ICYMI: Fox and NASCAR Solidified Their Relationship Into 2024

Late last year, it was announced that Fox and NASCAR will be continuing their relationship through to the year 2024.

So basically put, starting in 2015:

FOX Sports’ Exclusive Rights (2015-2024):

·       Fox has the first 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races of each season, including the Daytona 500

        o   Nine of these will be on FOX Sports and seven on FOX Sports 1

·       They have the first 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series points races of each season

        o   These Fourteen races will appear on FOX Sports 1

·       They will also cover the NASCAR Sprint Unlimited, Budweiser Duel and NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

·       And all NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races

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If you don't have Fox Sports 1, well, bummer I guess.  But I'm guessing most of us have that.  It's when things go to FS2 that I think we'll get dinged.

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NBC Snagged Season Ending Events From ABC/ESPN

In case you missed or forgot this...

After all the grumbling and complaining about ABC/ESPN, fans may actually have the potential for an improved NASCAR TV experience starting in 2015, for the season closing events.

Considering that at the hands of ABC and ESPN, fans have been on the butt end of preferred programming choices, having had pre-race events lost, I mean preempted, to football, basketball and even little league baseball. (Yea, my neighbors heard about that one, as I screamed, "Are you kidding me!!!???")

A few years back was the big clincher that got everyone's attention, when the Phoenix race ran too long for its own britches (or contractual time slot allowed on ABC), and with the last 10 to 20 laps to go, the race was cut from the network telecast and moved to some satellite cable channel while we were fed America's Funniest Videos.

If you didn't have that cable channel, you had to turn to news outlets to find out if Jimmie Johnson did what he needed to do to get into the Chase.

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With that said, we still have what we have for 2014, at least in this perspective...

Here's how things look though, for NBC's coverage that will run from 2015 to 2024:

NASCAR and NBC Sports Group reached an agreement for NBCUniversal to have exclusive rights to the final 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, final 19 NASCAR Nationwide Series events, select NASCAR Regional & Touring Series events and other live content beginning in 2015 NBC will telecast the last 20 Sprint Cup race and they will take the title from ABC/ESPN of exclusive home to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

This will obviously include the season-ending championship event at Homestead.

Where and what on NBC/NBCSN?  (Huh, I wonder if I have that particular cable channel?)

The Summary of events NBC will cover, from 2015-2024:

·         Final 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races (7 on NBC, 13 on NBCSN)

·         Final 19 NASCAR Nationwide Series races (4 on NBC, 15 on NBCSN)

·         NASCAR K&N Series and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events

·         NASCAR Toyota (Mexico) Series events

·         NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony and season-ending banquets

·         ‘TV Everywhere’ live-streaming rights for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series (This refers to practice and other events they're covering)

·         Spanish-language broadcast rights on Telemundo and Mun2 for national series events and NASCAR Toyota (Mexico) Series

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Rumors of NASCAR Switching TV Providers Early Are... Rumors

As you all know, NASCAR has a new set of TV deals coming up on the horizon.  And some have been thinking and saying that because of this new deal, NASCAR might be embracing their new contract earlier than expected.

That is untrue and NASCAR has released a quick statement to that affect:

“Despite speculation over the last month that NASCAR’s new television agreement could be pushed up to the start of the 2014 season, NASCAR has informed our broadcast partners today that FOX, Turner and ESPN will finish the current term as originally planned. While we were humbled by the desire of NBC and FOX to start 12 months early, we now consider this matter closed and look forward to finishing our current agreement in 2014 with our great partners at FOX, Turner and ESPN.”

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"Fox Sports 1," The New SPEED Channel (W/ The Official Press Release)

SPEED Channel to become FOX Sports 1, with more standard sports coverage, while still covering NASCAR.  See my thoughts and the full press release with all the information involved.

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Back in October of 2012, I apprised my readers that this change from SPEED to FOX Sports was coming.  If you're a regular reader of NB&P, this news is no surprise.  Now it's confirmed via a Fox press release from yesterday, (3/5/13) that the FOX Sports Media Group made the name change official, as they announced their plans for this new FOX Sports network. (There's a huge bundle of information in the press release...)

FOX Sports is in its 20th year of covering sports and FOX Sports 1 is set to debut on Saturday, August 17th, 2013 and it's estimated that it will premiere into over 90 million homes with nearly 5,000 hours of live events slated to be covered. (Annually)

But as we warned you back in October, they're including a lot more material aside from NASCAR or auto racing,

"A robust schedule of live events forms the backbone of FOX Sports 1's programming from Day 1, with college basketball, college football, NASCAR, soccer and UFC all on tap between launch and year's end."

And word on the street is that this new sports network will no longer be a special tier cable channel that you have to pay extra for.

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GOODBYE EXTRA BUCKS TO COMCAST (Or your favorite cable outlet).

To be honest, I've always disliked these extra tier fees cable companies charge, just because a channel is favored by the consumers.  I recall back in the mid-90s a huge survey push by all the cable companies asking their consumers what they liked.  And back then I took note how many folks said SPEED channel.

Once the cable companies had their information, it wasn't long after that, that we saw the SPEED Channel get added to a "special" tier.  Special meaning, you want it and we're going to charge you for it.  (This is why I HATE out of the blue surveys or "contests" picking your favorite show crap.)

I thought it was a BS practice they pulled, but what are you going to do?  SPEED allowed it.  Of course, it was only a few bucks more a month, so it wasn't a big deal, right?

But if you have ever wondered how many cable subscribers there are in the U.S., as of September of 2012, there are over 56 million Cable Video Customers.   If you do the math on that "mere" extra fee, 56 million multiplied by $5, equals an additional $280M per month of revenue for that extra tier.

My other issue has been that when NASCAR gets covered outside of basic networks, that culls many potential eyes for the sport.  Being on an extra cable tier, even more so.

I can't tell you how many friends or peers of mine have to sit out and wait for information on events covered by cable outlets like ESPN, SPEED, and other such networks because they simply can't afford the extra channels. 

Now obviously, with FOX Sports 1 being on the standard tier (If that stays true), more folks will be able to have coverage in their homes with the basic cable package.  That means more eyeballs and more useful televised coverage for the sponsors of NASCAR... particularly, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, whose only exposure has been on SPEED.

So good for FOX for finally bringing this back to basic.

And I don't think it will be all bad.  As it was, SPEED had a little too much reality TV for a live sports network, because frankly, considering their subject coverage, they were a bit limited.  Now they can have genuine sports coverage, with auto racing included in that coverage.  And it doesn't seem as if NASCAR Truck series fans are going to lose anything to it.  Food for thought!!!

Plus, if you look over the press release, it notes Sprint Cup Series races being covered in 2015.
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That's the news, and the official press release is included below, with the new cool logo and all!  (Other web guys, if you scrape the press release, some 'via' link love would be appreciated.)

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FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP GIVES RISE TO FOX SPORTS 1,

A NEW NATIONAL MULTI-SPORT NETWORK

Officially Debuts Saturday, Aug. 17 in Over 90 Million Homes;

Biggest Sports Network Launch in History

4,800 Hours of Exclusive Live Event, News & Original Programming Planned

Mega-Stars Terry Bradshaw & Regis Philbin Appear Daily

New York – Today, FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) makes television history, officially unveiling plans to launch a new, national, multi-sport network called FOX Sports 1.  The announcement was made by FSMG Co-Presidents and COOs Randy Freer and Eric Shanks.  Set to debut on Saturday, Aug. 17, just as FOX Sports kicks-off its 20^th anniversary year, FS 1 is available in over 90 million homes, making this the biggest sports cable network launch in history, and one of the largest network launches ever.  At the outset, FS1 boasts nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually.

"Our 'secret,' admittedly a very poorly kept one, is now revealed," said Shanks.  "Fans are ready for an alternative to the establishment, and our goal for FS1 is to provide the best in-game experience possible, complemented by informative news, entertaining studio shows and provocative original programming."

A robust schedule of live events forms the backbone of FOX Sports 1's programming from Day 1, with college basketball, college football, NASCAR, soccer and UFC all on tap between launch and year's end.  In fact, the schedule on Aug. 17 features live events morning, noon and night including a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Michigan and "UFC on FS1 1" in prime time.  In 2014, FSMG's new rights agreement with MLB takes effect, bringing regular and postseason games to FS1.

"As a company we haven't been afraid to innovate and take well-calculated risks, added Freer." "We've devoted significant resources over the last few years to acquire and/or extend multi-platform rights with a wide variety of leagues and governing bodies well into the next decade, enough to give us a rich schedule right out of the box."

More people consume and care about sports than ever before, so to satisfy that voracious demand FSMG deems the time is now to launch FS1.  For example, when FOX Sports launched in 1994, late Sunday afternoon NFL on FOX games ranked as the 26^th highest-rated program on television. Today, FOX's national doubleheader games rank No. 1 for three years running.

FOX Sports 1 Programming Highlights –

COLLEGE BASKETBALL – Dozens of exclusive prime time games on Monday and Thursday nights, plus Saturday and Sunday coverage of the Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL – Led by Notre Dame at Stanford, the Big Ten Championship Game and Pac-12 Championship Game (2014) on FOX, dozens of  exclusive, live games from the Pac-12, Big 12 and Conference USA games on Thursday nights and Saturdays; triple- and quadruple-headers on Saturdays; Saturday pre- and postgame coverage. 

MLB – Beginning in 2014, select League Championship Series and Division Series games; regular-season games over 26 Saturdays; live game-in-progress look-in show.

NASCAR – Select NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races as soon as 2015; NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races; NASCAR Sprint All-Star race; all SpeedWeeks events leading up to the Daytona 500 including: Daytona 500 Qualifying, Sprint Unlimited at Daytona (2014, 2017-22) and the Budweiser Duel, now in prime time; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NCWTS Practice and Qualifying sessions; NASCAR RaceDay, providing pre- and post-race coverage; NASCAR Victory Lane, a weekly wrap-up show; and Race Hub, a daily mid-day studio show with the latest from drivers, owners and garages.

SOCCER – Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday afternoon coverage of the world's most prolific club soccer competitions, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, and CONCACAF Champions League featuring many of the world's greatest and most successful clubs; the world's oldest soccer competition, the FA Cup; CONCACAF Gold Cup; CONCACAF Qualifiers, FIFA Women's World Cup coverage in 2015 and 2019; FIFA Men's World Cup coverage in 2018 and 2022; delayed matches in prime time; weekly magazine and highlights shows.

UFC – Featured on Wednesday nights; live FIGHT NIGHTS through 2014, the first is scheduled for launch night, Saturday, Aug. 17; FOX event preliminary cards; UFC Tonight, the weekly authority for UFC news and information; 14 Saturday pay-per-view preliminary cards; hundreds of hours of library programs and events.

In addition to live events and studio programs, FS1 introduces FOX SPORTS LIVE, a 24/7 news franchise providing around-the-clock coverage through regularly scheduled programs, hourly updates and an information-rich ticker that provides a network agnostic sports event television schedule.  Thousands of hours of news programming are expected annually from newly minted sets including a nightly program at 11:00 PM ET or immediately following events.  A morning newscast is expected to launch in January 2014 in conjunction with FSMG's expansive coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII.

"Building credibility and trust with our audience is paramount, so naturally we'll provide the staples, like news, scores and highlights, but we'll do it in a FOX Sports way," offered Shanks. "Just as FOX NFL SUNDAY reinvented the pregame show, FOX SPORTS LIVE breaks new ground in the way sports news is presented.  We already have the home-team advantage of significant audiences watching local games on our 22 regional sports networks as a platform to launch our new national news."

Complementing FS1's live events and news coverage at launch are several original programs, highlighted by RUSH HOUR, hosted by Regis Philbin, airing live weekdays (5:00-6:00 PM ET).  Originating in New York City, Regis leads the charge along with a panel of sports professionals, celebrity guests and die-hard fans in this brand new, unpredictable, talk show.  Following RUSH HOUR live every day is FOX FOOTBALL DAILY (6:00-7:00 PM ET), an extension of FOX NFL SUNDAY, the most-watched NFL pregame show for 19 straight years.  FOX FOOTBALL DAILY, hosted by NFL on FOX personalities, including Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jay Glazer, Gus Johnson, Erin Andrews and Mike Pereira, provides a daily dose of news, interviews and commentary from pro and collegiate football worlds.  Both shows are expected to premiere at launch in August.  Earlier this year, FSMG unveiled a unique and groundbreaking documentary franchise titled BEING:, a deep look into today's greatest athletes, teams and sports icons via unprecedented access.  The first subject to appear this fall on FS1 is BEING: MIKE TYSON, the most feared man ever to step in a boxing ring.  The multi-episode series is now in production.

FSMG's experimentation with the "double box" commercial format, intended to keep viewers engaged throughout breaks, is expected to be an FS1 staple.  Custom commissioned research conducted this year by Innerscope in concert with FOX Sports advertisers, along with data from IAG and Nielsen, demonstrates how the "double box" format adds value compared to the traditional full-screen break: IAG reported a 62% increase in brand recall; younger viewers are more likely to view "double box" commercials, according to Nielsen minute-by-minute ratings; Innerscope's engagement score for "double box" commercials ranked +13% than average; and viewers see advertiser logos more than three times longer in "double box" versus standard format.

Launching together with FOX Sports 1 will be FOX Sports GO – a groundbreaking mobile sports experience for iPhone, iPad, Android devices, and web. FOX Sports Go will offer more than 1,000 live games and events from across FOX Sports, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports' 22 regional sports networks, as well as scores, highlights, news, stats, and analysis.  The live games and events will be available to subscribers of participating cable, satellite, and telco providers at no additional cost.

-- FOX Sports 1 --

  

About FOX Sports Media Group

FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) is the umbrella entity representing News Corporation's wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets.  Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, FSMG includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships.  FSMG includes FOX Sports, the sports television arm of the FOX Broadcasting Company; FOX Sports 1; Fox's 22 regional sports networks, their affiliated regional web sites and FSN national programming; FOX Soccer, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Soccer 2Go; FUEL TV; FOX Deportes and FOX College Sports.  In addition, FSMG also encompasses FOX Sports Digital, which includes FOXSports.com on MSN, FOX Sports GO, Whatifsports.com, FOXSportsNext.com and Yardbarker.com.  Also included in the Group are Fox's interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network, BTN 2Go and STATS, LLC, as well as licensing agreements that establish the FOX Sports Radio Network and FOX Sports Skybox restaurants.

MAJOR FSMG RIGHTS ACQUISITIONS, 2010-2012

Nov. 2010        Acquired rights to Big Ten Football Championship Game from 2011-2016.

Dec. 2010        Acquired rights to UEFA Champions League 2012/13 to 2014/15.

April 2011        Acquired rights to Big 12 Conference. A 13-year agreement for the exclusive cable rights which took effect in 2012. (See 2012 update)

May 2011        Acquired rights to Pac-12 Conference for 12 years beginning in 2012. Deal secures rights to 22 regular-season Pac-12 football games annually; six Pac-12 Football Championship Games in even years beginning in 2012 through 2022 in prime time; 22 men's regular-season basketball games annually; three men's basketball Tournament games, including the championship game, in even years beginning in 2014 through 2024.

Aug. 2011       Acquired rights to Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) beginning in 2012 through 2018.

Oct. 2011        Acquired rights to Women's World Cup (Canada) in 2015; the Men's World Cup (Russia) in 2018, the Women's World Cup (TBD) in 2020, and the Men's World Cup (Qatar) in 2022.

Dec. 2011        Reacquired rights to the NFL's NFC package. The new nine-year, multi-platform media rights agreement begins in 2014 and runs through 2022.

Sept. 2012       New eight-year agreement with Big 12 Conference. Now, FSMG and ESPN share the Conference's football over-the-air and cable rights. Replaces deal struck in April 2011. Deal begins 2012-13 runs through 2024-25.

Oct. 2012        Reacquired NASCAR rights. The new eight-year, multiplatform media agreement begins in 2015 and runs through 2022. 

Oct. 2012        Reacquired MLB in a new eight-year, multiplatform rights agreement that significantly increases FSMG's television, digital and Spanish-language rights beginning in 2014 on MLB at FOX through 2021.

Nov. 2012        News Corporation acquires 49% stake in the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES).  The YES Network also announced a media rights agreement that will keep Yankees baseball on the YES Network through 2042. 

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The "Budweiser Duels" Sensationalized Race Coverage Appalled This Veteran Fan

Does this look like the "big one" to you?

When a network covers any kind of event, the coverage of that event has to take into account both the veteran and newbie fan.  In many cases, coverage of an event is laced with information for the veteran while the format of the coverage is geared towards the newbie fan who doesn't quite know that much and is brought on board by what the coverage presents.  All of it geared towards engaging and potentially exciting.  It's marketing and how TV works.

In this day and age, exciting or horrifying phrased words tend to get one's attention.  Or at least, if the information is presented in such a way to be horrifying, it can capture the focus of a TV fan rather easily.  As the saying might go, "Train wrecks or hot chicks gets attention."  Case in point... this is the era of "reality TV" or pretty people delivering the news, as on Fox News.

What's this got to do with the price of tea in China?  Not much, but this opinion piece is motivated by what I saw of the television coverage of the Budweiser Duels on SPEED, which is effectively, Fox.

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As any veteran fan knows, qualifying for the Daytona 500 is a combination of timed qualifying runs, seeding by the Duel qualifiers, and then falling back on either the qualifying run times, points or provisional scenarios.

When any veteran fan watched the Budweiser Duels, we know that these races will be seeding the starting field for the 500, with the top 15 (or 16) finishers of each race guaranteed a starting spot in the 500 field.  Anyone who has issues in these races and misses the guaranteed starting spot will then fall back on their times from the qualifying runs from Sunday or owners points from the previous season.  Veteran fans know that drivers like Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. are going to be in the 500, no matter what.

Yet while I was watching the SPEED Channel coverage of the duels, I was appalled at the verbiage being used during the race.

The words, phrases and supporting ticker images they projected were suggesting, no, correction, saying at times, that drivers like Dale Eanrhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and others were not getting into the Daytona 500.

What's worse, the language used to convey this information felt like it was crafted by sportscasting lawyers.  The verbiage was such that when the statements were made or qualifying status was shown, they did not outright say these drivers were not in the Daytona 500.  They technically were representing the information accurately.  But the sportscasting staff seemed to be intentionally omitting important information that would make a newbie fan less nervous about their favorite drivers.

Case in point, as the Duel with Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the early laps, the SPEED announcer pointed out that at the position in the race that he was in, that Dale Jr. "is not in the Daytona 500."  That was the exact phrase and no corrective or additional information was added beyond that.

When the wreck happened in the first Duel, the announcers called that incident with a few cars, "...the big one" and after that "big one," they were sure to make clear that  [paraphrased from memory]

"If the drivers had minded their p's and q's, they would have raced their way into the Daytona 500.  But as it stands now, that won't happen and they aren't in the 500."

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I was getting very frustrated because if I was a new fan, all I would have heard was that these huge, name drivers, were not getting into the Daytona 500.  At no time, immediately surrounding these statements, did they make note of the other scenarios that locks them into the 500.  That came much much later, after the Duels were over.

Technically, the announcers were recanting the spirit of the rules of the Duel races, so they were not inaccurate.  But anyone with any common sense would know that what they were delivering to the fans was half-truth information and they were letting the fans supposition their worries about these drivers into the equation.

To me, that's dirty sports announcing.  Not far off from reality TV or news articles being delivered by blondes with long legs.  As far as I can tell (guess), I presume that someone at the network has some hope these prematurely sensationalized statements would make it to the social networks in panic and spread these ugly half-truths.  Now that would get some serious interest on the D500 revved up.  The Duels might "trend." 

But I found this kind of reporting frustrating.  It was a slap to the veteran fans and it incorrectly sensationalized the moment, as the rules could be exactly stated, because technically, no, these teams were not going to "race into the 500 from this event."

Had they added a quickie, "Hey, but..." about the points and qualifying times from Sunday, well, that would have been responsible reporting. But they took no such measure during the race.  I have to believe this was intentional because it occurred multiple times over the course of both Duel qualifiers.

Hey, we're in the era of sensationalized reporting.  And this, my friends, is my suspicion why TV is having a hard time hanging on to long-term fans.  It's all about the fresh blood brought into the fold and engaging them, in any way possible.

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The 2013 Sprint Unlimited - The New In-Car Camera Look?

If you watched NASCAR's 2013 Sprint Unlimited race, there were a few things fans might have seen in the race.  For one thing, I was wondering if you had noticed the new in-car camera angles?  At least I think I saw a new, unique camera angle that I liked from the telecast.

It's one thing for announcers to tell you how steep the track surface is in any particular turn.  And to also see the cars on the banked turns from an outside perspective, like the network cameras stationed at opportunistic spots in the turns.  But to see just how much of an angle from inside the car is something else altogether different and eye-opening!

During the Sprint Unlimited race, the in-car cams are now mounted in such a way that the camera retains it's position in relation to the outside horizon!  What I mean is that when the car enters a corner, like at Daytona, the camera stays level and does not tilt with the car and you watch the interior of the car tilt, in relation to the world outside the car.

This new camera angle demonstrates the amount of banking the cars are actually on during the race.  And it was very apparent during the Sprint Unlimited.

I know that there are many TV race fans out there that aren't fond of the in-car camera.  I'm sure this new angle will have their attention for at least a few moments.  I myself appreciate the in-car camera angle.  If you're attentive enough, you can watch for a few things in the in-car camera view.  One is how much the car is dancing around on the track at the time of the shot.  You can also see the cars around the car you're in and watch this dance between sheet metal.  It's not evident in camera angles from outside the car how jumpy the cars could be, but the in-car shows some details you won't notice from outside the car.  The other perspective is how busy the driver is inside that car wrangling the steering wheel, even while on the straight-away stretches.  At least for me, that's what I look at and can appreciate.

Regardless of your perspective, this will be a new angle for a few moments for some, while others will revel in this new look.  At least there's something to look for in the Daytona 500.

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I Can't Take D-Shaped Tracks or Daryl On TV Any More!

Well, after ten plus solid years of never missing and watching each televised NASCAR race in its entirety, Daryl Waltrip won and for the first time in eleven years, I did not watch the entire race, as televised, from Texas or Kansas.  And there were a few factors that contributed to this slip.

D-Shaped Tracks Can't Be Good for TV Ratings
Cookie cutter mile and a half (or mid to large sized D-shaped tracks) can be quite the challenge to the viewer as you watch the race start and then the teams stretch out around the circuit.  There's only so much you can do with a D-shaped track and when there are so many of them in the season, well, it gets old.  No matter how much they pitch that track surface characteristics are different.  (And it's true.  Track surfaces in different climes can become different beasts.  But to the TV viewer, that's just word-smithing that more than likely falls on deaf ears.)
And the most shocking thing I did was that during Texas, I tuned in, watched the start.  And then I rented a movie.  When the movie ended, I still had plenty of time and racing action to get my NASCAR fix.  Kansas is interesting but in the end, it too provides a D-shaped racing experience.  Though I have to admit, a few of those restarts definitely got me on the edge of my seat.
Sorry gang, but that's how it is.  I make points with my wife, don't get too bored with the racing show, and still can keep up with the sport.  If the races were shorter I'd have a better reason to stick around.  But even though this is a sport about endurance and skill, I get the length of each event.  But fans, I think, need more to have an anticipation for.
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And Then There's Daryl Waltrip
Daryl Waltrip has won.  His presentation of what information he has is getting distracting at best for this viewer.
I think I started anti-focusing on Daryl back during the Daytona race this year.  I remember his statement about the fuel truck when it was on fire...  He more or less said that (while it was burning) someone should get in the truck and drive it off the track to prevent further damage from occurring to the track surface.  ...crickets.
Since then I've been a bit focused on what he says and I have to say, he seems to come up with some gems during each race.
I like to think I respect the experience of a driver whose behind the microphone, but I'm coming to realize that I'd rather appreciate the skills from a driver whose driven one of the cars from this era.  Right now, all Daryl has to offer is an opinion on a generic mindset of racers and some incredible historical perspectives.  Aside from that, I've seen more often than not his in-race predictions pander out a lot.  It's not his fault, but you'd think someone would direct him better.
Maybe it's just me, but he's become distracting
And as I look at that, I have to wonder who Fox is trying to appeal to with the cast of characters they've been presenting NASCAR with.  Sure, it's their roots, but isn't that demographic already sold on the sport?  And maybe that's working for Fox.  Who knows.

TV Action From Texas and ABC's Squandering Ratings

This weekend, all three series will be coming to us from Texas!

ALL TIMES PACIFIC!! HA!!
On Friday, we have the Craftsman Truck Series on SPEED at 5:30 PM.
Saturday sees the Nationwide Series on ESPN2 at 12 PM.
And Sunday has the Sprint Cup Series on ABC at 12 PM.

The real question though remains: Will ABC actually pick up the pace and improve on their coverage? Despite exciting developing stories with driver changes and 4 drivers in contention for the Cup (At the moment), ratings are flat lining for the free telecasts on ABC as folks head to other sources for their race info. The Daly Planet touches on this issue while I have to ponder why ABC has it's crack staff ask such redundant questions every week instead of trying to mix it up a bit.

If you stop to digest what the reporter is asking, you'll see what I mean. How many times can you ask a driver how a wreck felt? (That elicited my ever popular response: Smack them upside the head with a piece of car hood and say: "Like that.")

Why not ask if they were expecting it, or what was the very first thought you had as it started, or when it ended. Do you hang on to the steering wheel or let go. Do you close your eyes or keep them open. Are you glad you at your Wheaties this morning? Will you have to answer for this come Monday morning?

But no.

It's true, there is very little that you can ask that's different, but you can at least try to mix it up. In my other media job, I've interviewed folks and asked about their intentions, or hey, I have a few questions, but first, is there anything on the table you want to address? Let them start the conversation and bounce off what they say.

ABC - We know how a wreck feels. In fact, before the director sends the reporter to ask that fateful question, maybe we should introduce him to the car hood!

Atlanta Weekend TV Coverage

NASCAR is going to be spread across for different venues on your cable box this upcoming weekend and if you still have just an antenna, you're S.O.L..

You have SPEED, ESPN Classic, ESPN2 for coverage and Cup coverage on ABC.

For my 1 regular reader, if you want a detailed account of what's on where when, check out The Daly Planet. They have a very comprehensive listing of the details of the different shows happening.

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Notes on the TNT Coverage

by Bruce Simmons, July 8, 2007

Well, I tried to embrace it, and I appreciated it, but the TNT full time coverage drove me a little nuts.

For one, the 3 required breaks by cable providers:
So much for commercial free, which is what I thought I was going to get.

Ads in the corner, out of the way while we continue to watch the race:
I liked that, but there was the Toyota ad that showed the making of one of their newer commercials, and there was a lot of text to read, and, well, you could not read it. Yep, I tried, and actually wanted to read it, but it is what it is. I hope Toyota isn't too miffed.

The Action in the background:
Not bad, to be able to see the race all the time, but during a break where we are hearing the ad, but on a few occassions, it was maddening, to watch Jr pull down to the inside and fall off the pace, or to watch Jamie McMurray to pull down to the inside and make an unscheduled pit stop, and not know why until the ad words were over.

The running order off to the side:
It was great to see the running order scroll by and not have it obscure part of the racing action.

The picture format:
It worked for me.

Overall, it was good to see the whole race most of the time, and on occassion, a little maddening to see something happen and not know why, but we got a lot more racing coverage than normal, and that, I apprecaited.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.

TNT and the Daytona Telecast

During the TNT presentation of the Daytona Cup race, the Pepsi 400 (Did you hear that Pepsi is going away and Coke is taking over?), TNT will be unveiling its "wide-open" coverage, using a concept that mixes live racing action throughout the entire telecast while also appeasing advertisers without traditional full-screen commercials.

In other words, we get to see the race, no interruptions, but sometimes, we might have to tolerate a smaller screen while our favored advertisers get some screen time!

Ads, or as TNT calls it, "sponsor interaction with the show" means technologically as a broadcaster and for the fans is we get more racing action. They say if it's a successful endeavor we can see this every race they cover next year.

Instead of having graphics running at the top of the screen and then also at the bottom, TNT will only have a graphics area in the bottom quarter of the screen. It will not superimpose most of the graphics over the live action. Instead, that graphic area will feature the logo of a company sponsoring that portion of the telecast with the current running order streaming across the top part of the graphic area. (Hmm, sounds like we're going to be getting a 50%-er!!)

TNT will put a breakout box at times on the lower right corner of the screen, using it for interviews as well as commercials. When the breakout box isn't being used, other stats will be shown in the graphic area.

We can only hope this will work out well. This is going to be like the Indy 500 coverage, or at least, that's what sparked this idea into fruition, as far as this reporter can tell.

www.scenedaily.com