TVG - Why?

[PaceAdvantage]

They are covering three tracks right now....AQU, BEU and TAM....AQU's 2nd race was about 7 MTP, TAM's 2nd race was about to go OFF (0 MTP) and BEU's 1st race was a good 20 minutes away.....so what do they do?

They decide to NOT show the TAM race LIVE, and instead they devote the time it would have taken to SHOW the TAM 2nd live to TALKING about their AQU PICK 4 tickets...WHY?

I don't get it and do not normally resort to negative reporting when it comes to TVG, but why, oh why, when you only have three tracks to cover, and NONE OF THE THREE have ANY post time conflicts, do you NOT show a race LIVE as it happens?

It just doesn't make any sense at all. I KNOW for a fact there are TVG folks reading this board, so perhaps they can send me a private message in case they don't want to answer publicly.

[46zilzal]

I watched, or rather suffered through, a three day stint as an observer of TVG last Summer visiting my relatives in California. Without a doubt some of the worst coverage I have evern seen.

[ranchwest]

Yeah, they seem to always have one primary track and they treat it as if all the other tracks are irritants in the background.

I'm sure a lot of folks are really driven crazy when they do this with Los Alamitos, where they mostly run quarterhorses.

Why not just put the picks up on TVG Interactive? There is always only a very small percentage of people who will interact with the media and I bet those folks are wanting to see those announcer picks. I suspect most people are bored silly by the picks, especially considering they're mostly P4 and P6. I suspect that the people who play those bets are a very small percentage of all bettors, but they may be a high percentage of people contacting TVG.

It seems like TVG will do almost anything to put the talking heads in the forefront. Hello, we don't watch horse racing to watch talking heads. Keep the horses on the screen at all times. If you absolutely must show something else, do a split screen. Announcers talking is like musicians playing -- sometimes less is more.

[levinmpa]

You would think they would listen to the folks that actually view their channel. I have yet to read a positive post regarding TVG. What a joke that channel is. HRTV is a superior product in my opinion.

[ranchwest]

Yeah, on HRTV you get to see Joann Jones, that's a big upgrade from TVG right off the bat.

[speedking]

They are covering three tracks right now....AQU, BEU and TAM....AQU's 2nd race was about 7 MTP, TAM's 2nd race was about to go OFF (0 MTP) and BEU's 1st race was a good 20 minutes away.....so what do they do?

They decide to NOT show the TAM race LIVE, and instead they devote the time it would have taken to SHOW the TAM 2nd live to TALKING about their AQU PICK 4 tickets...WHY?

I don't get it and do not normally resort to negative reporting when it comes to TVG, but why, oh why, when you only have three tracks to cover, and NONE OF THE THREE have ANY post time conflicts, do you NOT show a race LIVE as it happens?

It just doesn't make any sense at all. I KNOW for a fact there are TVG folks reading this board, so perhaps they can send me a private message in case they don't want to answer publicly.

I know exactly what you mean, PA....I was steaming and turned to YouBet to view the race. Before muting the volume as I'm supposed to do immediately after switching to TVG, I had it on low and had to endure the post race comments by that clown with the dark hair, Greg something or other. He kept asking his partner if he thought the 8 got up at the wire, then 30 seconds later after watching the replay, said that he meant the 7..."do you think the 7 caught the 4 at the wire, Simon?" The whole time he was watching the 1 horse and could not identify the saddlecloth:lol:

And no, she did not get up in time:jump:

speedking

[john del riccio]

They are covering three tracks right now....AQU, BEU and TAM....AQU's 2nd race was about 7 MTP, TAM's 2nd race was about to go OFF (0 MTP) and BEU's 1st race was a good 20 minutes away.....so what do they do?

They decide to NOT show the TAM race LIVE, and instead they devote the time it would have taken to SHOW the TAM 2nd live to TALKING about their AQU PICK 4 tickets...WHY?

I don't get it and do not normally resort to negative reporting when it comes to TVG, but why, oh why, when you only have three tracks to cover, and NONE OF THE THREE have ANY post time conflicts, do you NOT show a race LIVE as it happens?

It just doesn't make any sense at all. I KNOW for a fact there are TVG folks reading this board, so perhaps they can send me a private message in case they don't want to answer publicly.

Don't get me going, I can't tell you how many times I wanted to see the horses warm up in the flesh (Joe Takach would be proud) only to hear Todd Shut-up yacking about something thats not going to help me
determine if my choice looks the part.

I woul dlove to kno whow many players here have a better ROI when they are at the track live looking at the horses as opposed to via simulcast or TV. For me, its obsurd how much better I do when I can see them on the track.

Amen,
John

[BIG RED]

Everytime I drop by my dads, who has TVG, I check it out. I love the idea of having live racing on a big screen tv. That's the only thing I like. I can't watch them at all, usually end up talking with him between races, with mute on. He has soured on it too. Never mind no Gulf or SA, different story entirely!

[speedking]

Never mind no Gulf or SA, different story entirely!

:mad: :bang: :mad: :bang:

speedking

[rrbauer]

Yeah, on HRTV you get to see Joann Jones, that's a big upgrade from TVG right off the bat.

LOL Let me up for air....I can't stand it.

And, today they have been showing Gulfstream on tape while they give live coverage to Dubai and Laurel....

[garyoz]

Duh!! TVG is a business. Their only revenue stream is a percentage of the handle or advertising. They want to encourage viewers to wager--otherwise you have no value to them--certainly not on a CPM advertising basis (I don't think the viewership numbers or demographics of horseplayers are particularly compelling). Thus, they hype their serial bets. Whether races should be preempted is a different issue. But, they ain't Public Broadcasting. TVG would probably not be viable if not for the deep pockets of News Corp (Fox).

We all like to complain about TVG and HRTV, but it was only 10 years ago you had a local replay show if you were lucky. In the not too distant future Internet/TV convergence will put both TVG and HRTV out of business.

[Fwizard]

My biggest complaint about TVG lately is the fact that at night , if we don't bet harness or quarterhorses we are screwed ---Every once in a while we see Delta Downs --but we used to see Sam Houston, Delta. MTNR, and others....but now ..nothing like Meadowlands harness is now the king of tracks.

[Ron]

Can they not show some tracks live? I think the OTB channel is like that.

[speedking]

Duh!! TVG is a business. Their only revenue stream is a percentage of the handle or advertising. They want to encourage viewers to wager--otherwise you have no value to them--certainly not on a CPM advertising basis (I don't think the viewership numbers or demographics of horseplayers are particularly compelling). Thus, they hype their serial bets. Whether races should be preempted is a different issue. But, they ain't Public Broadcasting. TVG would probably not be viable if not for the deep pockets of News Corp (Fox).

We all like to complain about TVG and HRTV, but it was only 10 years ago you had a local replay show if you were lucky. In the not too distant future Internet/TV convergence will put both TVG and HRTV out of business.

For me, receiving DirectTv, TVG is part of an otherwise useless premium package which costs about $12 a month. I would happily pay 5 times that for a premium product, but this is my only option.

10 years ago I had a pair of 10' satellite dishes and chips that allowed me access to nearly all track feeds. Those were the good old days:jump:

speedking

[BIG49010]

I was stuck watching both TVG and HRTV last weekend, my satellite was out for track feeds and my bigest problem with both is they fail to show the post parades.

It doesn't seem to matter who is showing California racing (currently HRTV), but they talk about it all the time and screw the rest of the tracks.

They all talk way tooooooooooooooo much.

[NY BRED]

while i agree the majority of hosts leave alot to be desired,
I truly love Nick Hines who tells it like is, in a sort of demented way.

my ultimate dream, and I said it before, would be to have Nick,
Harvey Pack, and maybe Jenna Jones host the show, with a side
commentary, at certain points from Mike Pizzolla or Jerry Brown
on major stakes races.


of course, this is only a dream:sleeping:

[kingfin66]

The reason why TVG types would never respond publicly on a board like this is because of the nature of the comments. PA offered a lucid commentary based in fact. The comments sense then have been of the personal attack nature. I'm sure that TVG types, both in front of and behind the camera types, read this forum. Why on earth would Matt C, Todd S, Ken R, etal reply publicly to any comments after the types of things that get written here?

Todd Schrupp actually took a shot at Internet forums recently when he responded to the ridicule that his P4 tickets are generating. I'm pretty sure he was responding to the Del Mar forum, but I could be wrong. He admitted that he does read the comments, and he seemed truly hurt by what he has read. Hey, the guy's human right? Truth be told, I have met many of the TVG on-air talent (sounds much better than "talking heads" IMHO) on a trip to Del Mar and at Emerald Downs. They were all first-class to talk to. In fact, I think that they honestly view themselves as ambassadors to the sport and take that role very seriously.

Truth be told, the criticisms about TVG are valid, especially as they pertain to not showing live races. That seems to be the real beef that we all have. channel for horseplayers should cater to those same horseplayers. My personal belief is that TVG is not fully aware of who its audience is. That is only my opinion. Honestly though, what are the chances tha the on-air people decide what races are going to shown or not shown?

I can't compare compare TVG and HRTV as I have never seen HRTV. I actually find the TVG hosts knowledgeable about horse racing...not necessarily the best handicappers or bettors, but knowledgeable about the game. I know for sure that I would be very sad if TVG didn't make it.

That's just me $0.02.

[Tom]

Look at the upside to TVG - if the talkingheads were not on there annoying the hell out of everyone, we might actually run into one them in real life - :eek::eek::eek:

[kingfin66]

my ultimate dream, and I said it before, would be to have Nick, Harvey Pack, and maybe Jenna Jones host the show, with a side
commentary, at certain points from Mike Pizzolla or Jerry Brown
on major stakes races.

I doubt you would ever see this. The problem with having well known handicappers on the show would be that they could overshadow the TVG employees. No question that having guest appearances by the Beyers, Serlings, Pizzollas, Browns, Davidowitzes, etc, etc, of the world would add a lot.

[forecast]

It is a perfect illustration of how racing does not get its customers. I have not met one handicapper - serious or otherwise - who found listening to the "personalities" on TVG, HRTV, or HPI TV informative or entertaining. Most of us find them irritating, to say the least.

A simple independent poll of their subscriber base would reveal this fact, but the networks fail to do it. Why? :confused:

[speedking]

Another big Friday night on TVG....TP and Med...That's the current lineup:bang:


speedking

[xciceroguy]

I like the hosts but i will admit they spend to much time devoted to the tickets they play..... A live race should never be missed.

[Valuist]

They had a year or two to figure things out. What is it now, 8 years? There's no excuse to not understand your customer base after 8 years.

HRTV is superior but I've found that lately they've been doing more talking. If you bet GP or SA, you'll likely see your race live but if you bet Laurel, you may see most of them on tape delay.

Memo to TVG: drop the silly international steeplechase races. Has anyone on here EVER bet a steeplechase race? I can honestly say I never have. Put race replays back on in the "normal' morning hours

[ranchwest]

NY Bred, you've got a point. It can't be entirely the format because Nick Hines is part of the format and he is unquestionably a relief from the boredom. Still, show me da hosses.

[Suff]

They are covering three tracks right now....AQU, BEU and TAM....AQU's 2nd race was about 7 MTP, TAM's 2nd race was about to go OFF (0 MTP) and BEU's 1st race was a good 20 minutes away.....so what do they do?

They decide to NOT show the TAM race LIVE, and instead they devote the time it would have taken to SHOW the TAM 2nd live to TALKING about their AQU PICK 4 tickets...WHY?

I .

I assume you had a bet on the race? And,,,,you didnt place the bet with TVG?

I have a TVG account.....I use the simo feed they offer. No issues. Paddock view, post parade, loading......all right here.

Tonight I played Northfield & Meadowlands Harness and I played a few Tri Box's at Los Alamitos.....

I had them both going.. TV channel and video feed....

Don't miss much that way.


Whats your wagering vehicle? Youbet? They in some kind of thing where you don't have video at the moment.

TVG the channel? I have it on in the background....I use my video streaming for visual handicapping and probables, will pays...and I only look at the TVG television screen when a race goes off.

I have no comment on TVG Television because I don't watch it....I couldn't even tell you the names of the people.... its all gibberish until they leave the gate....

[joeyreb]

TVG is way better.... I really wished they carried Santa Anita

Laffit Pincay III is the worst and his fake voice is such a beating and the dude that sometimes on with Millie that fake laugh is a spike to me head.

If your betting their feature track, they cover that track and give alot more info than you would off just the track.

Saturday, HRTV never mentioned that Santa Anita conditioned the track Friday. Treavor did during the scratches and changes.

[PaceAdvantage]

Duh!! TVG is a business. Their only revenue stream is a percentage of the handle or advertising. They want to encourage viewers to wager--otherwise you have no value to them--certainly not on a CPM advertising basis (I don't think the viewership numbers or demographics of horseplayers are particularly compelling).

Well then, if they value their percentage of the handle, then they should have shown that race I was waiting until the last minute to wager on...since they didn't show it, I did not wager. I'm sure I'm not the only one....

When it's early in the afternoon, and you only have THREE tracks featured, and there are NO post-time conflicts, how do you NOT show a live race in favor of a couple of guys going over their pick-4 tickets?

I can understand when there are multiple races going off at the same time....something has to get pushed back....but today's instance that I wrote about at the start of this thread is inexcusable in my opinion.

[PaceAdvantage]

I assume you had a bet on the race? And,,,,you didnt place the bet with TVG?

Nope, I wanted to bet the race, but did not, since I had no idea when it was going off....I wait until the last possible moment before I wager.

If possible, I like to get LIVE signals on TV, not internet feeds, as they are quite unreliable in terms of figuring out when a race is actually about to go off...too much delay over the internet....

[BIG RED]

:mad: :bang: :mad: :bang:

speedking


That's Sir speedking. :ThmbUp:

[blind squirrel]

You would think they would listen to the folks that actually view their channel. I have yet to read a positive post regarding TVG. What a joke that channel is. HRTV is a superior product in my opinion.

i can tell you,i've had TVG from the day they started broadcasting{i live in KY}.
i used to get annoyed at TODD{hands down the worst handicapper}MATT{JIM
CRAMER of MAD MONEY oughta be pissed}and KEN{please ESPN,take this guy!}...........but now,i hit the mute,bring up the sound when they go in the gate, and TVG is great!

[MikeDee]

He admitted that he does read the comments, and he seemed truly hurt by what he has read. Hey, the guy's human right? Truth be told, I have met many of the TVG on-air talent (sounds much better than "talking heads" IMHO) on a trip to Del Mar and at Emerald Downs. They were all first-class to talk to. In fact, I think that they honestly view themselves as ambassadors to the sport and take that role very seriously.

I am sure your are right, I'm sure all of them are nice guys and decent handicappers. But they are hurting racing with their stream of $50 Pick 4 bets that they continuously hawk, encouraging people to go to the web site where you to can lose your butt betting these mythical selections which they give out but most probably never really bet on.

TVG people if you read this thread "Stop Doing This" If you have a play and you really believe in it and would bet it yourself then put it out there. While you at it put your overall ROI out there as well to give your viewers some reason to either run to the web and bet your selection or pass and bet their own play.

And guys how about a pick 3, a tri, a dime super. When you actually bet is all you do is play every pick 4 in sight? Have you ever said "I'm going to pass this one. It is not a good play"?

How about giving each "expert" a weekly bank roll let them handicap post their picks and keep score. Show us your ROI, and if you go bust or not. Lets get real.

[fouroneone]

yeah, i never understood their obsession with the pick 4........they play every pick 4 in sight......i honestly cant remember the last time i played a pick 4

[blind squirrel]

yeah, i never understood their obsession with the pick 4........they play every pick 4 in sight......i honestly cant remember the last time i played a pick 4

well,i like the pick 4,but i pick my spots, where i have a solid opinion....the TVG
guy's throw out 2 a day at 50 a pop and TODD is already down about
500 and he's only 1 month in to the year.

[ranchwest]

i can tell you,i've had TVG from the day they started broadcasting{i live in KY}.
i used to get annoyed at TODD{hands down the worst handicapper}MATT{JIM
CRAMER of MAD MONEY oughta be pissed}and KEN{please ESPN,take this guy!}...........but now,i hit the mute,bring up the sound when they go in the gate, and TVG is great!

That should be a TVG Interactive feature, auto-mute the talking heads. :lol:

[44PACE]

The only thing that I would suggest to TVG is to keep your schedule, If you have 2 races going off at the same time then as soon as the first one is finished show the 2nd one. A schedule should be seen as a promise, showing 30 minutes latter the stretch call is not good enough.


Priority no#1 is showing in their entiriety the races on your schedule, everything else comes second.

[NY BRED]

thanks ranch

while a host's goal is to inform, many of the TVG hosts are
either uniformed, horribly boring and/ or obnoxious, and continue to delve
on their pick 3//4/6 ticket, all of which contain horrible picks and
value and continually lose, which make the everyday selection process
both tedious and useless.

The atest tactic appears to be calling for an inquiry immediately after
a race on minor infractions, and generally missing the obvious ones!


Of the "value" commentators on the air, I'd place Gary Stevens
on top for the commentary on the pace of the race from a Jockey's standpoint,
as well as judging the body language of a horse during warmup to post.


Granted I'll never get to see my Damon Runyon Icon, Mr. Pack,but I would agree Jeff Siegel provides keen wit and good information from
an owner's point and together, both commentators provide a level of
intelligence and personality acceptable to most handicappers and
racing fans.

After that, my third choice(s) are Simon Bray and Jill Byrne, and thereafter,
on stakes races, special interviews with the trainers, and knowledgeable handicappers such as Beyer, Brown, Pizzola.



one real possibility could be to have a pre race
program with these hosts(or other capable parties) express their
opinion each day on both networks to create a more professional
approach to racing fans, both new and old.

odds on this are 99-1, but I have won on these bets before;)

[blind squirrel]

Gary Stevens does a credible job on TVG,however,he just comes in for the
STAKES days.....yesterday,I heard maybe the worst MIKE BATTAGLIA call
ever{believe me,i've heard a lot}.....THE TVG hosts,not one mention that
he called the wrong horse the winner,and mangled the call the entire race!
TP RACE 5,it's a classic...2/10

[samyn on the green]

Have to give credit where the credit is due. Simon Bray nailed the pick 6 carryover with his on air ticket in Wednesday 14MAR. Out of all the TVG hosts he has the best mix of knowledge/handicapping/personality/sense of humour. The score paid 6800 some odd dollars.

[alysheba88]

Well then, if they value their percentage of the handle, then they should have shown that race I was waiting until the last minute to wager on...since they didn't show it, I did not wager. I'm sure I'm not the only one....

When it's early in the afternoon, and you only have THREE tracks featured, and there are NO post-time conflicts, how do you NOT show a live race in favor of a couple of guys going over their pick-4 tickets?

I can understand when there are multiple races going off at the same time....something has to get pushed back....but today's instance that I wrote about at the start of this thread is inexcusable in my opinion.


Totally agree. And like someone else pointed out have had 8 years to figure it out. Sad thing is when they still have post time conflicts with 2-3 tracks

[alysheba88]

I am also convinced that TVG personnel have never heard of an exacta or trifecta- except to report the payoffs. Never seems to occur to them that they can be bet or discussed.

[ranchwest]

I am also convinced that TVG personnel have never heard of an exacta or trifecta- except to report the payoffs. Never seems to occur to them that they can be bet or discussed.

The fact that they consistently all do this certainly suggests that it is an executive decision.

It's all so phoney. Watch when they stand up! They have on a dress shirt, tie and sports coat. When they stand up, they're in jeans.

The rules need to be relaxed so they have more latitude for being individuals. They've had the same schtick for too long.

[xciceroguy]

I was stuck watching both TVG and HRTV last weekend, my satellite was out for track feeds and my bigest problem with both is they fail to show the post parades.

It doesn't seem to matter who is showing California racing (currently HRTV), but they talk about it all the time and screw the rest of the tracks.

They all talk way tooooooooooooooo much.


Well said.......

[formula_2002]

Too much talking on that show and too little racing.
The reason? perhaps somthing like this.
Cost to talk ,1 unit per minuet
Cost for racing signal, 100 units per minuet..

[ranchwest]

Too much talking on that show and too little racing.
The reason? perhaps somthing like this.
Cost to talk ,1 unit per minuet
Cost for racing signal, 100 units per minuet..

So a replay five minutes later is cheaper than a live broadcast?

[Tom]

So Joe, you're saying talk is cheap? :D

I think I would rather pay an additional fee and have post parades and no idiot babble.

[formula_2002]

apparently a bit more than the printed word :)

[Tom]

Slim pickens at TVG today - two races per hour.
I heard they were busing in village idiot's from all over California to fill up the time slots of cancelled tracks. :lol:

Maybe they will hire a few of them!:bang:

[Hosshead]

Slim pickens at TVG today - two races per hour.
I heard they were busing in village idiot's from all over California to fill up the time slots of cancelled tracks. :lol:

Maybe they will hire a few of them!:bang:

This is absolutely NOT TRUE !!!
I did not ride a bus yesterday.
And Slim Pickens was not at TVG. He's been dead for quite some time !!