The issue of where to see the Nationwide Series race from Memphis has been solved. The solution is rather familiar. SPEED has once again agreed to carry a NASCAR on ESPN telecast so fans can catch-up with the action from Memphis. Here is the official information.
The Kroger on Track for the Cure 250 presented by the Southern Dodge Dealers will be simulcast live on ESPN Classic and SPEED. Online broadcasts of the race will also be streamed live on ESPN360.com and NASCAR.com.
“The simultaneous broadcasts on SPEED and ESPN Classic, along with live streaming on NASCAR.com and ESPN360.com, will provide our fans with a wide range of opportunities to watch the race on various platforms,” said Robbie Weiss, NASCAR’s vice president, broadcasting. “This is a busy time of year for live sports and we really appreciate ESPN and SPEED working together to come up with a plan that takes care of our fans. ESPN and SPEED will work aggressively to promote this simulcast."
“SPEED is happy to assist again with a simulcast of a NASCAR Nationwide Series race,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell. “SPEED works well with the NASCAR television partners all season long and believes this kind of network cooperation is in the best interest of NASCAR fans and SPEED viewers.”
This was a tough situation to solve and ESPN deserves credit for the hard work. The company is loaded with college football and on this particular Saturday also has live coverage of the Breeders Cup. This left SPEED as a viable solution and network president Hunter Nickell has a great track record of helping NASCAR in difficult situations.
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18 comments:
Figured it might be something like this! Good job Speed!!
Since this has just been added to the ESPN schedule, will it be the normal ESPN broadcast team or could Marty Reid or someone else make an appearance?
It's better than nothing, but it's still disappointing. I get ESPN and ESPN2 in High-Def, but not Speed and I just plain don't get ESPN Classic anymore.
Geez, this kind of thing shows how close we are to having a network that really respects the fans of NASCAR.
(By the way, while I'm glad SPEED is carrying the race, they don't get the thanks--ESPN does, for making the broadcast available for them to run in the first place.)
Come on, ESPN, go the next step and take some advice from this column on things like talent and practice coverage, etc.
You're almost there.
YAY! Glad to see some cooperation. OR Coopetition as DW used to say?! Thanks SPEED.
Now if we could only have the SPEED gang doing voice over announcing on the SPEED channel! They are the best.... but I am just grateful I get SPEED AND Classic. Guess I will have to tune in...hopefully this race will be better than the Cup trainwreck of bumpercam mania at Dega.
:)
It will probably be like last season, Marty Reid will make an appearance.
I dont get classic, thankfully I have speed...its quite disappointing something they invested in to air the ENTIRE season of, they are ignoring and pushing to a backburner network (classic).
Thank you Speed you step up again !
And espn thank you for giving the fans what we want. Now - espn, could you do that with the "coverage" please? Really we do know what we want in coverage & co operation doesn't hurt that much after all does it?
Just saw Anon 1207 comments
"Come on, ESPN, go the next step and take some advice from this column on things like talent and practice coverage, etc.
You're almost there."
October 9, 2008 12:07 PM
How very true.
I will have the updated information about announcers, the pre-race show and SPEED's new schedule early next week.
JD
Glad to see they came to an agreement.
JD, any word on the rumors of Classic officially changing names to ESPN3?
This race has Marty Reid scheduled because of the logistics with the Cup race. Marty did it last year with Randy LaJoie as well.
There are currently no plans to changes ESPN Classic to another network name or purpose.
I will detail the pre-show plans and schedules on Monday.
Thanks to ESPN, NASCAR and SPEED for helping supply the info in this column.
JD
Thanks to both networks for their flexibility. Its nice to see them putting the fans first.
YOUPPI!
I don't get it either David! It makes no sense...while I know JD said they did it to get the cherished "Chase" races however it still seems like wasted money. They cover the "coverage" with garbage, they make us play musical stations with a channel that a lot of folks *don't* have, without warning go off the air in the middle of the invocation and we're left to figure out where to go next, tell us to tune in at a certain time to watch preempted tape delayed HH and never warned us at the end of the race 6 hours before that they were going to interrupt it half way through to show baseball nonsense. I know folks who stayed up or recorded it and were PISSED!
Thanks to everyone at ESPN & SPEED who made this happen :)
JD said ...
This was a tough situation to solve and ESPN deserves credit for the hard work.
IMHO, they don't deserve any credit whatsoever other than hogging all the coverage or noncoverage and not calling on Speed to cover practices and HH, etc. when they could do that for us fans in many other instances.
Officially from SPEEDTV.Com
The NASCAR Countdown prerace show will air Oct. 25 on ESPN Classic from 3-3:30 p.m. ET followed by the race simulcast at 3:30 p.m. ET. Immediately upon completion of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor
Speedway, SPEED will move directly into coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Memphis. SPEED will not carry NASCAR Countdown.
Now in the event the truck series race runs long? I dont know. lol
Anon 5:56:
Truck coverage is going to run long. It's not scheduled to end until 4PM, so I think the N'wide race will almost certainly be joined in progress.
sonic,
I have a feeling that NASCAR is going to hold the second race for a bit depending on what happens.
As I mentioned in my column, there are some details still being sorted out.
JD
This is yet even more proof that Brian MUST re-negotiate that bloody tv contract ...
ESPN just has too much on their plate to properly devote enough airtime to the races and practice/qualifying sessions ... And it's the Nationwide series that gets the swift kick in the rear because they're the redheaded stepchild to the Cup series ...
There are still a lot of people that don't have cable or satellite ... And those of us that do have cable, don't all have ESPN Classic / News ...
I'm glad that SPEED has stepped up to the plate to save ESPN's hiney again ...
Gymmie - Phone home
Past races at Memphis started at 2:30pm localy. Sunset in Millington is 6:12pm central time on that date.
Pardon me while I climb on my soapbox:
What if FOX took over NASCAR broadcasts for a full season? Then there would be less bumping of NASCAR programming. The big races on FOX, the smaller stuff on SPEED and maybe FX. SPEED would be the dumping ground in the fall if an NFL game conflicted. You could even run more races on Saturday night to avoid the NFL on FOX conflict.
Ask the IRL fans how they feel about timed races and the broadcast leaving the track without even hearing from the winner on ABC. Ask them about being bumped from ESPN to Classic and then missing the race because the Tivo didn't change with the network. They were bumped this year for LPGA golf, horse racing and the post British Open show. We are talking about missing 1/4 fourth of a race for Mr. Ed and his 4'5" jockey? Yes NASCAR draws MUCH bigger ratings that the IRL but that is why the IRL pulled the plug for Versus. Not that Versus is any kind of widely distributed worldwide leader in sports network.
Maybe NASCAR may want to think long and hard about getting a marketing partner and not an off and on girlfriend next time it goes to negotiate TV rights.
Just a thought.
Kudos to the folks at Speed that love the sports and were more than willing to step up to the plate.
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