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Which TV network treated NHRA with the most respect, and why!? (1 Viewer)

S

Speedy_Sticks

Nitro Member
Which TV network treated NHRA with the most respect, and why!?

Just a hint!!
Also who was the President of which ever network carried TNN in the later years before they stopped broadcasting NHRA? Where is he now? Should he be the NHRA's tv coverage advisor? Did he have a soft spot for NHRA?

Cheers

James S Welling
[email protected]
 
True, Diamond P was the production company hired NHRA to shoot and produce the shows that were then aired on The Nashville Network (TNN) which eventually became Country Music Television (CMT) and got back to their country music roots when the resurgent country genre gained mainstream popularity. Whole nother lifetime ago. The late Steve Evans could paint a picture and build some drama into the boradcast and did a great top end interview with Dave Mc on the play by play in the booth.

The sad thing is more people watched the ARCA race on Speed on a Saturday afternoon, than will watch the first 3 NHRA races on ESPN2 on a Sunday evening...when more people should be home watching TV..
 
Registered member said:
True, Diamond P was the production company hired NHRA to shoot and produce the shows that were then aired on The Nashville Network (TNN) which eventually became Country Music Television (CMT) and got back to their country music roots when the resurgent country genre gained mainstream popularity.
Click to expand...

The Nashville Network became TNN when it shed its country music roots. Then TNN became Spike TV. CMT is a different creation.

Jim
 
Registered member said:
True, Diamond P was the production company hired NHRA to shoot and produce the shows that were then aired on The Nashville Network (TNN) which eventually became Country Music Television (CMT) and got back to their country music roots when the resurgent country genre gained mainstream popularity. Whole nother lifetime ago. The late Steve Evans could paint a picture and build some drama into the boradcast and did a great top end interview with Dave Mc on the play by play in the booth.

The sad thing is more people watched the ARCA race on Speed on a Saturday afternoon, than will watch the first 3 NHRA races on ESPN2 on a Sunday evening...when more people should be home watching TV..
Click to expand...

TNN was The Nashville Network until 2000 because IHRA Racing was on the channel and then the Letters were kept as TNN but then called "The National Network" because Viacom got it and it got the slogan "We Got Pop" and then in 2003 it became Spike TV which it is now. I think I remember watching the Last TNN Broadcast i think was in 1999 which was before Steve Evans passed away.
 
Realistically, the ESPN family of networks is where NHRA needs to be. The NHRA just really needs to rework their deal. It is absolutely INSANE that NHRA scratches out a check for 7-8 million dollars every year and is stuck with the announcers ESPN gives them. NHRA has also fallen into that classic trap of "more is better" in terms of amount of time on the air. The 3 hour eliminations broadcast is the very definition of tedium. The NHRA needs to get drag racing people in the booth, cut the show down to 90 minutes or 2 hours and vary the fluff/technical content from race to race. As it stands now, every broadcast is the same, and only complete nitro junkies like us are going to watch. And to be perfectly honest ... if it weren't for DVR ... I don't know that I could watch every race.
 
starting to ask myself - why was i soooo addicted a few short years ago
and last 2-3 yrs. have missed a handful of races and not felt miserable for it?

is it really the broadcast as espn delivers it to us?.....partly i think;
also witness to fabulous diamond p shows of yesteryear.

but what about the actual racers?
- how did kc spurlock win the winters 20 yrs. as new team/driver?
- how did tony christian win pro stock races over glidden / allen / etc.
- how did the mac attack run for the championship?
- how did jim epler do 300 in fc?
- etc., etc.

point is, was there better competition among the pro fields just over a decade ago? and if so, why?
- cheaper parts? / less hospitality? / more nitro? / cheaper tickets?

it's got to be something because the same faces clog my tv anymore
and i don't think it used to be that way.
if we had 16 car fields and routinely 12-14 had legitimate shot at winning
and DID win, would we all be complaining about 'the show'?
 
Any more the show has turned into "John Force all the time". I sure would like to see features on some other drivers other than the Force group.
 
Registered member said:
x2..that's Why I don't watch it...ESPN sucks....Bring back TNN
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Sorry--there will never be another like the TNN shows. Unfortunately Steve Evans is no longer with us and Mac is enjoying his much deserved retirement. Good luck with finding ANYBODY with the passion for the sport and the knowledge and experience these two brought to the table. It can never be duplicated.
 
Jim, Rob, thanks for setting the record straight. I was trying to recall it all from a foggy memory. I knew there was a name change, forgot that it became Spike TV....my apologies for misinformation...I'm back quiet now....
 
In my opinion, if NHRA ever wants to take that 'next step' it's going to have to go live. How popular would NFL be if it was tape delayed?

They have enough archived footage, and there is enough stories at the track to fill the 'dreaded' downtime oil downs cause.

Many 'avid' fans like myself want to know who won right now, not tonight. Live has a whole other feel to it.
 
I agree Will, in todays, ADHD world....people want it now! and live sporting events are meant to be on Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday. The 4 wide race at Charlotte will effectively shorten the program by about a 1 hr, maybe an hr and a half so instead of 11 am to 5 pm...6 hours of coverage, you could in effect run a live TV event in about 4.5 hrs....still a little NASCAR long...but it's a start!
 
Damn I remember when i had to wait 2 weeks to know who won, unless i wanted to call 1-900-NHRA-NOW. I was so amped when they first aired the finals live back in the early 90's on TNN. I'd rather have a quality race that is tape delayed by a couple of hours as opposed to some mess that they would try to piece together live. There's no doubt the shows are better produced now, but there's an emptiness to them. It's all become rather bland. I just don't find the sport (at the professional level) as exciting as I used to. I literally think I could go a whole season without watching a race and really not care. My love for the sport hasn't changed, but something else sure as hell has and I don't know what it is.
 
Registered member said:
Damn I remember when i had to wait 2 weeks to know who won, unless i wanted to call 1-900-NHRA-NOW.
Click to expand...

And for something like $.99 a minute you could listen to a recording from Dave McClelland with the Castrol 'something' Report for 'such and such date'.

I can remember sitting there, checking the second hand of my watch to see if I wanted to hang in there for another minute for even more details from that day's action.

There was nothing more disappointing that dialing the number, knowing you were paying for the call, only to hear Big Mac tell you the day's action had been rained out.

Good times, as remembered by us 'getting older' fogies.
 
Registered member said:
And for something like $.99 a minute you could listen to a recording from Dave McClelland with the Castrol 'something' Report for 'such and such date'.

I can remember sitting there, checking the second hand of my watch to see if I wanted to hang in there for another minute for even more details from that day's action.

There was nothing more disappointing that dialing the number, knowing you were paying for the call, only to hear Big Mac tell you the day's action had been rained out.

Good times, as remembered by us 'getting older' fogies.
Click to expand...

I used to record those phone calls because I couldn't write fast enough, and after the call. couldn't read my illegible scribble.

As far as tv network with the most respect and credibility.Weren't the US nationals broadcast on ABCs wide world of sports? I seem to remember watching the front half of Jim Nicoll's top fuel car spinning wildly in front of the Snake live on TV at my friends house. The Snakes top end interview was unforgettable.
 
Registered member said:
Weren't the US nationals broadcast on ABCs wide world of sports?
Click to expand...

Yes, they were. The year my former dear friend from the town I lived in Michigan, Wayne Bailey, qualified - completley by accident mind you - in TF and had Gary Ormsby in round 1 at Indy. The weather changed overnight, and Lee Beard got the clutch wrong... and Wayne got the biggest win of his life because Ormsby roasted the tires just past the tree!!!! That was shown on ABC.
 
Registered member said:
In my opinion, if NHRA ever wants to take that 'next step' it's going to have to go live. How popular would NFL be if it was tape delayed?

They have enough archived footage, and there is enough stories at the track to fill the 'dreaded' downtime oil downs cause.

Many 'avid' fans like myself want to know who won right now, not tonight. Live has a whole other feel to it.
Click to expand...

I agree. For me A 1 hour condensed recap of rounds and 1/2 hour of live finals would be ideal for me. BUT NHRA needs to promote it. I never recall seeing a commercial on ESPN for the deuce.
 
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