DCP Official ESPN2 DCI Broadcast Reaction Thread

[DrumCorpsFan27]

My gf had a similar reaction.  I took her to 2 shows this year and she liked them, she's not crazy for drum corps like I am but she liked the shows OK.  But she thought the broadcast was really lame.  Not enough corps performing. 

I don't like the argument "well if you want to see whole shows then buy the DVDs".  Would someone seeing this TV show as their first exposure to drum corps want to buy a DVD after THAT?  Would they want to go to a show next summer??  I have to say probably not.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or would they want to pay the ticket prices DCI charges based on what they saw last night?

[bluecoats88]

Here's my two cents for anyone who cares.

After all these years we finally got DCI on ESPN it was ESPN 2 but hey that's almost as big as the mother ship now. National broadcast and no one begging for money.

The production quality was very good and the commentators and sideline reporters did a very nice job.

The behind the scene stuff was well done but I did think that the stories themselves were a little too long. Get to the point a little quicker and get back to the action.

I realize that this was the first year on ESPN 2 and they needed a little more explaining so hopefully it will shorten next year.

Remember when you watch the world series of poker they always cut away to explain the rules of the game or to have the one on one session with one of the players.

I think a little more should have been said about the length of the shows and the 3 divisions that make up DCI. kinda analogous to the divisions in college football. Explain that a little and state that this show was the culmination of a series of elimination events during the week.

As for what they showed of the performances. 1st they showed 2 1/2 songs, 2-6 they showed 2 songs, and 7&8 they showed 1 song. 9-12 they showed about half a song. Hopefully next year they will bump that up a little maybe showing 1/2 shows for 2-6 and full show for the winner, with maybe 1-2 songs for 7&8 and a short clip of the 9-12.

I liked the idea of showing the current standings as the show progressed, it was kinda like watching an olympic event. Although I think prior to Boston going on they could have shown what the first 4 corps had scored so far so you could see how vanguard jumped over boston.

It was interesting to see the interviewer with fiedler right after their show ask him if he thought their 97.XX score was gonna be enough to win tonight. So fiedler knew what the cavies had scored before cadets even went on. I always thought they didn't give the corps their score prior to the finale at finals.

And kudo's go out to the girl from Phantom who was marching just 3 years after having open heart surgery.

[aka_MrStarsFan]

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Edited September 22, 2005 by aka_MrStarsFan

[ssorrell]

I reminded my daughter's high school band mates about the show as they were dismissing from rehearsal yesterday. This morning I got to hear some of thier reactions. Although the show did "educate" them about what drum corps is and how the show gets put together, they did not understand that they were watching very very small parts of an otherwise lengthy show. Not ONE of the dozen or so kids that I talked to grasped that. About half of them turned the show off before it was over.

To me, those kids are who DCI was aiming the show towards. In my general and very unscientific poll, I found that only 50% stayed tuned in, and the remaining 50% were still confused about performances. They understood the makeup of the corps better, they got to see how a show was put together, and they got a lesson in judging, but they did not understand the passion for performing because they showed so little of it. I had several kids ask the likes of "why does a corps practice so much for such a short show?" That's okay...I answered thier questions, but how many will not have someone to answer for them?

It was well produced and the commercials even surprised me. But add me to the folks that thought that more corps should have been shown. It could have been educational while showing more corps. I noticed that after 46 mintues of show, we had seen 3 corps, and only a total of what...5 minutes of performance? Last night, I dismissed my feelings, as I knew that this telecast was not for me, but after talking to the kids at school this morning, I'm not entirely sure that the show had the intended reaction from whom it was targeted.

[DrumCorpsFan27]

IMO, this production was FAR better than it has been on PBS for the last several years.  There was some pretty neat stuff in the vignettes, but I agree a couple of them were just too long.  And I didn't like it when there was a commercial, a vignette, another vignetter, and then another commercial. 

Still, not bad at all, IMO.  Last year's was horrid.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The vignettes were very well done indeed. That's not the problem. There was 1/2 hour of competition in a two hour program. That's a 1 part competition to 3 parts of other stuff. Remove the commercial time (necessary on prime time national network TV) and you are still looking at a 1 to 2 ratio. I really think those numbers need to be reversed, at the very least.

[DrumCorpsFan27]

I'm thankful as well that DCI had this OPPORTUNITY.  I just don't think the opportunity was utilized anywhere near as good as it could have been.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly my feelings.

[PR_ducky]

While I enjoyed the behind the scenes stuff, the 20-30 minutes of corps they showed just didn't cut the cake

My brother pointed out that 99% of the people who bothered to tune in for the show already knew what they wehere there for.

I am really glad I went to the cinecast and got to see the complete shows. In todays drum corps seeing bits and pieces just doesn't convey the shows very well.

That being said, I am glad that DCI made it onto ESPN2. Its a nice first step

[Roark1]

I thought it was terrible! Four minutes of a show followed by a bunch of fluff is not worth my time. I realize I am not the target audiance for this show. I went to bed after 51 minutes of that mess.

Aecheson (sp?), you owe me 51 minutes of sleep.

<**>

[DrumCorpsFan27]

I noticed in all the "commercialization" of this DCI forgot to mention that the kids pay to be involved in this activity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, it would have been nice if they mentioned how much money it costs to run a drum corps, how much kids pay to march, and how to donate.

[SCVTeerav]

I know that when I first saw the videos and PBS telecast, back in the day before I got into the whole scene, it was the performances that kept me riveted. 1995 Scouts was shown and I was in. This broadcast was like watching an NFL game and having to go through a bio on every player and what a tight end does and how cool a down and out route is. throw the ball and hit somebody and bring on the Budweiser girls. same can be said for what drum corps people want to see.