Barrett-Jackson / Speed Channel E-Mail

[Camaro Billy]

Here is a copy of an e-mail that the president of our Maryland Camaro Club sent to Barrett-Jackson and Speed Channel about the TV coverage of Camaros and Chevys at this years auction.Also of the responses he rec'd back -

Dear Speed Channel Producers,


I felt strongly compelled to write to express my dissatisfaction and disappointment with your coverage of the 2007 Barrett Jackson Collector Car Auction. In years past, Speed Channel’s coverage was fairly well balanced, with equal airtime given to the many diverse automobile offerings. This year was a different story however, with an obvious slant favoring certain brands, namely Ford and Mopar products.

Initially, I thought it to be coincidental that so many commercial breaks happened to correspond with the numerous General Motors musclecars crossing the auction block. As time went on, it became painfully obvious that, exclusive of Corvettes, much of the GM crowd was being left out in the rain. This was especially evident with the many auctions of Chevy’s ever-popular pony car, the Camaro. Time and time again Camaros were all but shunned, with a repetitive rotation of commercial messages being strategically aired during scheduled Camaro offerings. Many top-tear cars such as COPOs and Yenkos received barely a mention, with none of the fanfare or in-depth overview reserved for Shelby Mustangs and Hemi Cudas. This was most noticeable during Saturday’s prime time auctions, when only a small portion of the Camaros that were being auctioned actually made it onto the air. Even when something as historically significant as the very first Camaro coupe to roll off of the assembly line came up for auction, it was only briefly mentioned due to the large amount that it had garnered.

Now I realize that this year’s show was sponsored by Ford, and I understand the sponsorship loyalty, but this was bordering on the ridiculous. I’m sure that Camaro lovers are not the only enthusiasts who felt the ill effects of your biased coverage. It is indeed a travesty that such an important facet of the collector car hobby as Barrett Jackson has now apparently been tainted by auto industry politics and rivalries. Sure, everyone has their favorite car, but favoritism in your coverage cheats potential buyers, the sellers and most importantly, your viewers out of a truly rewarding Barrett Jackson experience.
It is my sincere hope that Speed Channel will once again return to the balanced and impartial coverage of the Barrett Jackson Auction that collectors have come to depend on.


Respectfully,

Tony Eichler

President, Maryland Camaro Club

http://www.mdcamaroclub.com/



Tony,
Thank you for your email and for your interest in
Barrett-Jackson. I am sorry the broadcast did not
air enough Camaros and other GM muscle cars to make
the show enjoyable for you..
As we plan for next year, I will do all that I can
to be sure we have the appropriate number of GM
vehicles in the SPEED mix.
It is very difficult to plan and coordinate a live
event with as many moving parts as ours and have
everything come out as perfectly as we may have
wished.
Some cars sell faster than others and the commercial
breaks are always looming.
I assure you there was no conspiracy to keep the
great GM cars off the air, in fact the majority of
our consigned vehicles were GM products. For
Barrett-Jackson and SPEED to shun the Camaro would
be un-American, and I assure you that is not the
case. GM and specifically the Camaro, Chevelle,
Corvette, GSX, 442, GTO, Firebird, and on and on is
the foundation of what has made Barrett-Jackson
America's auction house.
Thank you again for your email and your objective
observation.
Best regards,
Steve Davis


Mr. Eichler: having seen Steve Davis's response to your email I can only
echo his comments....by no means was the commercial placement designed
to slight GM products. The final decision regarding this type of thing
rests with me.
There are many factors that go into the "placement" of comml breaks and
frankly the "make" of vehicle comes way down the list........much of
this is done on the fly and we react to block action so...."the best
laid plans of mice and men".....frequently go out the window once we are
on the air.... I'm sorry we did not provide the coverage of the cars you
waited for and I assure you we will endeavor to move the manufacturer
mix higher on the list when placing the breaks in future telecasts.

Rick Miner
SPEED
Sr Vice President of Production & Network Operations
Executive Producer

[Charley Lillard]

LOL....I think his letter was silly. GM was also a sponsor of the event. There just weren't that many nice Camaro's there and the first Camaro was a poor example right down to the "Caution Fan" sticker and it's restamped incorrect engine.

[70 copo]

Not silly at all. A perfect example came late on Sunday afternoon A '67 0-1 BB IPC comes to the block the BJ block announcer can be heard in the background telling the bidders how "rare" the car was.

After covering two non GM cars back to back Speed quickly cut to a commercial giving zero coverage to the IPC.

[Charley Lillard]

You really think "Barrett Jackson has now apparently been tainted by auto industry politics and rivalries" ? You really think they have they had planned to not air the Pace car because of a polital slant against Camaro's ? They are trying to sell a ton of cars and they are covering it on National TV They have the commercial time slots locked in for when they have to break away for a commercial. The auction runs at a breakneck pace and never on it's wished for schedule. They have no clue as to what car will be going on the block when they go to commercial probably until maybe 1 minute before it is on the block and they sure aren't going to switch the run order or slow down the run to time it so there is a fair balance of brands. Speed channel has a million things to co-ordinate and worrying about covering all the brands on TV equally is something I bet they figure will happen naturally because of the large variety of cars. Maybe you haven't noticed but I'm kind of a Camaro guy also. There just weren't that many nice Camaro's. I have not heard of any people with nice Camaro's being turned down that tried to put them in the sale.

[kwhizz]

I agree with Charley........After going this year for the first time and seeing how everything works.....it's pretty simple........the cars are continously coming across the block and the commercials are spaced thruout the hour...not a lot of control unless there is a "High Profile" car going across......after being there and coming home and watching the rerun on Tivo.......I think about half the cars never make it on TV

Ken

[Charley Lillard]

This is really sad....Kwhizz at this moment is in Jamaica, warm weather , white sand beaches, beautiful golf courses, great food....and here he is posting on this crappy sight... Ken you need a intervention....

[Z-11 396]

I << GUESS >> WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN /// FLORIDA ///, WE CAN COUNT THE CARS " TIME " ON THE BLOCK, COUNT WHAT " BRANDS " GO THROUGH, COUNT HOW MANY " COMMERCIAL " CUT OUT WHAT CARS,THEN WE ALL CAN COME BACK ON, AND SHARE ARE RESULTS FIRST HAND, {{ NO HEAR SAY }}..........KASEY

[70 copo]

[ QUOTE ]
LOL....I think his letter was silly. GM was also a sponsor of the event. There just weren't that many nice Camaro's there and the first Camaro was a poor example right down to the "Caution Fan" sticker and it's restamped incorrect engine.[ QUOTE ]


(Charile)

[ QUOTE ]
Not silly at all. A perfect example came late on Sunday afternoon A '67 0-1 BB IPC comes to the block the BJ block announcer can be heard in the background telling the bidders how "rare" the car was.

After covering two non GM cars back to back Speed quickly cut to a commercial giving zero coverage to the IPC.[ QUOTE ]


(Phil)

[ QUOTE ]
You really think "Barrett Jackson has now apparently been tainted by auto industry politics and rivalries" ? You really think they have they had planned to not air the Pace car because of a polital slant against Camaro's ? They are trying to sell a ton of cars and they are covering it on National TV They have the commercial time slots locked in for when they have to break away for a commercial. The auction runs at a breakneck pace and never on it's wished for schedule. They have no clue as to what car will be going on the block when they go to commercial probably until maybe 1 minute before it is on the block and they sure aren't going to switch the run order or slow down the run to time it so there is a fair balance of brands. Speed channel has a million things to co-ordinate and worrying about covering all the brands on TV equally is something I bet they figure will happen naturally because of the large variety of cars. Maybe you haven't noticed but I'm kind of a Camaro guy also. There just weren't that many nice Camaro's. I have not heard of any people with nice Camaro's being turned down that tried to put them in the sale.

[/ QUOTE ]


Charlie

The issue is not BJ as an auction company. The issue "is" as admitted in the reply by Speed to the Camaro club on the very first page of this thread where (according to Camaro Billy) SPEED VP Rick Minor stated:

" There are many factors that go into the "placement" of comml breaks and frankly the "make" of vehicle comes way down the list........much of this is done on the fly and we react to block action so...."the best laid plans of mice and men".....frequently go out the window once we are on the air.... I'm sorry we did not provide the coverage of the cars you waited for and I assure you we will endeavor to move the manufacturer mix higher on the list when placing the breaks in future telecasts".

So in the third post of this thread I simply agree with the stated gripe of the Camaro club by offering one clear example which supports both the Camaro club's position and the stated reply of the Speed VP as the Speed VP clearly states what the telecast "was" and its "failings".


IMO...If the Camaro Club has a gripe they simply need to do the homework. First determine the televised run order of the cars and do a statistically based evaluation against the BJ auction lot as a whole. This data will show the types of cars present on the block and when the airing cut to commercial (or a special report) and will then by data alone tell the numbers and types of cars televised to the world.

With those statistics in hand the proper venue for the airing of this type of complaint is the companies that paid big $$ for commercial ad time. I would start with Hagerty and BMW.

In closing: If the perception is that Speed Channel presented an imbalanced telecast, then I say to the Camaro club -prove it. Prove it to the companies who paid dearly for commercial time and do it for the entire 40 hour airing.


Phil