Ratings down for NHRA/ESPN2 show

[Randy]

ESPN2 is a cable/satellite channel.

What happens when the economy sucks and many are forced to cut back or cancel cable service. Look at how many are in foreclosure or have lost their homes? I would guess viewership on just about everything is down, not because Mike Dunn has to constantly fill in the blanks for Paul Page, but because people are making difficult financial choices right now.

 

[BrettV]

Are these results really that surprising? Unless you've ever attended a drag racing event in person, it doesn't matter how great the coverage or the broadcast is, the average person is simply not going to watch drag racing on TV. To the person who knows little or nothing at all about drag racing, chances are if they're channel surfing and come across an NHRA event on TV, they may look at it briefly, say "boring", and move on.

I may be an exception, but that is EXACTLY how I came to watch NHRA. I was channel surfing in 2002 (i think) and came across a race. I was intrigued by watching Angelle and got hooked watching the rest of the show. Four years later when the Richmond race started I went to my first national event and have since got my kids interested.

But to be honest I don't watch as much as I used to. I think it is a combination of all the factors others have mentioned: the countdown, some missing faces, 1000 ft, and so on. But I still plan to go to Richmond this year.

 

[Toejam]

High is a 'relative' term Joe. I do not believe the ratings have been above a 1.0 market share but these numbers SERIOUSLY SUCK. Revamping the show wont help much either. SELLING IT THROUGH SOLID ADVERTISING OUTSIDE OF THE NHRA SHOW MIGHT THOUGH.

Jon Asher did a piece on this very subject like 2-3 years back. And moving the show to ESPN would make a huge difference in Ratings. But at what cost?

 

[BrettV]

Does anybody actually know a "Nielsen" family ? Or seen anything to gather the data? I have asked all my friends for years and nobody has seen it either..( Cold calls dont count)

My family was once about 15 years ago. It was done on paper, they did keep track of shows I taped and taped shows I watched. I think they kept track of 15 minute incriments, maybe 10 minutes. They wanted to know how many people were in the room and their ages when the TV was on, whether they were watching or not. They even had me count my 4 month old twin girls

 

[BrettV]

ESPN2 is a cable/satellite channel.

What happens when the economy sucks and many are forced to cut back or cancel cable service. Look at how many are in foreclosure or have lost their homes? I would guess viewership on just about everything is down, not because Mike Dunn has to constantly fill in the blanks for Paul Page, but because people are making difficult financial choices right now.

True times are tough, but I read somewhere that the last thing most people cut is cell phone service and satellite/cable. They cut costs by staying home to watch TV instead of going out for entertainment. OF course those who have to foreclose end up cancelling TV...

 

[vegasnitro]

Does anybody actually know a "Nielsen" family ? Or seen anything to gather the data? I have asked all my friends for years and nobody has seen it either..( Cold calls dont count)

As a former engineer for a cable company, I can tell you that in 2007 we could run a report for any given second and tell you how many digital converter boxes were turned on and to what channels. Back then, I got a sneak peak at some Scientific Atlanta software that is extraordinarily robust that should be implemented by now or in near future that can report how many times you change the channel and which channels you are changing to and from or conversely if you stop changing the channel and stayed tuned to a channel for a given period of time, it will record the channel and program as listed in the on-screen guide in a database. It also has the capability to record what shows you DVR in that database. I would assume the cable companies are selling this data to Nielsen or other large marketing firms ... otherwise there is no point in collecting it.

Of course this is only for customers with digital or HD boxes, only about half of all cable customers. I am not aware of a reporting method for basic cable customers done in house by the cable companies.

 

[Draw 3D]

My family was once about 15 years ago. It was done on paper, they did keep track of shows I taped and taped shows I watched. I think they kept track of 15 minute incriments, maybe 10 minutes. They wanted to know how many people were in the room and their ages when the TV was on, whether they were watching or not. They even had me count my 4 month old twin girls

I did it about 5 years ago and it was still using paper, they sent a "catalog" of all shows for all channels for each tv in the house, and the increment was 15 minutes for 1 week.

You have to be pretty diligent about filling in the "catalog" for the shows you watch, I have 5 tv's and keeping track of each one in the "catalog" took some time and effort.

I'm not surprised with the results because of the way the Nielsen does the surveys. The way they approached me was thru an unsolicited phone call if I remember correctly. I know a lot of people hang-up on people calling about "surveys" and they usually end up with mostly retired and unemployed people, atleast that is what the phone caller told me.

 

[clwill]

As a former engineer for a cable company, I can tell you that in 2007 we could run a report for any given second and tell you how many digital converter boxes were turned on and to what channels. Back then, I got a sneak peak at some Scientific Atlanta software that is extraordinarily robust that should be implemented by now or in near future that can report how many times you change the channel and which channels you are changing to and from or conversely if you stop changing the channel and stayed tuned to a channel for a given period of time, it will record the channel and program as listed in the on-screen guide in a database. It also has the capability to record what shows you DVR in that database. I would assume the cable companies are selling this data to Nielsen or other large marketing firms ... otherwise there is no point in collecting it.

Of course this is only for customers with digital or HD boxes, only about half of all cable customers. I am not aware of a reporting method for basic cable customers done in house by the cable companies.

Excellent info, Chris. I too used to work for a market research company, one now owned by Nielsen. Chatted with a friend who still works there about six months ago. They use boxes now that count bodies in the room, so they don't get faked out by a TV left on. They are fully smart enough to get DVR info, and all cable/satellite/TiVo boxes report back to the mother ship about what's watched, recorded, replayed, saved, etc.

The info today is FAR more accurate than it's ever been, can't blame rating changes on the data gathering process.

 

[FC138fan]

Like others have said, I can't imagine a non drag fan wanting to watch on TV, it would be extremely boring if you don't follow the sport. Completely different story if your at the event though.

 

[FC138fan]

Re: NHRA TV Ratings

Heres an idea thats just may be crazy enuff to work. 1 hour show--just semis + finals. On at a set time. 1 or 2 hours prior--a pre race show--talk all you want about the Forces--the human interest stories etc--toward the end of the show do hilights of the 1st + 2nd round. If college volleyball runs long, it can cut into the begining of the pre-show. That way if someone tunes in at 9 pm--its ON. If your hardcore (like all of us) you can start watching at 7--or whenever it may start. If your casual, you can catch just the action. "Oh look-dragracing on at 9."

Whatcha think?

I like the idea of keeping the racing and "Force and human interest stories" seperate. I haven't watched a NASCAR show since 1989 but don't they keep the backstories and racing seperate? Maybe that's why there are hundreds of NASCAR half hour shows, but when it comes to racing its all racing. Maybe they can have a spinoff called the John Force and Family show where people can go to watch if they are so inclined

 

[T.Smith]

I wonder how PEAK Antifreeze feels about the replay time we got at St. Louis.

I could enjoy the whole 5 hours of coverage, but some serious tweaking needs to be done. Thank God for DVR and the mute button.

 

[Marchboom]

Re: NHRA TV Ratings

Nascar coverage starts on time usually. I got tired of chasing the NHRA time slot with womens pro weegie reading. Screw it.

I agree. I'm sure many people expect to see drag racing at a certain time and when they see double dutch jump rope or a 1989 hoop ball game on, they find something else to watch. Not everyone has a DVR.

 

[Prestaged]

Re: NHRA TV Ratings

I seldom watch the TV shows any more, and here are my reasons:

1. Too many commercials.
2. Too much fluff.
3. My interest in the sport has lessened with the 1,000' fuel racing.

 

[Nunz]

I'm not sure what ratings NASCAR pulls, but even after losing 11%, I'm sure there are well into the millions in viewers. This isn't about NASCAR vs. NHRA either, however, they can substantiate a decrease because of the times combined with their series having peaked in popularity, since nothing goes straight up, especially not forever. But geez, the world's fastest motorsport, with the wildest variety of cars, diversity in gender and ethnicity, and we can't get more than 600k people to watch? I think the show can be packaged better, but i believe the bigger answer lies in the marketing of Drag Racing in general, 50 years+ and most people don't know we're here. If that doesn't get fixed than we may as well forget TV and corporate deals (cuz there will be less and less) and just turn the clock back and focus on match racing and booked in shows.

 

[T.Smith]

Re: NHRA TV Ratings

I agree. I'm sure many people expect to see drag racing at a certain time and when they see double dutch jump rope or a 1989 hoop ball game on, they find something else to watch. Not everyone has a DVR.

John, I just made a few phone calls and you now have clearance to move into the 21st century.

 

[Nunz]

Oh and 1 other thing, I also use DVR/Tivo to tape the shows, and usually start watching about 90 minutes in, this way I can buzz through the huge number of commercials. If this doesn't count in the ratings, this is definitely hurting us. I'm as diehard as you'll find, but I don't feel any urgency to tune in when I can tape it, I just have to fight the urge to jump online before I watch.

 

[Marchboom]

Re: NHRA TV Ratings

John, I just made a few phone calls and you now have clearance to move into the 21st century.

Apparently you have misunderstood me. I have 4 TV's with DRV capability so I don't miss a thing. And I add another 90 minutes to the overall scheduled run time so a ping pong championship won't cut off the end of the race.

But, there are people who don't have DVR's.

Personally, I like the 20th century better.

 

[Speedy_Sticks]

Re: NHRA TV Ratings

I am in the UK, but with all the VHS event tapes I have been given, I much preferred the TNN NHRA shows, alot more layed back, not rushed, but still very informative, I believe they showed NHRA more consideration with more live shows, more shows on time? Am I wrong?

Didn't this attitude change when TNT got a new CEO?

Bring back TNN and NHRA on that channel!

There is a commercial over here in the UK which ends in 'less is genius'. Perhaps NHRA were greedy and wanted the money and more viewers instead of being interested in focusing in on the die hard fan?

Cheers

James
Huge Steve Evans fan!

 

[T.Smith]

Re: NHRA TV Ratings

Apparently you have misunderstood me. I have 4 TV's with DRV capability so I don't miss a thing. And I add another 90 minutes to the overall scheduled run time so a ping pong championship won't cut off the end of the race.

But, there are people who don't have DVR's.

Personally, I like the 20th century better.

 

[Tim5636sc]

ESPN2 is a cable/satellite channel.

What happens when the economy sucks and many are forced to cut back or cancel cable service. Look at how many are in foreclosure or have lost their homes? I would guess viewership on just about everything is down, not because Mike Dunn has to constantly fill in the blanks for Paul Page, but because people are making difficult financial choices right now.

I think we have a WINNER. Excellent post Mr G!