Because its a terrible shot and you completely lose track of the field. You find your horse (or horses) entering the first turn, then comes the camera cut and you have no idea of who is where. Then they hit the backstretch, and its another camera cut. Less is better when it comes to camera angles.

I agree. When I am watching a live race, I want to know WHAT is happening so what I prefer is what most tracks show which is a seemless pan shot which on the backstretch is split to show a wide angle of the whole field and a close-up of the lead pack.

After the race is over, I know what happened. Now I want to know how and why it happened. So this is the time to show all of the side angles, head ons, overheads, etc. This is more for the race analysis phase, not for live viewing imo.

Agree and well put. I am thankfull that we get this much coverage on big days. NBC dropped the ball not showing Race 11, not a priority in the production meeting obviously. I enjoy Kenny mayne's sense of humor and think the pairing of him and Randy Moss (whom I enjoy more then any other person on tv in relation to this sport) is a great one. Hammerin Hank makes my stomach curl at times. Overall, I enjoy the broadcasts.

[quote=Antitrust32]I have a different opinion. The coverage ESPN and NBC did was all about the Preakness, and that is fine. At least ESPN showed all the races. If you wanted to see the post parades, etc, go to the otb. ESPN was very good imo. The guy who was in the infield was great, and so is Edwards and Randy Moss and Mayne.

NBC was fine, I wish they would have showed race 11 but, they were focusing on the preakness. I thought Gary Stevens did a great job, and Tom Durkin and all of em'.

Overall it was a blast to watch 6 hours of horse racing on national tv.[/QUOTE


I'm with you on that. ESPN and NBC are promoting this a national sporting event, not just another gambling outlet. I know some don't care for the "feel good" stories and don't care about this or that, but that is what they are supposed to do when trying to air this as a sporting event not just another not a texas hold 'em match or a Keno contest. If you do like that stuff then the OTB or TVG etc isthe place to watch them.
I for one like the coverage on Both NBC and ESPN. I like Randy Moss, Kenny Mayne and Tom Hammond and J. Edwards. It really is a sport first and that's how they are televising it.

positve comment: i like the blimp shot and the nascar type pointer graphic that points down to the horse they are speaking of. that's cool. please don't try it live though. replays only.


negative comment: 1 1/2 hours is way too much time t ofill when you're only showing one race. invariably, they will screw things up with inappropriate, insensitive stuff during all that filler time.

[quote=boswd]But which model would have wider appeal? The poker broadcasts are wildy successful. From the little I watch it looks to me like they stick to the nuts and bolts of the game much more so, which in turn makes it interesting and exciting.

In my opinion,the casual person interested in horseracing, is not going to watch 5 hours of horseracing TV on a Saurday afternoon.

I'm not a casual fan but I would be hard pressed to stay awake for 5 hours of broadcast horseracing tv.

I disagree. Like I said, NBC is doing its broadcast for casual fans, not for gamblers. Casual fans aren't obsessed with knowing where "their horse" is at all times, only gamblers are.. It was a great angle and one of the signature shots of the Derby. Now, if the CDSN feed cut to that angle on the first turn, then I'd understand the gripe.

I think casual fans do care where their horse is. Why would they even watch if they didn't pick at least one horse for fun?

Also, I thought the Kentucky Derby blimp angle was horrible and would turn away anyone. I'm thankful the Preakness angles were ten times better.

LWM, it's a 5 second shot. It's a classic angle... classic photograph material. Whoever broadcasts the Derby should be shooting this angle. Get ahold of yourselves for one race, the Derby is as much about the pageantry as it is who wins to most people. You can very easily see the positions in the field as they go to the backstretch and the announcer calls them out in order.


Bring back the money shot!!! It represents all that is good about the Derby and the Triple Crown.

I watched a replay of the Derby about 5 times and I never was able to find Curlin until about the last 3 seconds of the race. I still don't know if he got into trouble like some said.

If I want a money shot, I'll go with Jenna Jamison...

I'm surprised that NBC didn't have an ISO on Curlin in KY. If they did they never showed it. I looked on their website and found Nobiz, but not Curlin. In the Nobiz iso you can see Curlin sail past him last. Nobiz looked like he was tied to the fence.

I liked NBC coverage and thought the drama vs. racing was as balanced as you will get.

Durkin's calls are slow and a little choppy for my taste.

The most important thing in my opinion is that when I got back to work from my vacation, my entire staff, who are not horseracing fans, said they deeply enjoyed what they saw.

:eek: