automotive tv show ideas

Hey Guys and Gals,

I wanted to put this question out to the audience. What kind of automotive programming would you like to see? Realizing that there is a plethora of NASCAR type stuff so that genre has been put to bed. We also have NOPI vision covering the tuner market. Living the Low Life is somewhat interesting but mostly because of the plunging neckline. So let's keep girls, tuners, Nascar and Pinks out of the running.

You have to keep in mind that there is a need for sponsorship meaning that there would have to be a realistic and desirable demographic that would watch the programs. Something solely focused on Ferrari would be too vertical but if you could cover exotics and European Sports Cars in general...you never know. There is another discussion going on which covers the Supercars show so another question would be, what mistakes did they make?

John Hendricks created the Discovery Channel because he wanted to create a channel that had stuff on it he wanted to watch. So what would you opt for in a car channel? Also keep in mind that this is a global enterprise so the world's automotive nuances are resources to be utilized.

regards

ken

 

I pitched a sitcom to the networks about a new car dealership and their service department, and the customers and complaints they have to deal with in a comical sense. They showed no interest.

 

I got an idea~

Why not make a show about professional race car driver and grudge matches? For example.....Fernando Alonso vs Michael Schumacher. Interview both of them and encourage both to trash talk as much as they want. (maybe booze up Michael first because he's too much of a gentleman sober) Pit them one on one on the track with a variety of vehicles ranging from tricycle to semi trucks and have them duke it out. At the end of the show the loser has to kiss the winner's feet and wear clothing decorated and signed by the other driver for a month. Promote it like a brainless boxing match and have the two tear each other apart.



I'll watch that.

 

Maybe Jeff Gordon vs Schumi....

That's an interesting idea.

cheers

 

Half hour show.

X amount of time before each episode there is a write in/text in/phone in poll as to what classic sports car to review.

Show PURCHASES car that receives most votes.

Show reviews every aspect of purchased car during episode.

Show auctions said car on Ebay for $1 with no reserve at end of each show - results of auction discussed on following week's episode.

So - sponsor money from cell phone company for text in poll & big sponsor money from Ebay.

Any questions?

 

Uh.... Ken,

How about a car program that actually thinks that the viewers have brains? A show which doesn't try to please everybody and ends up doing nothing of substance.

A show is needed which takes positions, studies cars (styling, history, engineering, fuel economy, government...) and informs the viewer, not jumps up and down with horrible manufactured soundtracks.

And wow, a sense of humor would be great!

Oh yeah, we're talking about TV......

PS: Pardon my sarcasm. Your thread is asking the right questions!

 

Why not an American Idol for Race car drivers. Set up 10 or so indoor go-kart tracks around the Country. (I'm sure the Go kart tracks will donate there time for the exposer) Get contestants to compete on these tracks, Get three people to judge it. (at least one race car driver, at least one A hole) Have them try out on the track then have the three judges judge the contestants on Marketability, lap times, racing potential, etc. Then the next round can be with real cars, then more powerful cars, etc., etc. (Say you get GM to sponsor maybe first cars will be Solstices then Corvettes, then Corvette Z06s, then race cars, etc)

Should cost next to nothing to make. ( Nothing compared to most TV shows) With a good sponsor (GM, Ford, etc.) paying for your cars and tracks giving you time for TV exposer. Sell it to SPEED and make your millions.

 

How about something instructional, where a professional driver takes guys like us out on the track and helps us with our lap times?

Maybe that's one segment. The other could be a sort of video buyers' guide to different sports cars -- classic and new.

 

lots of cable networks are pay-to-play.

you provide 13 episodes, it costs you $X and you get x number of minutes of time to sell on your own.

its up to you to produce the episodes and sell the time. Good luck.


not trying to discourage you, but there are well funded groups out there with TONS of programming that cant get any air time. They cant sell enough to cover the cost of the stuff they have in the can.




that being being said.... what would I like to see?

Speed TV minus Nascar

A good Hot Rod TV show, along those lines I'm currently in post with the Billetproof Podcasts (starting small).

More Victory by Design

Victory by Design for Motorcycles

a decent supercar show - SuperCars Exposed is a model of how not to do it.

Vintage Racing News TV

 

How about a restoration show where they choose something really interesting, dont rush the project, show what is correct / not correct for the car, show what to do to make the car driveable and safe. Then at the end auction the car off for charity. If it takes two years to complete the project so be it. Filler for episodes can be about other famous cars of the same make, history of the current project car, development and so forth. So long as it is worlds away from chop, cut, rebuild, I would probly watch it.

Don

 

+1

Antony

 

There was a great set of programmes on british cable a few years back.
A car is born -Building a cobra replica
A car is reborn - Restoring an E Type Jag
A car is reborn -Restoring an early MGB Roadster
A 4X4 is born- building a off road competition Landy
A racing car is born
A bike is reborn - Restoring a 40's Harley
A bike is born- Building a trike


The guy (Mark Evans) also made series were he built his own plane and helicopter.

They were great stuff. they are on amazon but no idea if you can get them in US format.

 

Simon,
I have seen the born/reborn show, I loved it and wish that more shows were produced that are like that.

Don

 

How about a reality show about me, a freelance writer, bouncing around between different exotic dealerships (from vintage to contemporary), as I check out what they're doing - and figure out how to make a living writing about what they're doing...? That sounds like a hit to me.

 

Two young guys, traveling in _any_ early 60's British car make their way across America, picking up odd jobs wherever it breaks down because they are broke. They have to fabricate whatever the car needs because the part is not available, all the while interacting with locals that don't fully appreciate their unusual choice of transportation.

Oh, wait, I guess this would probably be a rerun of real life for many people on this board.

 

How its Made, but with just automotive stuff. The whole gamut here. From seatelts, to engines, to roads, etc...

Car Factories. Every week a new factory. Maybe just a new model every week?

Profiles of Automotive Personalities. Historical fugures as well as contemporary. Could even do "A day in the Life of..." Do like bigwigs, but then do lowly designers and maybe even guys on the line, or the head groundskeeper at a race track,salespeople, etc...


Have a new car technology showcase program. Kind of like a televised "What's new" in popular science

Automotive News Program

 

You could make a series that did a new owner's primer for one exotic car at a time. What makes it unique (how do you open the doors on this thing?!), how to properly operate it (e.g. checking oil only when the engine is hot and running on a dry-sump car), maintenance tips, driving tips, how it sells on the market, what it's like to own, what clubs/support exist for it, etc.

Not only would you have a ready TV audience, but old episodes would be in demand by the DVD-buying crowd whenever they were contemplating buying that model of car.

You could show track time in the car, driving to Hooters for eye candy in the car, interview fanatics of that car, and inform the audience without insulting anyone or having to have an editor chop the show up into sub-2-second clips of jerky camera shots just to pander to an instant-gratification ("what have you done for me lately") culture.

 

How about a show for DIY guys that shows how to correct something when you screwed it up the first time. All the repair shows make everything look so simple, it's not like that in real life. Show us how to remove those broken studs we just snapped off, or when something will not fit like its supposed to, how to remedy the problem.

We all don't have dynos and tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools to do everything, show us how to do things correct, inexpensively and easily.

 

are you saying discovery is fishing for a new car show? By the way, i just added discovery to my list of clients.

 

+++, instructional and helpful!

And how about one that shows how to REALLY build an engine? I mean one where you dont just cram a bunch of off-the-shelf hot-rod parts into a crate block without ever measuring a single thing. One where you check bearing clearances, CC the combustion chambers, adjust the valves for equal lift, balance the moving parts - you know, little stuff like that.

Of course, it might take more than about 130 seconds of running time.

For a good example on how to edit such a thing, watch Norm Abrams woodworking show on PBS.

 

Not a bad idea. The thing we're all missing, I think, is that the majority audience wants to see drama. People who don't like cars watch Unique Whips for the drama; people who don't like tattoos watch Miami Ink for the drama; people who don't care about the welfare of others who are trapped on an island still watch Survivor - because of the drama. People like to see that.

While the ideas in this thread would make for great television in our eyes, the majority audience would change the channel after two minutes. People want to see arguing and tension and drama and suspense; they want unbridled uncertainty, smothered in soap opera-like multi-part series, rolled in "this isn't being edited -this is real life", sprinkled with profanity, and commercialized to perfection. That's the recipe for great television these days.

One of my roommates watches American Idol every week. She can't stand the show because of how off-base the judging seems to be, and she spends the entire hour yelling at the television. But she tunes in every week religiously. She's furious when the people she doesn't like get to stay another week; and she's overwhelmed with joy when someone she doesn't like screws up or gets voted off. People thrive on other peoples' conflict. Sadly enough, a show about people vandalizing Ferraris would garner a million times more viewers than an informative show about restoring/repairing/maintaining a Ferrari.

 

I wouldn't call it "great," but it costs just as much to have actors yell at each other as act, so if that's what an audience wants, then so be it.

Even so, that sort of formula is eventually self-defeating. The audiences that demand drama-uber-alles are going to find their way into more dramatic entertainment (e.g. interactive internet podcasts, video games, actual participation sports/races, etc.).

The *real* drama, however, is to see which dies first: oil or TV.

 

I say oil dies before television. I'll bet you ten bucks.

 

It's an open question today. Either could go first.


Five years from now it may be more obvious as to which will win the Darwin Award for tech.


That said, I'd think that one-way TV would die before oil. People will get their live shows online (heck, computers will let them be a *part* of future shows). We've only just begun the Internet Age, and broadcast/cable/satellite TV's lack of being interactive will kill it.

 

Unfortunately most of the kinds of car shows I'd want to watch would probably not make it on the air as most would consider it boring. I really like victory by design on speed but I imagine the average person would find it boring.

One that might work is a reality TV show about a true classic restoration shop. American chopper and overhaulin and those type of shows seems/seemed to be relatively popular so.