ABC's Interrupted Coverage of Phoenix

During the Phoenix race, and well after the race, there was some ire building up amongst viewers from the change of venues from the HD ABC telecast to the SD ESPN2 network as the race was lengthened from a few unforeseen events that caused two red flags. ABC released a statement :

" After two red flags, rain in Phoenix and 4 1/2 hours on ABC, we were still 34 minutes from the end of the telecast as it turned out. We told fans in the East and Central from the second red flag on that the race was moving to ESPN2. ABC's entertainment viewers and NASCAR fans were both well served in a tough spot, and we are fortunate to have ESPN2 among our networks to serve the fans."

Via contractual obligations, many viewers on the East Coast were "treated" to America's Funniest Home Videos.

Bob Margolis over on Yahoo Sports saying:

It was a real slap in the face to race fans and a measure of the lack of respect that the ABC/ESPN network has for NASCAR and auto racing in general when it made race fans living on the east coast switch from ABC to ESPN2 in order to watch the final laps of Sunday's race.

"I can't imagine 'America's Funniest Home Videos' would take priority over us," Jamie McMurray said after the race. "I mean, I like that show, but I'd rather watch the race, you know?"

This manner of doing business isn't new for the network, which has a long history of displaying its lack of respect for auto racing. I can recall numerous times when I was forced to watch other sports to their conclusion on ABC or ESPN only to join racing in progress.

And please don't hand me the "it was still on live" on another channel line. Even CBS delays the start of its No. 1 show – 60 Minutes – when a football game runs long.

I can't argue with that. A few weeks back, I tuned in to watch the pre-race show on ESPN2 and the football game that was on ended a few minutes early. Then they switched to a game that still had some time to go and the pre-race show was eliminated after they covered the new game they switched to.

Lee Spencer of FoxSports added to the fray about today's coverage with the following constructive observation:

How bad was the spanking Johnson put on the field? With 35 laps remaining, and after the race had been delayed by seven cautions, including two red-flag periods that stopped the action for 41 minutes and 29 seconds, ABC decided its audience would find America's Funniest Videos more compelling. At 7:28 ET, the action moved to ESPN2 in both the Eastern and Central time zones.

"To go to America's Funniest Videos," Johnson said. "That one hurts."

So it was a rough night for ABC, much like the debacle at Phoenix when Fox was covering the 1st race there. Huh... what's up with Phoenix maybe!?

Comments are always welcome... not to mention I'm gettin' tired of talkin' to myself!!!