DCI Offers Survey On ESPN2 Broadcast...

[bawker]

One of the people I was watching it with went outside to smoke a cigarette once their show came on.

On a positive note, I felt that the parts of their show that featured "old-school" marching and playing, gimmicks aside, were pretty #### sweet.

Very true.

For a lot of the OG that complain about drum features falling by the wayside, there was a lot of percussion "meat" in this show...longest extended break I can think of in quite a few years (narration and "Where are we?" stuff nonwithstanding...).

I really do like the closer a lot.

Edited September 7, 2006 by bawker

[triplefunk]

Can't beat the drum stick throw/rim shot! ^OO^

[tubamann]

What's the joke? I don't get it? You old ######## want to see 1970's style mirrored drill and pistons and snares on slings. Even if DCI showed every second of finals, you'd be pissy about "alumni" mistreatings.

Well I'm an alum. As one alum to another, wake up. If you don't want things to change, go buy the legacy series, or pop in your 8-tracks. That era of DCI is frickin' over. It's not the frickin' 1970's any more. It's not even the 1980's anymore. Get over it. The drum corps stone age was good, even brilliant for its time, but that time is no more.

If you think the ESPN broadcast is for you, your britches are too big. High school kids join drum corps, not alumni. If you want to be productive, help today's corps get today's kids. If you want to revel in your own youth, fine. But don't complain about progress because it alters your childhood memories. It is not DCI's responsibility to be your ever-updated yearbook and trip down memory lane -- not in primetime. At the moment that drum corps is at its pinnacle of media exposure, you "alums" act like corps owes you something. Why don't you take a moment, remember back to why you loved it so dearly, and recall that it was about doing better as a team, advancing, and not getting caught up in petty, self-inflating look-at-me performances. It was about moving people, and having the entertaining opportunity of a lifetime, and being involved in a YOUTH activity.

Your #####ing and moaning about what "alums" want is tatamount to taking away the shining moment of the kids on the field today. Shame on you.

b**bs Buy that man a beer..or perhaps a quality single malt scotch...if he prefers!

[justaJ0e]

Just a reminder about participating in the survey!

http://dci.org/news/news.cfm?news_id=013be...b9-f3d350ee3584

I think it ends this evening. The only way we will ever get to see a broadcast that features the Corps' show instead of the producers inturpetation of what HE thinks the show designers really meant is to give them feedback.

I am seeing far too many posts from people who were very frustrated with the coverage but are afraid to speak up for FEAR that they won't get to see even that much.

I think the "worst" that they can do to it had already been done once the show was removed from PBS and moved to ESPN2. Once that happened DCI (technically speaking) actually had a smaller possible audience since it is now limited to those who have a cable system that carries ESPN2 and are willing to/can afford to pay for that cable.

Keep in mind that the company that produces the finals broadcast (Tom Blair Inc.) is the same company that has been producing it since 1987. SO nothing about the "quality" actually changed on the production end.

In my opinion, now that DCI has crosssed into the world of PAY cable it will always be available whether it is ESPN2, or A&E or the comedy channel. In a world where we have a hundred cable channels looking for content to fill their airways and a ready made audience ... DCI is a sure bet.

Anyway - just please go fill out the survey. Besides ... they're giving away DVDs!!!! :)

http://dci.org/news/news.cfm?news_id=013be...b9-f3d350ee3584

Edited September 8, 2006 by justaJ0e

[CloudHype]

What's the joke? I don't get it? You old ######## want to see 1970's style mirrored drill and pistons and snares on slings. Even if DCI showed every second of finals, you'd be pissy about "alumni" mistreatings.

Well I'm an alum. As one alum to another, wake up. If you don't want things to change, go buy the legacy series, or pop in your 8-tracks. That era of DCI is frickin' over. It's not the frickin' 1970's any more. It's not even the 1980's anymore. Get over it. The drum corps stone age was good, even brilliant for its time, but that time is no more.

If you think the ESPN broadcast is for you, your britches are too big. High school kids join drum corps, not alumni. If you want to be productive, help today's corps get today's kids. If you want to revel in your own youth, fine. But don't complain about progress because it alters your childhood memories. It is not DCI's responsibility to be your ever-updated yearbook and trip down memory lane -- not in primetime. At the moment that drum corps is at its pinnacle of media exposure, you "alums" act like corps owes you something. Why don't you take a moment, remember back to why you loved it so dearly, and recall that it was about doing better as a team, advancing, and not getting caught up in petty, self-inflating look-at-me performances. It was about moving people, and having the entertaining opportunity of a lifetime, and being involved in a YOUTH activity.

Your #####ing and moaning about what "alums" want is tatamount to taking away the shining moment of the kids on the field today. Shame on you.

[bhoffman]

If I wouldn't have just missed the deadline, I would have told them that I thought they show was great. It was the only show I saw for the year and I got my fix. Much better than PBS because we didn't have to wait for the pledge breaks to end.

Hi Jeff! I have a baby and a new last name now!

[Medeabrass]

Remember back in the day when we lamented that things like cheerleading and marbles tournaments were on ESPN but not drum corps? I was one of those people. Sometimes you regret what you ask for.

[freelancer7577]

What's the joke? I don't get it? You old ######## want to see 1970's style mirrored drill and pistons and snares on slings. Even if DCI showed every second of finals, you'd be pissy about "alumni" mistreatings.

Well I'm an alum. As one alum to another, wake up. If you don't want things to change, go buy the legacy series, or pop in your 8-tracks. That era of DCI is frickin' over. It's not the frickin' 1970's any more. It's not even the 1980's anymore. Get over it. The drum corps stone age was good, even brilliant for its time, but that time is no more.

If you think the ESPN broadcast is for you, your britches are too big. High school kids join drum corps, not alumni. If you want to be productive, help today's corps get today's kids. If you want to revel in your own youth, fine. But don't complain about progress because it alters your childhood memories. It is not DCI's responsibility to be your ever-updated yearbook and trip down memory lane -- not in primetime. At the moment that drum corps is at its pinnacle of media exposure, you "alums" act like corps owes you something. Why don't you take a moment, remember back to why you loved it so dearly, and recall that it was about doing better as a team, advancing, and not getting caught up in petty, self-inflating look-at-me performances. It was about moving people, and having the entertaining opportunity of a lifetime, and being involved in a YOUTH activity.

Your #####ing and moaning about what "alums" want is tatamount to taking away the shining moment of the kids on the field today. Shame on you.

I think having drum corps on ESPN is great, but it could be a lot better with some changes. I would just like to see a compromise - show at least ONE complete corps show on the ESPN telecast so the fans new and old, potential recruits, and people who just randomly selected that channel get to see a complete production. I think it would really help and be something to look forward to. A little less selling of the "lifestyle". Some of that is okay though.

Any kind of informercial simply sucks, no matter what the product. What makes something an infomercial is the constant repetition of the same message over and over, designed to get the target message for those that watch for 20 second to 1 minute. Last year's broadcast was not an infomercial but had "the flavor" of one so it was hard to watch. I didn't see this year's broadcast - maybe it was better. I'd love to hear's DCI explanation of what they are trying to achieve with this style of programming - maybe they could convince us that it is the right thing to do. But it SMELLS like they are trying to get the hardcorp fans to buy a DVD by not giving them what they used to get what they still want, and what they expected by tuning in - and that is a "real" drum corps show.

I'd much rather buy a DVD of a show that I know I like than one that is trying to be sold to me via an infomercial. The infomercial flavor cheapens the perception of the real product. That is just my opinion and has nothing to do with longing for the style and format of the 70s or 80s.

I'd love to see finals in theaters. My bet is that DCI won't do it because they might believe it would detract from finals attendance, and I hope I am wrong. But from the style of the ESPN broadcast, I question their marketing smarts. They seem to risk turning off their hard corps audience. I would be much more likely to buy a finals DVDS after having enjoyed the show in the theater. And they would make a nice profit from this.

[drumcat]

I think having drum corps on ESPN is great, but it could be a lot better with some changes. I would just like to see a compromise - show at least ONE complete corps show on the ESPN telecast so the fans new and old, potential recruits, and people who just randomly selected that channel get to see a complete production. I think it would really help and be something to look forward to. A little less selling of the "lifestyle". Some of that is okay though.

Any kind of informercial simply sucks, no matter what the product. What makes something an infomercial is the constant repetition of the same message over and over, designed to get the target message for those that watch for 20 second to 1 minute. Last year's broadcast was not an infomercial but had "the flavor" of one so it was hard to watch. I didn't see this year's broadcast - maybe it was better. I'd love to hear's DCI explanation of what they are trying to achieve with this style of programming - maybe they could convince us that it is the right thing to do. But it SMELLS like they are trying to get the hardcorp fans to buy a DVD by not giving them what they used to get what they still want, and what they expected by tuning in - and that is a "real" drum corps show.

I'd much rather buy a DVD of a show that I know I like than one that is trying to be sold to me via an infomercial. The infomercial flavor cheapens the perception of the real product. That is just my opinion and has nothing to do with longing for the style and format of the 70s or 80s.

I'd love to see finals in theaters. My bet is that DCI won't do it because they might believe it would detract from finals attendance, and I hope I am wrong. But from the style of the ESPN broadcast, I question their marketing smarts. They seem to risk turning off their hard corps audience. I would be much more likely to buy a finals DVDS after having enjoyed the show in the theater. And they would make a nice profit from this.

That's a lot to say, considering you didn't watch the broadcast...

I think if you'd have read any of the prior posts, many found this year to be an improvement over last year's new format. I don't think you would easily characterize this as an "infomercial". Hopefully you catch a rerun to get informed about this.

Finals won't be in theaters. ESPN has Saturday. That's how it is. Besides, Saturday is too short to justify the costs of a theater broadcast like it is now.

Again, if you didn't watch the show, how can you question their "marketing smarts"? Having the show on commercial tv, especially explaining to first-timers that it's on ESPN has really gone a long way towards credibility. If ESPN would put this on, there must be some weight to the event.

And instead of selling donations to the local station, they get commercials. What's the difference?

Also, what's the difference between watching quarters and buying a dvd vs. watching finals and buying the dvd? This sounds like splitting hairs to me...

Edited September 9, 2006 by drumcat

[freelancer7577]

That's a lot to say, considering you didn't watch the broadcast...

I think if you'd have read any of the prior posts, many found this year to be an improvement over last year's new format. I don't think you would easily characterize this as an "infomercial". Hopefully you catch a rerun to get informed about this.

Finals won't be in theaters. ESPN has Saturday. That's how it is. Besides, Saturday is too short to justify the costs of a theater broadcast like it is now.

Again, if you didn't watch the show, how can you question their "marketing smarts"? Having the show on commercial tv, especially explaining to first-timers that it's on ESPN has really gone a long way towards credibility. If ESPN would put this on, there must be some weight to the event.

And instead of selling donations to the local station, they get commercials. What's the difference?

Also, what's the difference between watching quarters and buying a dvd vs. watching finals and buying the dvd? This sounds like splitting hairs to me...

I hope it was better. Last year's show turned me off completely. I normally question the marketing smarts of any company when their product has this effect to where I don't want to use or view it again. I did read the prior posts - there were others that said this year's broadcast was too infomercialish. But I honestly hope the I am in the minority here, and that the ESPN broadcast creates new fans if that is really going to help the activity survive. I will try to tape the re-broadcast and see if there is an improvement over 2005. I live on the west coast and couldn't justify skipping out of work to get a seat in the theater for quarterfinals this time. I might do it again when the broadcast quality leaps forward. If I had a kid marching at finals I would do it for sure. But I am just a fan now.

The only way I can get excited about a drumcorps season is if I can watch a corps show several times. Do others feel the same way? 2007 will be great for us out here, since we should be able to see a lot more late-season corps for a change. I may be dreaming, but it would be great if all the major shows could be broadcast live on pay-per-view. I have no idea what they break-even cost per household would have to be to make that work - perhaps someone else out there knows the answer. I'd be willing to shell-out more than the cost of a DVD to see live shows, especially in HD.

I'd also be very curious to know how there once was a live broadcast where all top 12 finalists were viewed in their entirety and how that had been whittled down and forced into a taped and chopped broadcast. This is not as a criticism of DCI, BTW. With the explosion of so many cable channels, one might assume that this would not happen and we would have a venue. Could be due to underfunding of PBS these years compared to heavily subsidized DCI finals of the past? DCI finals was such a special event, and the event feel is missed in taped and heavily edited programs like we have today. But maybe this kind of event would be too boring for viewers nowadays.