Why the heck aren't the Reno Air Races on TV?

jasc15

jasc15

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Joe
I figured someplace like Discovery channel would have jumped on this already. Way more extreme than hillbillies wrestling catfish.

I'm sure there are enough of "controversial" personalities involved that they could lock down the reality TV angle and make a recurring series out of it.

I don't get it.
 
jasc15 said:
I figured someplace like Discovery channel would have jumped on this already. Way more extreme than hillbillies wrestling catfish.

I'm sure there are enough of "controversial" personalities involved that they could lock down the reality TV angle and make a recurring series out of it.

I don't get it.
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Because it's rich folks and their toys :dunno:
 
Rich people showing their wealth is bad TV????
 
Because anyone can go out and wrestle catfish, whether they would is not relevant to the appeal. Besides a race with 70 year old airplanes, pfft might as well watch schooners race.
It is false advertising anyway, imagine someone being inspired by Reno then showing up at their local airport for lessons... 'No no we don't fly that way now look at the TV in the panel and do what it says'
What is really funny is anyone inspired by Reno would check off a bunch the dangerous pilot attitudes...
GA culture is broken, flying for fun, replaced by the mostly false sell of efficient personal travel.
 
jasc15 said:
Rich people showing their wealth is bad TV????
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There is a channel called WealthTV. I saw this show about boats. There is a brand of custom boats where a "baby" version of this brand is $8m. There is a 3yr wait for this brand.

SpeedTV would also be a candidate to carry the races if they'd get focus on anything non-nascar
 
Because those who pilot the racers and frequent the races are ordinary middle class Americans, not freaks who want their 15 minutes of fame. They don't televise many motorcycle races either, probably because there just aren't that many people who ride those kinds of bikes. Far fewer who fly aircraft.
 
steingar said:
Because those who pilot the racers and frequent the races are ordinary middle class Americans, not freaks who want their 15 minutes of fame. They don't televise many motorcycle races either, probably because there just aren't that many people who ride those kinds of bikes. Far fewer who fly aircraft.
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I thought the racers were Upper Class rich people and the audience? No clue.

David
 
flhrci said:
I thought the racers were Upper Class rich people and the audience? No clue.

David
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The money comes in after making pro. I recall when Valentino Rossi changed from Honda to Yamaha (years ago), his signing bonus was $17mill. No word on his salary.
 
Written by a guy who made how many X/C trips last year?

ClimbnSink said:
Because anyone can go out and wrestle catfish,
GA culture is broken, flying for fun, replaced by the mostly false sell of efficient personal travel.
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jasc15 said:
I figured someplace like Discovery channel would have jumped on this already. Way more extreme than hillbillies wrestling catfish.

I'm sure there are enough of "controversial" personalities involved that they could lock down the reality TV angle and make a recurring series out of it.

I don't get it.
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Because there are more Hillbillies than Pilots !
 
I can't figure what the heck is entertaining about Duck Dynasty? Obviously millions of people watch it and buy the novelties.
 
There are pilots, and there are normal people. Normal people won't watch it!
 
How come Redbull Air Racing didn't survive? There were limited appearances on network tv and most times what they had was highlight reels. And where did the Rocket League go?
Seems to me network tv wants to stay away from potential controversial sports. The only time local news covers NASCAR or Indy League is when the race in in NH or one of the premiere races like Indy 500 or Daytona. That makes 4 times a year.
And have you noticed... Only ESPN carries drag races.
 
The only real interest is from the pilot population, which is vanishingly small and diminishing all the time.
 
No thanks, but it's been a part of our GA travels since 1975. What has happened in last couple of months to change things?

ClimbnSink said:
Spend a year in New England with your little plane and let me know how you get on.
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Roone Arledge compiled the accepted short list for success of sporting events on TV.

The races would probably fail two of the three requirements.
 
They don't like playing the memoir clips when something goes wrong
 
Red bull air races were the most popular thing they ever did. Which was the problem cause someone was going to die in front of the cameras and crowds.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Red bull air races were the most popular thing they ever did. Which was the problem cause someone was going to die in front of the cameras and crowds.
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That is the nature of racing. Redbull was the safest sport flying could be. No worse than your average airshow. And far safer than your average NASCAR race. Those pilots were literally the best of the best.
That they had a safety standdown due to a wing skipping off the water, and no crash, shows they were surprised by it. Now though, is the time to get back to it. Even Reno didn't fold, and that was not a trivial accident.
Oh how I wish I lived back in the day of air races all across the country.
 
silver-eagle said:
That is the nature of racing. Redbull was the safest sport flying could be. No worse than your average airshow. And far safer than your average NASCAR race. Those pilots were literally the best of the best.
That they had a safety standdown due to a wing skipping off the water, and no crash, shows they were surprised by it. Now though, is the time to get back to it. Even Reno didn't fold, and that was not a trivial accident.
Oh how I wish I lived back in the day of air races all across the country.
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Call me cynical, but I think auto racing is more popular on TV because of the higher number of crashes (most of which are not fatal). "If you ain't rubbin', it ain't racin' " seems to be the mood of the crowd. For sure, more "average joes" have driven real fast, and maybe even have fielded a race car on the amateur level. But the crashes are a big draw.
But back in the (pre-TV) day, when air racing was as popular as auto racing, it provided plenty of crashes, because they were rubbin' and the aircraft and pilots were often very dubious. The attrition rate was appalling. The oversight of pilots and machines was like nothing compared to today, or even since the 60s and 70s with Reno or the Formula Vee races.

The caliber of pilots and aircraft for the Red Bull races definitely means more safety, and of course the fact that they fly the course individually. But more people will tune in because it's also aerobatics (which gives the appearance of great danger), and ...because it's a Red Bull thing.
 
The answer is really quite simple. Not even remotely enough interest to pay the bills to broadcast, duh.
We are the few, the weird, the cheap....
 
The Reno air races are on in June?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 
Goofy said:
The answer is really quite simple. Not even remotely enough interest to pay the bills to broadcast, duh.
We are the few, the weird, the cheap....
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That's just crazy talk. Reno makes NASCAR look like old women pushing shopping carts around the day room. With the proper marketing, the air races could be a huge hit with speed nuts.

That said, frankly, I'm glad they're exclusive and hard to see. I've been twice, and it's a wonderful way to spend a week. TV would probably wreck them the way NASCAR has been destroyed.
 
rottydaddy said:
Call me cynical, but I think auto racing is more popular on TV because of the higher number of crashes (most of which are not fatal). "If you ain't rubbin', it ain't racin' " seems to be the mood of the crowd. For sure, more "average joes" have driven real fast, and maybe even have fielded a race car on the amateur level. But the crashes are a big draw.
But back in the (pre-TV) day, when air racing was as popular as auto racing, it provided plenty of crashes, because they were rubbin' and the aircraft and pilots were often very dubious. The attrition rate was appalling. The oversight of pilots and machines was like nothing compared to today, or even since the 60s and 70s with Reno or the Formula Vee races.

The caliber of pilots and aircraft for the Red Bull races definitely means more safety, and of course the fact that they fly the course individually. But more people will tune in because it's also aerobatics (which gives the appearance of great danger), and ...because it's a Red Bull thing.
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Well, they were rubbing today at Reno! #777 lost part of its tail. Both jets made it down safely with no injuries.
 
They have been televised a few times on the Speed channel and ESPN over the past 10 years. They have shown the highlights of each race and the show was usually an hour long. Usually broadcast around 3am PDT.
 
Red Bull Races were better when they did the scream and burn T&Gs, it's no wonder they tanked. Need more stuff, not less.
 
Hell, I'm a pilot and I wouldn't even watch the Reno Air Races. Unless I'm the one doing the flying - *yawn*
 
yea, every now and then I think I need to build a Cassutt...
 
Have you watched what is available? It is nearly impossible to see the planes, even more difficult to tell if anyone is ahead, and, unlike NASCAR, no crashes in which, usually, no one gets seriously injured.

I don't think I would watch Reno if it were on TV. Boring, boring, boring.
 
a helicopter or blimp hovering over the middle of the track with multiple cameras hanging from it would take care of keeping an eye on the action around the course.
 
stsflyer said:
They have been televised a few times on the Speed channel and ESPN over the past 10 years. They have shown the highlights of each race and the show was usually an hour long. Usually broadcast around 3am PDT.
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Yep. And those shows have been bad TV. Airplanes don't fly particularly close together, there is little passing, and the camera angles don't show much of interest. Also, the typical consumer has no point of reference for air racing.

There is just no way to turn it into good TV.
 
kyleb said:
Yep. And those shows have been bad TV. Airplanes don't fly particularly close together, there is little passing, and the camera angles don't show much of interest. Also, the typical consumer has no point of reference for air racing.

There is just no way to turn it into good TV.
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I would not agree with that statement, you have to get people interested in the "characters". If you become emotionally involved you will watch.

Getting a sport like air racing a TV following would be a long term committment, and give there is only 1 race a year that is highly unlikely. Even the Indy 500 is losing it's appeal to the TV audience. Why? The US racing community is not engaged with the drivers any longer. The personalities are either gone or we do not relate to them. NASCAR on the other hand, has the personalities, thus they have the following.
 
I've been a an active pilot for a long time and couldn't cite the name of a single race pilot if threatened at gun-point. I can't imagine anything that would cause my level of interest to change, but to each his own.



QUOTE=ryoung99;1187030]I would not agree with that statement, you have to get people interested in the "characters". If you become emotionally involved you will watch.

Getting a sport like air racing a TV following would be a long term committment, and give there is only 1 race a year that is highly unlikely. Even the Indy 500 is losing it's appeal to the TV audience. Why? The US racing community is not engaged with the drivers any longer. The personalities are either gone or we do not relate to them. NASCAR on the other hand, has the personalities, thus they have the following.[/QUOTE]
 
If they did fix Reno up for tv everyone would be ****ed about the changes needed to sell it to the unwashed. If you could get the pilots and families to go in reality style it would probably do well. All those rich old guys with a good bit of spruce goose in the head, I bet they are a ball of fun behind the scenes.
 
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