How the media covers auto racing

Frustrating… Nothing more than frustrating.
Here we are in the age of television. I personally have over 240 channels at my immediate disposal with my satellite package, and can subscribe to hundreds more. I know that I have loved having my new HD package to go with my TV my wife bought me, and there is nothing better than watching my racing in HD. I would rather watch a bad race in HD than a good movie in standard digital any day. HOWEVER, I am finding myself making time to watch the movie instead of the race. Why? Poor coverage.
This last weekend the IndyCar Series was in Edmonton, Alberta. This is not one of my favorite races because the cars make right turns and drive the course in a ‘clockwise’ fashion. I really don’t like road courses or street courses, but they are here to stay so I have to deal with them. So, I turned on the TV at 5pm when the advertised coverage was set to begin, only to find they were in the cars and getting ready to go. No interviews. No talk about last week. No talk about Paul Tracy making his return. Nothing. Just a ‘start your engines and lets get this thing over with now so we can get to the Nascar race at 7:30. Even after the race, they barely make time to interview the winner and then rush off to another program. Why? Because there is no other channels on the dial to cover the other events coming up. HOGWASH!
I am not a fan of Nascar, but they get it. They have program after program that runs on both sides of the race, conducting interviews, re-hashing last week and getting the fan in the mood for what is about to take place. They have Raceday on Speed, Countdown to Green, etc and so on that makes it very clear that there is a piece of the event that needs to be covered: the human interest piece. After the race there are more shows, and they typically interview the top 5 and then some. Even during the race they cover the ones who wreck and the crew chiefs and get you involved with the personal side of it. And then, they cover all the practice and qualifications too.
I purchased XM radio for the sole reason to listen to races and auto racing programming while I am on the road 4 hours a day and nearly every weekend during the summer. I thought , ‘Surely they will have more than the race on the IndyCar channel’. But they don’t. In fact, the channel doesn’t even play the race. It is broadcast on another channel. They only have 1 program during the week for the series, the Andretti Green Racing Hour. That’s it. No more, and probably would do less if they didn’t have strategic partnership in place. I am considering canceling my membership because I can play CD’s and be more entertained.
I sat and thought about the reasoning behind this whole lack of coverage and only came to one conclusion. The reason I believe things are poorly covered is that they don’t think it would be advantageous to cover the event any more than they do. Well, that is pure crap. The IndyCar series may have less viewer-ship, but they have a more loyal viewing audience. They also show growth in all applicable markets and sectors that they broadcast and advertise. What the entire reason comes down to is league salesmanship. Tony George and the ICS have not done enough to sell the series. Hiring Gene Simmons and his cronies to create ‘I am Indy’ is a joke. How can you be ‘Indy’ when you have taken even that one premier race and shrunk the pre-race to 31 minutes? Why can’t you take some of that money you use for stupid little things and buy another half-hour on each side for the fan?
What am I saying? Simply put, get off your wallet and ego series team members and think about the fans. The rising cost of travel is not the entire reason for people not going to the race. Most people don’t go because it is becoming a ‘race only, no other exciting things to do’ event. The only race with enough fun for the whole family is Indianapolis, and that is even falling away.
Please, IndyCar Series officials and marketing staff, take care of your fan and give them more and better coverage that draws people in and makes them a part of the festivity.