ESPN's Coverage Of The Amp Energy Drink 500 - by Bruce E. Simmons.
The coverage of the Amp Energy Drink 500 at Talladega Speedway was interesting at best.
First, Be Thankful
I must say that we need to be thankful that we have coverage of NASCAR on mainstream television. If it weren't covered, where would we be? OK, enough of that.
About ABC's Coverage
The coverage of the event, in fact, of NASCAR racing in general, by "ESPN on ABC" seems interesting at best. While I was type / covering the event on this blog, I was also participating in a post with live, running commentary over on The Daly Planet titled Sprint Cup Series At Talladega On ABC.
The post generated over 800 comments by a bunch of us watching the show and giving up some of our insights to our experiences while watching the race.
The ensuing article they posted over on the The Daly Planet, Tough Times For ESPN At Talladega, is a good write up as to how they observed the coverage and kudos to the editor for such an even keeled approach to the matter that bears recording.
(See the bottom of the post for links to those articles.)
Live Observations by Fans
Some of the observations about the event was
Bumper Cam Usage
Even though a lot didn't like the over abundant use of bumper cams, I don't mind them as much. I've already got an insiders appreciation for just how much talent is truly required to keep those cars from wrecking each other every lap, and for me, the bumper cam shows it. But I think you'd have to understand what goes into the manipulation of the steering wheel to keep the cars from spinning out on the straight-aways to have any appreciation of the angle. Sure, we don't need to see as much of it, but I was ... OK with it.
Were There Any Non-Cup Contenders Out There??
Another issue was the ill-fated timing of either concentrating on not showing lead changes while the directorial expertise of ESPN focused on a Chase contender in the middle to back of the pack. Or not breaking into their obviously high valued commercials when an event broke out.
As far as covering non-Chase contenders, it was rather blatant. Just a few examples here: (Because there are just too many to add)
Stupid Questions
I know from personal experience that reporters are forced to ask the obvious questions after a wreck because sooner or later, we'll get a response that highlights drama and anguish from the drivers perspective. Until then, we are forced to hear over and over,
"What did you see?"
"How did it feel?"
I accidentally let slip a non-PC comment in The Daly Planet live running comments section in response to the ESPN pit reporter asking Martin Truex Jr. what he saw and felt during the first big wreck in the race. I almost didn't post it, but I did and it seemed to generate some popularity amongst the readers and commentors, as it was referenced a few more times through the day:
My comment was as follows:
'Nuff said there.
Injury Updates Would be Nice
Denny Hamlin slapped the wall and was taken away in a stretcher. Then we heard he was alert and awake and being taken to the hospital. After that, we never heard another word from "ESPN on ABC" afterwards on his condition. Despite ample opportunity to do such.
The fans had to turn, yet again, to other sources yet again for any information on the issue. Instead we get Goodyear spokesman interviews and more bumper cam angles.
End Game Left Out
At the end of the race, there was some controversy, of which I will touch on in a follow up post, but ESPN kept telling us they will continue their coverage over on one of their sister networks. OK... I spent about 40 minutes looking for that coverage and I didn't see a dang thing except Women's Basketball on one channel and Baseball coverage on the other channel. Maybe there was code in between the sentences.
Why The Distinction?
I have to wonder why ABC goes out of it's way to clarify that it's ESPN on ABC. For the uninitiated, you'd almost think they were different networks and ABC was saying, hey, look, we're letting them broadcast on our channel.
Folks, it's all the same. Disney owns the whole bit and kaboodle and they might as well just say Disney, on ESPN, on ABC. Because at times, that's exactly how it feels. Like Mickey Mouse is covering the race.
In Closing
ESPN, ABC, Disney, whoever: Thanks for throwing your money at NASCAR and getting the rights to cover the races in the latter part of the season. We can't tell you how much we not only appreciate it, but we've also come to notice how your coverage has not improved at all over the years, despite plenty of opportunity to learn from fan commentary or other network mishaps.
I do have to give you kudos though. This year you didn't show Brad Daugherty shaking his fist in triumphant glee while the wreck was happening like you did last year. (ESPN Race Coverage) Nice improvement.
I dare toss out the challenge to ESPN that I'd like to take a swing at what they do. I know I can do a better job from my couch. But would I be able to actually do a better job within the confines of having a director pushing me in their direction, or scrambling to meet the deadlines of creating filler story during the race itself. Would I be able to catch the things the regular announcers constantly miss during the broadcast like I do now? I'll never know, but I think what they do can be rather challenging, and creatively limiting. Again, from my own experiences of being media in a different entertainment realm.
Did I just defend them? Crap. I hope not. But I do enjoy playing both sides of the coin in the name of being fair. Fair, that is, when I'm not emotionally wound up about the lack of details or information during a race.
Did I cover everything here? Probably not, but I think I touched on what was forefront in my mind this morning about this particular matter of media coverage on NASCAR racing by "ESPN on ABC", run by Disney.
Related Links
The coverage of the Amp Energy Drink 500 at Talladega Speedway was interesting at best.
First, Be Thankful
I must say that we need to be thankful that we have coverage of NASCAR on mainstream television. If it weren't covered, where would we be? OK, enough of that.
About ABC's Coverage
The coverage of the event, in fact, of NASCAR racing in general, by "ESPN on ABC" seems interesting at best. While I was type / covering the event on this blog, I was also participating in a post with live, running commentary over on The Daly Planet titled Sprint Cup Series At Talladega On ABC.
The post generated over 800 comments by a bunch of us watching the show and giving up some of our insights to our experiences while watching the race.
The ensuing article they posted over on the The Daly Planet, Tough Times For ESPN At Talladega, is a good write up as to how they observed the coverage and kudos to the editor for such an even keeled approach to the matter that bears recording.
(See the bottom of the post for links to those articles.)
Live Observations by Fans
Some of the observations about the event was
- The Ill-fated timing of camera angles or commercials and missing the important moments
- The over-liberal use of the bumper cams,
- The blatant lack of non-Chase contender coverage,
- Dr. Jerry Punch's lack of originality, enthusiasm or using the same catch term over and over.
Bumper Cam Usage
Even though a lot didn't like the over abundant use of bumper cams, I don't mind them as much. I've already got an insiders appreciation for just how much talent is truly required to keep those cars from wrecking each other every lap, and for me, the bumper cam shows it. But I think you'd have to understand what goes into the manipulation of the steering wheel to keep the cars from spinning out on the straight-aways to have any appreciation of the angle. Sure, we don't need to see as much of it, but I was ... OK with it.
Were There Any Non-Cup Contenders Out There??
Another issue was the ill-fated timing of either concentrating on not showing lead changes while the directorial expertise of ESPN focused on a Chase contender in the middle to back of the pack. Or not breaking into their obviously high valued commercials when an event broke out.
As far as covering non-Chase contenders, it was rather blatant. Just a few examples here: (Because there are just too many to add)
- When Jeff Gordon wrecked, if you didn't see the replay, you'd never know that Gordon hit and forced Jon Wood in the No. 21 car up into the wall.
- During the 2 big wrecks, it was all about the Cup Chasers and nary a word about the "other" teams that were crushed in the wreck.
- During the 2 big wrecks, not once did they show a list of everyone that was involved each wreck. I had to go to a completely different source to get that information and if I didn't have the internet available to me, I would never have known who else was involved.
- Did we hear when Joe Nemechek was in 2nd place in the latter part of the race? No. Not a word.
- We heard when Kevin Harvick stayed out of the pits to lead a lap though!
- When you show a car driven by Kenny Wallace, you should probably not show McDowell's name as the driver.
Stupid Questions
I know from personal experience that reporters are forced to ask the obvious questions after a wreck because sooner or later, we'll get a response that highlights drama and anguish from the drivers perspective. Until then, we are forced to hear over and over,
"What did you see?"
"How did it feel?"
I accidentally let slip a non-PC comment in The Daly Planet live running comments section in response to the ESPN pit reporter asking Martin Truex Jr. what he saw and felt during the first big wreck in the race. I almost didn't post it, but I did and it seemed to generate some popularity amongst the readers and commentors, as it was referenced a few more times through the day:
My comment was as follows:
Gee Truex, what did you see, how did it feel?
Shove a piece of sheet metal in her face, and slap her with a hammer. That should answer the question!
Shove a piece of sheet metal in her face, and slap her with a hammer. That should answer the question!
'Nuff said there.
Injury Updates Would be Nice
Denny Hamlin slapped the wall and was taken away in a stretcher. Then we heard he was alert and awake and being taken to the hospital. After that, we never heard another word from "ESPN on ABC" afterwards on his condition. Despite ample opportunity to do such.
The fans had to turn, yet again, to other sources yet again for any information on the issue. Instead we get Goodyear spokesman interviews and more bumper cam angles.
End Game Left Out
At the end of the race, there was some controversy, of which I will touch on in a follow up post, but ESPN kept telling us they will continue their coverage over on one of their sister networks. OK... I spent about 40 minutes looking for that coverage and I didn't see a dang thing except Women's Basketball on one channel and Baseball coverage on the other channel. Maybe there was code in between the sentences.
Why The Distinction?
I have to wonder why ABC goes out of it's way to clarify that it's ESPN on ABC. For the uninitiated, you'd almost think they were different networks and ABC was saying, hey, look, we're letting them broadcast on our channel.
Folks, it's all the same. Disney owns the whole bit and kaboodle and they might as well just say Disney, on ESPN, on ABC. Because at times, that's exactly how it feels. Like Mickey Mouse is covering the race.
In Closing
ESPN, ABC, Disney, whoever: Thanks for throwing your money at NASCAR and getting the rights to cover the races in the latter part of the season. We can't tell you how much we not only appreciate it, but we've also come to notice how your coverage has not improved at all over the years, despite plenty of opportunity to learn from fan commentary or other network mishaps.
I do have to give you kudos though. This year you didn't show Brad Daugherty shaking his fist in triumphant glee while the wreck was happening like you did last year. (ESPN Race Coverage) Nice improvement.
I dare toss out the challenge to ESPN that I'd like to take a swing at what they do. I know I can do a better job from my couch. But would I be able to actually do a better job within the confines of having a director pushing me in their direction, or scrambling to meet the deadlines of creating filler story during the race itself. Would I be able to catch the things the regular announcers constantly miss during the broadcast like I do now? I'll never know, but I think what they do can be rather challenging, and creatively limiting. Again, from my own experiences of being media in a different entertainment realm.
Did I just defend them? Crap. I hope not. But I do enjoy playing both sides of the coin in the name of being fair. Fair, that is, when I'm not emotionally wound up about the lack of details or information during a race.
Did I cover everything here? Probably not, but I think I touched on what was forefront in my mind this morning about this particular matter of media coverage on NASCAR racing by "ESPN on ABC", run by Disney.
Related Links
- NASCAR Bits and Pieces
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