Grand Am Broadcast Rant

OK, Grand Am is one of my favorite series to watch on TV, but the broadcasts drive me crazy. The guys mixing the audio always cover up the commentators with ambient track noise. Either get rid of the guys talking, or throttle back on the b-roll audio, you can't do both without it sounding like crap.

I used to think it was a mistake, but that was 2 years ago and they keep on doing it. Do the audio technicians have no idea what they are doing? I worked in TV for years and this is rudimentary stuff. argggg.

I would email them! And I do audio for a living,

Sultan wrote: I would email them! And I do audio for a living,

What he said. They won't know unless someone criticizes them. Do eet!!!

exactly.. I do A/V too... email the heck out of them. They probably think it sounds good.. makes it sound like the talking heads are "right there" trackside

be happy you can even watch them lol! I actually like that ALMS is on ESPN3 or whatever its called now. I think I can watched DVRed material from my phone from the ATT Uverse app....I believe

Unfortunately I have contacted them, they think I'm crazy evidently. Of course others have said the same thing.

Personally I've quit watching, which really pisses me off too. Maybe we can do a petition or write in campaign.

In reply to racerdave600:

While you are at it, can you call NBC Sports and ask them to mute Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekus and Wally Dallenbach Jr so I can actually pay attention to the race rather than try and decipher what the hell they are talking about?!?!

Brad and I got the Indycar feed off of Sky Sports in England. They had 3 English commentators (forgot 2 of the 3, but I know they had Johnny Mowlem) talking about pit strategy, timing and scoring, and "keep your eye on Will Power, he is quickest on T&S, he will be there at the end..."

Then, they switch back over to the 3 Stooges, too busy making verbal diarrhea of driver's names and too busy laughing and not making any sense at all. Brad and I would glare at eachother when Jenkins would say something completely idiotic, Beekus would have his "Pro" input, at man, they must be hurting for commentators if they put Dallenbach Jr. up there. They didn't really mention Power at all, until the end when they were surprised to see him in the lead once everything had been shuffled around.

Yeah, I agree about Indycar. Watching their qualifying show is like watching a train wreck. They take all the joy out of it. There is no build up, they show very little of the on-track action, and I hate when they start a the on-track stuff with the last few minutes of a 15 minute session. Then there is no explanation of what they are doing. They need to look at F1 qualifying to get a few ideas about how to call this properly.

Bob Jenkins is probably a very nice guy, but he sounds like a news announcer.

I think a lot of audio mixing has gotten screwed up lately. I totally agree with the GA broadcast comment. Can't hear a word they are saying over the track sounds. At least on the F1 and NASCAR broadcast they give you periods to listen to nothing but the track/car audio (commnetators shut up).

TV commercials being 10X louder than the show has been around for many years, but when did the movie makers decide that the music and action sounds had to be 10X the volume of the dialouge. That and directors that allow the actors to talk so fast that you can't understand a word.

Makes for a very worn out volume button on the remote.

In reply to racerdave600: I just emailed Grand Am about that! I emailed Speed last year and they never replied. The woman I emailed with at Grand Am seemed concerned, but was at the race and hadn't watched it on TV. Her name is Helen Pardee, and her email address is hpardee@nascar.com. Let her know how you feel about it!

racerdave600 wrote: Yeah, I agree about Indycar. Watching their qualifying show is like watching a train wreck. They take all the joy out of it. There is no build up, they show very little of the on-track action, and I hate when they start a the on-track stuff with the last few minutes of a 15 minute session. Then there is no explanation of what they are doing. They need to look at F1 qualifying to get a few ideas about how to call this properly. Bob Jenkins is probably a very nice guy, but he sounds like a news announcer.

Unfortunately, I don't think the quality of the Indycar broadcasts will improve until the series gets healthy again. Hopefully they are on their way with new cars, multiple engine suppliers, etc.. The first two races were on networks, which sure beats the hell out of versus, a channel that many people don't get and don't equate with car racing. Funny thing is I liked Jenkins back in the day when he was covering NASCAR. He just seems disinterested. But I think Marty Reid and Scott Goodyear are way worse. Listening to Goodyear is like nails on a chalkboard for me.