Midnight Train to Jonesville
Larry Jones horse whispering to Buy the Barrel (wendyu)
Get ready to hop aboard the midnight train to Jonesville, Larry Jones-ville that is! Not only are the Hennegans following Jones around with with their cameras this weekend (and hopefully twittering soon! hint, hint), Joe Drape’s feature in the NY Times is currently the lead story on the Times’ sports page. I don’t know about you, but I’m already liking this year’s Derby hype coverage waaaay more than last year’s!
No doubt you’re waiting to see how everyone does tomorrow before you place your futures wagers for both the Derby and the Oaks. Don’t forget, this year’s wagering menu introduces the futuracta!
Speaking of the Oaks, this year’s TV coverage is being dropped by ESPN. However, it’s being picked by Bravo, who had already planned to do a one hour Oaks day special, geared towards the ladies.
Churchill spokesman John Asher said Bravo’s Oaks coverage has the potential to reach new fans.
“While ESPN did cover a considerable chunk of Oaks Day, we’re very excited that we’ll be able to reach a new audience for the Kentucky Oaks on the Bravo telecast of activities surrounding the Kentucky Oaks and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. We think that presents wonderful opportunities.
While ESPN gets a big thumbs down for this move, bravo to Bravo. Plenty of racing fans of the female variety, myself included, have mentioned that making the game more accessible to women would be a great thing, so cheers for that. On the other hand, part of me thinks this has the potential to be similar to the new insipid positioning of menswear inspired women’s wear as “boyfriend”-wear.
It’s times like this I try to remind myself that not everyone has to experience racing in the same way to find it enjoyable. I’ll be watching the simulcast signal, but if Bravo can attract some new folks to the game or at the very least broaden it’s appeal, that’s probably not a bad thing. Particularly compared to no coverage at all.
And finally, this fan of racing and technology is very happy to see Jessica blogging again at the newly upgraded Railbird v2. Newly expanded focus, same smart observations. Other recent smart observations include Pull the Pocket on thinking like a marketer and the Wind Gatherer with an appeal.
I’m off to do a bit of handicapping, best of luck this weekend!
Posted by dana on Mar 13 2009
Filed Under: Mainstream Media, Churchill Downs, Kentucky Oaks, 2009, Film, Hennegan Brothers, Derby Trail, Larry Jones, Marketing, Racing
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I have a visceral reaction whenever people start talking about gearin’ things to the ladies, which usually means lots of fashion and fluff. You make a good point, though, that not everyone has to experience racing the same way and maybe Bravo’s special will create new fans. I’ll try to keep an open mind.
I say let Bravo have a go at it; they can’t do much worse.
Given the success of Jockeys on Animal Planet; I say a fresh look from someone outside the norm is worth trying.
Don’t even get me started on the Oaks/Bravo deal. A premier race, on a Friday, on a second? third? tier channel? There’s not a single good thing about it, no way to disguise that it’s yet another marginalization of filly/mare racing by the powers that be. It’s better than the race being nowhere, but that’s about it.
And the constant link between female interest and pathology is unimaginatively reductive. How do we appeal to women? Let’s talk about what kills them. Great.
J - I think I was too tired to have a visceral reaction.
John - I agree, and ultimately think it’s better than no coverage.
T - You’d prefer a premier race not on TV at all? I’m not sure I’m willing to go that far. Will I watch Bravo’s coverage? More than likely not, but then again I probably won’t be able to get home from work until right before the race, which I’ll watch on the OTB channel.
Re: marginalization, at the very least the “Ladies Classic” looked like the most important BC race on Jockeys, which I thought was nice. I also had a amount of searches for Zenyatta overnight .
I just put up a poll, I’ll write a post about later… thanks for the idea!
I wrote, “It’s better than the race being nowhere, but that’s about it.” =)
I gave up on Jockeys, so didn’t watch last night, but given the narrative arc (now there’s a generous term) of the series, it makes sense that it would highlight the Distaff, because of Zenyatta’s mention earlier in the season, and the focus on Smith. That seems serendipity for the series, rather than any intent/desire to highlight filly/mare races.
Maybe all those Jockeys fans will take Friday off this fall to watch the 09 Distaff. ;)
Well, given that it looks like they agreed to show the race after ESPN lamed out, I still say “bravo” to them… how much would we be bitching if there was no coverage?
And does it really matter if was it was intent vs. serendipity to highlight the filly/mare races?
I was sort of laughing to myself thinking that all those fans could watch season 2 unfold by paying attention to the Derby prep season… you know, if they were on TV. :)
The one good thing that is coming out of this is that I cannot see how the Breeder’s Cup can ever extend their contract with ESPN, who has made the coverage of the BC into a second rate broadcast. Hopefully they crawl back to NBC and let them put on a first rate production. Racing coverage began to fall apart when WIDE WORLD of SPORTS was cancelled. Their coverage, for the most part would place 15-20 minutes of race coverage in between log rolling and strong man competitions, but it worked. I believe the horse racing industry better start collaborating with second and third tier sports to put together a network that shows their sports in the most dramatic (although manufactured) fashion. Imagine a channel that has Poker, Billiards, Horse Racing, X-treme Sports. This is what ESPN use to be and is no longer. ESPN is the girl who became popular overnight and doesn’t want to hang with the same old friends in her senior year. ESPN dumped the racing community and it is time for the racing community to make new friends (and partners)
Jason - I don’t think the BC thinks their coverage is second rate, at least that’s not the impression I got from them, they seemed pretty happy with it.
But, I love the the Wide World of Sports idea AND think it’s similar in spirit to Ernie Munick’s “show a big race during the super bowl” concept (that I can’t easily dig up a link for).