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One of my favorite childhood holiday traditions was watching the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. Even on our black and white TV.
This year, we have a big screen HDTV that should make me feel as if I’m in Pasadena without the crowds. But I’m wondering if I’ll be frustrated and disappointed again. And not because I’ve grown out of it.
Because the TV coverage always cuts away from the parade when the equestrian units step up to the cameras.
Taking the “horse” out of “horsepower”
Granted, TV had more horses on it back when I was a child anyway. I grew up in the heyday of the TV western. The good guys rode the prettiest horses. The bad guys rode scruffy bays that looked like Seabiscuit after a dust storm.
But the Rose Parade was full of good-guy pretty horses.
I loved seeing my TV heroes wave at the cameras from horseback, like Dale and Roy with Buttermilk and Trigger. I loved seeing that California unit of mounted deputy sheriffs all on palominos decked out in silver saddles.
Yes, the flowers on the floats were pretty (even in black-and-white), but I tuned in to see the horses.
But, as time passed and I acquired access to color TV, more commercials interrupted the parade. And, as more time passed, I became a part of the TV industry and learned the now-happy term of “more time sold.” Which translates into steady paychecks.
Pretty soon, my beloved equestrian units got squeezed out. A trade-off that I, as a beneficiary of the television industry, understand.
So, imagine my excitement when I heard that HGTV, the cable TV home and decor channel, planned to offer a full broadcast of the parade. Yay! Santa may have been and gone, but I’m a kid again. Whoopee!
Then, I sat down and watched. Instead of cutting to commercials, HGTV smartly played to its core audience — those who make our world pretty.
A parade of floats where everything that spectators see must be made of plant material is catnip to HGTV. So, they’d show a glimpse of the equestrian units before cutting to the next approaching float.
Disgruntled band parents out there, too?
I imagine the same goes for band parents who are staying home after months of furious fundraising efforts to get their kids to the parade. They’re on the edge of the couch waiting for the band to march past the cameras. Too bad they’re right in front of the float that won The Governor’s Award. So we only get a glimpse of the band, too.
For a band, marching in the Rose Parade is a humongous deal.
Trying another network for special interest coverage?
Well, if you’re not just interested in the floats, we have some possibilities here. The Rose Parade website says that we can watch live coverage on ABC, NBC, HGTV, Tribune, Univision, Telemundo, Travel Channel, Discovery HD Theater and Sky Link TV.
Check your local listings in case there are time and schedule differences, but the parade coverage usually begins around 11 am EST/8 am PST.
Then, there’s Equestfest
Did you know that the Tourament of Roses has a horse program associated with it? Me neither.
Many of the equestrian units in the parade will put on demos at Equestfest , a show that happens between Christmas and New Years in Pasadena.
Check out this video pf clips from the 2008 show:
That’s a pretty tantalizing taste. And it probably adds up to the same amount of footage we’ll see of the equestrian units on TV on New Year’s Day. Which leads me to this next recommendation:
A special interest website
After all, NBC managed to stream entire equestrian events during Olympic coverage. They also offered edited packages, too, if viewers couldn’t manage to sit through the hours of dressage.
So — here’ s my proposal for Internet coverage of the Rose Parade:
- Set up a website for Rose Parade footage afterward. That way, the networks still get the cachet of providing live coverage.
- Assign cameras to special interests. HGTV has all the floats. Another crew could focus on the bands. And another could focus on the equestrian units.
- Edit the footage for grouping on special interest webpages where people could watch a specific type of group.
- Do some post-production work to add “lower third supers,” the graphics that identify the groups on the screen.
With this plan, you could have a page for each special interest. With appropriate sponsors targeted to those interests. (Remember – I’m aware of the necessity of sponsorship.)
Plus, you could even offer EquestFest for those of us in no position to go to Pasadena right after Christmas.
Happy New Year, from The Horsey Set Net.
Tags: Equestfest, HGTV, NBC, Pasadena, Rose Parade, Roy Rogers, TV coverage
December 31st, 2008 at 2:10 am
I couldn’t agree more! The biggest problem is that these things are never produced by people who care about or know anything about horses. They do the same thing with TV coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. I’ve seen it in person a few times and the highlight for me is still the mounted units
Olympic coverage can be pretty shabby too. The one year they might as well have called it the David and Karen O’Connor show because that was all that was shown.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:31 am
Most of the Olympic coverage I watched, I watched online, not on the tube, because I had a feeling it might be narrowly focused. I did watch show jumping on TV because it seemed a shame to be slouched in front of a computer monitor when we have that big screen.
But I’m not surprised about what/who made it onto TV. Producers pick one or two competitors to focus on, usually who they’ve determined to be the biggest names. And then they’re left without footage when an upset happens, like during those Kentucky Derbies when one of the 30-1 shots bursts out of the pack of favorites and crosses the finish line first.
Oops. Talk about betting on the wrong horse.