TV Can’t Save Drum Corps

[Quad Aces]

But to be more precise, was it TV that introduced you and all those other people to drum corps? Were you all habitually watching PBS as teenagers? Did you see "Drum Corps International" in the TV listings and switch away from the football game? Or did a person you know insist that you check it out?

In most cases that I have heard of (including myself), people have learned of drum corps from either a friend or a teacher.

This doesn't matter - TV was still the medium that allowed others to view the activity. If DCI was not broadcast on TV then, the friend or the teacher could insist that you check it out all they want, but without the medium to do so, you would not have been able to check it out.

Note that I am not commenting on the other parts of comment, only the above part.

[MikeD]

I am not stating that there is a problem with the results or even with the sheets; I am just pointing out that there is always a bias within subjective judging and currently that subjective bias tends to lean toward benefiting the shows which push the esoteric envelope.

My point was that much of the BD gap was in the performance captions, specifically visual, guard and percussion...and that Crown did place first in Music Effect over BD.

[glory]

... no one is going to accidentally walk in on a paid cinecast and say "hey, that's kind of interesting." ...

In an era with hundreds of channels and time-shifting via DVR (not to mention outright abandonment of traditional broadcast television in favor services like Hulu and NetFlix), I'd say the chances of stumbling on a drum corps broadcast on PBS or any other single channel are pretty remote.

The cinecast at least includes substantial promotion. Many people who knew of my drum corps interest told me they saw the cinecast promos while waiting for their own movie feature to begin. That's exposure.

Now I'm going to undermine my argument a little. Were there a channel with a dynamic Web presence that scaled into related markets, maybe I'd look at this differently. Suppose just for the sake of discussion that DCI, WGI, BOA and USBands all worked off the same digital platform and that some culturally minded channel wanted to broadcast video of drum corps (along with other arts and pageantry performances) via its cable network and web site. That's a broadcast worth exploring.

HH

[BRASSO]

There is no correlation I can find that connects drum corps on broadcast television to the health of the activity.

HH

TV is not a panacea for DCI Drum Corps. In of itself, it can't make the overall health of the activity stronger. But TV exposure of the activity does more for such exposure than any other marketing we can think of, imo.

Does anybody diasgree that in order for Drum Corps to grow that MORE exposure of DCI is critical to this ?

It reminds me of the current TV commercial thats getting a lot of air play lately where a male adult has a handful of liitle kids sitting around in a classroom and he asks them "is more better ? " or is " is less better ?". He asks them to raise their hands on which is better. Then with one little girl that votes that " more is better ", he asks her why. She replies" " More is better because you like it, and if you like it, you want more, more. You want more of it ".

Then the commercial ends with : " See, its not that complicated ".

Edited May 13, 2013 by BRASSO

[KeithHall]

There is a guy in Buffalo that needs to see what drum corps is about....Terry Pegula. Owner of the Buffalo Sabres and the person making the rebuilding of the area around The First Niagara Center happen. He is a billionaire!

[xtreme0204]

I think to gain fans, the young generation is the one to market for (I don't mean judging wise). I think DCI should give free (at least a trial period) subscriptions to U.S. public school systems and major college programs and their music departments. And encourage the directors of the programs to use the subscription as an educational tool, pre-class entertainment or just something to put on during study halls. I really truly believe that could be the key to gaining members and lifelong fans. They can at least discount the blu-rays and DVDs for educators for in school use.

I got a FN account just to show my kids what this thing I talk about is and 99% had no idea it existed. I actually gave the information to one student who wants to purchase a FN account (not sure if he did). Either way, it has gained interest.

[MikeD]

TV is not a panacea for DCI Drum Corps. In of itself, it can't make the overall health of the activity stronger. But TV exposure of the activity does more for such exposure than any other marketing we can think of, imo.

Does anybody diasgree that in order for Drum Corps to grow that MORE exposure of DCI is critical to this ?

It reminds me of the current TV commercial thats getting a lot of air play lately where a male adult has a handful of liitle kids sitting around in a classroom and he asks them "is more better ? " or is " is less better ?". He asks them to raise their hands on which is better. Then with one little girl that votes that " more is better ", he asks her why. She replies" " More is better because you like it, and if you like it, you want more, more. You want more of it ".

Then the commercial ends with : " See, its not that complicated ".

OT: You picked my absolute favorite series of commercials!!!!

On this topic...

While exposure is important, I'm not sold that the "bang for the buck", expenditure-wise, points at over-the-air broadcast TV as being a great investment for DCI. Young people today are doing so much more on their computers, including watching TV programs. Between the online resources, the cinema broadcast and semis online, I think DCI is trying to maximize their exposure but minimize the dollars spent.

I would think they would expand their online offerings and programs...maybe discounted FN subscriptions for schools and things like that, as opposed to spending the $$$ for over-the-air TV.

Now, if they someone willing to underwrite the cost....bring it on! More is better, unless the cost of the more outweighs the benefit.

[BRASSO]

While exposure is important, I'm not sold that the "bang for the buck", expenditure-wise, points at over-the-air broadcast TV as being a great investment for DCI.

I'd agree with this. I want DCI on TV as there is no beating this type of avenue for widespread exposure. But if DCI is required to underwrite it, then I'm not so sure this is the current best use of the few dollars DCI has right now.

[Slingerland]

But if DCI is required to underwrite it, then I'm not so sure this is the current best use of the few dollars DCI has right now.

If DCI is required to underwrite anything other than the expense of hiring a promotions and marketing team that knows how to recruit major brands to become sponsors of DCI, then DCI would have no business even thinking about television.

You don't schedule the painters to come in until after the framers and drywall guys are done with their work.

[BRASSO]

If DCI is required to underwrite anything other than the expense of hiring a promotions and marketing team that knows how to recruit major brands to become sponsors of DCI, then DCI would have no business even thinking about television.

You don't schedule the painters to come in until after the framers and drywall guys are done with their work.

especially if the drywall guys are installing Chinese drywall.