KY Oaks TV Coverage Goes South

[sandpit]

ESPN Drops Live Kentucky Oaks Coverage:

The ESPN network has dropped its live coverage of the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) at Churchill Downs, but the race coverage will be shown on the Bravo network, which is owned by NBC. Rest of the story here (http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/49648/espn-drops-live-kentucky-oaks-coverage).

This is really horrible, IMO, no matter what spin Churchill Downs mgmt. tries to put on it. It reminds me of when the NHL moved to the Versus Network, or whatever it was called. For a day that annually is the second most attended in racing, it should have much more prominent placing...how busy can ESPN be on a Friday afternoon in May, for God's sake? Pool tournament replays, strongman competition from Norway, tennis from some country we've never heard of...

[Tom]

Retired strongman checkers tournament.
EPSN's been after than one for years.

[thespaah]

ESPN Drops Live Kentucky Oaks Coverage:

The ESPN network has dropped its live coverage of the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) at Churchill Downs, but the race coverage will be shown on the Bravo network, which is owned by NBC. Rest of the story here (http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/49648/espn-drops-live-kentucky-oaks-coverage).

This is really horrible, IMO, no matter what spin Churchill Downs mgmt. tries to put on it. It reminds me of when the NHL moved to the Versus Network, or whatever it was called. For a day that annually is the second most attended in racing, it should have much more prominent placing...how busy can ESPN be on a Friday afternoon in May, for God's sake? Pool tournament replays, strongman competition from Norway, tennis from some country we've never heard of...if it's any consolation Bravo is on juts about as many cable systems as ESPN. And in most cases the service is on most basic or lower tier packages.

[sandpit]

yeah, I see your point, it's on my basic service too, just seems like one of the sport's major days would get some love from a mainstream sports related network of some type. At least NBC stepped up and didn't let it die completely. I guess we should be thankful for HRTV (unless they fold before May 1).

[thespaah]

yeah, I see your point, it's on my basic service too, just seems like one of the sport's major days would get some love from a mainstream sports related network of some type. At least NBC stepped up and didn't let it die completely. I guess we should be thankful for HRTV (unless they fold before May 1).
Bottom line is , well, the bottom line.
In other words if a tv show doesn't attract advertisers it's not going to be a tv show.
Look at the NBA. Used to be on CBS every Sunday back in the day. All playoff games on national tv from the semi finals onward. No more.
NHL too. Both are cable tv sports leagues.

[JustRalph]

Amish Rake Fighting Finals are on that day..................

r21LdEQKxqI

[NJ Stinks]

Can't believe anything CD says. Can't believe anything ESPN says either.

Bottom line is ABC doesn't have Derby rights this year - NBC does. So it's in NBC's vested interest to put Friday at CD on Bravo. No doubt ESPN's parent company, ABC, told ESPN to drop Friday's Oaks. Why promote another network's programming and all that.

[BombsAway Bob]

and when only 38 people find out BRAVO network is carrying OAKS Day,
& the ratings numbers comes back a .00038 ,
at LEAST us Pace members will know why!

[cj's dad]

Can't believe anything CD says. Can't believe anything ESPN says either.

Bottom line is ABC doesn't have Derby rights this year - NBC does. So it's in NBC's vested interest to put Friday at CD on Bravo. No doubt ESPN's parent company, ABC, told ESPN to drop Friday's Oaks. Why promote another network's programming and all that.

Don't you mean ABC - or am I confused ??

[SMOO]

Don't you mean ABC - or am I confused ??
ABC and ESPN are owned by the same people.

[JustRalph]

Don't forget that they are owned by Disney sometimes it shows

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7f/Mickey_Mouse.svg/344px-Mickey_Mouse.svg.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Disney


check out the list above..........incredible really

[cj's dad]

[QUOTE=SMOO]ABC and ESPN are owned by the same people.[/QUOTyeah- you are right - I was confused.:blush:

[Southieboy]

They just shafted all of there Preakness coverage
http://drf.com/news/article/102297.html

In addition, ESPN does not currently plan on showing any racing-related broadcasts before the second race in the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse in Maryland, according to the network.

[joanied]

:mad: :mad: I hate ESPN :mad: :mad:

It was hard enough last year trying to get all the races recorded on my TV...having to switch here & there...ESPN, ESPN ll, ABC...whatever :bang:

[BUD]

They drop my NHL first and now the girls----


Hey this could be turned in this PC world we live in an said that they are differentiating and saying they the female Gender of the horse is Not real important--

what would happen if they dropped the Women's Billiard Championship?

or the Women's Gold Cup in Soccer?

Just thinking aloud----Hey the races only last minutes---Maybe QVC will pick 'em up and sell stuff in between===

or
The www.horsechannel.com (http://www.horsechannel.com)
will pick it up---I hAd a long day just woke up with the computer on me and thouhjt this was a joke----I still think I'm sleeping----its just one of those reality dreams---I hope I'm not sleep typing..:eek:

[PaceAdvantage]

Bravo.

[Rocklane]

The network that brings you Millionaire Matchmaker, Million Dollar Listing, Real Housewives of (you name it), now is proud to present the Kentucky Oaks. The only possible tie in is that Bobby Frankel's daughter is on one of the housewife shows.

I think this is just another sign of waning interest in the game and should be yet another wake up call for industry leaders (who seem to repeatedly sleep through wake up calls).

The anger towards ESPN, in my opinion, is unwarranted. Interest from advertisers is obviously non existant. The number of people, trucks, and equipment that ESPN would have to send to produce the Oaks would not bring back a positive ROI. The costs to produce bowling and pool pales in comparison.

I am not currently playing the game. After finding this board a few months ago and reading the displeasure from many of the pro players, I think my ADW days are over and I will just relegate my efforts to a couple outings a year up to Hoosier.

[sandpit]

The network that brings you Millionaire Matchmaker, Million Dollar Listing, Real Housewives of (you name it), now is proud to present the Kentucky Oaks. The only possible tie in is that Bobby Frankel's daughter is on one of the housewife shows.

I think this is just another sign of waning interest in the game and should be yet another wake up call for industry leaders (who seem to repeatedly sleep through wake up calls).

The anger towards ESPN, in my opinion, is unwarranted. Interest from advertisers is obviously non existant. The number of people, trucks, and equipment that ESPN would have to send to produce the Oaks would not bring back a positive ROI. The costs to produce bowling and pool pales in comparison.

I am not currently playing the game. After finding this board a few months ago and reading the displeasure from many of the pro players, I think my ADW days are over and I will just relegate my efforts to a couple outings a year up to Hoosier.

I agree with you on all counts; however, ESPN has a bunch of coverage planned for the Derby Day undercard, so all their equipment and personnel are going to be there anyway.

Hell, as long as the Black Widow is playing pool that day, I might be watching her instead of the Oaks anyway. :kiss:

[joanied]

Well, if ESPN has people and equipment there anyway...why are they not airing the Oaks??
Don't make a hell of a lot of sense to me:ThmbDown:

I wonder if the TV coverage for both days (Oaks & Derby) have been finalized yet... this crap of having to switch TV channels for our big races is driving me nuts...you have to watch several different channels to see all the races...I hate that.:(

[JustRalph]

i just wonder if this is a result of the bad coverage etc from the Derby last year

[The Hawk]

i just wonder if this is a result of the bad coverage etc from the Derby last year

I think it has more to do with NBC having the rights to the Derby and Preakness. If ABC had the rights, it would be on ESPN, since both are owned by Disney. The Belmont, which could well be just another stake if there's no Triple Crown on the line, has FIVE hours of undercard coverage on ESPN. The Belmont is on ABC.