TDP Has A New Fan Page On Facebook

Just when you thought it was cool to have Twitter and read TDP, things are getting even more interesting. At the urging of some friends who actually understand all this technology, we have started a fan page on Facebook.

Amazingly, in the first couple of days we have had over 525 people sign-up and many leave comments on our questions, articles and photos. Facebook makes it easy to post pictures and that has been a big request of many fans. We get tons of pictures from TV networks, program providers and media outlets.

Our goal is to give you a place to check where you can always leave a comment or see something new. Once the season begins, we will be allowing Facebook users to post photos showing NASCAR TV personalities, television equipment or anything else media related from the track and other locations. That should be interesting!

We will also offer a question of the day, video links and continually updated TV and media news. If you have not stopped by, click here to check us out on Facebook and thanks for helping with this new effort.

TDP's main blog will remain as a source for a daily column, TV listings and the "Tweets of the Day" feature. Don't worry, we're not doing anything but growing!

New TV Series Changing NASCAR Landscape

The four day event called the Charlotte Media Tour is now over. Mixed in with the team and NASCAR announcements was a good amount of TV news. Let's talk about the shows and programs that were mentioned to set the tone for 2010.

Michael Waltrip got our attention by confirming that he was the third panelist on Showtime's new Inside NASCAR series. Kyle Petty's name had been put out several weeks ago, but that information proved to be incorrect. Both Showtime and Waltrip clearly loved keeping that secret until Thursday morning.

It will be Chris Myers from Fox Sports hosting the series. Myers has a long track record of hosting studio shows on networks like ESPN and The Tennis Channel. ESPN's Brad Daugherty will also appear on the show. This is a great opportunity for Daugherty to escape the confines of ESPN's structured on-air product and engage in some spirited and opinionated conversation.

The final panelist is SPEED's Randy Pemberton. While perhaps the least well known to some, Pemberton has been connected with the sport for decades. In his previous appearances on SPEED's Tradin' Paint series, Pemberton showed that he is informed, opinionated and not afraid of anyone. Those are good traits to bring to this new series.

Finally, Showtime promises to make the series available online, through cell phone streaming and on cable television Video On Demand services. This will allow those fans who cannot or choose not to subscribe to Showtime to still access the programs. The series begins on Wednesday, February 10 at 10PM ET and runs all season long. We will pass along the streaming and VOD specifics when they are announced.

Over at ESPN, things remain almost the same. NASCAR Now will return on Monday, February 1 with the same three hosts. Allen Bestwick will anchor the Monday hour program, while Mike Massaro and Nicole (Manske) Briscoe will handle the remaining duties. The only change is that due to earlier race start times, the weekend morning edition of the show will move to 9AM ET.

Meanwhile, over at SPEED there were wholesale changes in the TV line-up. Kyle Petty will replace Jimmy Spencer on both the NASCAR RaceDay and Victory Lane programs. Petty will team with Kenny Wallace and John Roberts on both shows. Wendy Venturini and Hermie Sadler also return.

Spencer moves to a Monday night 8:30PM ET timeslot with a still developing thirty minute program titled What's the Deal? Explained to TDP as an issue-oriented talk show, SPEED wants to allow Spencer to voice his sometimes controversial opinions in a different format. More to come on this topic, no doubt.

What's the Deal? will occupy the second half of the hour that used to be filled by This Week in NASCAR. After 14 years, that series has been cancelled. SPEED felt the show had run its course.

Filling the thirty minute slot at 8PM on Mondays will be a recap version of the NASCAR in a Hurry show. This program will essentially be an extended version of "Scanner Chatter." Using video and audio captured by The NASCAR Media Group over the weekend at the races, the show will feature content not seen on the TV coverage and offer the kind of emotional behind the scenes moments NMG is famous for producing. Several existing SPEED announcers will voice the show on a rotating basis.

That makes the new Monday night line-up Race Hub, NASCAR in a Hurry and What's the Deal beginning at 7:30PM. SPEED also has several program concepts in the hopper for later in the season as well as returning the fan favorites on the weekend from NASCAR Performance to Wind Tunnel.

Over the next couple of weeks, the specifics and additional information on these shows will be made available. In the meantime, let's ask for your comments on the pending line-up of studio and news programs on NASCAR TV for 2010.

To give us your opinion, just click the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks as always to you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

NASCAR Team Owner Blasts TV Networks

Right in the middle of the Charlotte Media Tour, an article appeared on the official NASCAR.com website written by a longtime friend of the sport, Joe Menzer.

Veteran owner Jack Roush took this opportunity to pass along his ideas on who exactly is to blame for the sport's recent slump. His conclusion? Television, of course.

Click here to read the entire article on the NASCAR.com website.

Here are some excerpts from the Roush comments that we are going to discuss:

"We have not had the level of support from the TV studio box that the other sports have. I would hope that FOX and ESPN and everybody else (would) really think about what they are doing."

"The complaints have come from reporters and the media that has maybe a vested interest -- if you look at [announcers and former driving champions] Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace and all the ex-drivers and ex-crew chiefs that are out there. It's not unreasonable to say they've got some ax to grind over something that frustrated them in their careers when they were on the firing line. We need to reel that back in; that needs to be something that's not carried out front to the fans and to the public."

Needless to say, ESPN spokesman George McNeilly was quick to respond. His point was that ESPN hired five former Cup champs who were credible on the racetrack and are now credible providing commentary and analysis away from it.

Over at Fox Sports, a spokesman provided the following statement to TDP:

"Our on-air team is as passionate about NASCAR as any driver, owner, crew chief or fan, and our analysts speak their mind based on the immense experience and success they enjoyed during their on-track careers."

"The broadcast booth is not a pulpit, neither is it a mouthpiece, and FOX Sports respects that. It is place from which to describe the action and provide thoughtful commentary, which all fans deserve. NASCAR fans know their sport and they’ll know if a broadcaster holds back, and once you cross that line, all your credibility is gone."

The frustration over a lackluster season began to be pointed at the media last year after a relatively harmless interview of three TV personalities took on a life of its own. Reporter Dustin Long, the President of the National Motorsports Press Association, spoke to Kyle Petty, Larry McReynolds and Jimmy Spencer.

The three TV commentators spoke rather passionately about what they would like to see changed and how the sport could get back on the right track. Unfortunately, that was not the way NASCAR saw it. Within days, McReynolds was calling Long a liar and saying he should not be trusted.

Petty shrugged his shoulders and kept a low profile. He was suddenly absent from Twitter for months. Wednesday, SPEED announced that Spencer had been relieved of his duties on both NASCAR RaceDay and the post-race TV show called Victory Lane. Those two shows were his TV career for years.

Freedom of speech is never going to be affected on the Internet, but television is a very different story. There are only three sets of analysts who call the entire Sprint Cup Series season. They are hired by the television networks who hold the rights to show the races, practices and qualifying.

Roush may be a little odd at times, but he is a smart man. Only weeks before the season begins, he uses Menzer and NASCAR.com to fire a shot across the bow of the three Sprint Cup Series TV networks. He even called out Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace by name.

It should be interesting to see how Fox, ESPN and SPEED react as they all begin coverage of Speedweeks. A major Cup Series owner points directly at the TV coverage as causing harm to the sport and says publicly that commentators have a personal ax to grind because of their past.

Where do you fall on this issue after watching the series all last season? To add your opinion on this topic, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Comments may be moderated for content prior to posting. Thanks for stopping by The Daly Planet.