TV/Media Question And Answer Session

It's getting down to that time of the year. Two more weekends of racing and then the whole thing starts over again before we know it.

As usual, there are lots of questions out there about the NASCAR TV partners and media issues associated with the sport. This is your time to ask them.

Here are some issues that have been asked about this week to start:

The current NASCAR TV contract runs through the end of the 2014 season. Negotiations on a new deal, possibly with new TV partners, will be done in 2012. We should know what TV networks will begin to televise the sport in 2015 by the end of next year.

There are currently no plans for NASCAR on FOX to offer side-by-side commercials or RaceBuddy for the 2012 Sprint Cup Series races.

The suggestion has been given that the Nationwide Series add a RaceBuddy application at NASCAR.com and also stream post-race interviews live from the infield media center. We will keep you posted on that one.

Wednesday NASCAR announced Kid Rock will perform his hit "Born Free" to open the Dec. 2 Sprint Cup Series banquet at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.

Click on the comments button to ask your questions and we will try to get them answered on Thursday. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

TV Ratings vs. TV Production

This past Sunday, ESPN's coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from the Texas Motor Speedway attracted 4.7 million cable TV viewers. The TV rating number attached to that is a 3.4 Household coverage rating. To most NASCAR fans, that doesn't mean a lot.

As Sprint Cup Series TV ratings trended up late this season, some folks tried to tie the network covering the events to the increase. The suggestion was that a higher rating was the result of good production of the race itself. While that might be good in theory, it has little basis in reality.

NASCAR TV ratings are simply a scientific method of trying to measure the number of viewers or households that tune-in to a live sports event. The Nielsen Media Research company is the primary source of audience measurement information in the US.

The term "Nielsen rating" is the number that results from a combination of set meters, devices attached to TV's that record viewing habits, and actual viewer diaries completed by selected households. That is a viewer diary pictured above.

The system is far from perfect. This from Wikipedia: "In 2009 of the 114.5 total million U.S. television households, only 25,000 (0.021% of the total) participated in the Nielsen daily metered system."

Click here to view the Nielsen website and get updates on the company trying very hard to use updated technology to chase more accurate ratings. Click here for an article from TV industry website Splitsider about just how off-base the entire ratings system may be in today's world.

Sprint Cup Series TV telecasts are exclusive. That means that NASCAR has delegated only one TV network for each race. In other words, the only TV choice for NASCAR fans is to tune-in to the designated network or not.

Three TV networks cover the points races in the Sprint Cup Series. FOX, TNT and ESPN combine to produce hundreds of hours of racing from venues across the country. Each network has its own approach to NASCAR and distinct style of producing sports telecasts.

FOX is over the top with hype. Darrell Waltrip is everyone's big brother, dad or grandpa depending on the age of the viewer. "Ole DW" will hype anything for money. Digger, the COT and even pothole repairs at Daytona have all received that treatment. Who can forget the many years of DW pushing the fact that Digger t-shirts were available at the DWStore.com website. All of that while the race was under green, of course.

FOX leans heavily on a corps of pit reporters and analysts who are TV heavyweights. Steve Byrnes and Krista Voda could easily interchange with Mike Joy and Chris Myers. Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond work every weekend on the NASCAR trail and earned their stripes. Waltrip's "act" works because the other FOX personalities can deliver the goods.

TNT banks on being the irreverent partner. Kyle Petty is encouraged to voice his not politically correct opinions while Wally Dallenbach is basically a NASCAR outsider. Adam Alexander is still new in his position while the veteran pit road reporters enjoy snarky inside jokes as part of the telecasts.

The Turner agenda is not about NASCAR. TNT's six races are simply a vehicle to promote the Turner cable TV networks programming line-up. Veteran viewers still cringe at Bill Engvall Show mentions and the fact that Kyra Sedgwick was The Closer is permanently burned into many brains. The racing might be fun to watch, but for TNT the goal is network programming promotion.

ESPN is a mess. Five years into the current Sprint Cup Series TV contract the lead announcer has been changed three times. The original producer was arrested, fired and never returned. The telecasts are as dry as toast and through it all Tim Brewer is still explaining that roof flaps don't let the cars flip over.

While ESPN is good at hype and promotion, this network's agenda is quite clear. It is an approach the executives call "storytelling." Topics are addressed in the pre-race show and then reviewed throughout the telecast. Rather than strictly focus on the race, ESPN continually goes back to a script it prepared and faithfully sticks to it.

These three NASCAR TV partners don't speak to each other, don't particularly like each other and are owned by major corporations in direct competition with each other. To say that a change in ratings is tied to the TV production by these three parties just does not fly.

The only storylines fans want are the ones that concern the racing on the track and the personalities of the drivers. Rivalries, feuds, danger and fast cars bring Americans to the TV set. No one cares if Joy, Alexander or Allen Bestwick is calling the lap as long as cars are at speed, the racing is good and a feud is boiling over.

The fundamental stance we have maintained since 2007 was that the role of TV in NASCAR is to simply show the viewers at home exactly the same thing the fans in the stands are watching. Click here to read the "NASCAR TV Bill of Rights" complete with some sensational reader comments.

Fans in the stands are watching the best racing on the track among the lead lap cars regardless of position. The current Sprint Cup Series TV partners have never gotten that message. FOX loves Junior, TNT loves themselves and ESPN loves Carl Edwards. It's a pretty simple equation.

The Sprint Cup Series races have been on TV since the early 1980's. The original idea was to simply point cameras at the racing and let announcers describe the action on the track. Fans tuned-in and the sport grew. Rivalries, danger and speed made the telecasts.

Today the Sprint Cup Series car, fuel mileage races and aero tracks with little passing have altered the dynamic that originally attracted TV viewers. It's a different product on the track. Tire choices on pit road have replaced the chrome horn. The race off pit road is often the key to the win.

Solid TV production is important, but ultimately NASCAR TV ratings are driven by the product on the track. That is one reason we have tried to maintain a healthy distance from the ratings numbers as they came and went over the last five years.

Holding the current NASCAR TV partners to a high standard for TV production, good information and balanced reporting is still our goal. Throw in a good product on the track and a mix like that is ripe for the return of the fan base that the sport saw a decade ago when TV ratings were through the roof.

We invite your comments on this topic. To add your comment, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Day 2 Race Wrap: ESPN in Texas

Update: Jury duty for me on Monday in Florida. Enjoy one more day of ESPN at Texas. There will be a new column up Tuesday early evening. Thanks all.

The story of Kyle Busch getting parked faded quickly after Busch silently took a seat on the pitbox and the JGR cars faded in the race. It was up to the action on the track to entertain and it was a tough sell.

Nicole Briscoe hosted a pre-race show that featured a 25 minute segment on all things Kyle Busch that was not interrupted by even one commercial break. Mike Helton appeared in the Infield Pit Studio and repeated his statements on parking Busch for the weekend.

All of the ESPN analysts weighed in on the situation. Pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch interviewed Joe Gibbs and pressed him hard on one issue. Punch wanted to know if Gibbs would fire Busch if the sponsor, M&M's, demanded it. Gibbs talked around the question, but was clearly flustered on the topic.

Once the racing began, Busch walked out to the pitbox and never said a word. In typical style for the Cup cars at TMS, once things got strung out passing was at a premium. That made it tough for ESPN to follow any of the storylines.

The "hyper-tight" coverage began around lap 20 and continued for the entire race. Rather than chase racing, the slow and deliberate discussion of one or two cars racing began in typical style. The production choice was to zoom-in on a featured car or two and talk about it. Then, move on to another framed camera shot.

Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree talked about everything under the sun but the pictures selected for them to discuss were nothing more than pre-selected topics mixed with commercials, features and promo's. It was rough to watch.

The race played out with few incidents, no major accidents and pit strategy playing the key role. Tight shots of the cars lap after lap removed the feel of speed and any perspective of where cars were on the track in relation to each other.

ESPN continues to have a great run in terms of technical issues, TV equipment and making good audio. Unfortunately, it all comes down to what the producer and director decide to let viewers see at home. ESPN has an approach and they have maintained it this season.

RaceBuddy at NASCAR.com offered a backstretch camera that provided many exciting moments in the race. Also offered was the white line that marks the race off pit road and six in-car cameras. While Michael McDowell was included, he faded from the start.

With 20 laps to go, Bestwick tried to recap the strategies unfolding on the track. The cameras just sat on Jeff Burton for lap after lap once it was revealed he was trying to nurse his fuel mileage to the finish. Even a late recap of the Chasers was framed so tight that it was impossible to tell where they were in relation to each other. Ultimately, Burton ran out and Tony Stewart won the race.

The finish line was framed with the famous "flying head" graphics swooping in as the cars ended as they started, in orderly fashion. Another fuel mileage race, this time toward the end of the Chase. A standard post-race show followed.

This post serves to host your comments about the ESPN coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from the Texas Motor Speedway. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.