NCAA to T&F - Drop Dead

Who cares if its "only" on ESPNU and not the flagship ESPN. The fact that its being televised live is huge and who cares if its two more channels down on the menu ? Its better than only having it on ESPN3 where only a limited number of cable/internet providers have cut a deal and cuts the number of potential viewers down.

You don't get it. ABC is showing the WNBA early season game this afternoon in the same slot that the national championship of college T&F is being held. The freakin WNBA. Our favorite sport is so low in the hierarchy of sports TV that we are below them.

Phil Knight... where are you when we need you to take the Indy / Bristol idiots to task?

What part of the U in ESPNU are you failing to comprehend ?

I just wish someone would find a way to put a decent track and field meet TV presentation together. Someone has to start thinking out of the box. The same old shtick with the same old commentators is moving us backwards.

Can we get Madden out of retirement to help track and field broadcasts?

Which part of ESPNU has crap distribution/subscription that you don't?

The U has the same distribution as ESPN. If you get ESPN you get the U unless you opt for the most basic subscription package. But hey, I'm sure ABC/ESPN have not done their market research and are just guessing that a WNBA game will draw hire ratings than the NCAA Championships. Someone should reach out to them and give them a clue that they are doing it all wrong.

Also wrong is your hire usage

For exposure you're probably right. But for enjoyable coverage, the PAC-12 stream has been the best coverage of track I've seen in ages. You get intelligent cutting between several cameras and listen to the stadium announcers. I'd be very happy to see NCAA champs this way in the future. It beats listening to the ESPN announcers who pay almost no attention to the actual race as it develops and can't figure who more than 2-3 runners are anyway. For example, last night ESPN literally did not bother to show the finishers below 3rd place in many races, either on camera or by showing the board.

No it doesn't. Here is a viewing report from this year that doesn't even include "the U" in the top 96 cable channels. You must not get around much but it isn't part of the standard/first tier premium cable lineup.http://www.scribd.com/doc/144958007/May-13-P2-All-Cable

Deadman Running wrote:

The U has the same distribution as ESPN. If you get ESPN you get the U unless you opt for the most basic subscription package. But hey, I'm sure ABC/ESPN have not done their market research and are just guessing that a WNBA game will draw hire ratings than the NCAA Championships. Someone should reach out to them and give them a clue that they are doing it all wrong.

You must have Dish - I have first tier subscription on DirectTV and get it, and same with Comcast. If you get ESPN you get ESPNU with most providers except Dish Network (due to lawsuit several years ago). Not sure what a viewing report has to do with whether the channel is offered or not. Just because its not in the top 100 watched channels doesn't mean its available.

Hey guys, it could be worse. They could have put it on NBC Sports Network like the NHL playoffs. In LA, many of us don't get to see the Stanley Cup Champion Kings in the NHL playofs because Cox dropped NBCSN.

My point exactly. The fact that someone is showing it live on TV is something to be thankful for and not whine about which station its on or not on.

I have never understood why a endurance channel wouldn't work. Road races, track, xc, swimming, tris, bis, cycling, anything else that falls under the category.

The problem is not with "the folks in Indianapolis", the problem is with people throughout the US having no interest in watching T&F. If it was a big draw, then it would be televised on a major network or majo cable channel. The NCAA doesn't get to tell the television people where to televise their events, the television people choose what they think will get the biggest audience and bid accordingly. It's all about the money.

Endurance channel wrote:

I have never understood why a endurance channel wouldn't work. Road races, track, xc, swimming, tris, bis, cycling, anything else that falls under the category.

Because the populace won't watch it. They find it overly boring and they seek action sports.

Last week they showed The Pre Classic on NBC while THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS were bumped to NBC Sports.

I'm not gonna fret about ABC showing WNBA. Obviously there is some method to these broadcasters madness.

the WNBA will draw zero viewers but the NBA does and the NBA bullies the channels into showing the unwatchable WNBA.

with that being said, what is wrong with pac-12 online streaming and then espn3/u live coverage of NCAAs??? it actually has been very good (other than a commercial break during the 5K) and, as has been mentioned above, the pac-12 stream was fantastic. great camera work and the audio of the stadium announcer who really knew his sh$$. i agree that the NCAA should use that model going forward and it is a lot cheaper to boot. rawson was epically bad last night.

It's called ratings. USATF has numbers that pro track meets do well compared to NHL and some other sports events. But let's face it, NCAA Track Championships are not "quite" the same crowd draw as March Madness. Just compare the attendance at Hayward Field this weekend with the California STATE championships.

coach d wrote:

It's called ratings. USATF has numbers that pro track meets do well compared to NHL and some other sports events. But let's face it, NCAA Track Championships are not "quite" the same crowd draw as March Madness. Just compare the attendance at Hayward Field this weekend with the California STATE championships.

Very true -

Hayward @ 10,000 avg

CA State @ 20,000+ avg