Sorry, But espn2; I gotta speak up... (2 Viewers)

[Rat]

First I wait 15 mins for soccer to finish, then, man I can not take it. The amount of interviews and the bulid up of drama from all sides compared to seeing actual racing i found myself asking, Will TF and FC round 1 ever end, it felt like a freakin marathon. I don't know if I can watch anymore, it's getting so watered down from racing it's pitiful. No wonder the ratings are EXTREMELY BAD and getting worse. It's pathetic what espn has made the coverage, they took spotty, to great, to overdone, to the now WELL overdone.

DO NOT misunderstand me tho, The camera quality is top notch, I am not taking shots there, I am not taking shots at the cast, they interview well and I am sure they are paid to follow some things more than others, but I am taking shots at the producer, you are missing your target audience big time! I am not speaking for everything, but for the people i can account for, this is what the Target of the show is not and what it should be.

The Target Audience I am referring to do not:

1. want to hear an interview by a big time losing driver, We like to hear what the no name winner has to say or the guy who finally won a round has to say.
2. does not want a drag racing basics show (explanation of a burnout, perfect light, deep stage, hole shot. How many new viewers who never seen the show or heard of NHRA before are watching?)
3. It's a slap in the face that anyone who watches the full 3 hours has to see a recap of results preceding every next round for the class.
4. It needs to stop that every team, every driver, gets asked how they feel about something. Some of these answers are so obvious. "how's it feel to win with the pressure?" "what it's like to be in such a tight championship chase?"

Perfect show:

1. We ask different drivers, different teams, more technical questions, more geared to their weekend performance, runs, car issues or good performances, less of the general how's it feel to win? what are they gonna say, #$%*# i hate that i won @*#$ this?!?!?!?
2. I lied, I will pick on Paul Page stop nicely insulting small teams that you think can't give team big money a good race.
3. Race, interview winner, NO LOSERS, interview NO NAME or RARE winners, Let's graduate from INTERVIEWING EVERY JFR DRIVER WHO WENT OUT FIRST ROUND!
4. 2 hours! Done, finished, quality race interviews, quality pit reports (when interesting things take place, like car issues not how John Doe feels to face Joe Doe) and leave the camera alone, it's the only thing perfect.

 

[Dick]

First I wait 15 mins for soccer to finish, then, man I can not take it. The amount of interviews and the bulid up of drama from all sides compared to seeing actual racing i found myself asking, Will TF and FC round 1 ever end, it felt like a freakin marathon. I don't know if I can watch anymore, it's getting so watered down from racing it's pitiful. No wonder the ratings are EXTREMELY BAD and getting worse. It's pathetic what espn has made the coverage, they took spotty, to great, to overdone, to the now WELL overdone.

I'm with you!!!
I miss the old days of TNN,and it being done in 90 minutes.
these picture in a picture interviews are stuppid.
and how many replays do you need of a tire smoker do you need?

 

[turbo ken]

The manufactured drama of the stupid countdown, along with asking the same dumb questions to every driver, crewchief, and car owner makes it hard to watch.

 

[Mr. Fix It]

I'd just like to see it end on time. DVR missed the top fuel and funny car finals for me.

 

[HEMI6point1]

I'd just like to see it end on time. DVR missed the top fuel and funny car finals for me.

Your DVR should have an option to extend the recording time. That's what I do.

 

[Wayne]

I'd just like to see it end on time. DVR missed the top fuel and funny car finals for me.

C'mon Mike!
You ALWAYS have to extend recording by 2 hours!!!

 

[Ro]

NHRA....WAKEUP! I hate seeing interviews with the loosing drivers...WTF. I now record and fast forward through the BS and just watch the runs....once. Never starts on time...blah, blah blah.

 

[mike]

...And this is why ESPN3 is great.

 

[twostep]

They interviewed Hector Arana Jr. and Eddie Krawiec when Angie Smith won a critical round - but not Angie.

And Mike Dunn said 'ass'. Other than that, routine ESPN2. I did notice the sound being considerably better (nitro engines idling) the first few minutes; then that seemed to go back to the usual.

 

[mike]

...And this is why ESPN3 is great.

yup...

and as much as I like Mike Dunn, I just wish they'd set up a mic for the track announcer and not have any commentators or interviews or anything like that...I can watch the ESPN show for that, and I can rewind anytime I want, I don't need all the fluff

just show me the action on the track from a few angles, including the wheel standers and such, some graphics with the RTs, ETs and the winner with an occasional view of what's going on in the pits...and lose the view looking up at the tree all the time

 

[Randy]

The coverage just plain sucks. I say take it off the air...just like the good ol' days. No drag racing on TV unless it's on ABC's Wide World of Sports once a year.

By the way, I DVR'd it and enjoyed the show.

Cheers.

 

[d'kid]

It's edited for Television... Drama... Points chase... The Fact that the best flopper out there running today is NOT in the points chase is totally F'ing the TV package...

They are editing for the "PASS THROUGH" viewer, but, what do I know? I watch it on ESPN3/no sound with the Audiocast running... that way I can watch the track clean up, listen to the GEIGO Guys over the PA with the same dumb jokes week in, week out... Heck, sitting at home, I guessed the correct tire the NHRA logo was under...

But remember.... The Broadcast is a SHOW, to SELL Advertisement. That's all any TV is, even the 6 o'clock news... even a couple of million viewers isn't really a bump, how many of you skip pass the ads? go grab a cup of coffee?

And no, I don't need to see the POINTS updated after every pass... WIN and the points take care of themselves...

d'kid
On the road to Nebraski in a couple of hours... Type at you next weekend.

 

[Jim]

I disagree with the original poster on just about every point.

Is the ESPN2 broadcast perfect? no. But, they keep trying to make it interesting from a moderately interested fan's point of view.
As far as back-to-basics is concerned, How many eyeballs are 'gonna be captured by just covering the on-the-track action? Every run (Pro and Sportsman)....C'mon - get real...

PS: I generally watch ESPN3 in my Google Chrome browser and listen to the NHRA Audiocast in IE-9 - I spend most of the day fiddling with the 2 audio streams<GGG> As a rabid fan, I'll spend the time but, a lesser nut has to have a bit more variety.

 

[FC138fan]

For what its worth, I deleted the qualifying show before I even started it (bored- not so much with the broadcast, but with the same thing over and over for hours and hours)

The Finals, there was nothing on TV... so I tunred on the DVR race... got 2 pairs in and quit.. then deleted it. Bored... with the same thing over and over for hours and hours... and the same espn hyped up drama was just too much.

Maybe less is more... or maybe I had enough drags for the year. I guess you can broadcast every race and Ill just watch when I want to watch. Or just wait till they come to town every year.

 

[I was NITRO BREATH]

Well maybe espn3 is fOr the old time racing fans and espn2 is for everyone else ?? I will watch either one. I do like to hear the commentary from the broadcast WHEN i can learn from it. Not when Gary Gerrald asks for the 1000th time what its like to win a round with " all the pressure on". And then the driver babbles about his sponsor for 60 seconds. Boring.

 

[FABMAN]

The coverage just plain sucks. I say take it off the air...just like the good ol' days. No drag racing on TV unless it's on ABC's Wide World of Sports once a year.

By the way, I DVR'd it and enjoyed the show.

Cheers.

Simple cure for this, called SPEEDTV.

 

[Ugly one]

TVO it and the races are about 60 minutes, no stupid questions, no commercials, no interviews unless you want to listen to them, but the best part is NO PRO STOCK CARS OR BIKES.

 

[*******]

I had the audio cast on and Drag Race Central pulled up while watching Football with the TV muted. My wife thought I was nuts! LOL

 

[FABMAN]

TVO it and the races are about 60 minutes, no stupid questions, no commercials, no interviews unless you want to listen to them, but the best part is NO PRO STOCK CARS OR BIKES.

What do you have against Pro Stock? Besides Indy Car they are the most Hi-Tech cars in racing. If you're a true fan of Drag Racing you would welcome all categories.

 

[SoCal Racer]

Patrick, you hit a lot of points right on and ESPN would do well to listen. I think a big part of the problem is that ESPN simply doesn’t understand the drag racing audience and tries to produce the show based on the same formulas that work for stick-and-ball sports. Trouble is the drag racing audience is a completely different animal than the one that watches MLB, NFL, NBA, etc. etc.

I’d wager the bulk of drag race viewers have at least once in their life raced a car (or bike) down a dragstrip. Other than sandlot ball most stick-and-ball viewers have never been involved in a sport that requires as much time, effort, money, determination, and commitment as drag racing does. In other words, stick-and-ball viewers are pretty much pure spectators, while most drag race viewers are, or have been, participants at some level – even if it’s just being a crew guy on a weekend bracket racer.

While I’m here I’d just like to say how much I LOVE seeing cars not in the contrived countdown winning rounds or events! It’s a slap in that stupidity’s face. Every run I’m rooting for the guys/gals who are not in the “countdown to the chase to the playoffs to the championship” or whatever they call it. It’s bogus anyway.