Cochrane carrying on again

[Da Moo]

I love this release below....

What a suprise they didnt mention that the ratings for the last three rounds of the season were down on 2006 and that the love between 7 and V8s is not quite as rosy as TC suggests.......


V8 Supercars Australia is looking to build on the record 22 million television viewers of 2007 - up from 17.5 million on the previous season - during this year’s Championship Series that is being officially launched in Melbourne tomorrow night.

Last year the sport was watched by just on 22 million (Source: Mitchells) people across Australia as the first year return to Network Seven rocketed the sport to new heights. It was a 25 per cent hike in total viewers across Australian metropolitan and regional markets.

“The move to Network Seven and their all-network commitment to the sport could not have had a more successful first year back,” V8 Supercars Australia Chairman Tony Cochrane said.

“The partnership is getting stronger and stronger as Network Seven discovers the huge fan base of our sport which spreads from Broome to Brisbane and Darwin to the Derwent.

“Compare this to the A League that was recently applauded for having a 23 per cent increase to 2.8 million viewers and it offers you a real perspective on what Australians are watching.”

Crowds in 2007 were also up by around 1.5 per cent up on comparison with the previous year.

“V8 Supercars can no longer be considered as a second class citizen in the Australia sporting arena,” Mr Cochrane said.

“It also is reflected in our international television numbers which are receiving the same phenomenal growth.”

The 2008 season launch will take place at Melbourne’s Peninsula function centre at Docklands tomorrow evening to invited guests including Australia’s leading businessmen, corporate guests, celebrities, Seven personalities, V8 Supercar drivers and teams.

XXXX GOLD will be the beer on tap at all twelve Australian V8 Supercar events and will be actively involved in the atmosphere of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, including the XXXX Angels.

Lion Nathan joins an increasingly large stable of sponsors who have recognised V8 Supercars as an outstanding investment opportunity in the sporting landscape.

In 2008 a new street race will be held in Hamilton, New Zealand, to a sell-out crowd of 150,000. The amazing reception in New Zealand has guaranteed the event a record crowd for the country, once again.

The build-up to the inaugural Townsville street race in 2009 will also continue. Townsville is also shaping up as an event that will be one of the biggest in Australia.

On the racing front 2007 Champion Garth Tander has switched to the powerful Holden Racing Team, Russell Ingall to the Paul Morris Supercheap Auto outfit and Todd Kelly to Jack Daniel’s Racing.

Albury-based Team BOC has swapped camps from Ford to Holden and found a new driver in Cameron McConville while the HSV Dealer team replaced Garth Tander with Paul Dumbrell. And Stone Brothers Racing recruited another Kiwi Shane Van Gisbergen to partner James Courtney.

And the top three from last year’s Fujitsu (development) Series, Tony D’Alberto, Michael Caruso and Kiwi Kayne Scott, all have secured drives in the Championship as reward for their great form of 2007.

The L&H 500 at Phillip Island is a new addition to the calendar as the lead into the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Bathurst with the Sandown track now hosting a sprint round of the Series in June.

Sydney’s grand old lady Oran Park will host this year’s grand final in its final year of distinguished service to Australian motorsport before it closes its doors in 2009.

The Clipsal 500 in Adelaide begins the year as usual from February 21 to 24 followed by Eastern Creek in Sydney. One week after Eastern Creek is the non-Championship Australian Grand Prix.

V8 Supercars return to the Australian Grand Prix for the Manufacturer’s Challenge which pits Holden and Ford against each other in a combined points score format.

[Prickly_Goo]

your source?

[bestfit]

Last year the sport was watched by just on 22 million (Source: Mitchells) people across Australia as the first year return to Network Seven rocketed the sport to new heights. It was a 25 per cent hike in total viewers across Australian metropolitan and regional markets.

“Compare this to the A League that was recently applauded for having a 23 per cent increase to 2.8 million viewers and it offers you a real perspective on what Australians are watching.”

Considering A League is only available on Foxtel this is hardly a valid comparison.

[Conrod Kieron]

Why do people continually knock the Cock?
Its his job to promote V8SC's, here he is doing what he's paid to do yet the OP seemingly wants him to mention negative info!!

Facts are facts, since he's been around, V8SC's profile has risen dramatically.
and kn, i'm not TC and i'm not a TC fan, just telling it how it is in business.

[TSR]

Funy the timing of TC PR dribble. I have bing watchig a fair bit of Fox Sports since the finish of last year 's series.
And none of the Fox sports motorsport shows like ( Motoworld, Motorsports World ) never show the taxis, but show all other classes like DTM,WTCC an BTCC.

So the taxis are not the big Overseas, as much as TC wants us all to belive.

[Senna05]

I compare this to other "forward looking statements" and it does seem typical...

BUT, comparing to a foxtel only sport?

Coming from Newcastle, I have to question his wisdom. How many people watch a Knights or Jet's game at the pub on a weekend? Answer - Bloody lots! Finnegans will regularly have 150-300 people there to watch a game on fox, and other venues have 50+. These viewers, as they are watching at a pub, will account for only 1 viewer at each pub. Ergo, you could easily add another 500,000 per city per game on each the A League and NRL.

Also, are ALL of foxtel's viewers going to watch each game? that may well be an average across games for the weekend.

Yes, it is his "job" to sell the sport, but there are people out there who arent as good at breaking down the numbers game as he is, and they will be "misled".

what next - if Channel 10 has an increase in viewers for the GP, will he single handedly claim it was him? Pfffft. Come on!

[A9X05]

22 Million people across Australia? Dont think so! Nobody asked me did I watch any and I know heaps of people who dont watch the V8s! Dont even think theres 22m in Australia?? Another fairy tale in V8taxiland!!

[TSR]

On Sydney AM radio yesterday it was mentioned that there is 21 million peolpe in Aus, but I just can not see 22million watching supetaxi's.

[dsg]

It's TC doing his job. Soccer is constantly promoted as being a up and coming challenger to AFL and NRL so why shouldn't it be used as a comparison. I agree it is an easy target because it is not on free to air TV etc, but that is not TC's fault. For whatever reason Seven wanted the V8s more than Soccer and TC has the right to rub their nose in it even if he is not comparing apples with apples.

[bestfit]

Coming from Newcastle, I have to question his wisdom. How many people watch a Knights or Jet's game at the pub on a weekend?

OT
Go the Mariners!!
/OT

[NewsStalker]

I note that TC is no longer quoting official ABS figures for the overall popularity of motor sport. This wouldn't be because the ABS downgraded motor sportsd popularity based ontheir mini-census gathering exercises would it?

[911Porker]

Originally Posted by TSR

Funy the timing of TC PR dribble. I have bing watchig a fair bit of Fox Sports since the finish of last year 's series.
And none of the Fox sports motorsport shows like ( Motoworld, Motorsports World ) never show the taxis, but show all other classes like DTM,WTCC an BTCC.

So the taxis are not the big Overseas, as much as TC wants us all to belive.

I saw them once, on Motorworld. I think it was the Darwin round and it came on about 2 months after the round had been run. And then only the rubs and stacks.

I can't stand "the Cock" myself but have to take my hat off to his focus and determination. He knows what he wants and has positioned the business well.

Think Bernie without the pageboy hair.

[rdmdog]

Originally Posted by 911Porker

I saw them once, on Motorworld. I think it was the Darwin round and it came on about 2 months after the round had been run. And then only the rubs and stacks.

I can't stand "the Cock" myself but have to take my hat off to his focus and determination. He knows what he wants and has positioned the business well.

Think Bernie without the pageboy hair.

Due to my location during '07, I wasn't able to see anything of the V8s after Adelaide, with the exception of Bathurst, and on the Friday of race weekend, the South African pay TV that we were able to tap into had the (IIRC) Sandown round on. Its there, you just have to wait and be patient!

Due to the Rugby and One Day Cricket World cups, there was even a time that the MotoGPs weren't on in that area!!!

[Pro Racer]

he is a deadset Wombat, how the hell can you compare A-League? as stated above it's only onm Foxtel and Soccer is way down on the list of sports in Australia. if they want to keep fans and get fans in volved have a public launch not just invite businessmen who wouldn't know the first thing about Supercars, corporate i can understand, Celebrities/#7 personalities WTF.

[Phase3]

You could compare the A-league ratings on Fox Sports with the ratings of the supercircus on Fox Sports.... oh hang on, the supercircus isn't on Fox Sports as Foxtel didn't see any value in their price.......

[dsg]

Originally Posted by Pro Racer

he is a deadset Wombat, how the hell can you compare A-League? as stated above it's only onm Foxtel and Soccer is way down on the list of sports in Australia. if they want to keep fans and get fans in volved have a public launch not just invite businessmen who wouldn't know the first thing about Supercars, corporate i can understand, Celebrities/#7 personalities WTF.

Originally Posted by Phase3

You could compare the A-league ratings on Fox Sports with the ratings of the supercircus on Fox Sports.... oh hang on, the supercircus isn't on Fox Sports as Foxtel didn't see any value in their price.......

I don't see what network the sport is shown on has any bearing on the comparison. Both sports had the opportunity to be pick up by a free to air network but only one did. Surely the popularity of a sport is a major contributing factor to whether it will attract viewers and advertisers. The supercars were seen a better choice with wider audience appeal which is why Seven chose them over soccer.

If not soccer then what sport would you compare the V8s to?

[thunderbolt]

Originally Posted by A9X05

22 Million people across Australia? Dont think so! Nobody asked me did I watch any and I know heaps of people who dont watch the V8s! Dont even think theres 22m in Australia?? Another fairy tale in V8taxiland!!

are you counted as a viewer for each round

22000000 viewers / 14 rounds / 2 days =785.714

[NewsStalker]

And for a so-called national sporting event, 786,000 viewers across Australia is NOT a good ratings figure - if this were a commercially produced TV show, they would be taking it out of prime time and putting it on at 11:30pm or 1am in the morning.

Oh hang on - isn't that just what Ch 7 used to do?

[NewsStalker]

Originally Posted by dsg

If not soccer then what sport would you compare the V8s to?

The one that would come closest would be the BLMRA 12 Hour Race (ask one of the UK mods about this one)

[Pro Racer]

Originally Posted by dsg

I don't see what network the sport is shown on has any bearing on the comparison. Both sports had the opportunity to be pick up by a free to air network but only one did. Surely the popularity of a sport is a major contributing factor to whether it will attract viewers and advertisers. The supercars were seen a better choice with wider audience appeal which is why Seven chose them over soccer.

If not soccer then what sport would you compare the V8s to?

well maybe Footy both codes or as they are shown of FTA but TC can't do that V8's fail miserablly there, but even if V8's were picked up over A-League the point is V8's are on FTA and A-League on Fox, everyone that has a TV has FTA but there is a fair whack of people that don't have Foxtel (me included) so thats why it can't be compared, it's just life motorsport is great to those who like it and those who like it are a smaller group than those who like Footy (most motorsport fans like Footy too) but we don't need these silly comparisons and BS.

do we see in America NASCAR compared with NFL or the Daytona 500 compared to the Superbowl? not that i know of, but TC and his little buddies have to compare V8's with another sporting code and Bathurst with a certain stand out event. Footy has a bigger audience is on more frequently then V8's and even motorsport in general.

[dsg]

Originally Posted by NewsStalker

And for a so-called national sporting event, 786,000 viewers across Australia is NOT a good ratings figure - if this were a commercially produced TV show, they would be taking it out of prime time and putting it on at 11:30pm or 1am in the morning.

Oh hang on - isn't that just what Ch 7 used to do?

However the V8 telecast is not a primetime show and airs on Saturday and Sunday afternoon so it has quite good ratings for it's timeslot.

You may not like the product but you cannot deny V8 supercars are very successful and they are among the top professional sporting series in this country. I don’t see a problem with TC talking up the series, as it is his job.

[Not in reply to NewsStalker's quote] The constant bagging of him and the series does get a bit tiresome. I understand to be negative may appear cool and edgy but does little to demonstrate you have an understanding of the category.

[Pro Racer]

i can understand talking up the series as thats his job and he does it well and the category has been successful under him but sometimes he pushes it a little to far or makes silly comparisons.

[NewsStalker]

It has nothing to do with being 'negative' - the success of the V8's in this country has been at the expense of all other forms of motrsport.

Back to the ratings - sorry - even for non-prime time, these figures are NOT good. If you take the main viewing centres as being Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth this is an average of 190,000 per city. The figure gets even worse is you include Darwin, Adelaide and/or Hobart and get absolutely abysmal if you factor in country areas. In fact, if you did try and factor in all areas receiving the broadcasts the viewing population for V8's is on a par with Lawn Bowls on the ABC (and I apologise to those who play Lawn Bowls for this comparison).

No matter how much spin you want to put on it, TC's own quoted figures are NOT good.

[Conrod Kieron]

Originally Posted by NewsStalker

And for a so-called national sporting event, 786,000 viewers across Australia is NOT a good ratings figure - if this were a commercially produced TV show, they would be taking it out of prime time and putting it on at 11:30pm or 1am in the morning.

Oh hang on - isn't that just what Ch 7 used to do?

But thats exactly what it is to CH7, its a commercial TV show and needs to make money for C7 given its time slot.

What other forms of motorsport have suffered? just remember to include other forms of new motorsport that have appeared during the V8SC days.

Also, remember that V8SC's are in competition with other forms of sport for sponsorship $$ and TV time. As you mentioned, C7 used to televise it late at night, if it was still worthy of a late night slot only, do you think a company that wants to make money would have grabbed it? that era was a long time ago!!

[Phase3]

Originally Posted by dsg

I don't see what network the sport is shown on has any bearing on the comparison. Both sports had the opportunity to be pick up by a free to air network but only one did. Surely the popularity of a sport is a major contributing factor to whether it will attract viewers and advertisers. The supercars were seen a better choice with wider audience appeal which is why Seven chose them over soccer.

You would have to compare the ratings figures between free to air television and Pay TV as a percentage of viewers with the particular sport available to view in their household, divided by the total number of channels available to that particular household. That would give a more realistic comparison between the sports. God I'm starting to sound like GTR Magic......