Thursday, October 30, 2008

TV Action From Texas and ABC's Squandering Ratings

This weekend, all three series will be coming to us from Texas!

ALL TIMES PACIFIC!! HA!!
On Friday, we have the Craftsman Truck Series on SPEED at 5:30 PM.
Saturday sees the Nationwide Series on ESPN2 at 12 PM.
And Sunday has the Sprint Cup Series on ABC at 12 PM.

The real question though remains: Will ABC actually pick up the pace and improve on their coverage? Despite exciting developing stories with driver changes and 4 drivers in contention for the Cup (At the moment), ratings are flat lining for the free telecasts on ABC as folks head to other sources for their race info. The Daly Planet touches on this issue while I have to ponder why ABC has it's crack staff ask such redundant questions every week instead of trying to mix it up a bit.

If you stop to digest what the reporter is asking, you'll see what I mean. How many times can you ask a driver how a wreck felt? (That elicited my ever popular response: Smack them upside the head with a piece of car hood and say: "Like that.")

Why not ask if they were expecting it, or what was the very first thought you had as it started, or when it ended. Do you hang on to the steering wheel or let go. Do you close your eyes or keep them open. Are you glad you at your Wheaties this morning? Will you have to answer for this come Monday morning?

But no.

It's true, there is very little that you can ask that's different, but you can at least try to mix it up. In my other media job, I've interviewed folks and asked about their intentions, or hey, I have a few questions, but first, is there anything on the table you want to address? Let them start the conversation and bounce off what they say.

ABC - We know how a wreck feels. In fact, before the director sends the reporter to ask that fateful question, maybe we should introduce him to the car hood!

1 comment:

  1. seriously I have had those same thoughts. Why ask what happened when the driver himself doesn't know all the facts yet. They do watch the replays. Show it to him then ask. That way he isn't having to recant his comment or worse pull his foot from his mouth. I'd like to know do they close their eyes? How do they go about relaxing their bodies knowing they are about to hit something really hard? What goes through their mind as the wreck is unfolding? Michael Waltrip said on TWIN what all goes through his mind. It was a lot. Especially when you are dealing with high speeds and fractions of seconds. Good post.
    Kendria

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