Why PBS Dropped DCI Broadcast - Other Thought

[Pete Freedman]

Good point. Obviously if not enough PBS stations wanted to carry the broadcast it wouldn't be financially viable for DCI to continue. I remember my local PBS station (in Columbus, OH) aired only the edited versions in the late 80's/earl 90's. The last year I remember that PBS station carrying the event was 1994. I think in C-bus they broadcast either Black Friday or some other time that weekend, but I might be remembering wrong. I had a friend with family in Illinois where their local PBS station broadcast Finals live. I had the VHS copies from 92 and 93 of those (and was pretty bummed Crossmen wasn't on the 1992 broadcast since they were 6th in Finals but came from 7th or 8th in Semis).

I wouldn't be surprised if Cook decided to stop funding the venture and it went away when either DCI couldn't find someone else to fund the broadcast and/or DCI decided it wasn't financially worth it. I do know there was quite a break between the PBS broadcasts and the ESPN broadcasts.

While I would argue on the side of "there is no substantial evidence that DCI brought significant audience/donors/participants to the activity via the TV broadcasts," I did discover the activity because of the PBS broadcast. I would've discovered it anyway soon enough as HS friends marched drum corps, but I first learned of DCI on PBS

So did Bill Cook, and others on DCP have said the same. This is the odd triangle relationship of DCI promotion: The ROI comes not to DCI as much as to the corps themselves as both members and philanthropists are attracted to specific corps in ways DCI won't even know about let alone be able to measure. Making the case in DCI for promoting the activity as a whole must have been very difficult at a time when the primary metric - DCI's bank account - wouldn't have demonstrated the results. Systematic yearly surveys of new corps members would have been necessary to really show results.

Still, in modern times PBS/ESPN shouldn't be necessary. But kids won't pay money to have the activity promoted to them. Either a free trial FN membership or some sort of yearly wrap-up, perhaps 1/2 hour or 1 hour season summary, might do it.

Does DCI do any promotion outside the existing fan base at all?

Edited November 18, 2014 by Pete Freedman

[GUARDLING]

I would guess it varies affiliate to affiliate. Some of them aired their taped broadcast version on an off-day time slot to use just as filler programming, not tied to a pledge drive at all.

There is no reason at all to show drum corps on broadcast TV in this day and age, IMO. Young folks get a lot of their programming from the web; my daughter does not even have a cable hookup at her apartment in London...she just watches everything she wants on the web. I hear much the same from a lot of the kids I teach...they hardly ever watch actual TV shows as they are broadcast. DCI can make more $$$ hosting it themselves online and charging for it.

Agree, kids will watch things that appeal to them BUT on TV not so much. I remember as a kid getting my 1st TV in my own room. What excitement and independence from the family living room. NOW, the computer and other devices are the way this generation prefers to pick and choose what they will watch. I've seen this from kids in as well as out of the activity.

[Jeff Ream]

I would guess it varies affiliate to affiliate. Some of them aired their taped broadcast version on an off-day time slot to use just as filler programming, not tied to a pledge drive at all.

There is no reason at all to show drum corps on broadcast TV in this day and age, IMO. Young folks get a lot of their programming from the web; my daughter does not even have a cable hookup at her apartment in London...she just watches everything she wants on the web. I hear much the same from a lot of the kids I teach...they hardly ever watch actual TV shows as they are broadcast. DCI can make more $$$ hosting it themselves online and charging for it.

luckily here, when DCI showed it live, our affiliate carried it. In the years with no live telecast, the day after Thanksgiving and/or Christmas we would get the highlights show.

[Jeff Ream]

Speaking of varying by affiliates... Fred I don't remember the 2 hour show being used for pledge raising locally. (Unless Jeff corrects me...) For Hershey I remember the 2 hour show as a late morning or early afternoon treat on Black Friday or later, whenever the local station would fit it in. But Heaven help you if you missed the vey few times it was announced.... More than once I got a phone call with "Hey DCI on Friday...." or more likely "turn your #### TV on to 33.. drum corps".

that was the highlight show. if there had been a live 2 hour show, that was used for pledges, both live and sometimes a replay

[Jeff Ream]

Hmmm... Wonder if along with local corps and shows going down in the late 70s if the local station just flat out alienated a lot of viewers. The pledge meister could be a real jerk with threats of "we're not going to go back until our goal is met for this break" He did this for decades with various pledge drives. He did that once during DCI and you did hear the phones start to ring. Wonder how many were pledges and how many were complaints. Guy was clueless about corps which would have been OK if he wasn't so pompous. One year we could see the feed on a screen behind him and the corps were coming out for retreat (Olympic style). Mean while he is saying "As you can see behind me, you're not missing anything...".

Then there was the year Crossmen were lining up as a corps is finishing their show and the local station went to live debate/vote (forget which) of the state budget. OK state was late (again) but timing could not have been worse as Crossmen were only PA corps that year in Finals. Know a few people threatened to cancel their pledges and the whole thing was shown again later. But just never seemed to be a good feeling after that.

77. Hershey ( i dont know about others around PA) went to state budgets. WITF's phones exploded. They made good the next weekend and showed the whole show.

in 87, they cut away from Cadets ending ( they thought the dissolving/reforming company front was THE ending), and when they came back to good old Mike Greenwalt, you could hear phones exploding. After the commerical, he said "we just want you to know we're not cutting away from the corps performances..." yet they were.

I had the chance to meet Mike many years ago. I thanked him for always being there on Saturday nights for drum corps, and off the top of his head, he admitted he blew it in 87...they went off the times for each corps DCI gave them and Cadets ran a few seconds long. But he also said they got more calls for 77 and 87 combined than they did for pledges.

[tesmusic]

Would going back to a PBS broadcast even be worth it at this point, regardless of cost/numbers?

We personally don't have cable/tv other than our Apple TV which makes it impossible to watch most things live on TV, and I know many people that are moving away from the traditional TV viewing.

So the whole DCI streaming thing would be my only option to watch live.

Are there others on DCP like us? Like I said, I know a lot of people not on DCP or involved with DCI in the same boat, so I am wondering if that would make it difficult for ratings and $$ if more people are doing the model of viewing we are.

Just a thought.

[JimF-LowBari]

Yeah 77 sound right as 78 we were at New Orleans for AL Nats. Couldn't remember which year until it hit me that we watched DCI on the crappy azzed TVs in the waterbug Holiday Inn in NO. LOL buses got there just before the broadcast and some people jumped in the pool to de-stink from the almost 24 hour ride. And for my dear bus #2, an air conditioner that went out in Alabama.

And not calling for going back to PBS, DCI members/fans are not quite in the demographic they go for to survive. Last I noticed here was 60s pop music which was an update from 50s doo wop.

Jeff, did Hershey carry a 2 hour live show? Not sure by your response and kind of business with work, etc to follow then

Edited November 18, 2014 by JimF-LowBari

[perc2100]

Still, in modern times PBS/ESPN shouldn't be necessary. But kids won't pay money to have the activity promoted to them. Either a free trial FN membership or some sort of yearly wrap-up, perhaps 1/2 hour or 1 hour season summary, might do it.

Does DCI do any promotion outside the existing fan base at all?

That's kind of interesting. Perhaps via FN DCI could produce a 60 or 30/45 min. edited version of the Finals DVD (or even just the Top 6 maybe) w/spliced in stuff from the theater broadcast talking a little about the activity, the season, etc. There's a 2:41 highlight video on FN right now that is seemingly used as an attention-grabbing type video, possibly for newbies. The sound though is not drum corps so it doesn't give a great representation of the activity.

Or maybe if DCI doesn't want to go to all of that trouble, they can make DCI FN videos for free for, say, a weekend. Maybe during Thanksgiving weekend or something anyone can access FN videos for the weekend to whet their appetite, maybe get folks enticed to buy DVDs or Blu-rays, etc.

[MikeN]

The sound though is not drum corps so it doesn't give a great representation of the activity.

This has been a thorn in my side for ages. I can't think of another musical activity... or even a musical group... that advertises itself without actually playing their own music in the advertisements.

I assume it's the well known licensing issues problem. To which I still suggest DCI take one spring and commission original "stock" recordings for their use, that they own, and can actually present to customers as "this is what drum corps sounds like." 'Cause right now, they're not really getting that out there to people who don't know.

Mike

[BigW]

77. Hershey ( i dont know about others around PA) went to state budgets. WITF's phones exploded. They made good the next weekend and showed the whole show.

in 87, they cut away from Cadets ending ( they thought the dissolving/reforming company front was THE ending), and when they came back to good old Mike Greenwalt, you could hear phones exploding. After the commerical, he said "we just want you to know we're not cutting away from the corps performances..." yet they were.

I had the chance to meet Mike many years ago. I thanked him for always being there on Saturday nights for drum corps, and off the top of his head, he admitted he blew it in 87...they went off the times for each corps DCI gave them and Cadets ran a few seconds long. But he also said they got more calls for 77 and 87 combined than they did for pledges.

I was watching in '87, and I was appalled. They lost a lot of the community's support in the WITF viewing area that night. Then they went to the satellite feed to selected venues, I never had the time to go, I was told the problem then became the heavy smoking at the Harrisburg venue, which wasn't pleasant for the non-smokers in the audience and the expense for those who did attend.

I missed this year's simulcast. Sometimes in Harrisburg, it's a hit or miss. The one time, a woman kept turning on her smart phone left and right repeatedly even after being politely asked by me several times to please stop because of the distraction. Finally, 2 other older vets made her stand the bleep down and growled at her even louder than I did. Last time I went (2012) the bandos from whatever HS it was talked and laughed through most of the performances. I'd call out the name of the girls' band if I could, I was a tad incensed. Then again, some of those shows did deserve that kind of treatment that year. At least Crown deafened them and shut them up finally.

I think the simulcast is a very good value, kinda like going to Rocky Horror. Depends on the crowd attending. Either a lot of fun, or you end up nearly getting into fights with morons with no manners who ruin the experience for everyone by chucking pennies at everyone else. Beats paying 45 bucks for a decent ticket to Chester plus the 10 bucks parking fee along with the turnpike toll and gas in that way when it's good.