Kentucky Derby Ruined? NBC’s Oaks Coverage Casts Dark Shadow Over $5 Million Race

NBC Universal had the broadcasting rights for Kentucky Oaks. Simultaneously, it also holds the same for the upcoming 150th Kentucky Derby on May 4. NBC Sports will cover 15 live races from the Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby. The coverage will be operational on Peacock, as well. The broadcaster has inducted personalities like Jimmy Fallon (the popular host from The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon), Martha Stewart, a businesswoman, and Steve Kornacki, an NBC News correspondent.

Meanwhile, the 150th Kentucky Oaks live from Churchill Downs had Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey to manage the commentary option. But as per several fans, the broadcasting fiasco muddied the celebration. In the name of the celebration, the Kentucky Oaks garners a distinct interest, being the race before the Kentucky Derby. It takes place on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby day. It holds the platform for the survivors of breast and ovarian cancer and garlands the winner of the race with the lilies. However, most of such celebration scenes, along with the horses’ introductions went behind the advertisements. 

As per several audiences, the less focus on the broadcasting dismantled the aura of the race. Meanwhile, some also feared the upcoming $5 million Kentucky Derby might face the same threshold from the broadcasters. When several fans complained about the less focus on the participating horses and the backstory in the Kentucky Oaks, there was another problem.

It was regarding the less focus centered on the Kentucky Oaks while highlighting the Kentucky Derby. Reportedly, this favoritism was widespread on Peacock, NBC’s additional broadcasting service. The Reddit handle, vintergony expressed the worry of watching much fluff on the Kentucky Derby day. But in the same place, the handle requested to focus on the present-day race, without showing partiality to the Kentucky Derby occasion. Meanwhile, the argument remained as “The coverage is just not good all around. They spent way too much time talking about tomorrow’s Derby. I get it. But today should be about the Oaks. I’d be satisfied with between races if they did 10 minutes on the Derby 10 on the Oaks and then focused 16-20 on the next actual race. They cut to current races with like 5 Mtp”.

Eventually, in 2023, NBC witnessed the Kentucky Derby coverage to cross 16.6 million viewers, making it the runner-up after Super Bowl LVII in the top-watched sporting occasions. Peacock played a favorable role in making the viewership enjoyable as well. But this year the audience felt the shifting in the line after the broadcasting. Soon the furore increased and the viewers complained about the lack of professionalism. 

The pre-Kentucky Derby broadcasting is nowhere close to visionary ecstasy

After the Pandemic, the Kentucky Derby brought back the record audience to its frame. In 2022 as well, the Kentucky Derby recorded the second-highest number, with 16.0 million viewers. The snippets from the entire showdowns elevated a distinct fanfare. However, with these issues, the lack of improvisations inflicted a double whammy this time. As the X-handle TweetleD posted, the analytical error was clearly visible in the broadcasters’ representation this time. The representation displayed the ‘slow’ term. However, the entities were missing from the screen. 

Furthermore, the Reddit user handle, Rejomaj pointed out the same issue where the ‘formulaic’ part was disgusted. “NBC’s coverage is fine if you’re just getting into racing, but I find it very formulaic, full of too many ads, and not enough focus on the horses. I wouldn’t mind seeing it move somewhere else,” the handle added. 

Allegedly, the constant chatter about the Kentucky Derby during the Kentucky Oaks broadcasting made the situation look less professional. The Reddit handle, Embarrassed-Fox-1371 threw some light on this issue. “I’d rather watch more races live than the constant Derby talk which hasn’t changed much. However, I love Randy Moss & Jerry Bailey. Some of the info has been interesting. But I guess they have to appeal to more people than I!”: the comment flexed the unprofessional part. 

The handle, magicninja31 loathed the lack of actual racing screens when the commentators held the maximum screen time. The handle added, “Eh doesn’t matter who has ot…it’d be the same personalties on screen for the most part”. That invited another fan to talk about the less professionalism invested in the entire frame. 

Talking about this, the handle, realdeal411 flouted NBC broadcasters’ eligibility to host such a big sporting pomp. The actual comment conceded, “I feel like NBCs coverage is anything except the actual races”. 

However, this level of criticism might not be beneficial for the upcoming occasion. After 2019, the last two occasions of the Kentucky Derby hit the ceiling on the scale of the viewership. This time as well, something similar could be expected. However, on the brink of such a highly famed contest, such issues could play spoilsport.