The recent buzz about the turnaround at ESPN's NASCAR Now and the changes that network made to the TV team at the tracks has not gone un-noticed.
Fox Sports and the SPEED Channel folks have aimed their "TV sights" directly at Martinsville, Virginia. With no Nationwide race scheduled, Fox, SPEED and NASCAR would normally be the stars of the show.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, this is also the big weekend of the Barrett-Jackson auto auction in West Palm Beach, Florida. As you may remember from last year, SPEED shows a whole lot of that live. Here is a rundown of the weekend from a NASCAR standpoint.
The NASCAR on Fox production team will be handling the duties for both the Craftsman Truck and the Sprint Cup Series telecasts from Martinsville. While the Truck Series announcers will essentially be the same, the entire TV crew will be from Fox. This group will also host the Truck and Cup telecasts of practice and qualifying. Both the Truck and Cup races will be on the big Fox Broadcast Network.
Friday at 11AM Eastern Time the Truck teams kick-off a one hour practice session that will be carried live on SPEED. Because of the auction, the NASCAR action does not return until 3PM for the Go or Go Home Show. This program is supposed to recap the situation with the teams outside the Top 35 in points, but often strays back into interviews with the "stars" of the series.
At 3:30PM, the Fox crew televises Sprint Cup Qualifying that is scheduled to last until approximately 5PM on SPEED. At that time, the network continues NASCAR coverage of the Truck Series final practice.
Trackside wraps-up the NASCAR portion of SPEED's Friday with a good program scheduled for 7PM. Steve Byrnes hosts as usual, joined by Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond. This week, the show welcomes Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray. That is a lot jam-packed in a one hour live program.
Saturday, the Trucks qualify on SPEED at 10AM Eastern and then a flexible NASCAR Live program will take the network back to Noon and the auction once again.
The Trucks will race on Fox at 3PM Eastern Time on Saturday, and are scheduled in a two and a half hour broadcast window. This should be an interesting event with several storylines playing out, and the exposure on Fox will be good for the series.
The Rolex Sports Cars own SPEED at 6PM, and after a three hour race the NASCAR programming returns. SPEED puts the final Cup practice on from 9 to 10PM, and then NASCAR Performance hosted by Larry McReynolds is next for thirty minutes.
NASCAR fans should make this note. Set the DVR or the VCR or the TiVo for 10:30PM on Saturday night. The one and only Bob Pockrass will be visiting Kyle Petty and John Roberts as the media guest on Tradin' Paint. Bob is a NASCAR writer for scenedaily.com and he and Kyle are like oil and water.
This combination, when controlled by Roberts, has been one of the most entertaining on Tradin' Paint in years. Both men have strong viewpoints and very different personalities. With Mr. Roush on the topic list, it should be interesting.
On Sunday, SPEED returns at 11AM with the quirky NASCAR in a Hurry program that uses footage from the weekend to review the action on the track and on SPEED. This is an interesting program that more resembles CNN Headline News than anything else. Thirty minutes of review and then gone. Truck Series veteran Adam Alexander hosts.
RaceDay then follows at 11:30AM for two hours of live interviews and features. John Roberts hosts, and this week Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Aric Almirola will be guests. Wendy Venturini's Real Deal feature focuses on Kasey Kahne and Ray Evernham.
The NASCAR on Fox crew take to the air at 1:30PM for the Sprint Cup race, and then SPEED closes-out the evening with Victory Lane at 8PM. It certainly should be interesting to see who John Roberts, Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace get to interview after this event. Toyota vs. the rest of the field is the storyline.
There will be posts available for in-progress comments, and fans should be watching to see how the Truck Series translates to the Fox Network airwaves on Saturday.
The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. Thanks again for stopping by.
39 comments:
Thanks for posting this, JD!
I hope NASCAR fans are livid about the lack of Cup practice coverage this weekend.
It is annoying for them to only show Happy Hour on tape delay (opposite the IRL race no less!)
It certainly puts SPEED in a bind with one channel and two high-profile events.
Perhaps, someday another Fox media outlet like FX might be used to off-load some of the special programming like the auction.
JD
The only good thing about Speeds lack of Nascar coverage this weekend is that I have to work Sat and wouldn't have been able to see it live anyway. That said what are they thinking car auctions vs live practice. What?? I have watched Barrett Jackson just to catch Nascar stars (not to mention there was NOTHING else on TV at the time) but they are obviously not going to be there. I am really confused about Speeds decision. Do that many more people watch BJ vs Nascar practice. Did we have the same problem last year?
A CAR AUCTION INSTEAD OF LIVE CUP PRACTICE ON FRIDAY AAAAAAND SATURDAY????????????????? A CAR AUCTION?????????? Boy I can't wait for the drama of whether a car will sell for $100,000 or $150,000. How compelling, how dramatic, how thrilling, wooohoo! Give me a break with this crap. A CAR AUCTION??????
Screw you Speed Channel. The Nascar Channel or Speed2 can't get here soon enough.
This has a 2007 ESPN feel to it all over again. Get ready race fans, when the lower-tiered series are on the track the TV cameras are there to cover every second of the action live! But when the Cup cars are on the track.... no TV coverage for you!
What a major major major letdown.
JD, along those lines do you have any updates on whether ESPN, Speed, and NASCAR have made any agreement to get Cup Friday and Saturday morning practice sessions back on TV once the ESPN portion of the schedule starts back at Indy?
I certainly hope so, because of all of the things ESPN did wrong last year this was by far the worst. They've fixed most of their 2007 issues and they certainly better have this one fixed as well.
On a somewhat related note...
Nationwide qualifying for Texas is Thursday evening and of course there is no coverage on any of the ESPN networks...
I really don't think SPEED or ESPN care about the NASCAR fans.
I'm still shocked SPEED would show a stupid auction instead of live Cup practice. Please create a NASCAR channel or let somebody show it somewhere? It's especially puzzling this week considering the cars weren't on the track last weekend and fans have been waiting almost two whole weeks to see them.
"Perhaps, someday another Fox media outlet like FX might be used to off-load some of the special programming like the auction."
FX has highly rated, award-winning original programming, syndicated programming, and the FOX library of recent theater movies - and gets good ratings playing them at all times of the day. No way they're going to play a car auction, except perhaps in the dead of overnight (after 2) or before 7 AM. They don't do that kind of stuff in daytime or in primetime any longer. They're out of motorsports entirely and have been for a while.
Not really a FOX outlet out there that would take Barrett Jackson in non-overnight hours unless they go to the regional nets, and even then I doubt it with most college sports at full power in the spring. The other FOX nets are all too highly specialized in programming for a car auction or other car/auto related programming from SPEED to fit in.
So we're going to have to live with it on SPEED unless they go to a SPEED 2. Unfortunately.
I am really confused about Speeds decision. Do that many more people watch BJ vs Nascar practice.
Yes, they do and they also go crazy going to speedtv.com (They hit 1 million page views for the first time ever during an auction.)Sorry folks but SPEED isn't giving up the auction nor would they ever make it a lower priority than NASCAR support programming like practice. It brings in viewers. From 2007:
______________________________
"As the popularity of Barrett-Jackson coverage on SPEED has grown over the last several years, the interactive component has not only kept pace, but grown well beyond early expectations,” said Mark Mitchell, Director of SPEEDtv.com. “SPEED has turned classic car auctions into a spectator sport … and we are offering those spectators multiple touch points with the network. It's obviously a successful program at all levels of SPEED.”
More than 10.6 million viewers watched at least some of the 40 hours of live auction coverage.
Nielsen ratings for this year's coverage lifted SPEED from No. 39 vs. all cable the week prior to the event to No. 16 last week in Prime Time among Men 18-49, with several hours of auction coverage scoring better than a 1.0 household rating over the weekend.
I'm very disappointed in the lack of coverage of practices, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, because Martinsville is my favorite track. And second, because with the off weekend last week I was looking forward to a weekend chock full of NASCAR. Looks like I'll have plenty of time to get the taxes finished.
Anons 10:38 & 10:46PM,
Unlike other TV shows, the NASCAR season goes from February through November. What is shown to fans every week has been done so for many years.
Last season, ESPN chose to casually dump Sprint Cup practice even during the Chase for the Championship. That move outraged fans and showed just how much the network did not understand that the word practice did not just mean "practice." The key stories of the race weekend were unfolding and there was no TV coverage.
To move NASCAR for this auction based on ratings once again is a short-sighted decision. Three hours of the auction on a Friday afternoon instead of the continuation of ten months of coverage is wrong.
Three hours in the afternoon on FX would be right. Can you name a TV series or show that you watch on FX in the afternoon? What that network does is grind away general entertainment product and then air their features in primetime.
I pointed out last season that SPEED needs an ancillary outlet for their overlapping TV product, and this is one of the best examples we see on the schedule.
Thanks again for your comments.
JD
I cant wait for baseball season to start so I can see the pre game practice and pitcher warm ups. Then in July football starts up and we get to see al the pre game warm ups, practices, scrimmages. Or closer to home, the IRL practice and qualifying for tomorrow nights race.
Wait.
They never show that on TV.
Guys be happy you get to see any practice at all and not just the Race.
I predict the day will come when we will not see any practice or qualifying, except for hilites in the pre-race show as the networks try to fill their finite amount of broadcast time with an infinite amount of shows.
BillWebz
People actually watch cars being sold?
And people call race fans strange for watching cars drive in circles.
Hey! Who doesn't like watching fat middle aged white guys buy cars most of us could only dream of being able to afford. ROFLMAO!!
Seriously, I'm a long time NASCAR fan and I like watching BJ to see what the 60's and 70's muscle cars are selling for now. We paid just a few grand for them new back in the day. Guess I shoulda kept that '69 Dodge Super Bee I had........ :-(
Speed's in a bind. The BJ live shows probably have more viewers than NASCAR practice. But us NASCAR fans are a vocal bunch. They're in a no win situation the way it is now with only one channel. Speed2 anyone??
JD said: "To move NASCAR for this auction based on ratings once again is a short-sighted decision."
I gotta disagree with you on this one. Making programming choices based upon the shows that yield the highest rating is what networks do if they want to survive. If BJ captures more eyeballs than NASCAR then BJ deserves the air time. A network executive that bucks that logic does so at their own professional peril.
As the man said, you have to follow the money and this weekend there's more of it at BJ than in Martinsville.
I agree with Tripp. What network would give up programming that moves them from the 39th most watched cable channel to the 16th most watched?
The person who would even think of moving that type of programming to another channel should be fired on the spot.
To move NASCAR for this auction based on ratings once again is a short-sighted decision. Three hours of the auction on a Friday afternoon instead of the continuation of ten months of coverage is wrong.
Three hours in the afternoon on FX would be right. Can you name a TV series or show that you watch on FX in the afternoon? What that network does is grind away general entertainment product and then air their features in primetime.
JD, sometimes your statements make me very surprised that you used to work in television. You obviously did not work on the business side.
If a show brings in an unusual amount of viewers as "event programming", it's going to take network priority. Those kinds of Nielsen ratings that SPEED gets for Barrett Jackson don't grow on trees for a channel like SPEED. As you said, NASCAR is on 10 months a year. Qualifying is still being aired live; their commitment to NASCAR shows no wear and tear because they are not airing practice two-three weeks a year for the auction. This decision to air the auction is absolutely the right call. What ESPN did or didn't do with practice last year has no relevance to SPEED promting their highly rated event programming.
As far as FX, I believe you have said before that you don't watch much entertainment programming. It seems you're taking a somewhat superior view that anything SPEED doesn't want can be dumped onto another FOX network. I find it troubling that you would say "Three hours in the afternoon on FX would be right." You obviously are not aware of the FX network's goals and focus. It's not infomercial programming all day as you make it out to be.
The daytime and nighttime TV reruns and movies (of FOX-owned programming) on FX are there for a reason: they do well in the ratings relative to the time period and they target specific viewers. Just because you don't watch them doesn't mean others don't. Most importantly, those networks are also targeted during the day for to certain advertisers based on the usual viewers.(As is daytime programming on networks like TNT, Bravo, and VH1.) To throw a week of car auction programming in their schedule does not fit the advertising goals of those networks.
In short, moving SPEED programming to FX is not and will never happen. It hasn't happened since the Busch Series and FX parted ways.
You would do best to continue to advocate an additional auto-focused network such as SPEED2 because its overflow programming is not going to appear on FOX Business, FX, Fox Reality, or FUEL (which despite its name is an action sports network aimed at the under 34 crowd).
Guys be happy you get to see any practice at all and not just the Race.
No. Wrong standard. NASCAR is not a stick-and-ball sport.
NASCAR now has half its coverage of its top series and all of its coverage of its lower series on a stick and ball network (ESPN). It was NASCAR's choice to make that deal.
It IS going to be treated like a stick and ball sport when it comes to practices. If they can air them live or tape-delayed, fine, If not, they're not going to lose much sleep over it as long as the races air.
If you want to play with the big boys...gotta play in their sandbox. Which is the stick and ball sandbox. NASCAR fans are going to have to accept that reality until the day when NASCAR has the type of ratings and influence that could change the rules for stick and ball sports. Right now (especially with the low ratings of the Nationwide series when compared to other ESPN-aired sports which air on the network full-time), it doesn't.
This is a good time to bring up the topic of SPEED2 again.
The fact of the matter is MOST NASCAR fans just watch the race. They don't care about practice and qualifying.
Majority rules in this case. More people will watch Barret Jackson.
Anonymous said...
On a somewhat related note...
Nationwide qualifying for Texas is Thursday evening and of course there is no coverage on any of the ESPN networks...
---
Yes, it's going to get interesting because of so many live events and because baseball and Professional soccer are back in the picture with new seasons.
The Monday NASCAR Now next Monday is at 6 instead of 5:30 (it's still an hour), between Baseball Tonight and Opening Day coverage.
Thursday there is no NW qualifying coverage as anon says above, because of live basketball and live MLS soccer games on ESPN and ESPN2. Neither Thursday NW practice will be shown (on SPEED either). First NW activity on ESPN2 will be the countdown show before the race Saturday.
I think that's a clear example that NW practice/qualifying aren't going to be shown that often this spring and summer on ESPN. Just a prediction!
I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that some of the same people that say it's okay to ignore the race for 2nd place at the finish of the race to show a celebrating pit crew because "only the winner matters in NASCAR" would say practice is irrelvant and equivalent to stretching exercises and batting practice.
Some people just can't understand that NASCAR is different than stick-and-ball sports, and that NASCAR is infinitely bigger in this country than open-wheel racing. When we've been accustomed to receiving practice coverage on TV for years and then out of nowhere ESPN starts blacking out practice sessions in their first year back in town and then Speed Channel makes a ridiculous decision to show a bunch of rich old guys bidding on cars over Cup practice... while not pre-empting one second of the two truck practice sessions... you're awfully naive if you believe NASCAR fans are going to sit back and just take it.
We deserve better. And if you're one of the anonymous "fans" that claim they only watch the races and don't think practice or qualifying matters... why in the world are you even here posting on a NASCAR blog about the TV coverage of practice/qualifying??? Oh that's right, to take the Erik route and spend your time digging and searching on the Internet for message boards and blogs just for the sake of posting something that will tick off a bunch of other people and cause you to giggle as you listen to the angry responses you generate. Oh well, I guess that's a safer way to get a "cheap high" than going out and vandalizing cars and defacing buildings with grafitti or something... so I'm glad bashing NASCAR fans on a NASCAR TV blog can serve as a means for some of you anonymous posters to keep out of trouble.
A little dramatic, aren't you?
This blog covers all aspects of NASCAR TV coverage, including but not limited to practice and qualifying.
It may be a shock to you, but even some people here don't watch all the "extra" programming that goes along with the races. They may watch all three series' races and not watch anything else over the weekend. That's still about 8 to 8 1/2 hours of NASCAR per weekend -just watching the races. Believe it or not, some people only have that much time (or less) to devote per week to TV coverage of NASCAR.
Doesn't mean they don't like to read this blog and read Mr. Daly's reviews of the other programming or reading comments from others as time permits. Doesn't mean they are less devoted fans than others because they rarely watch practice or qualifying.
My point on people here not watching qualifying or practice is this.....
If you don't care about watching qualifying or practice that's your right, I understand that not all fans do.
At the same time though, if you're not watching and theoretically don't give a damn whether or not qualifying/practice is televised then there is no need to make comments like this:
The fact of the matter is MOST NASCAR fans just watch the race. They don't care about practice and qualifying.
Majority rules in this case. More people will watch Barret Jackson.
If you're not watching practice/qualifying anyway, then there is no need to defend pre-empting it unless you're either :
a.) watching the program that NASCAR was pre-empted for, which wasn't expressed in the practice-bashing statement I quoted
or
b.) trying to be argumentative for the sake of generating an angry response from NASCAR fans
I'm just saying if you don't have a dog in the fight and aren't affected one way or the other on the pre-emption, then there's no need to stir the pot and antagonize the fans that do care.
If you're a car auction viewer then fine I understand your point (just like I did with the Sebring race that pre-empted practice a couple weeks ago), but if you're not watching Speed Channel for either practice or the car auction at this time, then why comment that practice/qualifying "aren't important" and "most people don't watch them" unless you're trying to be argumentative and trying to tick someone off?
Stricklinfan82 you come off as dismissing the car auction as silly unimportant programming for rich people simply because you don't like it. You actually said "screw you Speed Channel." In your post on the other column, you said you had to leave the coverage to throw up you were so disgusted at the auction coming on. Don't you think that might tick some people off?
You expressed the opinion that you think it's unimportant, why can't someone present the view that the auction must be important to someone because Speed channel gets high ratings on it? Some of us NASCAR fans who do watch practice and/or qualifying also understand how businesses operate in today's poor economy, and don't begrudge it not airing for a more popular event. (Would it be nice to have a SPEED 2 or ESPN 3 for these shows? Yes, it would. But there isn't so we deal with it and move on.)
We are also objective enough to point out that a number of viewers don't watch Cup practice or qualifying. I didn't take those statements someone wrote that you pointed out as riling somebody up. They were opinions. Whether they were planning to watch practice today doesn't matter. Fans can say things that you don't agree with and still be fans. This isn't the "NASCAR should be on TV 24 hours a day and all posters have to echo that" site.
You don't have to have a dog in the fight to point out good business sense and let common sense guide you. Which (some) NASCAR fans do have.
Everyone is free to respond to any topic they want to respond to, not the way you want them to respond.
Strinkinkfan. When I said "The fact of the matter is MOST NASCAR fans just watch the race. They don't care about practice and qualifying. Majority rules in this case. More people will watch Barret Jackson."
I did not say I don't watch those. After talking to my friends who are NASCAR fans, they told me they are the ones who just watch the races.
One thing I have found with NASCAR fans is we are very close minded. SPEED Channel is not a NASCAR only network. They have the right to show other programming. Every weekend they devote to NASCAR, and for one weekend they devote it to something eles. There are 36 races. I think we can live without a couple of practice sessions.
IN todays day and age its not like we can't find out what is happening in practice/qualifying if its not televised. There are so many different ways to get information besides the television.
I respect your opinion on the subject. But don't tell me I said one thing when I didn't say it at all.
You guys make some fair comments. Maybe I'm too much of a NASCAR fan that I'm blinded to the point that I can't imagine another NASCAR fan saying practice and qualifying aren't important enough to be televised and being okay with the pre-emption.
If that's the case then I apologize, I obviously took your comments as coming from someone that isn't a fan and was only posted to agitate.
I was very hurt by there being no practice coverage on TV and when that's the case I guess I can only sympathize with the people that were actually in favor of dumping the coverage because they enjoy watching the car auction. When you're a third party that isn't affected by the pre-emption one way or another then I have a hard time dealing with those unaffected people telling me "it's okay that your practice session got bumped off TV, I'm not watching the auction and wouldn't have watched practice anyway so I'm not affected, but it's still perfectly okay that you lost your TV coverage of practice".
If I mis-interpreted anyone's comments I apologize. I'm obviously very passionate and when I have to stare at a blank TV screen when cars are on the track I sometimes go a little overboard.
I still don't tolerate NASCAR bashers that agititate just for the sake of agitating, but for those of you that have legitimate comments I apologize if I accidentally lumped you in with that group.
I sure hope that many of you don't run buisnesses, because they probably wouldn't make any money.
Oh no, we only get 12 hours hours of coverage this weekend, I hate Speed!!
Honestly, the people who call the auctions "boring" but want to watch practice is like the pot calling the kettle black.
I can picture a programming meeting:
SPEED Exec #1: "These car auctions have improved ratings dramtically, and the good thing is, there's another auction soon."
SPEED Exec #2: "Well, that's too bad, because we can't show it."
#1: Well, why? Are we doing special coverage of the first unified open wheel race in 12 years?"
#2: No, even better! We're showing Cup cars practice at Martinsville."
#1: Why, it's not like there racing."
#2: Well, we don't want to disgruntle the 50 fans who watch it."
#1: Seriously, the practice means nothing. They're just making laps."
#2: "Are you kidding? Also, we need to have two hours for the pre-pre-pre race show."
#1: (groans)
*they're
No problem stricklinfan82, having passion for a sport is good. Even if sometimes it leaves a person less than objective, I'm sure NASCAR still appreciates your enthusiasm and constructive criticism that is posted here.
Striklinfan, when I was talking to my friends and they said they only watch the race I was pretty shocked as well. But then I realized we are all NASCAR fans. Some of us just follow the sport a little more closely than others, for various different reasons.
Its nice to see fans that are very into the sport like yourself.
Thanks for letting us know who the guests are going to be for all of the NASCAR shows. I really appreciate it as I can never find this information on SPEED's or NASCAR's websites where you think it'd be listed.
Anywhos, I'm a little perturbed that we're not getting all of the live coverage because of the auto auction but, in a way, I'm also a little relieved because now I won't have to glue myself to the sofa for hours or tie up the DVR with recordings. I'm going to take advantage of the non-racing time and run errands, do some school stuff, see a couple of friends and get ready to make the semi-annual trip to TMS next week.
What NASCAR needs to negotiate with someone like Speed is similar to what ESPN or your regional sports network has when they run into scheduling conflicts. And that's an "alt" channel or a "plus" channel. If your local NBA team is playing at the same time your local Major League Baseball team is, they have an alternate channel available that allows both events to be broadcast and seen. Simply have an "alt" Speed channel. That way, if there's a conflict like today, all a NASCAR fan has to do is turn to their "alt" Speed channel, and there's the NASCAR coverage. Soon as the coverage ends, the channel goes dark and they don't have to worry about programming the channel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During the auction, they could run a crawl on the bottom of the screen saying that NASCAR practice (or whatever it is) is being broadcast on your "alt (alternate)" Speed Channel. If ESPN has a race run long and they need to move it someplace, simply move it to the alt Speed Channel. Once people realized where the alt Speed channel is on their cable or satellite system, they'll easily know where to go when the situation arises.
Amen mike. Absolutely fantastic post.
Per FX vs SPEED:
FX: 90.6 million U.S. homes
SPEED: 70 million U.S. homes
FX's ratings are up this year:
Theatricals including "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and "Batman Begins" recently helped boost FX's January and February 18-49 ratings by 28%-30% over a year ago.
SPEED specifically targets men age 18-54. FX targets both men and women age 18-54.
With their audience and 20 million more households than SPEED, I think the execs at FX have a little more say in what goes on their network than saying "SPEED has too many shows next week! We'll throw out our programming and take their extras because SPEED said we should."
"Thanks for letting us know who the guests are going to be for all of the NASCAR shows. I really appreciate it as I can never find this information on SPEED's or NASCAR's websites where you think it'd be listed."
Yes, thank you! I normally don't watch Race Day because we're out eating then or running errands, but I'll DVR it because two of my favorites (Edwards and Almirola) are on and Wendy's Real Deal sounds interesting. If I knew certain people would be on or certain Real Deals, I would DVR those until I got to the parts I want to see. We don't like to fill the DVR up with unknown shows, especially two hour ones. so this was very helpful.
Hey Guys,
Thanks for the nice comments about the TV information. Both SPEED and ESPN have been great in providing it to me on almost a daily basis.
They both recognize that a lot of folks cruise by The Daly Planet every day just to see what's new.
I am going to try to continue to offer the latest information on the talent and personalities on the various NASCAR TV shows for the rest of the season.
Mike, I left ESPN to start Prime Network, the company that used the Regional Sports Networks (RSN's) as affiliates to distribute national programming. As the Executive Producer of First Auto Sports Television, we created shows like the original TWIN with Eli Gold and Cycle World and the Chevy Motorsports Hour.
Our goal was just to give motorsports more exposure. Now, some 18 years later, I find it amazing that SPEED cannot figure out a way to facilitate the needs of both the Barrett-Jackson viewers and the NASCAR fans that want to watch the live action from the track.
While several of these comments today were rather biting, I let them stand so we could all see the various opinions and the one thing they have in common. Everyone believes they are perfectly correct.
This is the quandry TV execs find themselves in all the time. It is especially true when they have to present a special, like the BJA and the only way to do it is interrupt a long-running and highly successful series like NASCAR.
While the BJA gets higher ratings, SPEED survives on NASCAR year-round. That is always an interesting choice to make.
Again, thanks for all the good comments on this issue.
JD
Ok not to split hairs here but I wish ESPN or SPEED would offer more Indy racing shows to get to know those drivers behind the scenes the way we get too see LOTS OF PRE NACAR RACE.
I LOVE NASCAR but am also looking forward to the merging of OW so that in a few years, THEY can be a strong series again.
Why can't some station, SPEED or ESPN, do shows about INDY races? Just for the records, my room mate watches both and F1 and agrees, it would be fun to watch an INTERESTING pre race show of gossip and what's HAPPENING in INDY racing.
We used to both enjoy having RACE DAY on and sometimes still do but honest, TWO and three hour versions of this is too much tv in nicer weather when you need to mow the grass, water and dead head the flowers. And yes there is VCR and DVR but SOME RACES more than others we like to see LIVE.
I do NOT understand for the life of me why the car auction thing could NOT BE TAPE DELAYED?????
But I got over it and just didn't watch much on SPEED AND when I tried TRACKSIDE, the loud drunken fans made it IMPOSSIBLE for this house to enjoy.
So SPEED needs to find another way to balance things. Then again, I knwo some people who HATE ALL SHOWS, except the races?
I like to know more behind the scenes and tech stuff on NASCAR. I am not sure I care about the TIMELIENESS of the Car Auction and to delay the quals/practice for that seemed like a bad choice for me.
But it's TOUGH to be an Indy series fan, and NASCAR fan since so many 'hate' the other fans.
Kind of like I can't stand the auction but to each his/her own. :-)
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