Monday, March 7, 2011

TV Police: Sprint Cup Series From Las Vegas On FOX


What did you expect, it's Las Vegas! Lt. Dangle is on the case and investigating the NASCAR on FOX telecast just like another domestic in a Reno trailer park.

Once again, the pre-race show started from the new portable stage positioned on pit road. Unfortunately, that meant no one in the background except security guards and John Force signing autographs. The Neon Garage was packed with fans, but unused. The TV team transitioned to the Hollywood Hotel when Darrell Waltrip made his move to the broadcast booth.

Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond continued in the infield for the rest of the race. Several times, they came back on camera to offer recaps of the field and highlights of the race. FOX confirmed that the Ford cutaway car is back, showing it on-camera outside the HH.

Mike Joy called the action with Larry McReynolds and Waltrip. On pit road were Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda, Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren.

Tracks like Las Vegas bring a certain type of racing that requires the TV team to look for stories and continually update information for viewers. Passing is not the top priority as fuel, tires and strategy make this type of racing very different.

FOX has developed a style of presenting NASCAR that includes what we call "hyper-tight" camera framing. Instead of sweeping vistas, aerial shots and long views down the straights, FOX uses incredibly tight shots of cars mixed with in-car cameras. The bumper-cams are favored by the director.

Mixing that type of coverage with a track like Las Vegas has a predictable result. Most of the incidents and key moments of the race were presented to viewers via replay. Often, the entire incident would need to be replayed in order to show TV viewers what had happened.

Mike Joy was very forceful in the TV booth with his calling out of what corner an incident had occurred because that would alert the director to change cameras. Unfortunately, with so much effort put into the "hyper-tight" presentation even Joy's direct approach resulted in delays to see what was happening.

FOX continues to have the top pit reporters in the sport, but they are used much more for basic information and the description of pitstops than for updates and opinion. Integrating more of the pit reporters and less of the commentary from the TV booth has always been a topic of discussion.

Tires were an issue, with replays capturing the failures and subsequent eliminations from the race. Interviews were conducted with the drivers out of the race. No Goodyear interviews were done and it was never followed-up if the failures were debris, wear or tire trouble.

A diverse group of drivers appeared in the top ten throughout the day. The director was consistent in his selection of tight shots of single cars, so viewers had to refer to the scoring ticker at the top of the screen for updates. Distance between cars was not shown in terms of understanding the relative positions on the track.

FOX has every right to present these races in the style that the network chooses. The network owns the rights, sells the ads and has been actively involved in NASCAR for ten years. The results of this style of overall production should be apparent from the TV Police comments below.

We invite you to offer your race wrap-up comments on the FOX coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Las Vegas. To add your opinion, just click on the comments section below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

84 comments:

w17scott said...

Mr Editor -
Citizen's arrest ...citizen's arrest ...Fox impersonating a usual ESPN broadcast ...guilty as charged
Walter

turbojunker said...

I sure can't wait for ESPN to get the races. Oh wait, they suck too.

Bucky Butler said...

The broadcast sucked from the start. They tried to set a story of Jeff Gordon. Didn't pan out. Matt Kenseth, snake eyes. Even a Marcos Ambrose call. Good run but uneventful. Didn't mention JPM 'til 50 to do. A man wasn't out of the top 5 all day. Tony? Tony who? The pictures sucked, the commentary sucked and the reporting sucked. On top of it my racing radio station doesn't carry PRN this year.

James said...

I just have issues with this continued lack of photographic direction. We have great racing and it is wasted on replays and commercials. You can get a better flow of a race watching it rerun during the week on a number of NASCAR shows, OH that is the REAL PROBLEM

OSBORNK said...

I tuned in to see a race but I didn't see one. The TV coverage should show the race you would have seen if you had been there. Nobody that goes to a race sees anything they show on TV. If TV doesn't show the race, who would want to go to a race? Watching a race on TV is like watching through a telescope.

Sally said...

After an exceptional telecast from ESPN yesterday, the mess from Fox today was expecially disappointing.
Did anyone cross the finish line but Carl Edwards? If you can't see the cars in relation to each other on the track, there is NO sense of watching a race at all. They have been lucky so far, having unexpected results pique interest in Nascar has lead to a mild ratings bump. If they continue to provide incoherent broadcasts, this won't last long. They definitely need something different. Mike Joy did his best to try to cue the cameras, but was ignored. A huge disappointment.

Anonymous said...

Sarcasm on
Wow it should have made news -all the other cars wrecked right? Thats why no one else crossed the start finish? Right?
Sarcasm off

Thank you for all your work on here JD & the laugh! Great photo and so appropriate for today...
I turned Fox off at lap 107 & returned a few times for replays and watched the last 12 - PRN gave me more info than Fox

BTW are you as amazed as we are here - DW can't make up his mind who to cheerlead for yet he can read drivers minds while they are racing. Really?
Probably not in reality

Roland said...

It was a decent broadcast. From a technical aspect Fox is unrivaled. The Audio and Video are superb, as are the graphics. The pre race show has slumped since Daytona but its still better than years previous. The slow motion camera is awesome. Need to find out why Larry Mac is muzzled. Management must not like his Anglish. Overall I give today an A- and I give PRN a A+. Enjoyed their commentary today.

Won't participate in the live blogging at Bristol. I got me some tickets and Im gonna go have a good time.

Anonymous said...

Fox was at a NASCAR race track and had cameras' announcers, production people. I am hoping that one day they will actually show us the race!! Why take all that equipment around and not show us anything?

One last thought on DW... Shut UP! You have no idea what Trevor Bayne or any other driver is thinking in the car if you and Larry Mac think you do you are wrong..

Anonymous said...

I'll repeat what I said in the live chat. This is hard to take. As a fan if the sport, it is painful to watch the sport presented like garbage. FOX presented this race like a practice session, hopping from car to car to tell a story and move on. Tight shots and in-car cameras robbed viewers from experiencing many race changing events live. FOX had to resort to replay again and again. I changed the channel about a third of the way through. When I turned the race back on with 15 to go, nothing changed. FOX showed Edwards win and blew off the rest of the field.

Mike Joy and the pit reporters were the only productive part of FOX today. It's heartbreaking to see the complaints of so many fans ignored by FOX.

Anonymous said...

Overall, I felt the race(?) was a yawner. Any of us that have attended a Cup race know the comittment in terms of time,travel and cost. The question I often ask is "Would you pay and travel to see that race?" Definitely not today. Way too many tight shots on tv.No on-track passing,etc. Much too much mindless chatter in the booth. Just call the race! I have a lot of respect for DW's accomplishments,but he needs to go. If you were paying the bills, would you pay Chris Myers a ton a money for his contributions? Sadly, nothing will change in terms of race coverage.Nor will the coverage on Victory Lane tonight change. Hopefully. I'm wrong

Unknown said...

what is the big deal about not showing cars at the finish? for as strung out as cars are at a track like LVMS.. i'm not gonna sit at my screen and wait 10 seconds for these guys who have not been in contention all day finish the race. I don't even care if it's my favorite driver, i'll just look up at the ticker. Please someone explain...

slander q. libel said...

Hey Fox, you might want to let your paid internet marketers know that they need to tone it down some.

Obvious astroturfer is obvious...

slander q. libel said...

@Joel:

Er, how much of the race did you watch? A number of the top finishers were in contention for much of the race.

Regardless of that, to focus on only the winner, and not pay any attention to any of the others does a major disservice to those drivers' fans, along with racing fans in general.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Joel, can we get your comments on the race coverage please?

Fans of Ambrose, Montoya and Junior may perhaps feel slightly differently on this topic.

You understand the race is not over when the leader crosses the line, right?

Thanks,

JD

Unknown said...

I watched the whole race, and watch almost all the races every season.

My only consistent complaint is the camera work, i refuse to watch pre race because I feel i am informed enough of what is going on.

My point is that.. nobody really had a chance to beat edwards or stewart once kyle busch wrecked. the drivers who were in contention got the airtime they deserved and at the end the airtime should be most deserved to the winner.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Thank you for the follow-up.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I don't know how anybody can follow races without a laptop in front of them. Without Trackpass I'd be totally lost. With it, I see exactly what FOX is missing. The races behind the leader, a driver who is hot after a pitstop...yet FOX never shows these things. But let's not give NASCAR too much credit for Trackpass. With their 2011 upgrade of Raceview I can no longer use it on my Dell E1505 laptop. I've had a ticket open with support since the Shootout and finally called them today. Spent 30 minutes on hold before a super helpful tech came on. Great guy, but he told me he's heard from a lot of XP users and finding many people can't use the Virtual Video because their machines need a minumum of 2 gigs of RAM. So I just spent 40$ to upgrade my machine just so I can follow the race better. To NASCAR's credit they did give me 2 months of Trackpass free to compensate me. But between NASCAR and FOX they make it really really hard to follow this sport and it just shouldn't be that way.

Unknown said...

Another thing... it really isn't a big deal to me that a driver made a pass out of the last turn to finish 6th or whatever it may be. To me, they're just one of the 42 cars that did not win.

Fireman17 said...

Camera work when a wreck happen it takes fox 10mins it seems to find the car!! DW needs to retire from calling races IMHO.. If fox don't do some changes soon ill stop watching them on fox and just catch Nascar Now and Race Hub to see who won and stats on race..

fbu1 said...

Considering the very low level of expectation, IMHO it was OK coverage. They missed a top five Ryan Newman interview, but they did get the top four.

My big complaint remains: the cars outside the "big names" only get mentioned if there is an accident. It is not fair coverage for at least 30 drivers and their sponsors every week. No wonder it is so hard for some teams to acquire sponsorship.

I still believe that the, at best, mediocre coverage from NASCARS broadcast partners lies at the feet of NASCAR executives. Without minimum guidelines, the TV folks just take the path of least resistance. It really is pathetic, but the fans are powerless.

slander q. libel said...

Hit the broadcast 50 laps into the race (sometimes I like my snooze-bar a little bit too much...), so I missed out on the (usually) hyperbolic pre-race activities. No big loss there, as far as I'm concerned.

I took around another 50 laps or so before I could kinda-sorta get a handle on what was going on. It's not that I was even slower on the uptake than usual, but that (as usual) there was no real flow to the broadcast.

Non-stop jib-jab about everything but the racing on the track.

Constant spastic, MTV-style (when they used to actually play music videos) fast cuts.

Single-car shots. All. The. Time.

Focus on just a few booth-monkey favorite drivers, instead of covering the field overall.

That's my short whine list.

Around 35 laps to go, DHS cut off my stream, so I switched to one of my backups, an SAP stream from Spain. Big contrast. They used the Fox cameras and sounds feed, but no booth monkeys. It felt as if I were watching a pre-2001 ESPN 'cast.

The announcers actually talked about the racing that was happening in front of them. And, wonder of wonders, there were times when they didn't say anything - they just let the racing speak for itself. Quite refreshing.

I do believe I've found my primary stream...

Anonymous said...

@ Joel - The whole point of a race is to get to the finish line ahead of your competition. Edwards may have gotten there first, but everyone else still has to cross the line to lock their position. Who knows if there will be a spin, wreck, tire or part failure as they battle to the finish?

Vicky D said...

I agree with Bucky why didn't FOX mention JPM til near the end of the race? I was "watching" the live leaderboard but that doesn't show where in relation to the leaders are the lapped cars. Therefore it was difficult to follow the broadcast and my favs. Looking forward to Bristol.

PammH said...

Missed pre-race (had errands to run). Listened to first few laps on TV, then switched to PRN. "watched" the race thru twitter, JD's blog & radio. Everytime I looked at screen, it was an in-car, bumper cam or a single car camera-I KNOW there had to be some passing thru the field. People moved positions.Post race wasnt bad, except I heard Jr was interviewed but it never aired. Again, very few cars seen crossing the finish line. I wish I didn't have to multi-task to "watch" a race, but w/the Fox broadcast, it's necessary...:( Grade from me D+, which is NOT a passing grade...LOL at myself!

larry said...

I must admit I didn't see much of the race after the first few minutes. I muted the TV and got my race info from the internet. Foxtrax and Daly Planet and Twitter were my sources of race info. The TV broadcast was worse than worthless.

Sophia said...

JD

I think we need a photo of Barney Fife since that's about as much respect Fox/NASCAR gives the fans these days.

Camera work stank. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

@w17scott

Just saw your Citizen's arrest comment as I edited. Both of us thinking like the Andy Griffith show..Barney or Gomer..same thing:)

p.s. The WASTED RUBBISH of XMO on Carl's back flip was another shark jump. But by now, shark jump has lost it's meaning with the Broadcast.

More like the broadcast has gone CHARLIE SHEEN with their narcissism of thinkg they know best how to Direct a race. Um, Fox&NASCAR? You ain't winnin' fans.

DewCr3w88 said...

Where to start? Are the camera crews the same for fox and ESPN? The tight shots are unbearable, I dont have a 50" 1080p widescreen to watch one car on the screen.

As per usual, if you dont follow twitter or have the scanner good luck finding out whats going on.

And speaking of nascar.com, many including myself cannot get the virtual video to work on the new raceview!

DewCr3w88 said...

Also-

I enjoyed Mike Joy saying that Jr was talking about taking fuel only on the last run, not once was that even suggested on the 88 radio

Karl said...

I thought the telecast was decent. However, like the telecasts on other stations Fox misses other things happening on the track or what's happening with other drivers. They have to focus on the big names and occasionally mention some of the no so big names.

I don't have trackpass. There are times when I wish I did but I rely on Twitter to provide me race updates which I find beneficial. However, it would be nice if these stations would cover everything that's happening in the race.

Sometimes the the pre and post race shows don't even cover every thing which I find disappointing as well. I think the bottom line is TV will never satisfy us with what we want to see. There are options available online that can keep us updated.

DewCr3w88 said...

Karl, its 2011 they can keep us satisfied.

If they can keep wide on an NHL game and pan with the play rather than zoom all the way in on the puck carrier why cant the same standard be applied to Nascar?

GinaV24 said...

Mike Joy did a good job of calling the race. That's the only positive comment I have about today's broadcast.

If it hadn't been raining this afternoon, I wouldn't have even bothered having the race on after the first few laps because the TV offered very little information on the race. During the numerous commercial breaks, I watched The Mummy Returns since it was more interesting than the commercials.

Numerous tire failures and we got the usual tripe of "too much camber", la, la, la - whatever. LOL - the veriword is spin dr! Describes DW & Larry to a T.

As you say, Fox has the right to broadcast the races this way and as a viewer, I have the right to turn it off.

starrcade76 said...

To me the tracks like Vegas sometimes tend to be boring events. When Fox would use a track-level shot for extended time, it seemed to show the field was often strung out. Which makes it tough to show 6 cars on the screen together if it just isn't happening that way on the track.

Only showing the winner crossing the finish line doesn't bother me. If cars are battling to the line I will say it would be nice to see their finish. But I wasn't live at the track either, to say whether or not we missed out on any close finishes.

After last weeks race and comments I went you Youtube to view NASCAR finishes from years back. And in most cases I saw, the finishes were handled similar to how they are now. With the winner crossing the line and cuts to the pit crew celebrating and the driver's excitement in the car. These were races on CBS, ABC, ESPN, etc.. in the 80's and 90's. So it isn't like this is some new thing Fox has cooked up.

I can respect if people don't like the finishes shown in this manner. But history shows it is nothing new.

Daly Planet Editor said...

starrcade,

While I appreciate your comments, I worked at ESPN in the 1980's. It was very important to us to let the field race to the line.

The winner is only one car finishing. His crew will be jumping around after the 30 seconds or so it takes to show the field finish at even the biggest ovals.

Racing to the line is the most intense lap of the race, regardless of the distance between cars. Fuel, tires and motor are all issues on making the distance.

Because cars are not side by side, the drivers do not simply coast across the line.

In the current NASCAR points structure, it is vitally important to get every point possible. For that reason alone, the cars on the lead lap should be shown racing to the finish IMHO.

JD

Anonymous said...

We have noticed for a few years now that you can complain all you want but it is very obvious that no one is listening.It is an extremly rare instance to here anyone say anything complimentry about DW and yet you have a nit at Fox sports named David Hill who thinks DW should be used more in their broadcasts. We have found that in order to watch the races and try to keep our sanity it is best to mute the tv sound and listen to the race on PRN. It's not fair to the tv advertisers but if they too cannot see how we are being chased away then so be it.We also find that when you are not being annoyed by the silly comments from the Fox booth then everything takes on a more professional look.

KoHoSo said...

Las Vegas was going to be the first of my radio-only races for the Fox portion of the season but circumstances did not allow it. So, I have just now finished watching what I could stand of the race off of my DVR.

1. Nice efforts at times by Mike Joy to take a cue from what is happening in the Middle East and try to take over from the dictatorial control of the Fox director. I wish that Mr. Joy had not stormed out of here however long ago it was now because I would love to remind him that Mubarack did not fall after just one protest so he needs to keep it up.

2. Larry McReynolds almost needs to have his picture put on the side of a milk carton. He has become almost invisible and, when he does speak up, gets overrun by DW's useless and uninformative babble.

3. To paraphrase the Internet meme that usually features Tom the cat of Tom & Jerry...if I see that [expletive withheld] tight camera shot one more time... >:-(

4. Based strictly on personal obseration...we long-time fans keep watching this trash because we know what is really going on even though we are not getting to see it. However, that is not the case for new people that might be taking an interest in NASCAR. With the type of coverage Fox offers, it is not surprising how much of the younger generation scoffs at NASCAR being boring and nothing but a parade of cars turning left. That is exactly what they will continue to think as that is all Fox shows to them so they can never know any better.

5. As for the man that is ultimately responsible for allowing this joke trying to pass as a sports telecast to continue to devalue the many years of excruciatingly hard work by his father and grandfather, I am truly starting to wonder if it is now so bad, so derelict, and thoughtless that there is a much hotter place than Daytona Beach being prepared for him to stay someday. >;-)

Anonymous said...

"Racing to the line is the most intense lap of the race, regardless of the distance between cars. Fuel, tires and motor are all issues on making the distance."

this just isn't true by any stretch when talking about a race like today. the vast majority of positions have been decided already... most of the drivers are taking it easy on the final lap of todays race.

would prefer to see boxes of the checkers for the field, and the 99 team celebrating. that'd please everyone, no?

Anonymous said...

Broadcasting an auto race is such a tough thing to do.......no matter what you do you cant please everybody.....case in point today my gf likes the 48 and said why arent they talking about him alot today....i said look wheres he running, hes getting coverage that he deserves today enough to tell ya why hes back there and when he moved up......dont know why you guys want wide shots. Wide shots of what? Single file spread out? Wide shots were used when action dictated

Terry G said...

I think Mike Joy did as good a job as he can do, considering how he's saddled with the two blathering idiots in the booth with him. I love Mike, I think he's one of the most knowledgeable, and fun to listen to guys in the business. But I really feel sorry for him with the situation he's in.

One more fail for Fox...tight shots, bumper cam, changing cameras every nanosecond, makes it hard to watch.

The God-awful crawl across the top of the screen is almost impossible to read, and as JD said in the live chat earlier, our complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Which isn't surprising, considering that Fox hasn't ever listened to what we want.

And since where I live, I can't get MRN, I'm stuck with crappy TV coverage. Here's an idea..keep Mike Joy, Dick Bergerren (sp), Matt Yokum. Dump everybody else, and go back to basics. Go watch the coverage from the 80's, and see how it should be done.

Very disappointing coverage as usual.

Anonymous said...

I thought the race coverage was...um, OK... with a couple of exceptions.

It galled me to not see anyone but the 99 cross the finish line. They should have a camera trained on the finish line and lock it down there. At the very least, the top ten should be shown. There's plenty of time after to show the winning team celebration... even if you have to use tape.

On several occasions I was left wondering if Fox had left much of their camera gear in the hauler. There were a number of wrecks that they showed from waaaaay down the track. Couldn't they have posted somebody with a handycam in each corner? Maybe they should dig up digger and plant him on a corner wall... along with 4 of his friends, one for each corner and one at the flag stand.

The ticker... darn thing. Either leave it up or take it down but for crying out loud, make up your mind. IMHO, it should stay up all the time... including during commercials but I'm not gonna hold my breath for that.

This wasn't the worse race I've ever seen but it sure wasn't the best either.

Vince said...

Unfortunately my local radio stations dropped MRN/PRN this year. The station I've been using on the Internet doesn't broadcast PRN races. So I was stuck with the Fox gang today. What a mess.

I don't really watch the pre-race any more, so I'll not comment on that. Not a fan of the HH.

What I saw today was a lazy Director and a lazy production crew. It is easier to show extremely tight shots, bumper cams and in car cams than it is to actually show us what is going on during the race. Hey, just show tight shots and let the boys in the booth blab. What a concept!

In the effort for full disclosure let me say I've had some health problems the past month involving vertigo. But I though I was getting better until I tried to watch the race today. By the end of the race I had a headache and was dizzy. All I saw was endless tight, very tight shots of one car at a time. And the camera would never stay on a car for more than a few seconds. No flow with the camera direction what so ever. It was all over the place.

I sent a tweet to a long time Nascar writer, who I really respect. I don't want to get him in trouble, so I won't name him. He was in the press box or media center I'm not sure which, but the race broadcast was on where he could watch it. Here's his comment after I'd told him how hard the race was to follow on tv. "I agree. I'm watching both live and tv, and tv keeps missing the story....lazy coverage imho".

I know Artie K. was the director today. I really like his work on the Fox NFL broadcasts, but Artie you should be ashamed of what you did to today's broadcast. There was absolutely no flow the the broadcast. If I didn't have Twitter and the leader board on the Nascar.com web site I wouldn't have known what was going on.

The good.....the pit reporters, but they were under utilized. I also really like the super slo mo shots. Really cool. And I think Mike Joy at least tried to tell the director where the action was today.

The bad.........all the rest. Too many tight shots, too many bumper cams, too many in car cams, too many digger shots. Too much jumping from one car to the next. And what we saw at the end of the race was a joke. I've been to more races than I can remember, but they all had one thing in common. The last 5-10 laps are brutal! The drivers are bumping and banging and racing their asses off for every spot they can get. For Fox or anybody else not to show that at the end of the race is a disservice. I know that the cars get strung out on the 1.5 mile tracks, but at the end there is always racing going on. The director just needs to show it. Don't concentrate on the leaders if they are not racing each other.

I'm just really, really disappointed with what I saw (or didn't see) today.

Vince said...

Oh yeah, I forgot to add one thing. Did Fox catch any of the wrecks today live? All I remember is replays. Come on man! Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while.

Anonymous said...

I thought the broadcast was actually really good. Vegas is such an AWFUL track with very little passing and I think a lot of people are blaming Fox for what was nothing more than a parade. You can't manufacture excitement when the track isn't giving you anything to work with. Or as my uncle always says, you cant polish a.... well, you get the point.

And I agree that showing the top 10 finish isn't necessary. Especially when they are so strung out. All I ever hear is "more emphasis on winning." Well, there you have it.

I wish NASCAR would spend less emphasis on "going green" and more on fixing the aerodynamics so cars can pass. Even Kyle Busch said that once you got within 5 car lengths you couldn't close on a guy. You can't blame Fox for that, although from the comments it seems everyone wants to.

Anonymous said...

I hate the position ticker. Couldn't they just fit 43 numbers up there and swap the order real-time? Nothing worse than looking at the ticker as 13th place scrolls by and having to wait forever for it to come back around to the leader. One great thing about being at the track is being able to look at the position tower and instantly see where any car is. Can't Fox replicate that?

Anonymous said...

I tuned in and out from college hoops all afternoon.
FOX is just so UNinspired! Forget passes for position back in the field-as long as Digger gets airtime .
Bray

MRM4 said...

Another typical Fox broadcast. Missing accidents called by the booth, switching from an actual battle for position to showing a car up front running all alone, and not enough follow-up information from the pits.

Larry Mac has been off with his analysis and being able to predict what's going to happen. Just like last week with Stewart taking 2 tires and missing a chance to win the race when a caution comes out, they missed it this week when Edwards only took tires on the final pit stop. Anyone who's ever watced racing for any length of time knew Edwards was going to come out ahead of everybody else. That point was missed until all the pit stops had finished. Then Larry Mac kept going on about a 2-tire stopped hurt Stewart last week. The two situations were entirely different.

GinaV24 said...

KoHoSo -- excellent points!

Anonymous said...

Lets add more fun to the mix, Fox announcing this week DW extended till 2014 when their contract is up. Are the networks trying to lose viewers so they can rebid at a lower price?

Anonymous said...

The Darrell Waltrip Show yesterday was pretty good. Mike Joy named the drivers in the still pictures of race cars as they were shown one at a time on the television screen, while Darrell Waltrip told old stories from his youthful years spent driving a race car. For me it harks back to a time when I could tune in a tv channel and watch cars race each other for the win.

Anonymous said...

Thought the FOX coverage was the worst in a long time. They think the know how to do Sports on TV because they Own alot of Sports on TV. Certainly does not mean they know how to do it correctly. We have gotten the worst NASCAR coverage in the History of the Sport. Think about Fox started 2007 with an awful production team, then ESPN adopted the producer from FOX and the problems continued. Now a opportunity for a new start from ESPN and they are doing a fantastic job. Time for a change at FOX.

saltsburgtrojanfan said...

Fox should be ashamed for putting on these horrible broadcast these past couple weeks. I know JD, Fox own the rights to the broadcasts and they can present it the way they want to. But the viewers are their customers and the networks should satisfy their customers(viewers). Nothing angers me more than businesses not caring for their customers and choosing quantity over quality.


As always my fellow planeteers great comments.

Anonymous said...

I just can't believe the people calling for Vegas to be the season-ender.
Except for the ending, there was nothing to show on long runs. Strung out cars just logging laps.
I will leave the weekend with the image of Mark Martin's Nationwide crew celebrating after that win.
That image of pure, unadulterated joy is what I watch racing to see.

52 yr. fan said...

I was watching on Hot Pass and
enjoying their driver's audio.
Once I did see a tire loose and and what appeared to be a 99 crewmemeber chasing it. Can anyone clarify what happened. Penalty?

Great column JD. You've got portray Barney and his bullet exterminating the rodent

Daly Planet Editor said...

52yr old fan,

NASCAR responded to my question on that issue immediately.

They said TV only caught the end of it. The tire did not cross the outside line of the pit box, meaning the line between the box and passing traffic.

My take is the tire did not roll into an occupied box, was not lost on purpose or left behind and so the inspector in the pit did not feel that there was any kind of penalty involved.

JD

Jeff said...

I've found that if I wait and tune in about 90 minutes late, I can rewind the DVR t the start and fast forward through the stupidity and endless, repetitive commercials, even starting that late I caught up to the live broadcast with 50 or so laps to go. Heck of a way to watch a race, but I'm in a better mood when it's over!

That said, somebody tell Larry Mac we know how the new fuel system works, shut up about it. I really loved when DW was telling us how Trevor Bayne was sailing around everyone on the high groove while the camera showed him being passed by Harvick and Burton, the next lap DW's telling us how Trevor decided to follow them, I purposely avoided all practice, qualifying, anything NA$CAR all weekend except the race to try and avoid DW overload, didn't work.

Daly Planet Editor said...

From Lou D. at FOX Sports: Las Vegas 400 (Cup Race) posted a 5.3/11 overnight on FOX, +29% over last year's race (4.1/8).

Anonymous said...

DW has jumped the shark - he's fine in small doses, but, like nails on a chalkboard for an entire race!

Betty said...

I don't think that FOX understands what race watchers want to see...they show what they want to see..so I so other things while the race is on...If I just sit & watch the TV I fall asleep, even if my driver is doing well...

PammH said...

I've even had to stop watching TS because of DW & I LUV SB on there! So hearing that DW's re-upped just has me shaking my head. But someone must like the broadcast-up 29%.

larry said...

About the +29% from last year's viewership...are they counting those of us who DVR just in case there is something to see? I DVR and usually delete the recording...or I fast forward through the commercials.

Sponsors can't like that we don't watch the commercials or the continuous infomercial that is hyped during the race. I choose not to watch because of the coverage, but it IS recorded so I can judge any controversal incidents.

Daly Planet Editor said...

Take the ratings update as information only.

There is no other TV outlet to see the race. Our conversation about the actual coverage content is not related to the ratings.

Folks tune in because of the athletes and the storylines. No one shows-up to hear the announcers or because of the nice camera coverage.

It's absolutely great that the drivers have put on a show that is bringing some viewers back.

Polishing up the TV to match the quality of the racing would be great bonus.

JD

Dot said...

Why can't they show at least the lead lap cars cross the finish line? I'm sure there is some good racing going on among those in Xteen spot trying to get that one more position.

That's just one of my pet peeves. The comments from the other Planeteers covered the rest.

Anonymous said...

Last year's Las Vegas Cup Race was head to head with the USA vs Canada Gold Medal Hockey Game. That may have something to do with the ratings increase.

Newracefan said...

I just told a friend I would go to a Basket Bingo game on Sunday the 20th, it will cost me money and I never win. Do I really need to say anything else

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with Pam H. TrackSide was a favorite at our house before they allowed DW to take over and ruin it. I find that people who think they know it all are really annoying to those of us who do. Keep up the good work JD. As usual,great columns.

Marylee from Richmond said...

I was very frustrated with the race coverage - especially the missed incidents. Either in tight focus, or in a LONG commercial break. The last straw wasn't FOX's fault, however but our local weather situation. We didn't get to hear most of the post-race interviews because we were getting local voice-over warnings of tornado watches! Nothing developed but some wind, but of course the local station didn't run any sort of replay of the interviews. I especially wanted to hear Tony, but so it goes.

KoHoSo said...

I greatly fear that the news regarding such an upswing in the ratings -- no matter how far down they still are from the early years of Fox's coverage -- means that we are doomed to more of the same. I know for sure that's how Fox is going to spin it no matter whether or not they are not going up against the Winter Olympics this year.

Oh well. I guess it's OK if more people are enjoying what Fox is doing with NASCAR. I thought that my age of 45 was still a little young for this type of reminiscing, but I guess I will just have to be glad that I enjoyed so many of "the good old days" of racing coverage on television just like when one really got service at the service station and calling the local bank or utility company resulted in being able to speak to a live person with an intelligible accent.

I will still stick around here to commiserate with those that think along similar lines. However, when it comes to expecting Fox to improve, I think I'm finally ready to give up.

saltsburgtrojanfan said...

KoHoSo very nicely said

The old days were good. Life was good and as the new millenuim turned quantity over quality rules the day now.

Fox will never change. Ratings increases only worsens the problem. Maybe we are just asking for the impossible, i suppose

DewCr3w88 said...

And even if viewers are up because Dale Jr is getting it together and Jeff Gordon found victory lane again- doesnt mean that we should still have to just be along for the ride with the tv coverage.

Every sport does all they can to give us atleast respectable shots of the action happening regardless of who is watching

Its presented to us as if they would be ok broadcasting a baseball game zoomed in on the baseball in the pitchers hand and not showing us the catchers signals and the batter in the box waiting for the pitch.

Or if we zoomed in on the quarterbacks head and not remaining panned out on the formation and people in motion before the snap in football

bowlalpo said...

The whole telecast is handcuffed by sponsor requirements. In each segment there is some kind of sponsor obligation that takes away from the flow of the telecast. It's true in other sports, but exponentially more obvious (and onerous) in NASCAR.

Slightly OT...the passing of Frank Chirkinian on Friday made me reinvigorate my opinion that golf telecasts will never be better than they were in the Ayatollah's era...because of the new toys and golf's own sponsor obligations (the Bizhub swing analysis, the Cialis Tournament Summary, etc.).

I know the sponsors pay the freight, but they get in the way so much that they cause us longtime viewers to tune it all out. Since I was out most of Sunday, I set my VCR on the KyBu Hotpass channel and ducked in to switch to Dale Jr. later on. I got the best (that I could) of both worlds, but RaceBuddy would have been so much better.

The other problem is HD. TV seems to think that since we have HD, "we MUST make it look dramatic." But they go overboard and take the Daffy Duck route..."a close-up you jerk...A CLOSE UP!!" HD isn't NEW any more; we want to see the battles on the track!

I don't think Artie Kempner is any better or worse than Bob Fishman, but all Fishman had to do was show the race, cue for a commercial every 7-10 minutes, and then occasionally come out of commercial with an upcoming program promo. With the current state of things, we have to put up with the sponsor crap, and it's amazing (and mandatory) that they squeeze it all in. I don't like it, but it's here to stay.

Anonymous said...

DW is great. grubb made bad call. grubb made good call. grubb made bad call. all within 7 minutes. i hear he is up for the weather job in charlotte during the off season.

Anonymous said...

Anon March 7, 2011 1:39 AM, I agree with everything you wrote. This race was a snoozer and there were barely much passes going on. This COT still needs help aerodynamically. I thought Fox had little to work with because drivers just couldn't pass.

Daly Planet Editor said...

From Jeff Gluck of SBNation on Twitter this afternoon:

DW isn't going anywhere and he isn't going to change (a new deal only encourages his broadcasting style), so if it annoys you, tough luck.

While enough fan opinions/complaints may move #NASCAR to make decisions, TV networks are not interested in fan input on who's in the booth.

saltsburgtrojanfan said...

Well Jeff gluck is the biggest idiot known to man. I lost all respect i have for him, which was little to start with.

Chadderbox said...

I agree with Gluck that the Networks don't care what we think about who is in the booth. I also agree that DW will not be changing his behavior anytime soon.

Yesterday after the last pit stops were made, DW said Grubb made the call of the race (I took that to mean the winning call). He repeated that opinion to some degree or another as the last 20 laps wound down. Later, Carl Edwards won the race!! I guess Bob Osbourne didn't make the right call. Right DW?
After the race DW then made it clear that Grubb made the right call to get Tony Stewart track position. DW is behind whoever he thinks is going to win the race. When they don't win the race he is all of sudden behind whoever won the race, like he knew it all along. Why does he do this? He looks like a doofus when he does this.

Chadderbox said...

I Don't understand why Gluck is an idiot? He made a statement about the networks didn't he?

saltsburgtrojanfan said...

That's the problem, We accept things that are mediocre when we should expect the best. Even from TV viewing.

Heres something that is so true as day.

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you’ve got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn’t you like to get away

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

sbtf

52 said...

JD, Thanks for the 99 tire update.
Makes sense to me, although I do
believe NASCAR has gotten a little
lax on the tires must be accompanied all the way to the wall.

Thanks again for all your work.

Anonymous said...

We only have TNT coverage for six weeks? How long do we have to wait for that? At least they listen to what the fans want and deliver on some of it. Fox and ESPN are just downright depressing with their poor coverage. They did a horrible job at LVMS.

tonybct said...

A couple of things, hope I'm not off-point, but I really had a good lugh when the race was over, within minutes the PRN announcers said their next task was to go to the Fox booth and grab their left-behind snacks, it doesn't surprise me that olll DW would rush out as soon as the camera is off, but I would be surprised that Mike and Larry would hotfoot it out of there,seems like they can't wait to get out of there, the other thing, as lousy as Fox's analysts and telecasts are, and by and large ESPN's also, I'm 56 years old, which meant that for a kid in CT. most of my race coverage was the five to ten minute segments on Wide world of sports, so I am constantly happy to have the coverage we have today, I just don't know that it means we have have to settle for such unprofessional telecasts that we're subjected to,DW isn't going to change,or Larry, or Jeff or that Buffoon Chris Myers, wish there was an easy answer

RWar24 said...

The one thing that I miss terribly is this. Back in the hay-day of ESPN, there was one simple thing they did that added so much to the telecast. They would take a wide angle shot usually from turn 1 looking towards turn 4. Put a running stop watch on the leader and leave the fixed shot until the leaders came back around. It accomplished two things. You could see the lap time the leaders ran, and you saw the whole field for at least a lap or two. It was a simple thing to do and IMO adds to race coverage. Why can't things like that happen now?

Allison J said...

Great race and great coverage from pre- to post-race. Joy and company were spot on, really liked Wendy's bits, lots of storylines, and DW was fired up just the way we like it. Let's hope that the fire stays lit all season long.

cdh said...

Too bad NASCAR ruined RaceView. I need it to be able to follow the race but now it doesn't work consistently on my computer. It worked fine all last year. I guess I'll just cancel it and fast forward through all of the races now.