NASCAR Media Group Wins Sports Emmy

Remember Inside the Headsets? That was the TV special from the All-Star race that basically took tons of footage and made a mini-movie of the event. Using video and audio gathered live, the NASCAR Media Group "turned around" the racing into a complete show by the very next day.

Well, the end result was pretty good. Here is the official information:

NASCAR Media Group, the creative, media, and production services company of NASCAR, has received an Emmy Award for “Inside the Headsets,” a television program which aired following the 25th annual NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race last May.

NASCAR Media Group and its broadcast partner SPEED were presented the award in the “Live Event Turnaround” category at the 31st Annual Sport Emmy Awards on April 26, 2010 at Lincoln Center in New York.

This is the third time in the past four years NASCAR Media Group has won the Emmy Award in the “Live Event Turnaround” category.

“Inside the Headsets,” which aired on SPEED on May 17, 2009, was one of the most ambitious programs capturing the full dimension of a major sporting event. NASCAR Media Group employed an additional 13 shooters to capture supplemental material and used four slow motion cameras.

With an eye on crew chiefs, in-car communications and unique camera angles, 184 tapes documented the all-star race. To meet a stringent time constraint of 30 minutes, the race was recorded live-to-tape with ancillary material added overnight. The program aired less than 24 hours following the conclusion of the race.

“ ‘Inside the Headsets’ embodies the best parts of an action movie and a sporting event,” said Jay Abraham, chief operating officer of NASCAR Media Group and vice president of new media and content for NASCAR. “Every important moment is captured, from the pre-race preparations and fly-over to post-race driver and crew chief interviews, fireworks and Victory Lane champagne showers.”

“All of us at NASCAR are very proud of our award-winning team working hard to produce world-class content from our new state-of-the-art facilities at the NASCAR Plaza in Charlotte,” said Paul Brooks, president of NASCAR Media Group. “We’ll continue to make the investments to bring NASCAR fans groundbreaking shows like 'Inside the Headsets.'”

Other NASCAR-related programming was also recognized at television’s most prestigious awards ceremony. FOX Sports won for Live Event Audio/Sound for its NASCAR broadcasts and HBO’s “24/7 Jimmie Johnson Race To Daytona” was recognized for Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement – Episodic.

Give the NASCAR Media Group some credit. They have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting for SPEED where NASCAR is concerned for a long time. Although series like NASCAR Confidential and Beyond the Wheel are gone, there are new NMG shows now airing on SPEED.

Sounds of NASCAR is a dynamic thirty minutes that follows a NASCAR personality through a race weekend. The stories are not just focused on drivers and crew chiefs. From spotters to wives, it's fascinating to explore the real people behind the names many of us know so well.

Race in 60 is a simple but effective video recap of the Sprint Cup races without flash or hype. Missing a race is easy to do and Race in 60 is an easy way to catch up on what happened from green to checkers. SPEED normally replays this show several times each week.

We have been trying to open up the NASCAR TV doors and let fans understand how much work goes into a typical telecast or program. As mentioned above, 13 camera crews wound-up with 184 tapes to create a show that has only 22 minutes of content.

Seems like this time, someone other than the NASCAR fans noticed.

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