A couple of similar discussion have cropped up in the last year.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=118094
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=115983
Personally, I'm a little conflicted on the issue. I love the home-grown coverage that's springing up surrounding FRC (FRC Top 25, The Roboshow, GameSense, etc), and getting a foothold in streaming and VoD services makes a lot of sense given the technology-centric goals of FIRST. But most of this programming is more about current FIRST enthusiasts than it is about reaching out to new people.
However, the will.i.am/ABC special was pretty much a ratings bust and not particularly entertaining. The old ESPN coverage is only really enthralling to those interested in FRC history. FRC events are pretty poorly suited to live TV coverage, with the amount of downtime and the low level of excitement for most matches.
The next step, in my mind, is trying to find more companies to sponsor local, high-quality regional rebroadcasts of FRC elimination tournaments, similar to how GM sponsors the Michigan State Championship and Time Warner Cable sponsors the Greater Kansas City Regional. We need to figure out how to capture FRC for a TV audience, before going for broke and having to wait a long time for another opportunity, and need to find a way to make it more financially viable for the channels that broadcast it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eli2410
In fact, ESPN doesn't have anything for most March or April, since CBS owns the rights to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
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I think it's unwise to downplay the significance of ESPN's regular programming. Things like "Pardon the Interruption," "Around the Horn," and the 6PM edition of "SportsCenter" are staples of ESPN and would be impacted by live FRC coverage. Additionally, there are regular season MLB games to be covered.