She came from LA in the most recent round of changes at SPEED, a network familiar with transition. Without NASCAR experience but with an extensive TV background, Marianela Pereyra was inserted into the Trackside program and just finished working the red carpet for the Sprint Cup Series banquet.
You have watched her on SPEED, what is your opinion? To add your comment, just click the comments button below. There will be numerous "TV Toss-up" posts during the off-season in addition to the regular TDP weekday columns.
31 comments:
Im still trying to figure out how to pronounce her name.
For my money, they can put her, Rutledge Wood, and Danielle Trotta on the next bus to Timbucktoo. Then, my opinion doesn't count because I don't fit the demographic they want to appeal to. Then with SPEED's current programming schedule, I'm not sure what demographic they're trying to appeal to, if any. Trackside & Raceday have become 2 useless programs to me. Couple that with moronic Reality or Lifestyle shows, what a huge letdown SPEED has become. Unless they are showing some type of racing or Wind Tunnel, there's no reason for me to tune in.
Dear heavens, she was boring on the Sprint Cup banquet broadcast. That whole beginning segment was so boring I turned the banquet off.
Same here. Click off went the sat tuner, click on went the XBox.
Amazingly poor management at Speed and ESPN. Why do they insist on putting newbies at the forefront when there is so much NASCAR talent in the house?
Speed is becoming SpikeTV or G4.
Dear Santa, Please bring us a new racing channel. Love, Allison.
Her addition, IMHO, has been the equivalent of adding me to the roster of announcing talent on The Ballet Channel.
No... Wait... I actually have been and do go to the Ballet so that is not an exact equivalency.
Rough crowd here. I originally thought the same as many of you. Here's another pretty face to attract the young male demo. Surely that is one reason Fox brought her in. I do think she has adapted very quickly, definatly faster than Danielle did. She seems to bring out the personalities of the drivers and their wives/girlfriends without taking the goofball route that Rut takes. That can be as beneficial to the sport as the race coverage, since the personalities help connect fans to the drivers. Lets see if Fox gives her a full season with the sport to gauge her performance, not just a few weeks.
Okay man.....so today you get the "old guys."
The closest thing to a good program SPEED has is Wind Tunnel. I'm 63 and have been active in racing as spectator and participant since 1959. I realize that I am not the target market......but can't we just have a few breaks in the moronic and stupid to allow for a bit of actual info not aimed at either the very young or the feeble minded?
I was starting to like her on Trackside and the role she was playing. But I was beyond bothered by her and Rutledge's performance on the red carpet. Together they cut off pretty much every person they were interviewing, they're want to BE the show rather than progress it.
Can't stand her I mute her if watching live or FF if I've recorded it.
sessergiI ditto what Mule,Anonymous 6:59 and AllisonJ said. Couldn't have said it better. Total flop.
Zieke, try it again without the off-topic comment please.
Haven't seen her on Trackside, but I thought she was horrible and annoying on the red carpet at the banquet. Too bad they couldn't bother to hire someone with actual knowledge of the sport.
If they hired her for her babe quotient as has been suggested and which makes sense given her resume I think I could go to any track any weekend and blindfolded throw a rock into the crowd and hit a better looking girl who could do the job and who is actually a fan.
Absolutely detest what Trackside has become and I can live without Marianele. She wasn't bad at the banquet but I agree with the poster who said they kept cutting off people. Chandra Johnson was actually saying something on camera (that is extremely unusual for her) and I heard none of it because Rut kept talking. Not sure what Speed is thinking anymore it's like they are trying to cater to 14YO males.
Mule
You have to check out Velocity Network
Its exactly what you are looking for
"Dear Santa, Please bring us a new racing channel. Love, Allison."
Amen to that sister! A lot of the good behind the scenes shows are gone and others have changed so much (Trackside) that I no longer watch.
She doesn't seem to be as clueless as some of the people ESPN brought on when they started in 2007.
That's the nicest thing I can think of to post.
She might seem better to us if Speed didn't ask/make/allow her to do so much fluff, but maybe real reporting and interviewing is a thing of the past on Trackside.
By the way, I'm a 24 year-old straight male, so I don't know who Speed thinks this appeals to. They don't seem to understand their viewers at all these days.
My mother always said if you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say anything at all!
Sorry to say I did not care for Marianela at all - she seemed as tho she was trying to be "cutesy" on the red carpet. Where is John Roberts and Kenny Wallace - they would have been a lot better interviewing on the red carpet. While I am posting a comment - Danielle Trotter is not an acceptable replacement for Steve Byrnes..Why don't you use Krista more - she's great! And no more Hermie on "RaceDay" don't like that either.
I stated my view in the banquet blog. If she remains a fluff 'reporter' on the SPEED sinking ship called Trackside, then I can deal with it since I rarely watch. But I sure hope SPEED does not put her as Hermie Sadler's replacement on RaceDay.
to everyone saying, use this person or use that person instead...you know, they can only do so many things at one time. They may *prefer* to actually have lives and not spend 24/7 doing race broadcasts just to please us? Plus they have to sort out who is at the race & who is back in Charlotte. As for 'only hire someone with experience'...how many people do you think are out there that grew up with racing and then went and got a broadcasting degree? I can think of ONE, that's Wendy. Mostly people sort of fall into this sort of work unless they did racetrack announcing. So the alternative is to train them (that would be Krista, and it shows you can 'make them'...didn't hurt that she's bright & a quick study.) I don't think you need racing knowledge to introduce fluff pieces. To work on pit road would be another story. I'd suggest some of these young women whose race careers haven't worked out but with our luck we'd end up with the Cope girls....
Anyways, I haven't seen enough of Marianela to form a strong opinion. I didn't think she was that good on the awards, but the stuff they give her to do on Trackside was stupid so I don't blame her for that, I blame the producers.
Since Hammond is no longer in the 'hotel', I'm wondering if he'll be the one to do Raceday interviews--can't remember how specific they were about his role. And he's good at that, it's what he started out with.
She's way out of her element with Nascar. And if they're trying to attract the young male element, I think they got it wrong. My male friends think she's just OK, nothing special. What Speed has done to RaceDay is a crime. I used to watch that show religiously, but now I didn't watch much at all this season. Actually, they can vote Marianela and Rutledge off the island. And, to be a bit snarky, I think she needs a visit on the show "What Not To Wear", as the dress she wore on the red carpet was at least 2 sizes too small. If it had fit properly, she would have looked much better.
I agree with others here, put Marianela, Rutledge, Danielle on a bus or train out to where ever. Add in the Sprint girls & any announcers with last names that start with "Wal" - David Hill will drive ; )
She adds nothing to the broadcasts.
What was she supposed to be doing anyway?
She is not very good.
Just one of the reasons I do NOT watch Trackside anymore.
(veri:polar. As in the network going the polar opposite of what the fans want!)
I don't find her worth my time to watch. She and Rutledge both were annoying at the banquet. Personally they could skip all the stuff up until it's time for the driver's speeches.
I'm with Mule, I'm sure I'm not the demographic they are trying to appeal to and Speed's current offerings other than Race Hub doesn't make me tune in.
A friend who is more cynical than I am says whenever he sees some beautiful but vapid woman on local news that she's some major sponsor's daughter or bit on the side.
Usually when you see someone like her on a broadcast (or Rutledge Wood), that seems to be the most reasonable explanation. (I'll bet we find out Rutledge is decision-maker's brother-in-law or nephew. Or something else like that.)
Speed has done nothing but go downhill since they bought Speedvision. These new people are just the latest mistakes.
I only watch Speed for racing anymore. Which is a rarity.
I thought it would be impossible to get more people as repulsive as Rutledge or any Waltrip but they proved me wrong. I watch quals and an occasional truck race. The rest is crap. When either of these dopes appear, the channel changes instantly. All of you hard workin folks out there just getting by now a days,...wouldn't it be cool to make the kind of bucks these programming stoops make, and this is what we get?? Sheeez...
Mr Editor -
Simply stated, Marianela is another lost soul in a long line over the years ...out of place and out of her element
Walter
With a name like that, is she even an american? Is it yet another way that we can take the "the good old boys" and put in WHAT??? Can you imagine what Dale Sr. would be saying about all this. PS NASCAR, you lost over 15 million fans over the past 10 years (since Dale Sr died). You want to get fans back, lets see some passing on the track and stop padding your pockets (france family) with money. They are more concerned about the all mighty dollar not the performance. Wish Bill France Sr. was still alive!
Why can't they use Wendy Venturini?
She comes from a racing family and actually knows the sport and how to report.
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