, 1 point each for low et and top speed of the race. Clean, simple and very understandable.

d'kid

yeah but my points are better

I would even prefer the really old school system over this. If I'm going to be fed this welfare points system at least have the playoff teams race each other. In the pre countdown you had to race all year the best team won, in the old days at least you had to win someone to get to the championships and there you actually raced the other contenders. I wouldn't mind only havingt the playoff teas\ms race at the countdown races but I can easily understand why from a sponsorship and money view why that would never happen.

Put the 8, yes I would back it up to 8, countdown drivers on the same side of the ladder. Allow non playoff teams to qualify on the other half. Ideally this would lower the amount of dives, granted it will never be eliminated, it also actually makes the teams have to beat other playoff teams to win the title. No way anyone can back into the championship again.

they do that and even I would drop the anti countdown rants. I would still prefer the run all season, may the best team win format but at least under this method would would be fair and acceptable. Until then its still a joke of a system.

 

[camaro]

The current tv show is flat out unwatchable. For 3 hours they drag out 4 rounds of racing, which including burnouts/backing up/staging takes approximately an hour and a half for all 3 categories. The remaining time is made up of the same ads over and over and boring fluff pieces ! I realized how important the advertisements are but u have to admit, seeing the the same ads repeatedly for 3 hrs becomes incredibly annoying. I’d rather they knock an hour off the Sunday show and return the Friday night qualifying show!. In my opinion the countdown or the announcers have very little impact on the the ratings. I think the producers and directors need to continue trying to relay the speed, power, and sound to the tv audience, in order to draw in the casual viewer.

 

[rocketman]

Actually I'm aware of the situation I was just being snide. Some of these deals trade product distribution and if it works for the team I'm OK with it. Now days you have to be creative.

 

[mike]

The current tv show is flat out unwatchable. For 3 hours they drag out 4 rounds of racing, which including burnouts/backing up/staging takes approximately an hour and a half for all 3 categories. The remaining time is made up of the same ads over and over and boring fluff pieces ! I realized how important the advertisements are but u have to admit, seeing the the same ads repeatedly for 3 hrs becomes incredibly annoying. I’d rather they knock an hour off the Sunday show and return the Friday night qualifying show!. In my opinion the countdown or the announcers have very little impact on the the ratings. I think the producers and directors need to continue trying to relay the speed, power, and sound to the tv audience, in order to draw in the casual viewer.

I agree...
I've found the only way I can watch anymore is by DVR-ing the race and fast-forwarding through all the fluff and drivel...I've been a fan just about since birth (my first real memories were of drag races in the early/mid 60's) and I feel like I've been all but driven away from watching NHRA on TV by the continual decline of the quality of the broadcast (plus the uber hyping of the "Countdown" doesn't help)


I know some people seem to think we should take what we get and be thankful, but frankly I'd prefer a well done broadcast a month after the race to an almost unwatchable broadcast the day of the race...I just can't conceive of a casual fan being able to sit through an NHRA race on TV; you don't have to know anything about drag racing to tell the shows aren't very compelling