Bravo - by Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:33:00 GMT

If manufacturers want to stay in business, they don’t pro-duce what they want; they produce what consumers want. Television networks try to act in exactly the same manner. Why else would ESPN need a bracketologist to tell us for weeks who might make the NCAA tournament—and who is or is not a “bubble” team—when we could just wait until the “Selection Sunday” show (on CBS) and find out for ourselves?

Why are fewer horse races nationally televised today? Viewers are telling ESPN that horse racing ranks low on their “must see” list of sports.

ESPN’s slogan is “The Worldwide Leader in Sports,” but now ESPN does not just deliver sports; ESPN is sports.

ESPN decides for us what is sport and what is not, and what we will be able to watch.

Apparently, it is more important to find out who is the world’s strongest man than who is the world’s best Thoroughbred.

I remember a time when a young teen would wait for a sports show not called SportsCenter, the introduction to which was: “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport…the thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat…the human drama of athletic competition…This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports!”

Thanks to YouTube, part of my “Selection Sunday” was spent not only watching the introduction to Wide World of Sports, but also a replay of the 1973 Wood Memorial (gr. I), a race run about 6 1⁄2 years before ESPN came into existence.

As for Wide World’s introduction, it reminds us all of the true agony of defeat, time and time again watching ski jumper Vinko Bogataj’s signature 1970 crash.

As for the Wood, it was a reminder to a handicapper 36 years later of lessons learned that day—that pace can make the race (Angle Light) and that even champions (Secretariat) get beat.

Watching Angle Light beat Secretariat—who finished third behind Sham—served as a tiny consolation during a lamentable weekend in which none of the four major preps for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) was televised other than on HRTV or TVG. This came a day after ESPN announced it was dropping coverage of the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), which will be shown instead on Bravo.

Of note in the decision to cancel the Oaks was this quote from ESPN spokesman Mark Mandel: “We have an emphasis this year on Saturday’s programming versus a weekday afternoon. So that played into it here.”

This is the same network that televises the Breeders’ Cup, which has expanded to two days including a Friday, which the last time we looked, was a weekday afternoon. We’ll save that topic for another conversation.

The highest-rated televised race each year is the Kentucky Derby, which produced an 8.8 last year on NBC. Looking at a 25-year history of the Derby shows a rating of 18.9 in 1975, and 13 straight years (and 15 of 16) with a rating of 10.1 or higher on ABC.

Last year’s Preakness Stakes (gr. I) rating was 4.7, and the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) posted an 8.2 rating, thanks to Big Brown’s Triple Crown attempt.

For the week of March 2, the latest available from Neilsen Media Research, American Idol ranked first and second, the Tuesday show on FOX drawing a 13.8 rating and the Wednesday show a 13.1.

(The granddaddy rating of them all is the Super Bowl, which this year on FOX posted a rating of 42.0.)

Lower interest in racing can be attributed to several things, among them more choices today for viewers and the fact many core fans are watching on HRTV or TVG, or at a simulcast or off-track betting facility. While HRTV and TVG serve racing’s core, they do little to help cultivate new racing fans. It’s doubtful other, smaller cable networks will either.

The last time I can remember tuning into Bravo to watch sports was...well...never.

Hand Cupped - by Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:42:00 GMT

I watched parts of the Indianapolis 500 May 25. But I wonder how much less of it I would have viewed had the first 75 laps been on one network and the last 125 laps on another.

Just a small inconvenience? I don’t know. I might have just tuned out because of the silliness of making me—or is it asking me or expecting me—to do such a thing.

If you decide to watch the Saturday portion of the 25th Breeders’ Cup World Championships—formerly Breeders’ Cup, formerly Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships—this year from Santa Anita, you will have to do just such a thing. If you tune in on Friday, a third network comes into play.

You can argue an event with extremely low ratings should try anything new. Well, its organizers are.

So, on Friday, Oct. 24, five races for female horses—formerly distaffers—will be aired on ESPN2. The following day, the first 2 1⁄2 hours will be shown on ABC before the action switches to ESPN for another 3 1⁄2 hours.

(The Walt Disney Co. owns ABC as well as 80% of the ESPN family of companies.)

The Breeders’ Cup switched networks two years ago after a long run with NBC, apparently in an attempt to woo younger viewers, more of whom are attracted to ESPN programming. So far, that effort has been unsuccessful. The 2006 and ’07

ratings were nearly identical, last year’s 0.75 rating equating to roughly 1.05 million viewers.

The Friday card has been strengthened, in the view of some, but with poor previous ratings on Saturday, it is hard to imagine many new viewers tuning in on a Friday afternoon.

The Breeders’ Cup has made many announcements since last year’s event was held at Monmouth Park: last December that there would be three new races in 2008; in mid-February that Santa Anita would play host again in 2009; and later that month, that Friday would consist of five races for females and the Distaff (gr. I) would be re-named the Ladies’ Classic.

It became apparent a deal could not be worked out with Churchill Downs to play host in 2009, but waiting just a few weeks would have allowed Belmont Park to have been considered once the New York Racing Association was awarded a new franchise agreement.

As for the addition of new races, this writer must be among the minority who preferred the old model of the Breeders’ Cup, when a larger slice of the organization’s funds went to stakes races around the country throughout the year. More nominators and more horsemen were rewarded by pumping up stakes, many at small racetracks, where the odds of coming up with a horse good enough to compete in a championship race are high.

Now, with branding playing a larger role, Breeders’ Cup officials have opted to create more races to make the championship event stretch over two days. In 2008, we will be introduced to the Turf Sprint, Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Dirt Marathon. This comes on the heels of the first two-day Breeders’ Cup in 2007, when the Juvenile Turf, Dirt Mile, and Filly & Mare Sprint were run for the first time. This year’s two days will feature 14 races worth a record $25.5 million.

Many in the industry have criticized the grouping of the five races solely for fillies and mares on the Friday card, and the change from the distinctive name Distaff to Ladies’ Classic, akin to changing the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) to Ladies’ Derby. If both days are of equal importance, why have the fillies and mares competing when fewer people are watching?

While several announcements have been made, there has been no word yet on race sponsorships for this year. Interestingly, a check of the Breeders’ Cup Web site does not show Dodge as a corporate partner, meaning it may have powered its last Classic (gr. I).

Though celebrating its 25th anniversary, Breeders’ Cup 2008 will contain many firsts. Only time will tell if the new features make a difference.

What's Going On Here : espn

Bravo - by Dan Liebman

Hand Cupped - by Dan Liebman