Mad as Hell and Can’t Take This Anymore

While the weather did not fully cooperate during the America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) in New York, it did not deter huge spectator crowds to watch the six teams compete May 7-8 on the Hudson River. With racing cancelled on Saturday, over 100,000 people filled the seawall on Sunday.

But this America’s Cup is about television, with all planning focused on fitting within a broadcast window. And it is television that people are complaining about. This comment from Lee Luce is typical of others sent to Scuttlebutt…

“At least two 3-minute advertisements were shown during each of the three races. So annoying! When the coverage came back on (LIVE!), the race had continued with no discussion of what was missed. The races were only 15 to 20 minutes long. Did they have to interrupt during the actual race?

“The worst was Sunday in the third race, when Team New Zealand snagged the starting mark and had to be cut free before starting their penalty time out. They had been far behind, but with two legs to go the wind died and everyone caught up.

“And that’s when NBC SN took a 3-minute commercial break. I wanted to throw things at the television! When the coverage came back on, New Zealand was crossing the finish line in first place and popping a champagne bottle. We never did find out how things sorted themselves out.”

The missing segment Lee describes has now been posted on YouTube….

 
Looking at the U.S. television ratings, the Sunday broadcast was competing in a packed sports sphere. With the ACWS races on NBC’s cable channel, the 90 minute show captured 154,000 total viewers. For the full list, click here.

The America’s Cup sees television as the superhighway toward sustainability, but if they don’t come up with workable solutions for commercials, this conduit will become a dirt road with few travelers.