Brian France Addresses NASCAR TV Issues

This week in New York City, in addition to NASCAR Champions Week, the Reuters News Agency was hosting the annual "Reuters Media Summit."

This end of the year event gives CEO's and other senior management figures an opportunity to sum-up the performance of their company for the past season, and look forward to the future. One of the CEO's was Brian France, from NASCAR.

In both video and print interviews, Mr. France spoke about some of the television issues that have been discussed here at The Daly Planet since February. His words were actually very encouraging.

Mr. France first addressed the new NASCAR TV partner, ESPN. He began by saying that ESPN was in the midst of a "learning curve" about NASCAR on TV. He followed that up with the reason why.

"The production and fan expectation they (ESPN) have to be at is much higher than before," said France. "They are finding that out." The way that both ESPN and NASCAR are finding that out is quite interesting. France suggested that fans have become more demanding and vocal since ESPN last covered NASCAR in 2000.

France stated that he would like to see ESPN do more sophisticated graphics, more detailed commentary, and more original programming. That refrain may sound quite familiar to Daly Planet readers.

The best part of this interview is that the CEO of NASCAR is finally talking TV after a long season of silence. It seems he is clearly aware that things are not exactly the way he thought they would be in the first year of this new TV contract. That is a big bonus, when someone who is pulled in so many directions can speak to a media issue like this clearly and in an informed manner.

In continuing the interview, France addressed other TV elements in the overall NASCAR package. The next question asked was about a possible cable TV network in the future, and France was focused in his remarks.

"We have a (TV) license agreement that is with SPEED Channel, a News Corp. asset, that is in 70 million homes," said France. "We would love to expand our programming on that channel, and we are working with them to do that."

In terms of TV, Mr. France made a statement to SPEED Channel in very clear terms. The door is open to grow the outstanding weekend programming the network originated from the NASCAR tracks into additional programming during the weekdays.

In much the same way that viewers of ESPN and now the NFL Network enjoy the historic and often times humorous NFL Films presentations, the hope is that SPEED will open-up and allow additional strategic NASCAR-oriented programming in 2008.

There has been some speculation that the network has enough content to support a SPEED2 offshoot, which could perhaps continue to grow the kind of lifestyle and original programming ventures that SPEED has recently found to be so successful. There is no doubt that a strong market exists for these type of programs, and that SPEED has been one of the more successful networks in tapping into this genre.

It would have been nice if Mr. France dealt with some specifics, but that is not really his role in this equation. He has several veteran executives who oversee the TV contracts, the NASCAR TV partners, and the NASCAR Images production company.

All season long, ESPN has been fantastic in returning email to The Daly Planet for even the smaller requests about scheduling or talent assignments. There certainly have been differences of opinion along the way, but that is to be expected in a subjective business like TV.

Following Mr. France's remarks, Reuters contacted ESPN to see what they would like to add to the story in terms of their part of the NASCAR TV package. The single line in the news story about the France interview told the tale. "ESPN could not be reached for comment."

This is a shame, because it would have been the perfect time for an ESPN executive to back-up Mr. France's comments with some positive feedback about NASCAR and a commitment to return next season with an even stronger TV production team.

The countdown clock at Jayski.com says we are seventy-nine days away until the first Nationwide Series race in Daytona. This event will be produced by ESPN, and give us the first peek at the network's new Infield Studio team.

At Daytona in 2007 that consisted of Brent Musburger, Chris Fowler, and Brad Daugherty. Let's hope Mr. France's well chosen words can make a difference in 2008.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below, or email editor@thedalyplanet.tv if you wish not to be published. Please read the rules for posting on the right side of the main page, and thanks for stopping by and leaving your opinion.

Where Did You See NASCAR Drivers On TV This Week?

Apparently, the NASCAR "media tour" of NYC this week has been very busy on a lot of entertainment and news TV programs.

Readers have been sending email about lots of appearances, and I certainly need help when it comes to those types of shows. So, here is it...your opportunity to help us get a handle on the who and where and when this week in NYC.

Please post your description of what TV program you saw a NASCAR driver, owner, crew chief or whoever on this week in NYC. That will help us put together a rough survey of how the NYC media crowd treated the sport. and if the appearances helped or dented the NASCAR exposure level.

To add your comment, simply click on the COMMENT button below, and then follow the simple instructions. Please read the rules for posting on the right side of the main page and then add your opinion about "Champions Week" in NYC right here on The Daly Planet.

NASCAR Fans Are Freaking Out About HDTV

Run for the hills! The end is near! Those mean "TV people" are going to make you pay thousands of dollars to see NASCAR in High Definition next season.

Well, HDTV is always good for scary headlines in the newspapers, but for sports fans there is very little to worry about. In fact, the future of HDTV and free sports on TV is about to blossom.

Lots of questions have been coming our way about HDTV since SPEED announced it will be changing over to HD throughout 2008. Many NASCAR fans are confused about all the things that are being said and heard in the media. Actually, its pretty simple.

Let's first talk about those of you who still receive local TV stations over-the-air. That's right, you are the few proud remaining members of the "TV antenna on the roof" club. In today's world, your club is about thirteen million homes in a universe of over two hundred million TV sets.

Your local TV station transmits over-the-air in an old style "analog" signal that has been the standard since TV began. That will end by February of 2009, which is the timeline set by the Federal Government for TV stations to change over to digital broadcasting.

Just like rotary phones that suddenly could not dial on the new digital phone systems, the same is true for your good old four hundred pound RCA TV set from 1984 sitting in the corner of the den. Take a deep breath, and make it a nice planter.

While there is a converter that can make a digital TV signal work on your analog TV, what is the point? This technology is here to stay, and is now priced in the four hundred dollar range for an HDTV set with a tuner capable of receiving over-the-air signals. That last part is going to be the interesting change for the future.

For those of you with cable TV and no antenna on your roof, only one thing changes. Your cable system will slowly start to offer the same cable networks you watch now in HD. These side-by-side broadcasts will allow you to compare the standard cable signal with HD. As you will see, format of the picture is wider and resembles a movie screen. The big change comes when you step-up and get your first HDTV set.

Then, as many of my friends have said, there is no going back. The HDTV picture is amazing, and the new "aspect ratio" of the TV is easy to get used to watching. Combined with the stereo signal delivered on most live TV sporting events, this new package is a big improvement over the previous way of watching sports on the big screen.

Cable watchers who choose not to buy a new set for 2008 will still be able to watch all the NASCAR TV events and programs, buy why not invest? Before you start telling me that money is tight, let me clue you in on a little secret that HDTV brings.

When your local station begins to transmit in HD, there is a new wrinkle that many of them are doing with great success. They can now provide to your TV over-the-air and free of charge multiple digital channels that come in clear as a bell. How about that for an interesting twist?

Remember the early days of cable TV when we had the famous "A/B switch" behind the TV set? "A" got you the cable input for those channels, and the "B" got you the over-the-air stations. Now, with HDTV, the same thing lives once again, and there is a good reason why.

Your local TV station is going to be able to send as many as four digital channels to your TV set over-the-air. As someone who has seen this technology, let me tell you that the picture is awesome and the fact that it is free also opens-up a lot of possibilities for the future.

Consider this, if you live in a market with five good TV stations, and they each decide to deliver four "sub-channels," you just got twenty free channels of digital television with no charge other than buying your HDTV set. Needless to say, this possibility has the "pay TV" guys scrambling.

What you see right now are companies like DirecTV and HDNet offering HD signals to your home by satellite dish at very low cost. Cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner are also scrambling to add HD network feeds to their line-ups to keep their product attractive. In the blink of an eye, the power has begun to shift back to over-the-air TV stations. Isn't that interesting?

As a consumer, you will soon have multiple HD channels over-the-air from your local TV stations, cable networks converting to all HD, and several new "HD only" networks popping-up on your cable TV line-up.

All of this should be enough to invest in a starter HDTV set, and I am told prices will be at their lowest in the week after Christmas. There are good information pages all about HDTV on the web at the WalMart and Circuit City websites. The bottom line is, shop around. Prices on this technology are continuing to fall.

Don't make it more complicated than it is. If you are a NASCAR fan, get an HDTV set that meets your demands for viewing and also meets the demands of your wallet.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below, or email editor@thedalyplanet.tv if you do not wish to be published. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by and leave your opinion.