Punkin Chunkin

[garfield]

The "Finals" is on Discovery Channel as I type.

35,000 "Fans" in a farmer's field, watching home made machines toss pumpkins for bragging rights.

Partying, lots of beer and BBQ.

Brought to you by Canon, Discover, and the Discovery Channel.

And DCI can't even find a way to keep PBS, let alone ESPN, happy?

Are you kidding me?

Those here who think the DCI BOD is doing things OK are right.

Just OK describes it well.

While corporate America supports chunkin pumpkins during prime time on Thanksgiving night.

R - I - G - H - T

Edited November 25, 2011 by garfield

[perc2100]

The "Finals" is on Discovery Channel as I type.

35,000 "Fans" in a farmer's field, watching home made machines toss pumpkins for bragging rights.

Partying, lots of beer and BBQ.

Brought to you by Canon, Discover, and the Discovery Channel.

And DCI can't even find a way to keep PBS, let alone ESPN, happy?

Are you kidding me?

Those here who think the DCI BOD is doing things OK are right.

Just OK describes it well.

While corporate America supports chunkin pumpkins during prime time on Thanksgiving night.

R - I - G - H - T

Ha; there are definitely a lot of "how the h is that popular enough to be on TV?!" programs on. I'd LOVE to be a fly on the wall when producers make those pitches to networks and networks buy into that. I have a colleague who is a producer who does stuff all of the time (he recently produced a cooking-type show), and there is a TON of work involved in convincing network executives to buy their program: it usually involves producing a pilot, getting big-time sponsors to cover the bulk of production costs, and tons of market research to help ensure that you have a viable program (I'm positive I'm missing a TON of other stuff, as well as grossly over-simplifying what I just said). It's definitely a grind, and I'm sure it's the type of thing that would difficult/next-to-impossible for DCI to pull off with their limited resources. I personally think that DCI needs to continue to improve Fan Network, offer more programming in the offseason (definitely easier said than done), and live stream their biggest event of the year, Finals. What DCI does now likely has less of a cost to produce, while affording DCI the opportunity to keep control of their product (vs, say, producing a 2 hour show for a network and have to cut the broadcast down to meet the network's demands). Like most folks, I'd love to see DCI on TV too, but to be blunt the people who would clamor for that program are the people who likely don't buy products so DCI's gains would probably be insignificantly (besides the extra exposure to drum corps newbies, but again I would bet the vast majority of the audience for a DCI telecast are already people who know about drum corps).

When producing a niche (drum corps) of a niche (marching band) of a niche (music/dance performance), especially of a non-profit variety (DCI), the organization has to be extremely careful and stingy about spending every advertising/promotional dollar. I think DCI needs to continue to improve and exploit their Fan Network product and I think it was wise of them to drop the costlier venture of producing a finals telecast.

[84BDsop]

The "Finals" is on Discovery Channel as I type.

35,000 "Fans" in a farmer's field, watching home made machines toss pumpkins for bragging rights.

Partying, lots of beer and BBQ.

Brought to you by Canon, Discover, and the Discovery Channel.

And DCI can't even find a way to keep PBS, let alone ESPN, happy?

Are you kidding me?

Those here who think the DCI BOD is doing things OK are right.

Just OK describes it well.

While corporate America supports chunkin pumpkins during prime time on Thanksgiving night.

R - I - G - H - T

We lost PBS because the FANS would call in during the pledge drive (when finals were typically broadcast) and then renege on their pledges....that is NOT a DCI BOD issue...that lies with us, the fans. Please stop blaming DCI for something that was not their fault.

The ESPN broadcast stopped purely for financial reasons....DCI can afford to produce the product, but buying the airtime ain't cheap.

As for showing pumpkin chunkin', you have to remember that the premise is pretty simple...whoever shoots that pumpkin the farthest wins.

This is very different from what drum corps do on the field...in an activity that is, frankly, too large to get all the action. Sure, football games take place o the same field, but all the action is concentrated on the ball. In drum corps, it's all over the place...witness Crown 08's closer...there were multiple old-school drill quotes during the 1812 Overture segment...but you had to watch the vid a ton of times to catch 'em all.

It's similar to showing fencing to the uninitiated. I can watch a fast foil or sabre bout and see the action...but a noob gets confused right after they start going at each other.

[JonW]

It seriously baffles the bells outta me why DCI can't be on national TV.

"Oh but, PBS and ESPN both failed. We're just niche stuff, no one really wants to watch anyway." Bunk.

PBS in the '70s was watched primarily because it was the "4th channel", the funky UHF thing. Not once during the ESPN broadcasts did I see a single advertisement for DCI (not saying there wasn't any, just I didn't see a single drum corps commercial).

If DCI is lacking anything, it's the determination and aggression needed to get their vastly superior product brought to a wider market. Find the people with the fortitude to hammer out some sponsors, work the deals, be hungry! The product is already there - get out and sell it! Sure, FN is fine for those already a drum corps fan (subscribed fan anyway), but there are potential thousands of fans that have no idea it is even exists and is available. It wants to be "Major League" it needs to get off it's backside and market itself like a major league, not some so-so niche trip.

The members of corps work their butts off to bring a stellar performance to the public, I expect DCI to work even harder to bring that show to a wider market. Tonight would have been the perfect night to bring the 2011 Finals to the national audience instead of the rerun trash that was broadcast.

[Michael Boo]

People outside the activity would see drum corps and think, "Oh, we have one of those at our local high school." To most people, each one of our magnificent drum corps looks like one of the several thousand marching bands across the country. We know the difference, but I've had people tell me when the PBS broadcast was being shown that they saw the show and were surprised when I told them it was held in August, because marching bands are active in the fall.

Punkin Chunkin, however, is not some someone can do at their local high school stadium. And if someone isn't interested in a certain chunker, a new one will be out in a couple minutes. They don't have to wait a lot of minutes for the next group to come on as they would watching drum corps on television.

I absolutely adore drum corps, but I suspect most people wouldn't know the difference between our World Championship and their state marching band festival.

[Daniel]

That would be pretty cool. A documentary like series on DCI that including shows all leading up to finals on the Discovery Channel.

[FHdork]

<ou have to remember that the premise is pretty simple....>

Yep - this could be the TV mantra...with certain exceptions for British mysteries, Mythbusters, and NOVA.

As Boo points out...to Jane Homeshopping Network and Joe World Wide Wrestling, drum corps is just band geeks and band (insert more pejorative word here...), and surely there is something more interesting on TV (like 'punkin chunkin')

[Lincoln]

Get Justin Bieber in a movie about being in a Drum Corps near his native home town in Ontario. The plot of the movie revolves around one of the instructors grabbing him for a 30 second fling in the meal truck.

The title of said movie could be "Dutch Boy Bieber." I guarantee people would take notice.

As for reality, the activity is mostly viewed as a bunch of band geeks no matter what exposure it gets. We've all been there - trying to show just how great this activity is. Yes, there are occasions when someone says they think what happens on the field is cool - followed by occasions when someone missing a chromosome says "Why are they twirling Dinosaur bones?"

Then there are the completely overdone references to that line from American Pie - "This one time at band camp......"

[emc2]

The "Finals" is on Discovery Channel as I type.

35,000 "Fans" in a farmer's field, watching home made machines toss pumpkins for bragging rights.

Partying, lots of beer and BBQ.

Brought to you by Canon, Discover, and the Discovery Channel.

And DCI can't even find a way to keep PBS, let alone ESPN, happy?

Are you kidding me?

Those here who think the DCI BOD is doing things OK are right.

Just OK describes it well.

While corporate America supports chunkin pumpkins during prime time on Thanksgiving night.

R - I - G - H - T

You are right. A lot of bad stuff on TV and a lot of repeat stuff on TV as well. How many people watch the DCI broadcast this past week. A little marketing and (get the word out) and the help of facebook other social media etc. I would think get a larger viewing audience. have a great day.

[TerriTroop]

What if there were a DCI run sub-group that put together something I would have to call "Extreme Corps." (or another name that would appeal to the general public) Similar to Blast, this would be a field group rather than a stage group. They would not compete. Rather, they would be out there to promote DCI to the general public. Ideally, this group would be paid for its efforts (or at least get travel and food for free). They would consist of young adults age 21-25 and they would be led by some of the absolute best in the country from a variety of corps. Lastly, the people in this Extreme Corps would have to come from the ranks of DCI corps. They would need to be personable, friendly, and able to communicate to the public what their DCI experience was like in ways that are interesting and appealing. After all, this group would be a DCI marketing venture, and they would all be spokespersons.

This Extreme Corps could be marketed as the ultimate half-time show - and because it would be non-competitive the performance could be more extreme (a la Cadets and Cavies and BD and Crown in their various ways of setting themselves apart but without any restrictions). And because of the non-competitive status the shows could incorporate some of the Tour of Champions elements that we know would appeal more to TV executives and their audience.

People say we take ourselves way too seriously for "just" marching band. I think if DCI put Extreme Corps out there, we could play a bit with the stereotypes and use it to our advantage.

I want to see this happen.