Uncertainty Over TV Coverage Amongst The V8 Supercar Faithful?

Scott McLaughlin, GRM. (C)

    Talk was widespread amongst V8 Supercar fans at last weekend's SMP400. Opinions are certainly divided regarding the move to Channel 10 and Foxtel to broadcast V8 Supercars from 2015. Some fans are excited about the prospect of increased revenue for the teams from the new deal to curtail their expenditure and assist struggling teams. It may also open up V8 Supercars to a much wider global audience and entice new opportunistic sponsors from abroad to the sport. The return of the popular weekly RPM programme along with the signing of retired F1 ace and Porsche WEC driver Mark Webber to the commentary team will hopefully keep the motorsport thirsty fan informed.
    Others are not so convinced. Is there devil in the detail? While Foxtel have hinted at including live practise and qualifying for V8 Supercars coupled with extensive behind the scenes coverage, is it the free-to-air punters that have been left outside in the cold? Channel 10 are only broadcasting the showcase races live ie: Clipsal 500, Townsville 500, Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000, Gold Coast 600 and the Sydney 500. The remaining 8 events of the championship will be broadcast via a highlights programme. Will this have an adverse effect on the sport? V8 Supercars is as popular to Australians as F1 is to the UK, especially England. You want to watch all F1 rounds live in the UK, you better subscribe to Sky Sports, otherwise wait for the highlights programme on the Beeb. Are Australian fans now in the same boat as British fans? By that we mean that if you want to watch every V8 Supercar round live, are we now forced to stump up the funds? If the punters are not prepared to pay, will fans lose interest in the championship? How will this affect crowd numbers at events? Even though the showcase events on Channel 10, especially Bathurst, will rate very well, will sponsors be questioning their commitments if exposure decreases due to diminished local viewing figures simply because fans are not willing to subscribe to Foxtel? Would love to know the viewing figures for F1 in the UK for this year compared to last year before the pay-TV deal. 
    
    Moving into the Pirtek Endurance Cup now and last weekend's SMP400 revealed a couple of potential championship contenders. Lousy weekend for HRT's James Courtney, damage limitation for FPR's Mark Winterbottom and Red Bull's Craig Lowndes all the while Red Bull's Jamie Whincup quietly extended his lead. The Saturday races brought the talented Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen into championship contention with a couple of masterful displays in car control to win both races in testing wet conditions, propelling him to fourth in the championship. The Sunday feature race saw Nick Percat start to fulfil his promise by finishing second and Fabian Coulthard finishing third who seems to be consistently scoring points and now sits fifth going in to the endurance season. What a star Volvo Polestar Racing and GRM have in young Kiwi, Scott McLaughlin. An impressive win in the feature race. A crowd favourite who genuinely seems to realise he's living the dream.
Watch Scotty fly at Bathurst.
                                   Ciao.... 

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