ESPN is now carrying a major portion of the US Open Tennis Championships. No sport on TV is tougher to televise than tennis. In fact, it may be one of the sports that drives TV networks crazier than NASCAR.
Tennis has no time limit, stops at the first drops of rain and is sometimes notoriously slow. Add-in caution flags and NASCAR and tennis have a lot in common.
Because of the live tennis coverage, ESPN2's daily show NASCAR Now is losing its first airing every day this week. Instead of appearing at 5PM ET, the show will air after midnight on the East Coast.
With the Chase for the Championship approaching, it is a shame that perhaps NASCAR Now could not be afforded the same courtesy as the new Sports Nation program series which was moved to the ESPNEWS Network and kept in its 4PM timeslot. NASCAR Now normally follows that show.
The Sunday race preview edition of NASCAR Now will air at its regular time of 10AM. The outstanding wrap-up show will air live at 11:30PM. Nicole Manske will anchor the Sunday shows while Mike Massaro will handle the weekday programs.
Complete TV listings for this week are located on the right side of the main page. Change the settings on those recording devices to catch NASCAR Now this week.
TDP welcomes your comments on this topic. Just click the comments button below to add your opinion. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by.
This really stinks and it just goes to show how little ESPN cares about NASCAR and wish that we had been given the same consideration at the Sports Nation show which to me seems more fluff than real substance, but I guess when the first letter of your network stands for entertainment, what can we say.
ReplyDeleteI found Sports nation to be completely worthless. That said, I was never home in time for NN anyways and I just don't bother to tape unless there was breaking news. Why can't they put some of this content (after its original airing) on ESPN360?
ReplyDeleteThe difference between a network,whether ESPN or CBS, covering tennis (compared to NASCAR)is that it is socially acceptable for most of the "suits",their families, and their cronies to trek to the USTA Open, whereas the NASCAR crowd is, well...you know
ReplyDeleteGot to wonder how many folks in USA home at 5pm est to watch the show? I think it is right for a sports nework to show a live event over a taped talk show on any sport.
ReplyDeleteWe feel so loved, don't we?
ReplyDeleteSo when will some company finally go head-to-head with ESPN?
ReplyDeleteNascar Now gets moved and no play by play announcer for the Atlanta race.
ReplyDeleteGo Nascar go.
Thank goodness for a DVR. To make matters worse there isn't a Monday show at all, guess the NW race isn't good enough to have them keep the round table show. I knoww where I stand and yes Dot I'm really feeling the love
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSo the Sports Nation sucky show gets more profile than NN??? Not a huge surprise to me. Why in the world did BSPN take on Nascar anyway? It's obvious they don't care for us country bumpkins. I basically give up...
ReplyDeletecrybabies. would you like some cheese with your whine? get over it. you really think espn is deliberatly targeting nascar fans for torment? if nascar now pulled in more ad revenue than sports nation, guess which one would end up on espn news?
ReplyDeleteNo big deal, as I am usually up to watch something on at 2 AM (if it's an episode I have not seen).
ReplyDeleteIt's what I have to do when it's a show I've always liked, but missed the initial run (not talking 'bout NN, of course ;)
The LaFrance/Helton Monolith needs to use sponsor recruitment for the teams as a metric for assessing the broadcast partners. There's a lot of empty sponsor-logo-area sheet metal on the NW cars, and bad coverage might be a significant factor. I'm sure sponsors are pleased to see their cars splashed across the airwaves all week as well as on race weekends.
ReplyDelete"no sport is tougher on tv to cover then tennis"
ReplyDeleteonce again you expose yourself as a complete bias blogger with a single agenda - bash your former employer
guess you spent years and years producing tennis and thus know it all
anon 10:57- I sensed sarcasm in that, lighten up! :)
ReplyDeleteMay I raise my hand as another person who thinks SportsNation as a complete waste of air time?! Ick, I had to sit through it while waiting for NN to come on (it turned out to be the day NN got bumped to 5 AM). Total garbage.
Small heads up- There's college football on before the NW race on Sat. Don't be suprised if a change of network for the pre-race 'show'
Since I understand that the notorious Call-in Cowherd is on it, I have never watched Sportsnotion.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that EESPN would assume that tennis is a big deal with its target demographic - males age 21 to 29. It does seem that EESPN's strategy is to lock up as much noteworthy content as possible in order to make it difficult for a significant competitor to be created - that way quality is an irrelevant concern.
anon wrote:
ReplyDeleteSo when will some company finally go head-to-head with ESPN?
well, Comcast has been trying and trying and trying to do just that with Versus.
The silence is deafening,,,,,,,,,,
just shows you that incompetent management of sports tv franchises extends far beyond ESPN
some smarty pants wrote:
ReplyDelete"once again you expose yourself as a complete bias blogger with a single agenda - bash your former employer"
Hey, Einstein!! If you don't like the opinion of Mr Daly, don't come to this site! Stay in Bristol, Connecticut, take your first cousin on a hot date to the local square dance and keep drinking the "ESPN is invinceable" kool-aid.
Anon 10:57PM,
ReplyDeleteDoesn't that act ever get tired? I have over twenty years or live tennis experience including French Open, Davis Cup and both the ATP and WTA tours.
Tennis on TV was one of my favorite sports to do because of the great locations.
While I think it is great that ESPN has added the US Open, I do wish they had moved a ninety minute block over to ESPNEWS that included NASCAR Now.
Sometime, we sure would appreciate your opinion on the topic we are discussing.
Thanks,
JD
To answer, no I'm not home at 5pm to catch NN. That's what the DVR is for, I watch it 1.5 hrs later. The DVR is set to capture all "new" NNs and as long as ESPN doesn't move things around too badly, I get them regularly. It's when things go overtime that the recording messes up, I try to look the night before at the schedule and anticipate any overage problems then. As for any breaking news, I get that from the internet and then look to shows like NN to expand on the story.
ReplyDeleteCount me as one who doesn't get why they repeat the same news over and over (kinda like...um...Sportscenter...) on ESPN news when they could easily show some of the news shows for specific sports, like NN. I will be watching a lot of the tennis, mind you...and live sports should always come first (with the possible exception of bowling or poker, lol...)
ReplyDeleteI don't need BSPN and all their
ReplyDeleteslick down suits for news. I'll keep up to date with The Daly Planet and a few other reputable websites.
Love your Kool Aid JD.
Kez just signed with the 12 for 2010, not a big surprise, but...those of you inclined to record NN might want to tonight.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind that tennis is moving NASCAR Now for the week. We often complain about Billiards or World Series of Poker being on instead of live racing so I would rather see live sports than a taped show.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNASCAR Now's overnight airing was pushed back 25 minutes by live tennis and the Sports Nation re-air being carried for a full hour.
ReplyDeleteMost DVR's, mine included, got the first couple of sentences from Brad K about his new deal.
Welcome to ESPN..dude.
JD