Thoughts on the FS1 broadcasts so far (2 Viewers)

[Dennis]

At the beginning of the year there were dueling posts about the FS1 broadcasts. Some didn't like it, others thought there was nowhere to go but up. Six races are in the books, how do people feel about it?

In fairness, I have watched one broadcast. Well not even one whole broadcast, I couldn't bring myself to it. Since switching over my Sling package to the newer offering, which included FS1, I figured I'd check it out (all of the races to date are archived so I started with Houston).

My thoughts...

• The show is 2 hours long. But from what I saw, burnouts have been cut out, many interviews cut out and little to no replays. ESPN would replay just about every run in both regular time and a portion in super slow mo.
• I found the segues very choppy, the show just didn't seem to flow to me
• The special features were extremely lacking. Take, for instance, the recent feature on a Top Fuel dragster's horsepower. It seems that FS1 spent more time and effort on the 90's computer graphics typing out each title than they did on content. It got to the good stuff (the "science" if you will) and said just threw the formula up on the screen. This is what I'm interested in, who came up with the formula? What does the 5252 represent?
• I like that when the cars are staging there is a graphic pointing to each car. Helpful to the new fan because right and left lane can become confusing when the camera changes angles.
• The staging/green light graphic needs to go. It doesn't even synch to the tree.
• I noticed and this is not a negative or positive but the new camera crews have many wide angle shots. I felt that ESPN had really tight shots (which I prefer, but not a deal killer)
• Skip the on track advertising (the green screen like advertising in the lanes). Just plain annoying.

I made an attempt to watch and may pick it up again if nothing else is on, but I was just wondering what everyone else thought. In fairness I didn't watch the ESPN broadcasts much lately either. Since they went to spec cars and 1000 ft....it just doesn't interest me anymore.

I saw a ray of light when they started getting technical on the horsepower piece but it was such a letdown.

 

[Diesel Funnycar]

For what it's worth ... My wife doesn't know about the ESPN / fs1 switch , she doesn't care or know much about drag racing , but I have noticed her watching more & asking more questions about teams & people with the new format ... That's got to mean something .

 

[Jer]

My thoughts are way to much yapping and not enough showing the cars/sponsors. IE cutting out burnouts,1st rd is done in under 8 minutes,whats the big hurry??? Show the cars,we like to watch racing not talk about it. ESPN did a much better job on the show except for start times.

 

[Jim]

Not kidding: I haven't watched enough to really judge (I'm spoiled by AllAccess) but, there seem to be a flock of new advertisers. That's GOT to be a positive.

PS: Next LIVE event, I'll switch to TV so I can better judge the special features (and avoid the down time before the final round).

 

[turbo ken]

You have to remember that the NHRA is producing the shows "in-house" not FS1. If they would just have the finals live instead of the semi-finals, and finals they wouldn't have that hour of "dead air" in-between. Then they could show burnouts, slow mo replays, and make the first round last longer than 8 minutes.

 

[PJ]

I'm still trying to be patient.

I love having decent TV times so I can deal with everything else.

A couple of areas I would like to see improved
-They seem to rush too much. ESPN went overkill with the amount of replays, FS1 barely shows the first round. Somewhere in the middle would be good.
-I get the push for live TV, it just doesn't work for our sport. Live finals are fine, but the hour of dead time for semi's and finals kills me. I quit watching as the filler didn't do anything for me. I'd be interested in seeing the quarter mark ratings for the show, especially during the dead hour. Do they lose, maintain or even gain? Do people that leave come back for the last 15 to see for finals or are they 100% gone?
-He's improved from the first show, but I'm not all that confident there is a high ceiling for TP in the booth. Not horrible by any means but not as good as I hoped. Now just about everyone else on the show has years of experience over him. Maybe that gap makes it look worse.

Honestly if they would have taken the ESPN production stuff and just put it on in the FS1 timeslots (perhaps with a few tweeks) all would have been good.
I can see them wanting to put their own touch to it though.

It's all about the TV time slot and they have been great with that.

 

[Jer]

Im almost at the point of not even watching it and just getting results on drag central,wake up nhra

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I'm still trying to be patient.

I love having decent TV times so I can deal with everything else.

It's all about the TV time slot and they have been great with that.

You've book-ended it perfectly, PJ. I like your proposal for only live finals, but bottom line, live TV is going to be the ONLY thing that will maintain the prime time slots and that's going to be essential for any hope of growth.

For me personally, I'm satisfied thus far. Yes, there's room for improvement, but they WILL improve. One thing is obvious to me, and it's that they've been paying attention to feedback. Like many of you I'm sure, I'm a member of many boards like this and all of them have had essentially the same complaints early on, many of which were rectified very quickly. Many of you complain about the content of the filler(s), and I wouldn't necessarily disagree (in some cases, anyway), but if I had to choose between what is being given to us as filler right now versus what ESPN gave us as filler in the form of ENTIRELY too much JFR sh!t, I'm good with what they have now, which again, is bound improve. As far as TP is concerned, I'm indifferent, personally. He's gotten better since the first event, and as time goes on he'll likely get at least a little more relaxed/better. But even if he doesn't, it's not like everyone on the planet didn't complain about SOMEBODY on the broadcast team anyway...... Lol

When it's all said and done, they will still end up with a different flavor than ESPN, and that's okay with me because I was tired of the content of the filler and the sh!tty time slots.

Sean D

 

[Billy]

It's okay, prefer All Access.

 

[DrRocket]

I think the shows are improving as the season rolls on.

I also think that the hour of tap dancing between the semis and the finals has to go.

The on-track advertising graphics? Get used to them, they're not going away. Why? M-O-N-E-Y, sir.

 

[vegasnitro]

I think that FS1 and the NHRA in-house production team would be wise to remember that you can't please everyone and continue to tweak the format and features. They will eventually find the sweet spot, and they are getting better.

By all accounts ratings are up for NHRA, and that has to GREAT news for FS1, because the ratings for the rest of their programming are absolutely in the crapper. For instance, they paid a ton of money for Colin Cowherd, and he routinely draws less than 50K viewers in his time slot. Their Sportscenter equivalent doesn't even register on Nielsen's ratings most nights. To be able to count on a steady 500K viewers on a regular timeslot has to be welcome news for them.

I am OK with less replays, we don't need to see 15 views of every run. I am also OK with less interviews, and the drivers have no one to blame but themselves. They NEVER say anything interesting, it is just sponsor-sponsor-sponsor thanks to the crew. YAWN.

We are outliers, we will watch all of the drag racing we can. The average fan (or potential new fan) is not going to sit down and watch for 3 hours or more (unless it is football). That is just not how TV works anymore. I kinda think they should go the other way and tighten up the race day show down to 2 hours or even 90 minutes. That's how you get a new audience, get 'em in and get ';em out and leave them wanting more (and programming their DVRs). Everyone on this board seems unanimous that the Diamond P days of Dave Mac and Steve Evans was the high point of drag racing on TV ... those were one hour shows tape delayed by a week or two. IMO, outside of the announcers, what we have today is a vastly superior product.

If you are willing to burn 3+ hours of your Sunday watching drag racing, you really should be watching All-Access anyway (IMO). You will get to see everything you want and avoid the announcers you dislike.

One thing I absolutely LOVE about FS1 is the Pro Mod show. Two big thumbs up to everyone there ... and it is "only" 30 minutes.

These are merely my opinions, your mileage may vary, no warranty is expressed or implied, no dolphins were harmed in the creation of this post and the author reserves the right to be wrong.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

One thing I absolutely LOVE about FS1 is the Pro Mod show. Two big thumbs up to everyone there ... and it is "only" 30 minutes.

I was going to say this very thing, Chris. Only 30 minutes, interviews in the late rounds, great! Some of what they're doing over there needs to be implemented on the big show to some degree. For me personally, I would still like SOME filler, just maybe some different content. I really dig the tech stuff, maybe even a condensed version of what Alan does at the National events. I caught the one he did (last year?) at Indy with Zizzo, and not only did I love it, the people that went with me, who were newbs loved it, which I believe is MORE important. I would also dig some "where are they now" blips. That could be cool, simply from an educational standpoint for the new fans watching. Lord knows there are plenty of those icons still around.

Probably the best description you made was the term "outliers". That we are.......

Sean D

 

[.]

For only being a few races into the season I think they're doing all right. A few hiccups here and there but really no worse than ESPN IMO. I do wish FS1 would stop putting chyrons over the top of other chyrons, makes it impossible to see the NHRA graphics. But the broadcasts start on time, so that's a plus!

 

[.]

I got to see the live Friday Atlanta show yesterday. The NHRA email reminder that details the tv broadcast times was a direct result of that. Excellent pro-active way to get me in the loop.

I loved the ESPN3 live Friday shows and this brought back memories of them. Too bad a fair part of the broadcast was of nothing because the sun was setting. I hope that can be planned for next time.

I still cannot see the et or mph info on the screen tho. Font is way too small.

 

[Dan]

The only thing I would like to see is more time for the low buck cars....I get you have to show the hero's and there sponsors who pay good money but if say us or Palmer or kyle get someone to give them some money to go to a race you would hope it could get shown on TV that is all even if the runs aren't earth shattering....real deal fans will know we were at the race but if you were just flipping through you wouldn't even know we were there

 

[vegasnitro]

The only thing I would like to see is more time for the low buck cars....I get you have to show the hero's and there sponsors who pay good money but if say us or Palmer or kyle get someone to give them some money to go to a race you would hope it could get shown on TV that is all even if the runs aren't earth shattering....real deal fans will know we were at the race but if you were just flipping through you wouldn't even know we were there

Kyle made a hell of a pass in Round 1 ... That .85 was stout and was right there to keep the big guys honest.

 

[.]

...But the broadcasts start on time, so that's a plus!

Sorry, I jinxed it for everyone. I'll forgive them since the NASCAR race looked like a mess from what I saw on my DVR.

 

[Mikey]

They should use the hour downtime to show the sportsman finals. I know they can't show the alcohol classes, but they can show everything else.

 

[rick]

Dave and Tony should stop trying to impress us with big words that they mispronounce.

 

[ironpony]

edit the hour delay short and show the finals........................I think this is twice now