I haven’t said a lot about the Australian GT race series in recent times, due to my reluctant disposition towards it. In saying that I understand that Tony Quinn (the owner of Australian GT) can do with it whatever he pleases, as he and he alone, owns it. However, as an avid GT3 race fan, it disappoints me that Aussie fans of the GT3 category are unable to follow the local racing. I’m sure that the stock answer to that point would be to get access to Foxtel. For me, that ain’t gonna happen! As with many others, I consider that Foxtel is a poorly operated, disjointed product that is 95% rubbish, for the 5% content that I would be interested in. AustralianGT have taken the Murdoch/Foxtel pathway and hopped into bed with VASC’s and this is where any potential viewers, are suffering from zero coverage. I suppose that the question of fan access could be put to Matt Coch (PR hack for AusGT), for his thoughts, but that is probably a bit unfair expecting him to candidly answer that.
It seems to me that AusGT is at a crossroads. Do they go down a fan friendly pathway and try to gain more fans, as the Blancpain/Stephane Ratel organisation has done so well. I was initially hopeful of that taking place when Quinn and Ratel looked like becoming besties, a while back. Alas, it didn’t pan out that way. Australian GT3 race fans who choose not to take the PayTV Foxtel option are left with nothing (except the annual B12H). Lets analyse the Fox option- Last figures I heard, was that approx. 30% of Australian homes have access to Fox. Out of that figure of 30%, how many tune in to motorsport? I don’t know the definitive answer to that! But, if VASC’s are struggling to maintain viewership, how does a poor cousin in a support category, measure on the ratings radar? Keep in mind, that the whole methodology of TV ratings has come into question in recent times, as too how actually factual they are, with the TV broadcasters themselves, being in charge of producing these questionable, ratings figures.
Again, in my humble opinion, if AusGT is a closed shop, how is a fan base expected to grow. If their intent is to solely look after their drivers and teams and not give a toss about race fans, those same fans will go elsewhere to get their fix of sports car racing and watch what comes out of the many overseas events that take place every weekend. Just don’t expect us to come back to an inferior race series when you change your minds and come begging for fans again. In fact, there’s probably an overload of GT3 racing, so much so, that there are sometimes multiple races, on any given weekend. Last nights great coverage of the VLN 6 hour from the Nurburgring is a great case in point, with a Blancpain sprint race on next weekend.
So, as I didn’t get to see yesterdays race, I can only go on the crowd figures turning up at Eastern Creek (sorry, Sydney Motorsport Park) that appeared on the delayed FTA channel broadcast, and reported figures from those who went to the event. Now, I’m not going to sit here behind a keyboard and tell Tony Quinn how to run his business. But strictly from a race fans perspective, get on the blower to Mr Ratel and get his advice. For my 2 bobs worth, ditch Murdoch, VASC’s and go it on your own with the broadcasting. Go with a YouTube live stream, with immediate replays available straight after the race. If you believe the crowd and ratings figures VASC’s are quoting you, you’re kidding yourself and your stakeholders.
The AUSGT racing yesterday actually sounded pretty good, but who’d know-
…if a tree falls in a forest…….
It doesn’t help when they keep on having internal politics and fan behavior issues, giving the game a bad look.
porsche91722 