[gopinathann]

Can anyone post the other programs related to Auto channels.
1. CNBC - Autocar
2. NDTV - Car & Bike show

[sushanthr77]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Copying Top Gear is not a bad thing at all.

I actually felt that they set Fifth Gear as a template for their show! As you know, Top Gear uses "The Stig" for timing cars on track.

I however find Fifth gear a lot more fun to watch since, the focus is always on cars and they go to great depths to bring out the facts.

Top Gear is more Jeremy centric. He could declare an car bad just because the built-in radio refused to tune into a particular station!

[Team_OD]

Originally Posted by tamojoym

To give a frank opinion here - I did not like the show much - in the manner it was presented .It was kind of boring did not have that zeal that the previous autocar show had .
But again this is my opinion .Maybe with time and experience it would turn out better .
I will keep watching though.

Going by your review, I'm not sure if many viewers would miss the "sit on the couch" sessions on the erstwhile Auto Show, and I'm still not sure if they were full of zeal. But if you say so.. so be it.

Originally Posted by sushanthr77

Just my humble thoughts:

01. The anchor has no clue about cars (Shireen or something)

02. The anchor should be provided with a comfortable chair next time. Those high heels are not meant for scratching.

03. The 4 journalists (hope I got the number correct) who test drove various cars, lack track skills. Cornering isn't their cup of tea. They were struggling to maintain the racing line.

04. The show needs a professional race driver (we have plenty), who could come out with some decent lap times.

05. The entire lap for every single car should be shown, so that we could see how each car behaves around the same corners.

06. While covering the cars on track, the camera focus was heavily biased towards the cars. This made it hard to figure out the circuit.

07. I've always found the "what car/bike to buy" section very dumb. Team-bhp hai na? Not to mention the various auto magazines.

However the show is a different approach to the conventional auto shows on Indian TV. Let us see how they proceed in the future. It is too early to rate I guess.

Originally Posted by nitrous

Thank you,Sushanth. I didn't do a report since people would think Im biased or hate OD.

Copying Top Gear is not a bad thing at all. But, doing it in a very bad way is bad.
This show looked like wannabe Top Gear with three guys trying to imitate Clarkson,Hammond and May.
These guys need atleast a hundred hours on circuit driving. I thought Auto Journos could drive really well until I saw the show.

I'll anyways,as an enthusiast, give the benefit of doubt and chance to better themselves.

Coming to the on-track action, we admit we aren't race drivers but the fact of the matter is that the track was quite damp due to rain, with small pools of water on undulated surfaces- which made managing those luxo barges quite a handful.

The production quality obviously has a long way to go, and given that many enthusiasts here are used watching to TG and 5G regularly - and inadvertently end up comparing an Indian show with them isn't wrong either. But we have started more than two decades behind Top Gear and
6 years behind 5G (who had experienced TG presenters on the team). I repeat again the these shows are benchmarks, production-quality wise only. If someone has been watching Fifth Gear since its inception, one can clearly notice how their production quality improved since its pilot season.

Imitating Clarkson, Hammond and May isn't even the last thing on our mind here, which is shown by the fact that none of the presenters talked any irrelevant gibberish which the British trio does- which is arguably funny but not informative and given the fact that we don't have luxury of running time over 60 minutes (excluding ads).

And as far as the Selector (Q&A section) is concerned, we do it to answer the queries we get from the audience, given our large reader base, that is yet unaware of an automotive forum like this. It maybe just that they find a journalist in flesh more credible than an advisory post on an automotive forum. Of course, no offence to any bhpians meant.

@nitrous: Please post your reviews without being concerned with the fact that it will put in an "OD hater" light or something. As long as your brickbats is constructive it is welcome.

Regards,

Team OD.

[JayD]

Originally Posted by Team_OD

When was the last time you read one of our issues?? Can you point any instances (in recent times, of course) were a test appeared biased? It will sincerely help a lot. And I'm sure you will not miss the erstwhile Auto Show once you give the OVERDRIVE show a go.

Hey, its been a loong time since i read one of your mags, but i used to do that regularly fo the first few years, but then stopped as i personally didn't like it much.Everything seemed to revolve around your 'bossman' or some guy then!! Will give this months issue a try. All the best for ypur show too. Looking forward to seeing it tomorrow.

[dinar]

I caught the show today, it was good for a first time production by the team. The trak test was a little off, I know it was raining and the track was damp...but it could have been a little more classy. And you guys have to work on your talking skills...as for shreen , guys I know she is a good Journalist , but not for a car show, " back ache in 2 hrs of driving an S80......" come on guys.....what is a person who has not ridden a Kynee, doing there...

[benbsb29]

I finally got to watch the show last evening.
My comments are as follows :

* The 'What Car' section is a bore, and frankly i didnt really seem to concur with some of the views there, but i leave it as a matter of opinion.
* As someone has already mentioned earlier, please ask Shereen not to sit on the cars while asking questions. Chairs are meant for sitting on, not on the cars.
* Is it possible to increase the time duration for the show to an hour? 30 mins including ads leaves you people with hardly any time for anything.
* The track attempts were just about ok, and definitely can be improved.
* This is a repeat comment, but something which even i felt strongly against is how can anyone get back pain just driving for two hours on a luxury car?! Was the person not sitting properly?

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by TeamOD

It maybe just that they find a journalist in flesh more credible than an advisory post on an automotive forum.

In reality, its the contrary.
People prefer a forum "by the public,for the public" instead of a magazine who might be biased in their opinion for foreign driving holidays, advertisements,etc..
Cheers

[zenx]

Well, frankly there's various kinds of audience - TV shows probably need a broader base than us TBhp types alone - and the auto scene in India is at a stage where there are quite a few who a peripherally interested but not too deep into driving/cars/travel because of time/habit/monetary constraints. This is probably the market that WILL appreciate any half-decent show - and want some ready answers without looking for too much detail/hardcore testing etc. Quite like the F1 following, or the bike touring crowd. More aspirational and a few active/experienced. So I guess the show'll do just fine, and over time the market will mature and the audience will ask for more.

[grvanand]

Finally watched the show, it was overall a good effort. However what was missing were the details and vocabulary, words such as incredible, awesome etc., were said way too many times which IMO made it a bit boring which it wasn't otherwise. We all know that each one of those 4 cars are amazing and incredible and the purpose of the show is to make the viewers get a feel about various other details that may not be able to be covered in the print magazine, however good the photographic skills are. I am very sure that all these minor issues would be sorted in the coming weeks, I for one would watch the show regularly and wish it becomes a big success, all the best Team OD.

PS: I have been reading OD from its very first issue and it was also my very first auto magazine.

[tamojoym]

This tuesday I sat in front of the TV to catch the second edition of the show but to my dismay it was the first edition rerun .

[Firebird]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I finally got to watch the show last evening.
My comments are as follows :

* This is a repeat comment, but something which even i felt strongly against is how can anyone get back pain just driving for two hours on a luxury car?! Was the person not sitting properly?

This is exactly what I felt. I have not driven any luxary car in my life. But if there is Back ache in a Luxary car, why would it be called as luxary then?

Somehow I used to like the Speed Auto show due to the mix of reviews they used to show and the technical and to the point answers provided to the viewer's queries.

Hormaz was at his best while answering the queries and he used to answer them to the point and not vague. The query answered on the Diesel 10 - 15 Lakhs category looked like his own choice rather than the advice given.

I rememeber, I used to get up on Sunday and used to get ready for my morning tea while watching Speed auto show at 10.30 am. It doen't look like I would do that any more for OD show.

There is surely something missing from the show or they are experimenting too much.

Anyways best luck OD for the next line up.

[Team_OD]

Originally Posted by nitrous

In reality, its the contrary.
People prefer a forum "by the public,for the public" instead of a magazine who might be biased in their opinion for foreign driving holidays, advertisements,etc..
Cheers

Originally Posted by Firebird

Somehow I used to like the Speed Auto show due to the mix of reviews they used to show and the technical and to the point answers provided to the viewer's queries.

Hormaz was at his best while answering the queries and he used to answer them to the point and not vague. The query answered on the Diesel 10 - 15 Lakhs category looked like his own choice rather than the advice given.

I rememeber, I used to get up on Sunday and used to get ready for my morning tea while watching Speed auto show at 10.30 am. It doen't look like I would do that any more for OD show.

There is surely something missing from the show or they are experimenting too much.

Anyways best luck OD for the next line up.

These two posts best showcase the type of audience an automobile based TV show has to cater to. On one hand is the enthusiast who doesn't care less about a journo's (or for that matter anyone else's) opinion while deciding what car is the best in a certain class, because he won't trust anyone but himself and close (and probably enthusiast) friends who will go and check out what the real deal is by seeing and driving the car in person.

On the contrary, we have the humble urban dwellers, who aren't as well versed enough in the field to make a decision for themselves, and look towards professionals for advice. For them, these professionals are represented by experienced journalists, whom they think will be able to deliver a verdict based on their first hand experiences with cars on the market- rather than an online forum where not all members would have experienced all cars in a particular class firsthand, for a long enough time, which in turn would mean five different POVs for five different cars- and lets admit the fact that as owners, we all have biases towards a car/brand we own to different extents, again a major blind spot when it comes to answering someone else's question and deciding the one which fits the bill for the same.

Originally Posted by tamojoym

This tuesday I sat in front of the TV to catch the second edition of the show but to my dismay it was the first edition rerun.

Some broadcast aspects have undergone a change, as opposed to Tuesday being the new episode, it will now be Saturday evening when the new episode will be telecasted, while the other three telecasts (Sun 12.30, Tues 6.30 and Sat 1.00 PM) will be reruns. Sorry for the inconvenience guys, as with new any radically new project there are initial hiccups.

But on the other hand, people who had missed the pilot episode got an opportunity to watch it.

Best Regards,

Team OD.

P.S. Will be uploading the pilot episode soon, so many who have missed it could view it and post what they think about it.

[revvedup]

Originally Posted by Team_OD

These two posts best showcase the type of audience an automobile based TV show has to cater to. On one hand is the enthusiast who doesn't care less about a journo's (or for that matter anyone else's) opinion while deciding what car is the best in a certain class, because he won't trust anyone but himself and close (and probably enthusiast) friends who will go and check out what the real deal is by seeing and driving the car in person.

On the contrary, we have the humble urban dwellers, who aren't as well versed enough in the field to make a decision for themselves, and look towards professionals for advice. For them, these professionals are represented by experienced journalists, whom they think will be able to deliver a verdict based on their first hand experiences with cars on the market- rather than an online forum where not all members would have experienced all cars in a particular class firsthand, for a long enough time, which in turn would mean five different POVs for five different cars- and lets admit the fact that as owners, we all have biases towards a car/brand we own to different extents, again a major blind spot when it comes to answering someone else's question and deciding the one which fits the bill for the same.



Some broadcast aspects have undergone a change, as opposed to Tuesday being the new episode, it will now be Saturday evening when the new episode will be telecasted, while the other three telecasts (Sun 12.30, Tues 6.30 and Sat 1.00 PM) will be reruns. Sorry for the inconvenience guys, as with new any radically new project there are initial hiccups.

But on the other hand, people who had missed the pilot episode got an opportunity to watch it.

Best Regards,

Team OD.

P.S. Will be uploading the pilot episode soon, so many who have missed it could view it and post what they think about it.

You are messing things up here, by trying to focus on two different categories of viewers you will eventually end up as a compromise show which neither the urban dweller nor the enthusiast will end up watching.

In my opinion you should better focus only on one type of viewer ;i.e; the enthusiast. And wasn't this the main purpose of the show itself to be an enthusiast show and not the old auto show in a new package. Please refrain from using the auto show for any sort of comparison. Even if you want to target the urban dweller do it by making automobiles entertaining(tracks, power slides,do unique things related to cars ) for the common viewer, atleast this is what TG does, and so well that people even remotely interested in automobiles watch it.

I haven't tuned into any Indian produced automobile program, because these people cannot use proper audio engineering techniques (and products), and consequently the audio quality is horrible. Then they put some pathetic 'edgy' music (compressed MP3 file, pirated from the internet) on top of it so that the entire program goes to gutter.

I'd much rather hear pigs squeal, with the side benefit that chances of disinformation and propoganda are minimized!

Anyone seen this program can comment if this show is any different? I do not have any hope from Indian producers/technicians, they all seem universally incompetent. Perhaps if someone is smart enough to import some experienced guys from west (NRI or firangi), then things might be different.

PS: Let's not even talk about the camera work!

EDIT:: I do think that attempting a Top/Fifth Gear type presentation is inherently unsustainable since there are only so many interesting vehicles plus location in India, you'll run out of steam soon. Besides to get Top Gear quality you have to spend Top Gear type money on products and post processing. Either one spends the money, or keeps shut about benchmarking against those standards. A Suzuki800 will never be an IS350, no matter how much they try to 'emulate' the standards....and I am being polite here.

Use Hinglish and stop pretending to be something you aren't. A more straight talking, desi approach that connects to the junta will be successful, because that is what Top Gear is in Britain for the British -and western- audience.

We aren't British/English, although many 'educated' types try very hard, even mimicking the accents....The reason why TG/FG are popular is primarily because the presenters come across as authentic characters rooted in their local culture and not forced actors, a universal failing of all Indian automobile programs.
Indians are too afraid of using local languages and cultural references lest they be judged as 'inferior'/'uneducated' by their peers, the program that changes this will go on to be a huge hit.

In its present form this program can be safely classified as: FAIL.

[wanderlustindia]

Originally Posted by Team_OD

Thanks to one and all for the bouquets, comments, suggestions and brickbats. We are learning quite a few things already, so keep 'em coming guys.

@zenx- This isn't any PR paraphernalia but an initiative taken by the core edit team.

Regards,

Team OD.

Welcome Team_OD. I had the pleasure of watching the first AutoShow on CNBC TV18 hosted by OD folks. I am not an expert, but the first feelers are good. I am sure things will improve with time, you guys being professionals.

Slightly . The OD website is not updated for ages now. The Volvo XC90 is hogging the front page for more than 3-4 months now. Only the OD forums seem to show some activity.