Indy 500

[Nock]

Why would ABC not broadcast the Indy 500 in high def? I could swear I watched it in high def last year because I thought it was my first real high def experience? At least I thought it was. Nock

 

[oldvnewschool]

I think they want you to try out ABC enhanced TV online at ESPN.comOne of the announcers did a promo for it before the start of the race.I guess they don't view that legitamate sports competition worthy of HD coverage. But they sure care about the prime time spelling bee on HD ;D

 

[EnbyCee]

I think they want you to try out ABC enhanced TV online at ESPN.comOne of the announcers did a promo for it before the start of the race.I guess they don't view that legitamate sports competition worthy of HD coverage. But they sure care about the prime time spelling bee on HD ;D

Kinda ironic that the biggest wrestling fan on this board would talk about "legitimate sports competitions". But, HD or no HD, it was a great race. Slowly but surely, the Indy 500 seems to be regaining some of the luster it lost in the 90's and early 00's (now that I said this, watch the ratings show NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 clobbering it by more than ever).

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

Why would ABC not broadcast the Indy 500 in high def? I could swear I watched it in high def last year because I thought it was my first real high def experience? At least I thought it was.

A better question would be Why isn't this event televised in Primetime?I mean seriously, if they're willing to put The National Spelling Bee (which I imagine would draw a smaller audience) on in Primetime, then why not televise the Indy 500 in Primetime as well?Would seem to make $en$e, dontcha think?I remember back in the day, they did have in on in Primetime.Thoughts?Cheers Pat

 

[DoctorBear]

Why not televise the Indy 500 in Primetime as well?Would seem to make $en$e, dontcha think?I remember back in the day, they did have in on in Primetime.

Yeabut...those were tape-delayed showings. Tape-delayed sports coverage just doesn't work any more - ask NBC about the Olympics. (If you really want to see it in prime time, move to Indianapolis - the live showing is still blacked out there and WRTV has to show it on tape delay.) And I don't see the Indy 500 moving to nighttime anyway - I can't see 250,000 people leaving the track at midnight, and Indy-type cars have traditionally been daytime races only, unlike the bigger NASCAR stocks which do run at night.

 

[EnbyCee]

Hi everyone:

Why would ABC not broadcast the Indy 500 in high def? I could swear I watched it in high def last year because I thought it was my first real high def experience? At least I thought it was.

A better question would be Why isn't this event televised in Primetime?I mean seriously, if they're willing to put The National Spelling Bee (which I imagine would draw a smaller audience) on in Primetime, then why not televise the Indy 500 in Primetime as well?

Well, they abandoned tape-delay primetime coverage for good in 1987 (after rain delays the year before necessitated live coverage, which was thought to be a success) in favor of live coverage, and subsequently NASCAR grabbed ahold of the slot with its Coca-Cola 600 and now performs much better in the ratings than the Indy 500. If the two ran head-to-head, I'd imagine NASCAR would even more thoroughly destroy Indy. I think it was a mistake for Indy to have ever abandoned prime-time coverage....if, as was the case this weekend and is typical, you're in the Midwest or Northeast and you've got nice weather on a holiday weekend after dealing with the long, cold winter and rainy spring, why would you want to sit on your butt in front of the TV in the afternoon if you're not a hardcore race fan? If they wanted to have live coverage of the 500, maybe they should have put lights on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway back in the 80's and run the race at night.....but that would have required progressive thinking, which the curmudgeons who run IMS have shown themselves consistently incapable of over the past decade as NASCAR has eclipsed open-wheel racing in terms of popularity.As for the spelling bee, ESPN's bizarre fascination with that event has already infected ESPN Classic and now apparently has spread to ABC as well. I pity the kids who will be up there, as if they weren't facing enough pressure already.

 

[BRice16]

I don't understand why it wasn't in HD. Every NASCAR race on Fox, NBC and TNT is in HD. With as much as they hyped it, I can't believe that it wasn't.