VERSUS shows the IRL some love

Posted by Iannucci | 1/26/2009 | 10 comments »
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Hooray VERSUS! The mere fact that so many folks want to discuss the VERSUS/IndyCar spots that started airing yesterday show the new broadcast partner is already taking a step in the right direction. Right now thousands of hockey fans are already jotting down April 5th in their calendars as the day something fast and loud will happen.

(Nice touch of using raindrops for promoting the St Pete race by the way. Not sure if it was intentional, but I certainly chuckled.)

In case you missed them our buddy Will at Is it May yet? pirated uploaded two of the ads in Quicktime format here and here. Turn your audio WAY UP for the full effect.

Now if we can just figure out out to get a few million more people access to VERSUS through their cable provider we'll be set, right?

10 comments

  1. Unknown // January 26, 2009 8:48 AM  

    At the risk of sounding like a stoned-out-of-my-mind 20-something...

    Dude, that's AWESOME.

    Love the spots, hope we get LOTS more!

  2. Allen Wedge // January 26, 2009 9:11 AM  

    p.s. I missed this part somehow but speedfreak over on TrackForum said there was this great additional pub during the All-Star Game:

    "TG and his wife were also in Montreal for the All-Star Game. The VS. cameras got a zoom shot on them as Mike Emrick (the play-by-play guy) plugged the IRL and talked of his childhood memories at the Speedway...TG was even holding up a black card with the Versus logo on it."

  3. Anonymous // January 26, 2009 10:00 AM  

    Being the big/new fish in a little pond is 99.9% of the time a good thing. And as long as everyone works together to provide the best product (both on the series side and the production side) then there is no where to go but up.

    As much as people railed on the SPIKE coverage of CC a few years back, they promoted the series like crazy. Ran the races in a regular consistent time slot, with replays, and ancillary programming. They were the little engine that could and were very eager to go above and beyond.

    I think we are in a better position with Versus, based on their current and desired future programming.

    Now we just have to make sure that those of us outside of the U.S. borders can get coverage of the series as well... *raises pleading hand from Canada*

  4. Anonymous // January 26, 2009 12:55 PM  

    On January 9, Curt Cavin wrote that Charlie Morgan from IMS Productions said

    "ESPN International has been contracted by Indy Car and VERSUS to handle all International distribution. As a result, I would expect that TSN will be the Canadian distributor, but I have not heard that officially yet. You can confidently assure your e-mailer that he will be able to see all of the races."

  5. Pat W // January 26, 2009 1:56 PM  

    Good ads. The first one is superb and gets me pumped up for racing RIGHT NOW, but those don't sound like IndyCar engines in the second one, until right at the end..

    ESPN International has been the worldwide distributor for several years, and provided a separate audio commentary and on-screen graphics feed until end '08 (complete with km instead of miles). I've been wondering if they'll continue that format - or if they'll send the domestic feed in full like with the ALMS coverage, which is basically Speed sent here for a few hours with our ad breaks inserted.
    I'd be happy with either.

    Good to see Versus are getting the cross-promotions in nice and early with TG at that thing.

  6. Allen Wedge // January 26, 2009 2:26 PM  

    I thought the same thing about the engine's sound; but the ad on TV last night sounded nothing like that one; it was clearly the higher pitch IndyCar sound. not sure if they "fixed" it just before it aired or if the computer ones simply have an audio compression issue.

  7. Anonymous // January 26, 2009 2:47 PM  

    Anonymous, I did read that at the time. Unfortunately I can tell you from experience that means diddly squat. We may eventually see all the races, but there is very little assurance we will see them live or even the same day of the event.

    I watched the majority of the races via my computer last season as TSN opted to air them in the wee hrs of the morning or the next day.

  8. Anonymous // January 26, 2009 8:52 PM  

    Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

  9. Anonymous // January 27, 2009 7:08 AM  

    After watching the NHL All-Star weekend coverage on Vs. - may God have mercy on our eyes for this season of IRL on Vs. They spent more time showing a close up of a player on the bench while a goal was scored, then while showing 5 angles of the goal in replay another goal was scored. This could be the end of the IRL if the TV coverage is like the NHL weekend......

  10. Anonymous // January 27, 2009 9:56 AM  

    Robert: We have Terry Lingner at the helm for the production team. He is an Emmy award winning producer, who's credits include the Indy 500, the Rolex 24 & the 24hrs of LeMans.

    He was the innovator of the track level camera. He is also a driver himself. The man knows racing. He knows what fans want to see both on and off track.