Poll: For TVG Viewers

[JustRalph]

If you are a TVG Viewer please answer.

Multiple Choices are allowed

The results of this poll will be included in some info that I will be providing to some TVG types for future use. This may lead to another poll. We shall see. Thanks.

[linrom1]

Ralph, why only negative feedback?

[BillW]

Ralph,

I voted D.

A. - not sure how the personalities cap except for brief comments of "speed and fade" or "swami angles" etc. :rolleyes:

B. -> They solicit business, but I guess they don't really do anything "non-commercial" to explain the subtle differences between on track and Internet wagering. (they probably don't want to acknowlege that they have competitors which a more expanded discussion would possibly lead to). Also a conflict of interest with the exclusives they have.

C. Any interview is too much, unless on the off chance that a trainer would say something of substance.

Personally I don't look to them to provide anything of substance other than race video. My favorite show was the Exactorman show starring Mr. Lucky (and Claudia's sweater). :D

They could spend some money to license a wider variety of music.

Bill

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by linrom1
Ralph, why only negative feedback?

they get tons of "attaboys" I sense a format change from the discussions with a few of the people onboard. In these discussions they want to know what is not connecting more than what is..........I think they know what works.......so far. This may lead to more fine tuning of a few more polls. But this is a starting off point only. this is all very informal right now. But I think those who I talk to understand what this board is made up of. I think they are interested in what a bunch of different viewers think....but for now.....an informal poll here is a lead in to the future.

[blind squirrel]

i've had TVG since day 1,i live in ky.
your poll is so negative you obviously
haven't seen TVG evolve.yes,it's not
perfect and there are some annoying
on air "personalities"....but it's really
improved....how can you not like the
works?....or FRANK LYONS....RICH PERLOFF?

MY MAJOR CRITCISM:to much emphasis on
so cal....hard to get to excited about 5 horse
fields.

[Valuist]

I've only had TVG for a little over a month. I like it, but it could be improved. Like CJ said in another thread, it seems too West Coast oriented, except for showing NYRA. Other than Kingfin, does anyone here bet Emerald (he's stuck out there so he has an excuse...LOL)? I also don't bet Turf Paradise, which seems to be one of their prime time tracks. Is is that much to show more than a stake from Hawthorne? Its only in the 3rd biggest metro area in North America.

I don't mind the interviews but I'm not interested in the hosts Pic 6 tickets. Way too much talk of their own selections. The best handicapper of the group, from what I've seen, is Jill Byrne. She at least gave out both the Nafzger mares who took down Azeri and Sightseek.

Of course if Magna would allow TVG to take their signal, it would automatically get significantly better.

[ceejay]

They do some things that I like, some things that irritate me.

Pros:
I usually like Matt's handicapping. He even bets some of his picks.
Frank Lyons often has some interesting things to say.
Caton Bradar
Getting the races in my home.
The Works.

Cons:
They apparrently define "value" as a high price. Most people define it as a price exeeding the liklihood of success. 2:1 is value if you thing the hose has a 50% win likelihood.
Todd's P4 tickets. He just has too many combinations and too high of a likelyhood of cashing the bet but losing $$. I wonder if managemnt insists that his tickets be big.
Ken Rudulph
Todd refusing to use the name of a Magna Track on-air "A Major racetrack in (south florida, southern california, ....).

[kingfin66]

My only complaint about TVG is that they tend to be talking when they should be showing races. It is understandable that they favor West Coast tracks. They are located in SoCal, so do their on location stuff from Hol, SA (Oaks), DelMar and LosAl. That said, they do also focus on Kentucky and NYRA.

The EmD stuff was really just on opening day. They only show my track when they need the programming...lol. That means Thur and Friday night and a few stretch calls on Sunday.

None of the poll choices really fits for me. I like that there is a TVG and I actually like the hosts. I guess a secondary complaint would be that on the slow days (M, T, Wed), they just crank the obnoxious, repetitive music. Would it kill them to free up some cash to pay a studio host. At least when Beu runs they show the hot twins!

On the whole, I like TVG. Now, work out a deal with Magna and Go Baby Go!

[justin]

On the whole, I have a positive opinion of TVG. My only real gripe is when one or more races that I bet on are about to go off...and then they cut to commercial! Sometimes it can be a relatively long wait to see a race (even stakes races) that I'm sure plenty of people have wagered on and want to see.

This has nothing to do with the on-air presentation but one thing that would be nice is if they didn't add their little surcharge to each wager. It's not the end of the world but it's a nuisance. I don't see how this does anything but encourage people to watch the races on TVG but place their wagers elsewhere.

-Justin

[Tom]

TVG.....4 words:

Shut up.
Show races.

Some weekeknd days only three races in an hour slot. Meanwhile, morons spew forth gibberish and talk right through post times.
Basically, they need to clean house there. No more than one person on at a time -cover the the races, not have conversations with each other.

[andicap]

There's an extremely simple reason they do so much from the West Coast --- they make most of their money from California bettors. It's by far the largest market where TVG is legal (over cable that is) and the company started doing better the minute California legalized telephone betting, which enables TVG to do business there.

To the guy who said Ralph is complaining too much -- he had just explained that TVG is looking for negative feedback -- or constructive criticism. It's not meant to be a bash job.

I don't get the channel anymore so can't comment.

When I did get it I wished they showed more races, but I think they're trying to achieve a balance between attracting hard-core people like us who just want to see races and attracting new fans who like a little more "entertainment," and don't always know what they're seeing.

If you want to grow the sports boys and girls,you've got to be patient with doing stuff for newbies. The reality is most people like chatter -- it's why Regis and Kelly are popular (God knows why) even though they are so inane.
TVG is a BUSINESS. They've got to format the channel, not for Tom or Ralph and Andicap, but for the biggest possible audience that will make them money. We will watch anyway, unless it really sucks, so they have to in a politicians words "move to the center" to get more viewers who won't watch if they just turn the music up, show odds boards and races.

[JustRalph]

Great Post Andi..........right on target. Saved me from having to say it.

[KingChas]

I watched Matt hit 2 pick sixes in one week!He showed the public his ticket before the races.A lot more than a lot of us can say.They were blue collar tickets too($100 + $200 plays)How many of us have the b---'s to do that?I find him and his cohorts refreshing.

[superfecta]

Originally posted by KingChas
I watched Matt hit 2 pick sixes in one week!He showed the public his ticket before the races.A lot more than a lot of us can say.They were blue collar tickets too($100 + $200 plays)How many of us have the b---'s to do that?I find him and his cohorts refreshing. I like the fact that these guys play the races they host.Willing to take the hits in a public forum(both good hits and bad ones)Saw last week when Toddy hit the pick four on Wends that had the 1.3 mil payoff in the pick six.he actually looked a little sick(I suspect he had a chance at the pick six and didn't play it.)And when they win they don't get too self serving (gracious winning impresses me).I like Ken,Matt ,Todd and P Ho because of their personality(type of players you want to hang with cause they get more excited when someone else wins than themselves and they don't seem too contrived about the game).And when they bring in guest hosts to help out(Brian Cox was recently on and I was surprised how he came up with live horses,I thought he was just a roided out football player)They ought to have those two squirrels that used to do the weeknights occasionally (Mr Exactorman and Mr Lucky?)do the weeknights instead of the music.At least they were amusing.

[Turf2Dirt]

I hate matt Carouthers he says the same thing over and over,

VALUE VALUE VALUE SPEEDNFADE VALUE VALUE VALUE SPEEDNFADE SPEEDNFADE:rolleyes:

At least Corey is gone, he was the worst but Matt inherited his obnoxiousness when he left.

and Jeff Liston drinks heavily between takes especially at Keeneland

VERBATIM FROM THIS KEENELAND MEET:(nojoke)

"It was the TEN horse.... Everybody knows the TEN horse...
but he wasn't involved... All we know is the FIVE horse won..."
(concerning who the inquiry was on)

Schrupp and Rudolph are the only two I can stand, the show is pretty aggravating overall, have it on mute most of the time

[Speed Figure]

I would love to see some of you guys go on T.V. I'm sure most of you have faces made for radio. I love TVG, they all do a great JOB!. I love the fact that a black man is there top host, There's not too many of us in horseracing! ;)

[ceejay]

Originally posted by Speed Figure
I would love to see some of you guys go on T.V. I'm sure most of you have faces made for radio. ;)
Not for me, but I'm not getting paid for it. I was on a short (2 minute) live TV segment once being interviewed. I did fine except for one problem: I forgot to breathe! I vowed no more live TV for me.

[Parlay_Pete]

I've had TVG for about 4 years now. For the most part I think they do a good job. Yes some of the personalities stink but there are a few who make the show enjoyable.

One of my favorites on the show is Randy Doerges. Yes, Randy doesn't have that great knowledge of racing but if you listen to his picks he usually likes the higher odd runners. Yes, most times they finish off the board but he has given out some long-priced horses who have won or filled-out and exotics ticket.

I hate their coverage when Los Alamitos is running at night. For example, this past Sunday night I was watching the races from Mountaineer and instead of showing the live races at MNR, they would talk about the upcoming LA race even though it was 5 minutes away....who wants to hear about a 300 yard QH race or look at the pretty pictures from the LA track.

Overall, I think TVG does and okay job but I have come to realize that if I want to bet a race from a track other than SOCal or NY then I better be watching online. This is no big deal because all of my wagering is done online so the laptop is already up and running.


parlay_pete

My racing Blog:

The Racing-Journal (http://racing-journal.blogspot.com)

[JimG]

They need to spend less time with the personalities on camera and more time showing the live feeds from the races. There are many times the camera is focused on one of the "talking heads" when it would best be utilized showing the horses warming up and/or a full oddsboard, including exacta payouts.

Their talking does not annoy me as much as the on-camera time does that can be spent on more helpful things...odds, scratches, workouts, while they are talking. Hope you can pass that along Ralph.

Jim

[so.cal.fan]

I voted that they don't cater to new players enough....
I haven't watched closely for a while, so I may be mistaken....but someone commented to me, they weren't sure how to bet....seems they should be clear about this, to promote new players?
All of us know how to bet on our computers and phones, but many new people do not.
Does TVG have a tutorial on their website? Do they tell people this on the TV show?

[InsideThePylons-MW]

Originally posted by superfecta
Saw last week when Toddy hit the pick four on Wends that had the 1.3 mil payoff in the pick six.he actually looked a little sick(I suspect he had a chance at the pick six and didn't play it.)

He looked sick because he didn't even play his winning pick-4 ticket.

[linrom1]

I think that their Keenland coverage was the best I 've seen done on ANY sport. Jill, Canton and Todd are tops. I wish I could just take off the whole month of April and watch KEE on TVG every day.

[Tom]

Linrom 1.....have you ever been to KEE in person?
I went for the first time last August for the HTR seminar.
I cannot describe what a beautifil place it is. I have never, ever seen a track that comes lose to it, including Saratoga. And total comfort in all the indoor sections. Fan comfort was obviously high on the list of priorities.
There was no racing while I was there, but the place was stunning.

[depalma13]

Originally posted by superfecta
(Brian Cox was recently on and I was surprised how he came up with live horses,I thought he was just a roided out football player)

Brian owns and races horses. He's a pretty good handicapper too. I used to see him and his family in Ocala a lot. That was before he and his wife split up. Haven't seen him down here lately though.

[Turf2Dirt]

I forgot the most infamous Jeff Lifson line ever, 2003 spring Keeneland meet, PJ Cooksey goes down in a 2 horse spill.

An hour later Jeff Lifson comes on and says, "We have a report on Cooksey, she is just fine, she is going to be ok, she just has a couple of broken legs "

More than a year later, today, she won her first race since that accident

Unbelieveable