NASCAR's Silent Online Showdown

With only one race to go in the Sprint Cup Series for 2010, the championship has yet to be decided. It's a great scenario for a sport that has been taking some hits in popularity this season.

Behind the scenes there is another big issue that is a long way from being settled. Moments after the Sunday race from Phoenix began, there suddenly appeared a new option on the NASCAR.com website. It was a link that simply said "Watch Live."

A simple click of the mouse produced a streaming version of the live ESPN telecast. Without any fee, without any sign-up and without any fanfare the next to last Sprint Cup Series race of 2010 was available to Internet users worldwide.

To understand what is going on, two terms need to be discussed. The first is called convergence. Most of us deal with this every day, even though we might not understand how significant of an issue it is where NASCAR is concerned.

Convergence simply means that different machines can now deliver the same end product. In this case, the television and computer both provided the live ESPN signal of the PIR race. Many folks have smart phones that can provide Internet, email and social media access in a snap. Convergence is all around us.

The second term is "cord cutting." This is the revolution underway to disconnect from cable TV service and access the same content online. In 2010, the number of cable customers opting to end TV service has shaken the major system operators (MSO's) and forced cable TV networks to explore new options for distribution.

"Cord cutting" is thought to be driven by two factors. First, the recent economic downturn has forced a new set of priorities on many families and expensive cable TV service is just not a financial option. Second, the younger generation has been brought up in the land of convergence and has little patience for any video content that is not available on demand through any device.

Most major professional sports have addressed convergence by creating a multi-platform distribution package for live events. Cable TV, home satellite TV, cell phone and Internet streaming is coordinated well in advance and sold or provided as a package.

Needless to say, NASCAR is a sport that screams for Internet distribution. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are filled with all kinds of NASCAR-themed live TV programming provided by the sport's four key television partners ten months of the year.

ESPN holds the over-the-air and cable TV rights to the Chase races, but Turner Sports holds the online rights. As long as ESPN does not make it's own NASCAR coverage available online, Turner cannot stream the races at the NASCAR.com website it operates and undercut the sport's biggest and most valuable TV partner. It's been this way since 2007.

Well, last month in an effort to fight "cord cutting," ESPN made its network signal available online full time to Time Warner Cable (TWC) customers already paying for ESPN cable TV service. That changed everything for Turner and NASCAR.

The moment that the Phoenix race started on ESPN for TWC's online customers, Turner was essentially free to offer streaming as the Internet rights holder for NASCAR content. Once ESPN pushed the first online domino, the rest very quietly began to fall.

At this time, ESPN continues to provide TWC customers with an online network feed. In fact, to further address "cord cutting" issues ESPN is planning to offer paying customers expanded online and even cell phone access to multiple ESPN networks.

ESPN's actions suggest that the Homestead race should be available online through NASCAR.com in much the same manner as the Phoenix event. Hedge that bet with the fact that ESPN must leave the online door open in order for NASCAR.com to walk through.

It seems ironic that with little fanfare and no promotion a small number of hardcore NASCAR fans in the know may wind-up watching the first Sprint Cup Series season finale streamed online in the history of the sport. In a way, it's a microcosm of the season. Something so right that is being handled so incredibly wrong.

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TV Police: Sprint Cup Series From Phoenix On ESPN

It's the PIR weekend, so we pick Sheriff Joe for our TV Police cover picture this week. This was the next to last race of the season and live on ESPN from start to finish.

Allen Bestwick anchored the coverage from the Infield Pit Studio. Bestwick tried over and over again to crank some excitement into the telecast, but that ended whenever Marty Reid took over.

The infield crew of Brad Daugherty, Rusty Wallace and Ray Evernham was chomping at the bit during the race, but was forced to sit back and watch several lengthy features during the pre-race show. Any momentum was broken as fans watched the videos.

Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree were in the booth as analysts, but it's up to Reid to provide the excitement and he simply did not deliver. As we heard from Jerry Punch in the same role, Reid began to sigh deeply about one hundred laps into the race and was totally out of gas until the end.

The script for ESPN this week was the three title contenders and they followed it. Time after time, teams appeared on camera racing for position or even being lapped and no explanation was offered of how they got in that position. Kasey Kahne was reported to have gained over twenty positions after one pit stop. It was Bestwick who suggested that perhaps Kahne has missed his pitstall. He was correct.

Reid eventually surrendered any attempt to provide information before restarts on Lucky Dogs, wave arounds, pit road penalties or even the basic restart order. ESPN eventually surrendered any attempt to update anyone in the field except the three Chasers and the leader of the race.

This is exactly the type of coverage that we talked about before the Chase began. Despite the dominant performance of Hamlin, there was racing and storylines unfolding throughout the field. They were not even visited, only tolerated.

The "Up to speed" recaps done by ESPN were listless and infrequent. The reports contained nothing more than recaps of points as they ran right now. ESPN simply had a formula and they followed it to the letter.

This was perhaps the least informative NASCAR telecast in the four-year history of ESPN. There are simply no words to try and relay just how much information was not passed along by the on-air team on the telecast. Fans of drivers and teams outside of the top three in points were hung out to dry.

If this is what NASCAR envisioned with the Chase, then so be it. They can deal with the consequences of fans whose teams were never even mentioned leaving to watch NFL football. As for ESPN, they will forever be connected with the phrase "if the race ended now" for the endless fake updates on points.

You watched this race. Tell us what you thought of the TV coverage from 12 voices on ESPN for four hours. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Live Blogging Sprint Cup Series From Phoenix (2PM ET - ESPN)

This is going to be the last real example of how ESPN chooses to present the Sprint Cup Series races in 2010. The final event in Homestead is always very strange. Lots of network executives are on hand, there are extra TV programs to do and the tone is very different.

This season, despite changes in personnel behind the scenes, ESPN has clung firmly to a philosophy that has been used since the network's Sprint Cup Series coverage began. The pre-race show offers "talking points" that the telecast then follows. Regardless of the actual racing, this pre-race script is followed throughout the live telecast.

The result has been a loss of viewers for several reasons. First, the focus on fewer and fewer drivers as the Chase progresses alienates fans of drivers no longer mentioned. Second, the lack of attention to the stories of non-Chasers who are in the top ten on the track. Finally, the inability of the director to open the cameras wide and show the actual racing for position instead of focusing on drivers selected in advance.

It's not the Chase, the COT or the racing. Those are elements that TV just has to deal with in any motorsports series. Those are the rules. The responsibility of the network covering the race is simply to step back and provide an accurate view of what is going on in the event for the fans watching on TV. It sounds relatively simple.

Allen Bestwick has been a rock for ESPN since 2007. First as a pit reporter, then as a Nationwide Series booth announcer and now as the anchor of the telecasts, Bestwick is often the voice of reason. This weekend, he has Ray Evernham, Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty alongside.

The Infield Pit Studio is rather unique. Used for both Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races, Bestwick and crew are often limited to in-race recaps once the green flag falls. This season, ESPN has added a convoluted SportsCenter post-race show. This format stripped Bestwick of the NASCAR focus and inserted a usually ill-informed Bristol, CT announcer into the NASCAR telecast.

The end result is that many viewers switch to SPEED for the three hours of Sunday night programming that begins at 7PM ET every week. Had ESPN allowed Bestwick to anchor the coverage and throw to Bristol for some highlights of other sports, the results would have been much different.

Marty Reid sounds like a man who needs a break. Handling both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races during this time of the season, Reid has been struggling to keep up with the information that needs to be passed along to TV viewers. Lucky Dogs, restart orders, pit road penalties and even on-track incidents have all been sometimes lost in space.

Reid has often been caught watching the TV monitors in the booth as opposed to the action on the track. Accidents are relayed by Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree, who are once again providing most of the credible content on the telecasts. This duo has quietly cemented themselves as the foundation of the ESPN coverage.

Keep an eye out today on how tight the director chooses to shoot the cameras. Criticism is mounting and ratings are plummeting as fans at home simply don't get to see what is actually happening on the track. As we often say, when the TV coverage does not even relate to what fans hear on the MRN radio coverage, there is a big problem.

Jimmie Johnson is loved by ESPN almost as much as Carl Edwards. Last year, JJ was the focus of the final telecasts and the fan reaction was brutal. ESPN is a network that likes "hyper coverage." That is a seemingly endless focus on only one item. That item last year was the #48 team.

Tim Brewer has become almost a cult figure. Popping-up in the telecast to relate fundamental issues about tires, shocks and even fueling, Brewer's presence is often forced into the telecasts quickly after an incident. This makes Brewer's explanations of what he thinks happened often proven incorrect later when a pit reporter interviews the drivers. Talk about a no win situation.

At the end of this season, ESPN will once again evaluate the entire on-air line-up. Personalities like Ricky Craven and Ray Evernham deserve bigger roles. Meanwhile, those struggling like Reid and Daugherty may find themselves looking over their shoulders.

All of this means that this PIR event is big for many reasons. Like the race teams, a good performance today may mean an extended TV contract for some and a bad performance may mean a change for next season. It's going to be very interesting to watch.

This post will serve to host your comments about the ESPN coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Phoenix International Raceway. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.