TV killed the rally star
Posted by Nick Trott at 5:30PM on Tuesday 23 January, 2007 22 Comments
So, here I am just about to give WRC's TV coverage a kicking when I watch a re-run of the Monte Carlo Rally on Eurosport and...
...it's quite good actually.
Not up there with Channel 4's old WRC TV show, but good nonetheless.
Then I started thinking. TV could be the downfall of the World Rally Championship as we know it. Pray it doesn't happen, but it could. Here's why.
Any world-level sporting event depends on massive media exposure and for now that means TV.
A WRC event is spread over three days, sometimes four. Tune in to watch a day's highlights (often at 1am) and you get a bit of background, a bit of action andÂ… that's it.
Good for the hardcore WRC bobble-hatter, but not so good for the casual viewer. Why? Because there's no winner; just a leader at the end of the day. The winner gets his champers on the final day.
Rallying's entire USP - racing against the clock - is easy enough to understand, but for the casual viewer racing head-to-head is far more exciting. Hence the Super Specials; two rivals racing each other on bespoke courses set up in stadiums, city centres etc.
Forgive me for banging on about the casual viewer, but if a TV station transforms a casual viewer into a dedicated viewer they swell their audience. Simple.
For now, the SuperSpecials make up a tiny proportion of a WRC event. But they're the most TV friendly of all the stages.
Therefore a clumsy but effective way to boost the TV spectacle is to increase the number of Super Specials, or perhaps (whisper it) radically alter the rally format so that an entire WRC event is made up of Super Specials.
And what about a winner being crowned at the end of each day, and the overall rally winner handed extra points on the final day?
The thought of this makes me quiver with rage because I've just returned from my first rally and following the event like some kind of obsessed gypsy, walking across fields, standing in the cold and lighting fires on remote stages made it for me.
But you can bet that WRC's bigwigs are looking at altering the format because TV, not the spectator, is God.
Let's hope the pursuit of greater TV audience figures doesn't ruin the unique motorsport spectacle that is the WRC.
Advertiser links
22 Comments for "TV killed the rally star"
POST A COMMENT USING THE FORM BELOW
Comments are now closed for the blog archives.
For all WRC fans is really fantastic to see through nature the cars racing, but ufortunately, living in this part of the world we are in disadvantage, because not all fans get acces to TV cable, and the international channels like ESPN global sports, it is what its name a global, so they just show you a bit of everything, a bit of tennis, football, f1, wrc, and it is not fair just seeing just a piece.
TV channel, exclusive like are improving in football, maybe good, for instance TV Mauntd, arsenal, etc, other problem, is now the acces to those specific channel.
That whould be fine I think, to see any time, and everything you want about your favorite team, and not looking for at the schedule to see when your program is shown.
I think that that is a great idea. It would be a shame to see the end of rallying. It needs more publicity as it is. It seems to have fallen out of popularity, and is in a rather sad state as it is.
To be honest, I hate the way in which the WRC is shown on TV. In my opinion, the only people that kinda got it right was Channel 4. I do like the idea of 'bonus points' at the end of each Leg & maybe a winner after each as well. But I really do think, somthing has to be done to improve it because to someone unlike me who isnt a hardcore motorsport & rally fan, i bet the TV programmes of the WRC are a bit boring & could be alot better in their eyes...
I feel the same fear too, because costs are growing up and only TV sponsorships can resolve the issue. But I think that if WRC cars were simpler, with less electronic stuff like a Super2000 car, there will be more manufacturers involved. More manufacturer means more sponsors, more contenders, more show. Lets start with this: less races (18 is too much!), cheaper cars and more BUT NOT ONLY superspecials. This way our sport will survive!
The last time I watched the WRC regularly was in 2001. Granted that this is a long time ago - but back then I had a bit more time for television ;). What made me and all my friends want to watch the rallies was not to see who the winner was but to really appreciate everything the teams were doing and how well the drivers were handling their cars through the different stages and events. Perhaps it was the show's organization that made it so exciting for us to watch, but who won at the end of the day really didn't matter too much - and isn't that what rallying is all about anyway? Maybe the current show, if it has changed since 2001, just needs to do a better job of showing the events. Perhaps it would also be nice to have the show run at better times of the day - when regular folk watch TV and not just the hardcore rally nut.
I have followed the WRC for nearly 10 years now going to the British (or should it be Welsh) Rally 6 times and would hate for it's coverage to end. The WRC provides a superb spectacle for all ages, with direct relationships with todays road cars; it also makes for a great marketing tool for manufacturers. I really do wish the coverage was better and that more manufacturers like Vauxhall, Toyota etc would get involved again...heres to hoping the WRC continues into the future!
Yeah.... I commented in one of yer past blogs that TV coverage should be great for WRC.....but now having read this... I'm not so sure.
I live in Singapore where we only get Eurosport News and 3/4 days of WRC compressed into 1 hour on ESPN or some other cable sports channel.
Maybe Internet TV will be a better option for WRC, then. But we'll need something faster than current broadband connections.
WRC should remain a sport for dedicated fans with knowledge and appreciation of time trial type racing.
Look at F1.... In the 80's, at least in my part of the world, you could sit down with some F1 fans at a pub and talk about stuff like PSI levels on turbos, transmission types, Senna's aggression vs Prost's smooth style vs Mansel's "give it everything and hope you're still alive in the end" style.
Nowadays, all the "F1 fans" are "ferarri's the best coz Schooomacher's the fastest and it's er, red." Dodgy commentators don't help, either.
I think that using a name once would ruin any chance of being able to use it again, for something perhaps more special. I would rally and petition against it being called Villeneuve, purely so that the name could be used for something more exciting and availabelt to the public. Ferrari must really have thought the Enzo was a great car to sacrifice the name to it, thus meaning it could not be used for several decades at least. I think that, as no one ever calls an F1 car by its name, it would be a real waste of a great name to throw it away on something that will only be around for less than a year before retiring into a dark museum for the rest of its existance- forgotten, and relegated to the confines of history books.
I think the sport would be boosted by the return of the main works teams. People would be more interested in the sport if they knew about the teams and their drivers. In my opinion the manufacturers should publicise their wmc involvement more. What is the point of Citroen winning events when there is no fast xsara or c4 waiting on the forecourts? TV coverage is one thing, but the WMC had more fundamental problems.
Well I'm from America and they show rally cross here barely at all and when they do its prerecorded and so cut up that a whole 3/4 day race becomes a half hour spectacle of cars bouncing of little burms. Seriously though, i think it would be a good idea to show the whole race. they show a whole day's worth of coverage for the Rolex 24(usually, which is this weekend and im going!). Rally cross is probably the most raw of all motorsports and it really would be a shame to see it go, no NASCAR or F1 driver can handle cars like those guys do,(though they do have alot of talent) but i wish there were alot more coverage and alot more of the actual racing over here in the states
I like the idea of a daily winner - get the car up on a podium and try stretching a Yellow Jersey over it. Then the leading driver wouldn't be able to see out of the windscreen and the aerodynamics would be equally compromised leading to frequent changes at the top of the leader board and increased excitement. Well, its no dafter than other recent WRC rule changes.
I'm a big fan of the WRC and disappointed to see that the tv coverage has now moved to ITV4! I much preferred Channel 4's coverage spread over the days of the rally and at a sensible viewing times. I would hate to see the rally go to just superspecial, whilst i think that they're exciting to watch one against the other, the whole point of WRC is to watch the skill of the drivers, and of course not forgetting the Co-Drivers, going as fast as they can along road/tracks that are only just wide enough for the cars. I love the rally as it is the only impovement i think could be made is more enthusiam from the commentators (come back Robbie and Jon)!! Leave Rallying to rally fans cause if people want to see cars going round a circuit watch F1 or Touring cars!!
I would hate to see rallying leave the world of motor sport. I love watching it on TV but I do see what Nick is on about. I have never had the chance to see it for real. Im not quite old enough to be driving yet and no one else in my family is really into motorsport that much either. I do plan to go and watch rallying in the future, I just hope that it will still be going and I wont be too late.
Well in my view its this simple. I used to watch the rallies all the time, however since ITV got the rights the WRC show is on so infrequently and is often hidden away at stupid o'clock in the morning. I just cann't be bothered. ITV seams to have totally dropped its Sunday afternoon Motorsport show. The lack of manufacturer backing for the series has also turned me off, I don't want to watch 3 exactly the same cars apart from the colours on them running.
I live in a part of the world where WRC isn't as popular as it could be. We get our coverage days after the fact and I'm sure it's washed out by the time I get to see it. What I do like to see is the pure skill that the driver has. Nick Trott put it correctly that you'll see more driving skill in 6 seconds of Rally then you would in most other motorsports. Changing the format to all Super style stages doesn't seem like a reasonable direction to take. Most courses are far too tight to run two abreast and would lead to typical no pass F1 syle racing. Rally is about the skill of the driver and the team. It's man and machine against the clock. As more of a casual observer and not a hardcore Rally nutter I don't really pay attention to who wins or loses. I like the pure adrenaline of the sport and the technical prowess it takes to even finish a stage. What does need to change is the spectator interaction. What can we do as spectators to involve ourselves in the sport? Really, what can the TV execs do to involve ME in the sport? Thats the question that needs to be asked. Changing the format is ok, but not the be all end all.
Let's be honest. It is not likely to happen. I watch every rally and I am a big Petter Solberg fan. It just won't happen.
I have been a hughe fan of rallying for over 30 years. I have seen the sport grow through the 1970's and into the 80's which has been the best era of rallying ever witnessed. The cars were spectacular, crowds huge and you were close to the action. Now the cars are as good, however the chance of getting close to the action has killed the atmosphere. Concerns over safety and over eager marshalls putting you in ridiculous viweing points , crammed in like cattle has had an effect on spectators. The television coverage now focuses more on the crowd than racing, which to be fair now seems to mirror the max power brigade with fireworks. Let's get it back to how it was and show rallying for the true spectacle it is. Channel 4 coverage was better and at a more accesible time. Now it will be on at midnight on ITV4. No wonder it's lost viewers.
TV coverage of this pretty good championship is rubbish. But you are right it doesn't lend itself to the telly very well. I think any coverage on TV should be a review on sunday and the important final stages live or nearly live. Couple this with the internet live streaming where you could possibly watch the whole thing all weekend and it might work better. this may work for the casual viewer and also for geeks like me
I don't think the risk of losing the WRC to tv is the biggest thread. I'm afraid the WRC will go under in her own succes. The increasing popularity is being followed by the increasing amount of spectators. This makes the WRC organisation call of more and more stages. Because there's too much crowd along these stages.
Perhaps this is where the idea for a organised Special Stage comes in. With these SS's it's possible to build stands around the track and keep the crowd of.
I hope this will never happen. When i see flashbacks of rally stages in the 80's crowds where literaly standing in the middle of the road. The WRC organisation have solved that in a proper manner, let's hope they don't lose themselfs for the sake of the sport.
going back to the original article:
"A WRC event is spread over three days, sometimes four. Tune in to watch a day's highlights (often at 1am) and you get a bit of background, a bit of action and that's it.
Good for the hardcore WRC bobble-hatter, but not so good for the casual viewer. Why? Because there's no winner; just a leader at the end of the day. The winner gets his champers on the final day. "
Well why is golf so popular on tv?!! and you cant say because loads of people play it,people fish,they dont watch 3days of it on tv.
Rallying need live tv,as soon as the technology can give it,imagine it 3days if live rallying! if you know the wrc website u know rally radio and its great. Would think that is the way the sport will go,cut costs down, find a niche and it will justify itself
Out of all motorsport, rallying is the best kind. Driver skill, ever changing weather and track conditions make it different to any other motorsport, especially the main motorsport which is considered by those NOT in the know is F1, or, scalextric with petrol as i like to refer to it. Since the rights were taken over to David Richards media group it has become a farce. Please put it on as it used to be on a Sunday afternoon at a reasonable time so more people can enjoy and put a commentator on who knows what they are on about. This way it will keep the true fans glued and attract new fans who appreciate the driving skill involved.
they once tried to cover the last stage of the rally of Britain live. switching between the first 15 cars. It was a great Idea sadly it only occured once on Belgian television. I'd like to see more live coverage. Although the reign of Seb Loeb isn't very good for the championship, and for the intrest of "casual viewers".