Odds On Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 POPPYCOCK ... the track was terrific, as were many last year. Don't take my word for it ... ask any of the riders. ever wondered why GP speedway isn't on Sky this year, the sport needs a radical view and a directive from somebody outside of the speedway world?...perhaps the sport isnt entertaining enough, speedway is competing in a market where the customer wants to be entertained, people dont want to watch 60secs of dross, of course "some" of the riders enjoy the track, three quarters of the time it is gate and go, if all was great with the speedway GPs, why haven't Sky jumped at the chance of showing it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 ever wondered why GP speedway isn't on Sky this year, the sport needs a radical view and a directive from somebody outside of the speedway world?...perhaps the sport isnt entertaining enough, speedway is competing in a market where the customer wants to be entertained, people dont want to watch 60secs of dross, of course "some" of the riders enjoy the track, three quarters of the time it is gate and go, if all was great with the speedway GPs, why haven't Sky jumped at the chance of showing it? IF you had found the time to read many of the other threads on here you would know why Sky will probably not show the GPs this year ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 IF you had found the time to read many of the other threads on here you would know why Sky will probably not show the GPs this year ... Yes there's undoubtedly some truth in this, but the bottom line is that speedway just isn't considered indispensable by Sky... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 THERE are probably few sports that are indispensable to Sky, soccer obviously being the major one. From conversations I have had a few things are clear: first and foremost is timing. Had the BSI contract with Sky not expired at the end of the 2012 season we would not be in this position. Those involved with speedway production at Sky are huge advocates of the GP product but the decision has been taken out of their hands. Budgets have been cut and the easy targets were contracts up for renewal, especially for sports that as you say aren't indispensable. The Sky viewing figures for the GPs are considered quite acceptable given that they occupy one of the most difficult slots on the schedule. Events that generally start at 6pm British time face a tough task attracting an audience especially in the summer months. And, of course, anything on Sky Sports on a Saturday evening will be up against some of the most popular family orientated programmes on terrestrial TV. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Skid Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 Sooner or later the powers that be will realise that the coffin lid is nearly nailed down for good, unless you buy the SStar, nobody knows the sport even exists, and i'm sure that you could go and buy 80% of the EL tracks at present, such is the poor financial state that the sport is in, and no, i'm not a doom and gloom person, far from it, just a realist, when you see an EL Club with an average crowd of 600 surely someone must know things are drastically wrong, but no, they start another year with the head buried in the sand, unfortunately they've cried wolf so many times, the general public are not that bothered what they say any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 THERE are probably few sports that are indispensable to Sky, soccer obviously being the major one. I'd think cricket and rugby league would be considered indispensable as well. Rugby League is particularly interesting as I'd have thought that it and speedway were comparable popularity wise in the 1970s and into the 1980s. The Sky viewing figures for the GPs are considered quite acceptable given that they occupy one of the most difficult slots on the schedule. As others have pointed out though, it's also about attracting advertisers and with the best will in the world, the speedway clientele is not the investment banking set... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 NEITHER is darts in all probability. I have stated on here previously that the reason Sky shifted the GPs to SS4 (other than Cardiff) was that the size of its audience (not necessarily the demographic) attracted better advertising revenue than anything else shown on that particular channel at that particular time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagrag Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 The ad revenue last year for GP coverage and league racing was more than acceptable it is kind of a shame that it was Monster energy that decided to back the GP series and World Cup. As they don't spend their advertising budget on tv ads and prefer new media and online instead along with extensive sponsorship. If it had been Red Bull the ad revenue for Speedway coverage would have been even higher at present they just have their short 15 sec ads to remind people their are other energy drink brands than Monster. Asking around there is a number of people within Sky sports who really wanted the GP to return even certain board members but with the cutbacks and rights having to be renewed Speedway has had to be cut back along with some other sports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 The ad revenue last year for GP coverage and league racing was more than acceptable it is kind of a shame that it was Monster energy that decided to back the GP series and World Cup. As they don't spend their advertising budget on tv ads and prefer new media and online instead along with extensive sponsorship. If it had been Red Bull the ad revenue for Speedway coverage would have been even higher at present they just have their short 15 sec ads to remind people their are other energy drink brands than Monster. Somehow sums up speedway. Just how much us Monster putting into the SGP anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Science Posted February 16, 2013 Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 The ad revenue last year for GP coverage and league racing was more than acceptable it is kind of a shame that it was Monster energy that decided to back the GP series and World Cup. As they don't spend their advertising budget on tv ads and prefer new media and online instead along with extensive sponsorship. If it had been Red Bull the ad revenue for Speedway coverage would have been even higher at present they just have their short 15 sec ads to remind people their are other energy drink brands than Monster. Asking around there is a number of people within Sky sports who really wanted the GP to return even certain board members but with the cutbacks and rights having to be renewed Speedway has had to be cut back along with some other sports Which are the other sports to be cut back on sky ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagrag Posted February 16, 2013 Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 There will be cutbacks in coverage for darts,Snooker, Rugby union ,show jumping,ten pin bowlingand imported programmes from the US. But as has has happened with Greyhounds coverage the door is never bolted shut and can be reopened if terms change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted February 16, 2013 Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 Sorry if I've missed it, but has the NZ wild card been announced yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racers and royals Posted February 16, 2013 Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 Sorry if I've missed it, but has the NZ wild card been announced yet? No you haven`t missed it-not announced yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted February 16, 2013 Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 my guess it will be announced this week, might be Tuesday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted February 16, 2013 Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 (edited) my guess it will be announced this week, might be Tuesday Kiwi, has anything been announced about the coverage? Even if Sky don't televise it, is there any way we might be able to watch it? Edited February 16, 2013 by Jacques Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Skid Posted February 16, 2013 Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 No problem, Airbus 380 from Heathrow, when it lands Western Springs is about 40 minutes away, makes a nice long weekend. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Kiwi, has anything been announced about the coverage? Even if Sky don't televise it, is there any way we might be able to watch it? Jacques, you can always stream it from the official site or from one of the other TV broadcasters!! ps. Isn't it about time you changed your signature?? You might upset your Number 1 this season!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 Might know more tomorrow, waiting to find out myself 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 Jacques, you can always stream it from the official site or from one of the other TV broadcasters!! ps. Isn't it about time you changed your signature?? You might upset your Number 1 this season!!! Signature looks fine to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Science Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 There will be cutbacks in coverage for darts,Snooker, Rugby union ,show jumping,ten pin bowlingand imported programmes from the US. But as has has happened with Greyhounds coverage the door is never bolted shut and can be reopened if terms change. With regards to the sports you mention,it looks from the outside as if Sky are actually increasing their coverage of rugby and darts.A new deal has been signed to further increase coverage of the Autumn internationals and darts are expanding the size of its Premier league to 10 players over 16 weeks to sit alongside the 6 tournaments it covers live already.Darts is revelling in everything speedway doesn't have,sell out crowds,bulging sponsorship,improving product.rapidly increasing prize money and healthy viewing figures,cant see Sky wanting to detach itself with the sport growing so rapidly.As for snooker Sky only has a small stake with only 2 tournaments,snooker has 2 existing contracts with BBC and Eurosport,and can survive without Sky.Sky have the reputation of going after the sports they want hard(formula 1) and leaving the rest what they don't(6 nations rugby as an example).As for U.S sport a new contract for NBA has been stuck alongside the current NFL contract.If speedway is to be lumped with the other sports of ten pin bowling and show jumping then things are desperate. Personally I like watching the GP coverage although I don't think the current Elite league fare shows the sport in a great light,lets hope it doesn't have a negative effect on the GP deal and Sky still consider speedway desirable,so a new deal can be done . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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