RcCzarOfOld

I think the one thing that this hobby/sport needs here in the U.S. is exposure on a national scale on something like Speed TV or ESPN.

Think about it... What's the main reason the full scale race drivers can potentially make so much money? Outside sponsorship due to national exposure. In other countries, aren't the top RC racers like super stars? That's because they have national exposure on television. There are thousands of people out there watching NASCAR, SCCA, Le Mans and other forms of auto racing saying, "I wish I could drive a race car..." Hardly any of them know about RC racing. There is just no exposure at all outside of a few publications and the internet here in the states. The only thing you ever see at all is advertisements for the "toy" cars made by tyco, Nikko and Radio Shack. There are many ways the sport could benefit from television coverage. Increased revenue for the manufacturers, larger paychecks for the top drivers and most importantly, growth of the sport. The LHS won't have so much of a struggle to stay in business, tracks will last more than a couple years... When people find out that their dreams of driving a race car can actually happen, if only on a smaller scale and for tens of thousands of dollars less than a real car without the risk of injury or death... This sport would explode.

I say we make an effort as a community to get the ball rolling by posting on the Speed TV forums, http://insider.speedtv.com/viewtopic.php?t=116485 and submitting some feedback about the sport to the producers http://www.speedtv.com/feedback/ Add links to some of the large events and about the products that we use. It'll only take about a minute to send an email and we all post on multiple forums on a daily basis anyway. This could be a very good thing if we all get involved.

Tony

Brian Anthony

iTrader: (9)

There already is one on DIY. It's called Radio Control Hobbies and is hosted by Chris Chianelli.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_..._14330,00.html

G Ace

And "Inside R/C" on The Outdoor Channel

http://www.insiderc.com

OSD

Not everybody watches DYI..Besides that show doesnt depict RC Racing..Like full race coverage....

I think Tony's hitting it right on the Nose!

We could all benefit from this kind of Coverage!
On a regular Basis.

nagatahawk

The tv thing sounds good on paper, but it is very difficult to film so it looks similar to real time racing.

I have produced some shows with moderate success, as an independent. and have seen some excellent drift videos.

drift rc is easier to film because of the slower speed. for high speed racing you need slow motion shots of cars to depect real life vehicle motion on screen.

I you shoot an rc race at real timel speeds it looks like a bunch of rats scurrying about i a maze.

1/5th scale racing would be an easier format to film. but who cares about 1/5 scale? not me! LOL. If someone would fund me $10 grand I will give you a pretty good show. with interview, slow mow , how to's, and of courst the obligatory T & A shots. ha ha!

hurley081182

iTrader: (15)

yeah would be pretty cool. i know i want to see what goes on at races since i cant fly to ca or where ever they are at.

nwilcox88

iTrader: (5)

Not a show about bashing, a show about racing

Motor City Hami

This is easy. Go find a company to sponsor the show and take it to Speed Channel. That's it, you just need a sponsor. R/C racing would probably do a really small rating like a 0.1 or less. ESPN averages around a 1.0 rating, except for NFL football at around an 8. R/C would rank just under bowling, billiards, Texas holdem and dodgeball. Might be just as boring to watch, too, for people who don't race R/C cars. So why do these low rated shows get on the air? Well, cable has lots of space to fill, especially on weekend mornings and late at night. Plus, each of the ones I mentioned had a sponsor first, then was put on the air. Budweiser wants to be associated with bowling, billiards and poker... why... because beer goes well with each of them. If people are sitting around on Saturday night getting ready to go to the bar and want to watch 15 minutes of mindless TV, Budweiser wants you to see their logo... right then... before you go out to drink and party. So, the answer, put hot women in low cut shirts playing billiards = good television.

Two ways to get on TV. 1.) build an audience, a huge following. 2.) find a sponsor to buy your way in. I'd suggest finding the sponsor first. Come on Associated, get on TV and triple in size overnight and put Trinity right out of business.

RcCzarOfOld

Even if Associated or Losi or whomever just made a 30 second commercial showing some of their cars in action and then bought a spot during a NASCAR race, it would be tremendous exposure. You have a fan that's all excited watching his favorite driver in the Daytona 500, then he finds out he can competitively race a miniature version of Dale Jr's car for a fraction of a fraction of the cost... He's going to put down his beer and go running to the LHS with a thousand questions. Or at the very least, he'll hop online and google "rc racing". Then monday at work, he'll tell all of his friends what he found out about RC and all of a sudden, the company that made the add just sold out of all of their RTR's...

In a perfect world anyway...

Tony

TC Guy

Motor City,
I couldn't agree more. In fact, if 2 or 3 companies got together and combined their resources, I not only think it would be a home run but a no brainer for those companies in terms of the exposure and revenues that it would create.

Example: Associated, Novak, and Trinity or whomever getting together and joining forces (marketing wise) for the good of the sport and taking the idea to a SpeedChannel or ESPN (lofty expectation).

1/2 the show dedicated to beginners- ie. to get more folks into the sport.
The other 1/2 dedicated to the hard core on-road and /or off-road enthusiast.

TC Guy

RcCzar,
I think your absolutely right, especially if even a 1/3 of the NASCAR fans had any idea of the number of NASCAR drivers that are into RC.
If some of those folks saw their favorite driver wheeling an on-road or off-road car or truck, they wouldn't be able to find their LHS fast enough.

southsiderc

tony, wilcoxx, dave(osd) i couldnt agree more!!!!!!!!! you guys got the right idea!!! nice writing tony!! can you guys see osd wheeling that 1/8th scale buggy around pheasant run, poor camera guys trying to follow that thing!! not even dave knows where it is going! j/k dave, love ya man!

nwilcox88

iTrader: (5)

Think of who something like this might help. The manufactures like Losi, AE, Traxxas, etc., the Local Hobby shops, the engine experts like Fantom, Team Brood, etc. The battery matching business...Electronic companies like Trinity, Novak, etc.

Maybe someday a offroad championship race coming to a venue near you!!!! Oh how cool would it be to be watching a race inside Joe Louis Arena....

HotrodHopkins

iTrader: (31)

they need to put it on like ESPN cause not everyone has DYI Network or The Outdoor Channel.

Superkarter

iTrader: (2)

why don't u get a demonstration together at a NASCAR race like Daytona and get some of the nascar drivers to have a go seeing as how some already race rc's. Think of the exposure