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  #41  
Old 02-20-2015, 09:15 AM
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SlewsMyHero SlewsMyHero is offline
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Originally Posted by Bigsmc View Post
Matty, you need to invest in a remote control with a mute button. They are fairly cheap these days. I could care less who is talking between races, the sound is only on when they go in the gate at my house, for both channels.

Despite all the consternation over who will be on the air, the best news associated with this deal is that the bigger tracks will be shown on the channel with the better picture. There is no comparison in the video quality on my cable system when they are both showing the same race, so if Gulfstream is showing up on TVG already, that is nothing but a good thing. I applaud their effort to try to push horse racing into the HD world and I thank the tracks that have already made the investment in their in house video equipment to facilitate this move out of the SD world.
I understand TVG has invested in HD equipment. However, are there any cable or satellite providers actually giving TVG HD space? What's the point in all the HD talk if the channel is only offered in SD on cable? By getting TVG on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, they could get the HD picture out to any subscriber that has an HD TV and a broadband connection. You can get a Roku device for $50 or less. Why they aren't doing this is beyond me. They can also make the channels available to those potential viewers that can't currently get one or both networks.
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  #42  
Old 02-20-2015, 04:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Bigsmc View Post
Matty, you need to invest in a remote control with a mute button. They are fairly cheap these days. I could care less who is talking between races, the sound is only on when they go in the gate at my house, for both channels.

Despite all the consternation over who will be on the air, the best news associated with this deal is that the bigger tracks will be shown on the channel with the better picture. There is no comparison in the video quality on my cable system when they are both showing the same race, so if Gulfstream is showing up on TVG already, that is nothing but a good thing. I applaud their effort to try to push horse racing into the HD world and I thank the tracks that have already made the investment in their in house video equipment to facilitate this move out of the SD world.
i hear you..hd would be nice .but im not sure on dish what channel is better..bein sports has the best hd ive seen in racing ..
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  #43  
Old 02-20-2015, 04:54 PM
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and then ....

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  #44  
Old 02-20-2015, 05:57 PM
Rudeboyelvis Rudeboyelvis is offline
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and then ....

iiiOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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  #45  
Old 02-20-2015, 07:15 PM
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Just heard on TVG that Brittney Eurton will run a segment that will highlight her best TV shows for the week. Between that and thier inexplicable segment that showcases thier NBA fantasy lineup tells me TVG will end up being a variety channel that will show horse racing as only part of the programming. The rest of the time will be tap dancing and unicyclers.
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  #46  
Old 02-20-2015, 07:29 PM
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Originally Posted by helicopter11 View Post
Just heard on TVG that Brittney Eurton will run a segment that will highlight her best TV shows for the week. Between that and thier inexplicable segment that showcases thier NBA fantasy lineup tells me TVG will end up being a variety channel that will show horse racing as only part of the programming. The rest of the time will be tap dancing and unicyclers.
Oh okay, no change.
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  #47  
Old 02-21-2015, 04:12 AM
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I may be in the minority. Putting on content targeting the millions of Daily fantasy sports players in hopes of converting some of them to betting on your racing content doesnt seem lke a bad idea at all.
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  #48  
Old 02-21-2015, 07:29 AM
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TVG deal could lead to coordinated post times
By Matt Hegarty

Racetracks in the U.S. are more likely to coordinate their live racing schedules to avoid overlapping post times due to the recent acquisition by Television Games Network of its only broadcast competitor, HRTV, according to officials involved in the deal.

The deal will likely result in racetracks being separated into two classes, with the most popular tracks broadcast on TVG and the signals of less-popular tracks residing on HRTV, according to the officials. As a result, racetracks that are shown consistently on each network are more likely to seek separation from the post times of competitors, the officials said, in order to maximize the amount of time that viewers have to evaluate a race and place their bets.

The officials said that a greater degree of coordination will be possible in large part because HRTV and TVG will no longer show the same races on their networks, freeing up slots for 5,000 additional races to be broadcast live annually between the two networks when production operations are consolidated at TVG’s Los Angeles studio in the next several weeks, TVG officials said.

TVG, which is currently available in 35 million households, according to the network, will likely continue to broadcast 6 to 8 live races an hour, which, in an ideal world, would allow for seven to ten minutes of broadcast time between races. Because TVG currently reaches nearly double the households of HRTV, the most popular signals will be concentrated on TVG, making a Saturday afternoon in April a showcase for live racing from Santa Anita, Gulfstream, Keeneland, and Aqueduct, for example.

For some small tracks, however, the merger of the two networks will mean losing airtime on the more widely distributed TVG, creating the potential for strained business relationships. TVG officials said that some tracks have deals guaranteeing a certain number of live broadcasts on TVG, and that those deals will continue to be honored through the term of the contracts. However, the officials said they did not expect those deals to “have a lot of impact” on programming decisions.

As a result, an exact separation between A and B tracks is not likely to take place immediately, if ever, especially as some tracks tweak their live racing schedules to take advantage of empty air-time slots on TVG or HRTV.

“We have been doing a lot of work on scheduling the two networks and it is safe to say that there is plenty of quality content for both,” TVG said, in response to written questions. “As the more broadly distributed platform, TVG will continue to feature many of the tracks that it has in the past in addition to Gulfstream and Santa Anita. There will also be schedule considerations based on regional strength of distribution, availability of signals and other factors.”

Critically, perhaps, the merger will not dampen the competition between TVG’s account-wagering service and XpressBet.com, owned by The Stronach Group, the former parent of HRTV and the owner of Santa Anita and Gulfstream. According to the officials, the deal does not prevent either network from promoting its own account-wagering service alongside the broadcasts of races, so TVG will be free to drive customers to its account-wagering operation while broadcasting races from Stronach Group tracks. In addition, TVG is planning to promote its account-wagering operation on HRTV.

As with any company that owns both racetracks and an account-wagering operation, the Stronach Group retains a far larger share of the revenue from a bet on its tracks when the wager is placed through its own account-wagering service versus the account-wagering operation of a competitor like TVG. That could lead to ill will between the companies if betting begins to migrate heavily to either one of their ADWs.

The situation regarding the broadcast of content from tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. is also not entirely clear yet. The contract providing HRTV with the rights to broadcast live races from Churchill’s properties – Churchill Downs in Louisville, Fair Grounds in New Orleans, and Arlington Park outside Chicago – is still in force at HRTV as a result of the merger, according to Scott Daruty, the president of HRTV. But that contract specifically assigns the rights to HRTV, Daruty said, leading to questions as to whether TVG will be able to broadcast the races as well.

It would seem to be in Churchill’s best interests to have its races broadcast on TVG, but the company also operates its own account-wagering company, twinspires.com, and relations between Churchill officials and TVG have not exactly been cordial over recent years. Twinspires.com and TVG are the two largest account-wagering companies in the U.S., and Churchill Downs bought a half-share in HRTV in 2007 as a counterweight to TVG’s market power. The company sold the half-share back to The Stronach Group last year, but its live broadcast signals remained exclusive to HRTV.

Churchill officials have not responded to specific requests to clarify the status of the company’s contract with HRTV since the merger was announced Wednesday.
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  #49  
Old 02-21-2015, 08:22 AM
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Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind View Post
Jake would have no interest.
Can't say I blame him.

Quote:
Originally Posted by helicopter11 View Post
Just heard on TVG that Brittney Eurton will run a segment that will highlight her best TV shows for the week. Between that and thier inexplicable segment that showcases thier NBA fantasy lineup tells me TVG will end up being a variety channel that will show horse racing as only part of the programming. The rest of the time will be tap dancing and unicyclers.
Out of all of the on-air talent that TVG has Britney is one of the most presentable for the screen. Plus she knows her stuff about tv shows and movies.

It's not that big of a deal to have a time wasting segment. Especially mid-week when there is very little live racing.

The good news for Britney's detractors is that she probably won't be there for long. Young, beautiful women who don't come off as robots are rare in the entertainment business.
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  #50  
Old 02-21-2015, 09:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Sightseek View Post
As someone who really prefers the HRTV on air staff, format and extra shows, this merger sucks.
I couldn't agree with you more. IMHO TVG's on-air staff is horrible.
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  #51  
Old 02-22-2015, 10:47 AM
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I watched both channels yesterday (Sat) and noticed some changes immediately. First, TVG wasted no time taking all the premium feeds from SA and GP and relegating HRTV to the RCN simulcast feeds. They also grabbed Caton Bredar, both of which upgraded their broadcast at the expense of HRTV. HRTV was seriously downgraded and looked like a minor-league channel. All of the good things the did over the years were mostly gone. They both did basically the same events, so I think the had less coverage than before.

The TVG announcers did seem to avoid insane Pick 4 mythical bets during most of the stakes, which was welcome. HRTV does do Pick 4's with Kurt Hoover, Brad Free and Jon White at points, but I really like them because they actually bet them with their own money. However, as soon as the Risen Star was over the went tight back into it again.

I feel bad for the talent the amassed at HRTV. They've got some really good people to and listen to. They only way I though this would work w as for them take all the content from HRTV and move it to TVG and bring all the HDTV and expand it the the track at SA and GP by a long term agreement. Have the TVG crew doing the small tracks.

On my cable, TVG is about 15 hours per day of infomercials.

I think the horseplayer definitely loses on this one. Plus I just renewed HrTV for 2 years, so I'm kind of getting ripped off.
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  #52  
Old 02-23-2015, 11:27 AM
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bredar making shrupp and la duscha look like the dart throwers they are..
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  #53  
Old 02-23-2015, 01:10 PM
Rudeboyelvis Rudeboyelvis is offline
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Originally Posted by jnunan4759 View Post
On my cable, TVG is about 15 hours per day of infomercials.

I think the horseplayer definitely loses on this one. Plus I just renewed HrTV for 2 years, so I'm kind of getting ripped off.
I watched TVG yesterday for a few hours and found C. Bredar a positive addition to the broadcast.

I was surprised to find that even though they now feature Gulfstream Park, they are still incessantly filling and missing live posts. They are basically live at GP, AQU, SA and will only show a live race from elsewhere if it doesn't impact some prepackage fill.

There is no reason to show Tampa Bay Downs on tape delay when you are only covering 3 frigging tracks. I'm certain most bettors would opt for a live racing call vs. a real time post parade of 10k claimers at Aqueduct. Senseless. Hopefully they can bring in a producer that has a clue.
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  #54  
Old 02-23-2015, 02:47 PM
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South Beach Luv South Beach Luv is offline
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Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis View Post
I watched TVG yesterday for a few hours and found C. Bredar a positive addition to the broadcast.

I was surprised to find that even though they now feature Gulfstream Park, they are still incessantly filling and missing live posts. They are basically live at GP, AQU, SA and will only show a live race from elsewhere if it doesn't impact some prepackage fill.

There is no reason to show Tampa Bay Downs on tape delay when you are only covering 3 frigging tracks. I'm certain most bettors would opt for a live racing call vs. a real time post parade of 10k claimers at Aqueduct. Senseless. Hopefully they can bring in a producer that has a clue.
Why can't Tampa, Fairgrounds, and Oaklawn all be shown live on the HRTV channel and let TVG air the three tracks you mentioned. TVG can show stakes races like they did yesterday for the Southwest.
Yesterday Santa Anita and Fairgrounds were basically on top of each other. Couldn't watch Fairgrounds live on TV and there's no way I'm waiting up to ten minutes so I'm watching it on my phone. That seems like major BS now.
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  #55  
Old 02-23-2015, 06:55 PM
Rudeboyelvis Rudeboyelvis is offline
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Originally Posted by South Beach Luv View Post
Why can't Tampa, Fairgrounds, and Oaklawn all be shown live on the HRTV channel and let TVG air the three tracks you mentioned. TVG can show stakes races like they did yesterday for the Southwest.
Yesterday Santa Anita and Fairgrounds were basically on top of each other. Couldn't watch Fairgrounds live on TV and there's no way I'm waiting up to ten minutes so I'm watching it on my phone. That seems like major BS now.
I contend that they can show all of them live on TVG with enough time between for discussion.

3 tracks running a 1.5 minute race every 25 minutes and you can't get a 4th track live?

They can postpone a post parade or a super-beta prostate infomertial for a minute to get the races live. a decent producer should be able to juggle that.
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  #56  
Old 02-24-2015, 09:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis View Post
I contend that they can show all of them live on TVG with enough time between for discussion.

3 tracks running a 1.5 minute race every 25 minutes and you can't get a 4th track live?

They can postpone a post parade or a super-beta prostate infomertial for a minute to get the races live. a decent producer should be able to juggle that.
Being a producer at Betfair or a track manager would be the best slapdick job ever.

We're talking about having a Betfair employee at 4-8 different tracks with a walkie talkie direct to the starter.

Way too difficult and far too much responsibility. It could interfere with dinner plans that evening.
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  #57  
Old 02-24-2015, 01:20 PM
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jnunan4759 jnunan4759 is offline
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Caton Bredar did create a glaring example this weekend of the lack of legitimate racing knowledge at TVG. It was like Einstein teaching a high school physics class. Caton's great but HRTV has a bunch like her who are very good too. She showed the class difference in staff very clearly.

The production at HRTV has been excellent and their management has built a superior product with superior staff over the years. Remember TVG has been around years longer. The management that created TVG and though it was OK is now in charge of the future of racing on TV. That's a scary thought. To change the clown-car lineup would make them admit they were wrong all along, something I think they would be hesitant to do. I can't see them wanting to do anymore things like bringing Caton Bredar in, it just makes people want more of her and less of their chosen talent. I have to think they weren't happy how overmatched their big-guns looked this weekend. And Caton went over and above to avoid that, but she's just so much better.

They are really in a mess now.

BTW I have Verizon Fios in PA and pay extra for both TVG and HRTV. I don't get TVG in HD. What I get now is a shrunken HD signal in SD for them which is worse than a SD signal.

The only thing I like better about TVG is that they stream results and payouts on the "creeper" on the bottom.
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  #58  
Old 02-24-2015, 07:04 PM
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I think the key to the whole deal is the involvement they want Amy Zimmerman to have. She is the top producer in the Thoroughbred industry today and she, and only she could make this work. She is the absolute best in the business and time will tell if TVG utilizes her. It's simple, if they do, they can succeed, if they don't they will certainly fail.
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  #59  
Old 02-24-2015, 07:40 PM
saratogadew saratogadew is offline
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Originally Posted by jnunan4759 View Post
I think the key to the whole deal is the involvement they want Amy Zimmerman to have. She is the top producer in the Thoroughbred industry today and she, and only she could make this work. She is the absolute best in the business and time will tell if TVG utilizes her. It's simple, if they do, they can succeed, if they don't they will certainly fail.
I love TVG. Aren't they succeeding now?

"if they don't they will certainly fail". Moving forward, what exactly would be defined as failure?
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  #60  
Old 02-24-2015, 08:36 PM
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TVG is doomed if they don't add Westrock Coffee as a sponsor. I want to see Westrock Coffee bags in studio and on-track...in standard definition.
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