"Dangerous Curves"

[Mags]

Originally posted by Tim Northcutt
That's the way I've always understood it....

Is that incorrect????

If it is incorrect,

Did SpikeTV or OWRS ever release a figure as to how much SpikeTV is paying OWRS for the rights to telecast the races???

Or how many years the telecast contract is for????

If they did, I sure didn't see it...

Please enlighten me.....and I'm not being a smart ass by asking this...

I just don't recall seeing anything in the news or on this Forum that said that the SpikeTV deal is a revenue-generating deal via Spike TV paying for the broadcast rights....

I've always understood it as a "OWRS Buys the Airtime" deal like they've had the past couple of years....

If that's wrong, please set the record straight...

I listened in on Spike TV doing an interview Sat with champweb. Unfortunatly, no monitary details came out.

And, being Champ Cars is a privatly owned company, you won't get any answers I'm sure.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally posted by jjspierx
I never understood it to be that way Tim, although I never understood that SpikeTV was paying OWRS either. The only thing I do understand is that I don't know any of the details between the agreement, and I think thats how it is for all of us here. Undersootd? Cause I don't.

Somebody is getting paid for something....

the airtime, the production costs, the fees for the on-air talent, etc., are not free....


Somebody is paying for something in this deal....

If anyone can tell me who is paying whom, I'd appreciate it....

But the way I understood it, OWRS was having to pay out some sort of $$$ as part of the telecast agreement to make them happen....

That was my impresssion from the threads surrounding Long Beach and announcements made there and shortly thereafter....

If that's wrong, please feel free to correct it....

I'd rather know the truth and if I misunderstood the deal, please set me straight....

I just want to knwo the facts...that's all...

[jjspierx]

Tim, what I meant was I don't know who is paying who, althoug yes, I understand that somebody is getting paid here. I don't think anybody knows except for the people involved with Champcar and the Execs at SpikeTV.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally posted by jjspierx
Tim, what I meant was I don't know who is paying who, althoug yes, I understand that somebody is getting paid here. I don't think anybody knows except for the people involved with Champcar and the Execs at SpikeTV.

I understand, jjspierx....

If my queries seemed directed at you, they are not, and I apologize if you took them that way....

I'd just like to know the answer to it, since "Cameron H" asked me for the "Source" of this information....

My Source:

"Information that I believe that I read on This Forum in a thread or posts dealing with the 'agreement' with Spike TV that were posted around the time of the Long Beach Unveiling events when OWRS addressed the TV package issue"

That's as close as I can really come to it...

To Cameron H:

Do you have iny info or sources that say otherwise???

If so, share them....

If you can find any post or threads that refute my understanding of the situation, please steer me to them or quote them....

I just want to know the facts...

That's why I visit these forums...to learn...

Thanks!

[Liz]

Why do you care who is paying, as long as YOU aren't paying?

Who gives a rip where the money is coming from? I don't care if the Mafia are paying Just don't ask ME to pay, that's all

[Tim Northcutt]

Here goes another of those "time bombs" from me...

I "DO" care, because if OWRS is paying for air time, it is a further drain of capital that they will need to run the Series....

I DO NOT want to witness "PookFare -- The Sequel," where everything is blus smoke and mirrors, and money gets spent away by the truckload with the great potential for little payoff....

and a couple of years down the road, we're in the same boat we were in last winter....

the "Mafia" has a very lucrative contract with ABC and ESPN that was signed with the company that owns both...

It is a positive revenue stream that gets pumped back into the Series to run it....

Anyone who follws professional sports at all will tell you that TV package revenue is a critical part of the overal financial equation for that sports league's financial well-being...

So if you love Champ Cars, you BETTER care....

[Superunknown]

Originally posted by Cameron H
Source? Show me where that is written.


Cam

CART's been paying for their broadcasts since the end of the ESPN days, I don't see what's new with the series that would completely change that situation.

[Tim Northcutt]

I really don't know for sure...

But I'm willing to wager that if SpikeTv was paying for the rights, OWRS would've been shouting it from the mountaintops...

Why???

Because it would be a departure from what occurred in the former Series, and it would be a source of income to tout...

[Muzza]

Liz,

It is quite important to know whether a series is broadcasted in "pay time" (that means, aired time paid by the series itself or by another party on its behalf) or if it manages to sell the broadcasting rights to a tv channel. Broadcasting rights are the single most important source of revenue to motorsports today (actually not "today", it has been for many years, since the early 1980s). It generates more money than direct sponsorship, endorsements, manufacturer partnernship contracts and everything else (in some cases, tv rights generate more than anything else combined).

Not to mention that tv broadcasting acts as a upward engine, that increases a series' marketing visibility and penetration, popularity, etc.

As Tim wrote, CART was obliged to dump a lot of money to buy air time and have its races broadcasted. This caused far more damage to CART's war chest than the "Pook-fare".

Also, brand managers and advertisers are quite skeptical of a series that need to buy air time to show itself. This tactic (now necessary, I admit) really gives it a bad reputation as a feasible marketing media.


Cameron H,

Paul Gentilozzi confirmed during the Long Beach launch that Champ Car is buying air time from Spike. He used the term "co-paid" to explain how the transaction is being done, but just to put a positive spin on it. Some sponsors are of course paying some of the bill (obviously, and Gentilozzi made a "logical pun" of it), but most of it (I dare to say almost all of it) is being paid by Champ Car.

Regards,


Muzza

[cartpix]

They do get money from the comercial time & it does offset some of the costs. The change from getting paid to paying, was part of the Grand Vision of "Jargon Joe" Hietzler.

Jeff

[Liz]

I still don't care. It's not my money, and I have no right to tell them how to spend money that doesn't belong to me.

If they want to spend all their money on Hooters girls, it's non of my business.

I didn't know the Mafia owned ABC and ESPN! Tony Soprano and them? I thought they were in waste management. Disney is run by the Mob? Really? Gambino and Joey the Tuna and Big Louie and all?

[JohnSSC]

Tim is making a good point here and very relevant to the ability of the series to attract sponsorship. If we care about the health of the Sport and the health of this Series (and I DO) then I would like to know if I am watching what is in effect, a sort of infomercial.

I believe, based on what Pook announced last year for this season (and seeing nothing that would lead me to believe that sponsors feel the series is more attractive now) was that there would be a TV package that was purchased by CART. In effect they were purchasing the time. The Network would sell advertising which I presume would defray the cost of the technical support of each broadcast (cameras, announcers, etc).

Muzza, I believe explains things quite clearly here as well and again this scenario bears directly on what the relative health of the patient is right now.