This.... is CNN.

[Giblet]

This really polarizes me. Lotus being signing CNN. On one hand, I hate CNN with a passion. They cover disasters like a sport, instead of asking for help of the earthquake victims, they showed live coverage of the Tsunami. Only FOX news I hate more.

On the other hand, Lotus gets cash, and can race. On my third hand they will start covering the car to a point I would imagine, maybe including F1 in their sports news, giving some coverage to Americans, and unfortunately, Canadians.

This could be very good for Lotus (yay), for CNN (BOooooO!), and the exposure to the sport for Americans where NASCAR and IRL are losing viewership massively (yay).

[Pup]

Both CNN and Fox are just entertainment channels in the guise of news.

Odd that CNN would sponsor a sport that's broadcast in the US by Fox, though. Odd that they didn't sponsor USF1 instead.

No, actually that's not odd.

[autogyro]

This really polarizes me. Lotus being signing CNN. On one hand, I hate CNN with a passion. They cover disasters like a sport, instead of asking for help of the earthquake victims, they showed live coverage of the Tsunami. Only FOX news I hate more.

On the other hand, Lotus gets cash, and can race. On my third hand they will start covering the car to a point I would imagine, maybe including F1 in their sports news, giving some coverage to Americans, and unfortunately, Canadians.

This could be very good for Lotus (yay), for CNN (BOooooO!), and the exposure to the sport for Americans where NASCAR and IRL are losing viewership massively (yay).

I agree with your opinion of CNN Giblet.
Highly motivated to what I see as the redundent 'Dream'.
However the new Lotus tie up may just give them the kick up the ar-- they have needed for years and start making them think of proper journalism at last.
I doubt the same values will ever attatch to Fox news though, far to red neck.
By the way Canada rules OK.

[Mr Alcatraz]

This really polarizes me. Lotus being signing CNN. On one hand, I hate CNN with a passion. They cover disasters like a sport, instead of asking for help of the earthquake victims, they showed live coverage of the Tsunami. Only FOX news I hate more.

On the other hand, Lotus gets cash, and can race. On my third hand they will start covering the car to a point I would imagine, maybe including F1 in their sports news, giving some coverage to Americans, and unfortunately, Canadians.

This could be very good for Lotus (yay), for CNN (BOooooO!), and the exposure to the sport for Americans where NASCAR and IRL are losing viewership massively (yay).

I agree with your opinion of CNN Giblet.
Highly motivated to what I see as the redundent 'Dream'.
However the new Lotus tie up may just give them the kick up the ar-- they have needed for years and start making them think of proper journalism at last.
I doubt the same values will ever attatch to Fox news though, far to red neck.
By the way Canada rules OK.

Totally agree with your post, with one exception!
I don't see how giving sposership to an F1 team will change their "reality based" entertainment, they try to pass off as News!

[axle]

You have 3 hands?!?!?!


Ahem...moving on. Reuters sponsor Williams yet don't give them mega exposure. Instead they use F1 as a tool to wine and dine...it's a way to do corporate entertaining, like having a box at the stadium, only the F1 circus is truely global.

CNN may well use Lotus the same way...so it's cash for showing our guests a good time rather than exposure for both parties.

[ESPImperium]

This is a trend started by Williams. They signed Reuters (Sp?) about 3 or 4 years ago for arround $5 million a season, and they get their logo put on the nose of the car.

Id recon that CNN will probably go onto a simmilar section on the Lotus. But before Lotus, Virgin at the last Jerez test signed with UST Global for $2.5 per year. I can see more news agencys getting in on F1 teams for such a small ammount of money, to exposure rates.

The thing is with Virgin, their deal was to make up for some of the $8million they lost from the Parente test driver deal as Soucek is only bringing in $4 million as a test and reserve driver.

Teams are all competing for the smaller sponsors now as every $2 million out there makes a difference to the middle teams as well as the small teams as well now. Rumor has it that Renault are looking for sponsors for the yellow areas on their sidepods, and are asking for arround $7-12 million a season for those areas.

BMW Sauber are looking for arround $120 million a season at current. Williams are looking for a substitute for RBS at the end of the season, whitch is a $10million a season hole.

Im sure if you gave any team, with exeption to maybes the top 4 (Ferarri, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull) they would probably take even a $1 million from you, if you were prepaired to have a small logo under the sidepods or inside the front wing supports.

[xpensive]

There are different reasons for sponsoring F1, hospitality suites with big-boob babes for the xecutives is one of them.

[WhiteBlue]

Let's not forget that entertainment is a core business of Turner's concern. This could be an exploratory move to get involved with F1 in a neutral way. Turner would be a logical candidate for CVC's exit strategy. At one point a private equity group needs an exit to fully capitalize from their investment and the logical next owner would be a media or entertainment group.

[Pup]

Holy leap of logic, Batman.

How does one go from a logo on the wing of a minor team to being the next owner of the sport in less than two hours?

[Giblet]

Holy leap of logic, Batman.

How does one go from a logo on the wing of a minor team to being the next owner of the sport in less than two hours?

Not that crazy, Blockbuster is Ted Turner's. I don't know about you, but I simply do not rent media anymore, and I can say that is true for many others. His cash cow has a dry, sagging udder.

He is looking towards other media streams, and Ted Turner does not do things small.

[Pup]

Ted doesn't own it any more. It all belongs to Time Warner.

[Giblet]

Ahh I never had heard that thanks.

[jon-mullen]

I don't see how giving sposership to an F1 team will change their "reality based" entertainment, they try to pass off as News!

It's awful, isn't it? Can you imagine Cronkite saying "bigmanoncampus69 has just tweeted 'ths is teh sux, bro'"? What's the point of news if you let your viewers make it up?

[Steve S14]

On the other hand, Lotus gets cash, and can race. On my third hand they will start covering the car to a point I would imagine, maybe including F1 in their sports news, giving some coverage to Americans, and unfortunately, Canadians.

You better not talk like that, then visit our country to watch this sport, i think that would make you some sort of hypocrite.

[Mr Alcatraz]

I don't see how giving sponsership to an F1 team will change their "reality based" entertainment, they try to pass off as News!

It's awful, isn't it? Can you imagine Cronkite saying "bigmanoncampus69 has just tweeted 'ths is teh sux, bro'"? What's the point of news if you let your viewers make it up?

I hear you Dad, Dad, Dad, Daddy-o When did the term "Editorial" become synonymous with "News"