FORMULA Drift "TELEVISION DEAL" with G4TECHTV

[balmo]

thats great news! but where's channe g4?

[Craftsman]

We need you guys on FOX Sports on Sunday afternoons...

[CrazyHawaiian]

I like the idea of the team drift challenge. I wanna see some American teams doing demo's. I agree that its hard to explain what is going on to inexperienced viewers (as in they've never seen drifting before). For it to be successfull I think the Judges need to be the faces for the event. They need to be both knowledgeable of the sport and articulate. If they totally get stuff wrong then people that know whats going on will be like WTF. And I think there needs to be a different system for the "one more time". I'm not saying stop doing it, just dont do it so many times in a row. I think alot of drivers got robbed this past year. Reason I say that is because I think alot of the people in the crowd yell out "one more time" because they want to see more drifting, plain and simple. Not because they think the battle was close. Who knows though right? IMO the judges should be the ones that decide if they go again (based off what they were judging), not the crowd.

[swifty949]

Once again congrats Slipstream. Formula D has always been there for the drivers and for the positive promotion of the sport in the larger picture.

[Wayne]

i live in jersey and have io digital cable, so what channel is g4techtv ? can someone polease answer me this

[swifty949]

check your cable provider..sometimes they have a listing on their website.

[Black Flag]

G4 Tech TV is apparently only available in test markets right now, which is why 90% of you don't know where to find it. Also, their website is very video game oriented. I get the concept, but the execution seems a little off as well as the market. Why would anyone want to use G4 Tech TV? I can't understand how this helps the sport of drifting and brings additional value. The 25-50 million households mentioned boasts an audience 1000 times bigger than the actual audience will be. Please be aware that this program most likely will end up in Comcast's Wheels and Wings select on demand channels, which means many of you may never see it until it is released on DVD. You would need to be a digital cable subscriber and have the service available in your market. Also Comcast is way behind on some of the programs and is using third parties to develop the video. In addition, there is a big push from other groups to try and beat Formula D to the punch or develop programs for actual broadcast TV, which Formula D may never make it to. The cost involved in producing broadcast quality video would be a minimum of $50,000 per episode and Comcast most likely is not putting that type of money into this program. There is another production team in California who is rumored to have strong ties with Comcast that is also working on a broadcast quality production that will feature American drift racers in American cars. A much more mainstream concept that transcends far beyond the current sub-culture of drift racing and would appeal to a much broader audience. We are all excited about the potential for drift racing to make it on to broadcast or mainstream cable programming, but please take the whole concept at face value. Many of us may never be able to enjoy this production until it appears on DVD. Also, as I understand it, many of the teams who competed in Formula D last year are rumored to be jumping ship for bigger and brighter drift horizons, such as the WDC, which has a massive budget for their 2005 program. Givin the current judging criteria and administration of Formula D, it is highly likely that mainstream america will not grasp the drifting concept or be able to connect with it on the same level as traditional motorsports, which will be necessary for it to suceed. Should be interesting to see what really happens, but I would not get your hopes up too much because they clearly have poor plan for execution.

[my 1 88 u]

If the drifting is shot with the same pisspoor quality as the NFSU2 release party on SPIKE TV, drifting is doomed to poor ratings.

[Black Flag]

That is a very good point. If drifting is going to be sucessful in mainstream TV, these guys are going to have to start all over and try thinking outside the box. This concept is just for fun TV, rather than legitimate programming. We need real broadcast production, real publicity and PR campaigns. I have worked with many automotive enthusiast TV shows and producers and frankly this concept is doomed from the beginning. I would expect the video production and characters to be poor at best. Hopefully someone steps up and makes a real effort to showcase the sport properly. It's just to sketchy right now and America is not going to jump on this band wagon unless thay can produce real story lines, real characters and a prodcution that the rest of America can grasp. Not just the current sub-culture.

[DriftGirl]

Easier said then done.... Things cost money.

Support what we have and the money will follow

[Black Flag]

Easy for you to say since you look at it as a sport. Those of us who are automobile and parts manufacturers look at drifting as a business - The business of selling cars and parts. Everything is based on profit and if we don't believe in this TV concept, it's kind of hard to support what we have. The money won't come either. Your being way too optimistic.

[my 1 88 u]

I'm not saying the the camera quality must be hi def, I'm just saying they should have respect for each run and show it fluidly. Not some quick random jabs of images and angled shots like a mtv music video. They showed the entire competition in like 3 minutes and had the nerve to make the final round seem un exciting.

And you are right about the business side. People dont realize that manufacturers getting involved hurts the privateer aftermarket product developer.

[Formula D]

Let me see if I can clear up some things for you:

1. This deal is contracted as a full scale production broadcast

2. Comcast is the number one-cable provider and the want for this programming came from higher-ups at Comcast who are 100% behind this project.

3. You mentioned $50,000 production budget and that Comcast is not likely to put up that kind of money.... Not only is it likely it is absolutely true that they will put that amount up per show.. As a minimum

4. This program is contracted to be one of The "premiere" programs on G4 and therefore take advantage of the best time slots, massive cross promtional marketing and a big PR push. Comcast which you probably do not know has major plans for G4. The phrase I have been hearing as of late is that this is MTV and it is 1982.

5. G4 is not only on Comcast Cable which hold a 25% market share it is also on Direct TV, Cox, Time Warner and most other major cable providers. If you have cable, you probably have it.

6. G4 is the highest rated network for males 13-34 and it's next best competitor is Comedy Central

7. The Gaming industry boast larger growth and has exceeded the Motion picutre industry in size.

8. No drivers are jumping ship to WDC (Drivers have voiced this publicly) and we at FD encourage drivers to go make a little cash doing other series if they want to. We want drivers to get as much as they can to keep drifting as much as they can.

9. Ya the NFSU 2 launch on Spike is not a representation of how I would like to see drifting either, but there is not a network in the world that would give you creative control on your own show. Well one, G4. Plus that was a video game launch.

Givin the current judging criteria and administration of Formula D, it is highly likely that mainstream america will not grasp the drifting concept or be able to connect with it on the same level as traditional motorsports, which will be necessary for it to suceed. Should be interesting to see what really happens, but I would not get your hopes up too much because they clearly have poor plan for execution.

Given the current judging criteria? You don't even know what it is and we are already implementing a new criteria for '05. As far as the administration. This so called administration was the only one with balls to put drifting out in the US last year... Big ups to DG trials, Drift Association and US drift because they played a major role too, but we took a huge financial and reputation risk that no one else was willing to do, even D1. Because of that people were able to see drifting in places they never have before and a real series. There was no real high level drifting content last year except D1 in Feb and our 4 events. Without doing that there would have been nothing. As far as WDC is concerned, we wish them luck. I'd rather be a stand-alone league rather than something that is part of an overall event like they are, but I just hope that whatever they do they do it with class and respect and not the same way they ran their program with the Viper last year. Which now they are not a part of.

With regards to mainstream motorsports, I draw two examples: One example more towrds the tuner market and one actually representing mainstream motorsports.

Mainstream motorsports in the US today is controlled by NASCAR and ISC. Some might argue that is because NASCAR is so cool and exciting... Ya. I see it that when Champ Car was dominating Open Wheel racing in the US, having great races with great attendance, sponsors, etc a man named Tony George came in and said he was going to do Open Wheel racing better, take it on ovals. Well since that time you have seen open wheel go no where but down and NASCAR pop-in and go no where but up, way up. Even as of this year Champ Car was taken back private and is now owned by three enthusiasts/business men trying to keep it alive. No one is winning in this game at all. Ya sure both leagues have some good races, but the Indy 500 is not what it use to be and Champ Car due to Cosworth being pulled may lose their engine manufacturer this year. Bottomline no one is winning and neither series is real self-sufficient.

My other example and one that hits closer to home is import drag racing. IDRC use to do so well... Battle was great. Next thing you know you have 4 racing bodies competing for the same sponsors, the same consumers and the same drivers and drag racing has no identity or no cabability for growth. As of this year these series are providing little or no return and everyone in this industry knows it. Will this happen to drifting if everyone that thinks they can do it better tries to start a new league? One thing I will say is that the sponsors of our series and the drivers that we have committed agree and believe that the same as we do.

FD has been around for only one year and in that year we have done quite a bit. I'd be lying if I said we did not have any growing pains because of course we did, but at days end we had happy crowds, happy sponsors and drivers who enjoyed being part of it. Our commitment is to them and will continue to be. We know there is still lots to do and tons of improvements to be made. I think part of our strength is that we realize that and we are always trying to better ourselves. It is very easy to complain about every little thing that you see, but because of the series and the exposure gained you have seen great new things come about. Like Falken coming out huge with a fully backed team or Ken getting a fully backed ride and our drivers on Spike, thus enabling themselves the ability to go out and pitch in-market and/or non-endemic sponsors to hopefully give them the ability to drift full-time. One can clown all they want, but the reality of the situation is that this brand has been responsible for lots of exposure for lots of drivers and lots of opportunities. Whatever WDC claims they are going to do or have done, they have not done or been responsible for any of that.

And come on, this is obviously a WDC employee, but that's cool. Those guys were in to Comcast and G4 trying to pitch the same thing. They didn't get the deal and now they are clowning it... Nice one.

We love drifting. In this office, drifting is god. We proverbially eat and sleep drifting. There is nothing more important to us and you wont see us letting up anytime soon.

[Black Flag]

G4 Tech TV is a regular cable TV network, a by-product of the merger of G4 gamers network and Tech TV formerly ZDTV. Comcast in fact may roll some of this show into Select On Demand but as of now it's regularly scheduled TV, although I don't think anyone knows where to view it, I do now stand corrected. Obviously no one is promoting it. I am a digital cable subscriber and I have never heard of it. No one at Comcast could even tell me how to get it.

My Comcast contacts on the east coast claim the general consensus is that it's designed to favor the amateur side of the sport, which will work well with the video gamers and teenagers that according to Comcast, watch gamer shows on G4 Tech TV.

I guess that is OK, and ultimately will push Comcast to produce something at a much higher level for adults. This is becoming much clearer now that Comcast execs have explained it to me. The video prodcution will not be top-notch by any stretch, nor is it designed to be broadcast quality.

This will actually turn out to be a good thing for D1 and WDC, because they apparently are talking about producing a legitimate show based on one or both of those two racing organizations. This could be good news for you D1 and WDC guys.

[DriftGirl]

I own a company that has divisions that make automotive parts ... I build cars and specialty parts as well. Im a driver/Fan/ multiple Drift car and Show car owner...I kinda have a view of and respect both sides.

I can understand the frustration that 'my 1 88 u' expressed. but you have to realize that they are trying to cram as much info in that 'time slot' that they can...which is why there are so many cut away shots and quick transitions.

Money will always follow the people. If people want the sport to grow they'll support it. NO company will sit idle when theres money to be made