Can ESPN Save The NASCAR Hall Of Fame?

Those of you who have been around a bit may remember the old RPM2Night TV show. What began in a tiny studio near the Carowinds theme park eventually moved into the ESPN Regional Television (ERT) facility in the Ballantyne area of South Charlotte.

Back in 2000, it was ERT General Manager Chuck Gerber who put into words why it was a smart move for ESPN to produce its only motorsports show from Charlotte. "It only makes sense because all of the teams are here," Gerber told Erik Spanberg of the Charlotte Business Journal. "It's a good relationship for everyone." Click here to read the entire article.

In 2011, ESPN2 enters year five of producing the network's only motorsports news program called NASCAR Now. After a terrible start, the on-air and production team have finally hit on a combination that works. An hour on Monday, thirty minutes Tuesday through Friday and a preview show before each Sprint Cup Series race.

When the Chase races come around, ESPN adds a killer Sunday night one-hour show that has all the highlights, information from the track and complete interviews. It's been interesting to watch ESPN take years to sort this series out. Now, it just might be time to take it to the next level.

The current TV contract with ESPN and NASCAR runs through 2014. That means at least four more seasons of NASCAR Now will be produced. It's very possible that with a contract extension this TV series may run for many more years. It's a powerhouse product for NASCAR fans who can't get enough of Allen Bestwick, Ricky Craven and the rest of the gang.

When SPEED decided to get back into the NASCAR news game, they created a series called Race Hub and located it in North Charlotte at the SPEED studios. The idea was that the proximity of the studio and the race teams would make for easy access to drivers and other NASCAR personalities.

This series airs Monday through Thursday and is comprised of same-day interviews, recorded studio guests and features. It has been a welcome addition to the TV landscape, but has not diluted the NASCAR Now franchise in the least.

Ten years after his article on RPM2Night, Erik Spanberg is now the senior staff writer for the Charlotte Business Journal. Click here for his story on the current situation with the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Needless to say, things are in a funk. The Hall needs something that can regularly attract visitors. It has to be something that out of town guests would remember and tell all of their friends about. Word of mouth is the best advertising. At the same time, North Carolina locals would need something to bring them back for a repeat visit.

Perhaps, the solution to this problem might be a little TV show called NASCAR Now. As many of you may know, the Hall is connected to the NASCAR Media Group (NMG) television production facilities in the same complex. Showtime tapes Inside NASCAR in one of the NMG studios.

Many of us watched the special NASCAR Now shows produced from the Hall of Fame during events like the grand opening, the induction and even the announcement of the inductees. Dr. Jerry Punch is a Hall of Fame voter and he reported for NASCAR Now surrounded by very appreciative fans. Just with that one show, he made a lifetime memory for each and every one of them.

Currently, NASCAR Now is jammed into a corner in the Bristol, CT studios of ESPN2. This fish out of water show takes production resources away from an already overworked facility. While Mike Massaro agreed to move back to Connecticut to co-host the show, both Nicole Briscoe and Allen Bestwick live out of state. There is a whole lot of traveling going on to get this program done each week.

Reporters like Marty Smith, Ryan McGee, David Newton and Shannon Spake all live in the Greater Charlotte area. Briscoe does as well. Add Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree, Rusty Wallace and Punch to that list. You get the point.

Just as Gerber stated back in 2000, where ESPN's coverage of NASCAR is concerned all the teams are in the same place. It only makes sense to originate the daily program covering the sport from where the news is happening. Not to mention the fact that NASCAR has consolidated its own operations in the office complex right next to, you guessed it, the Hall of Fame.

In 2006, I forwarded a letter to ESPN's SVP John Skipper suggesting that ESPN consider originating a NASCAR news show in Charlotte if one was in the works. My response was that ESPN would not spend the money to invest in a High Definition (HD) facility when the Bristol studios were available.

Well, since that time some things have changed. ESPN has acquired an immense amount of new college and pro sports that each require a studio presence. Meanwhile, NMG has a state of the art HD television facility in downtown Charlotte looking for more work. Finally, attached to that facility at no extra charge is the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

With a nice low price from the NMG folks, ESPN could free up studio space and production time back in Bristol to serve the new stick-and-ball sports programming. NASCAR Now could have free run of the Hall of Fame, providing the folks who operate that facility with a unique attraction that would change every single day.

Putting the show out among the exhibits, the fans and the history of the sport would provide a unique backdrop. It would also allow ESPN the daily contact with the sport it has been lacking with the series produced in Connecticut.

NASCAR Now is not slated to return until February. That leaves plenty of time for some good conversation, some good imagination and as the bottom line, some good common sense. Maybe ESPN and NASCAR can actually agree on something that will make both of them better once it's done.

We welcome your thoughts on this topic. To add your opinion, 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.

ESPN Throws Numbers At NASCAR Critics

As we continue to look back at the TV issues of the 2010 season, we have been aided by a recent press release from ESPN. After some media members and NASCAR pundits blamed cable TV for the fading ratings of The Chase, ESPN has fired back.

Before we review the ESPN document, let's go back to the issue. This was the first season that the vast majority of the Chase races had been moved to ESPN. When the first TV contract was done after the Chase, there was an emphasis on the fact that the final ten races would be seen on "free over-the-air TV."

Unfortunately the reality of rain, red flags and long delays under caution made the Chase races a mess for broadcast TV. Trying to serve four timezones was almost impossible and the stories of ABC local affiliates either not carrying the pre-race show or leaving at the checkered flag for local news came in on a regular basis.

So, the subsequent shift to ESPN brought pro's and cons. The flexibility of cable TV meant a designated pre-race show, complete coverage and an extended post-race show for every Chase race. The cons were that once the NFL began the pre-race show was on ESPN2.

One other drawback frequently mentioned was that those without cable TV service would not be able to see the final ten races. Of course the Camping World trucks were on SPEED and the Nationwide Series raced on ESPN2, so those same fans would not have seen any of those races. In addition, the summer Cup races were on TNT so the same fans would have also taken the summer off.

The thrust of the argument for free TV was that the rough economy had caused many households to drop cable TV service. Some had been rumored to be "cord cutting," which became the new buzzword. That means dropping cable TV service and using the Internet for video streaming instead.

In October, ESPN had a series of meetings with NASCAR. The topic on the table was the cause for the substantially lower ratings. Certainly, the elephant in the room was the NFL and the incredible ratings success of the 1PM ET games on Sundays.

The other big topic fed by some media members was the shift from ABC to ESPN and the loss of those households that had dropped cable TV service. The new ESPN survey helps to address just what is happening with cable and Internet homes in the marketplace.

Click here to read the data released by ESPN. While not exactly spoken in plain English, what the survey says is the erosion of homes is very small.

Here are a couple of key sentences:

The study found that just 0.28 percent of homes in the Nielsen sample dropped multichannel service but kept their broadband Internet connections.The study also showed that the number of multichannel homes adding a broadband connection was nearly five times as large as the "cord cutter" group.

ESPN and ESPN2 are now over the 100 million home mark in the US. This means the penetration of these networks is almost equal to over-the-air TV distributed by local stations. Coupled with the information that few existing cable customers dropped television service, it gives ESPN a strong case that distribution was not the big issue with the Chase problems.

If we can close that door now once and for all perhaps attention can be turned to the reality of the Chase and the many problems of providing television coverage of a race within a race.

TV Problems With The Chase Easy To Understand was a column focusing on the issues faced by ESPN as they navigate through the tangled web of racing scenarios. Click on the title to read the column and the comments.

Those Footsteps Might Sound Familiar was originally published in August as a preview of the trouble that the NFL might bring to NASCAR yet again. Click on the title to read the column.

On January 21, Brian France will be speaking to the media during a test at the Daytona International Speedway. After the TV struggles of NASCAR's top series down the stretch, France will be announcing his decision on what changes will be made for 2011.

With NFL football continuing to dominate the ratings and ESPN proving there is no distribution problem, the focus is going to be on the sanctioning body to deal with two issues. The Chase format and poorly produced TV coverage are now the remaining cards on the table.

How NASCAR chooses to play this hand may serve to determine who walks away with the TV jackpot and who walks away empty-handed.

We welcome your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, 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.

Does The Sprint Cup Series Banquet Belong On TV?

We had some wonderful comments on SPEED's coverage of the Sprint Cup Series banquet last Friday night from many readers. The opinions were all across the board. Not about the actual banquet, but about how it translated to TV.

Now that some time has passed, let's take a look at three scenarios for deciding what to do with that post-season function when it comes to television coverage.

Option one is easy to understand. Don't cover it. The argument in support of this choice is that the function is simply an evening designed for the teams, sponsors and others who have worked hard all season long in the sport.

The mainstream media at the event will provide pictures and clips of the festivities. SPEED will provide coverage on The SPEED Report. ESPN, FOX and others will provide stories and interviews as well. Option one is no TV at all.

Option two is what SPEED did this year. Basically, the attendees arrive and go into the ballroom. They get a greeting, a musical number and then an hour of dinner. It isn't until after dinner is completely done that the awards portion of the evening begins.

SPEED taped the arrivals and interviewed participants on the red carpet. Steve Byrnes and Jeff Hammond then hosted an hour show mixing those interviews with various edited features recapping the season. Several drivers stopped by the outside set to offer their reactions on that same topic.

This hour of content was used to bridge the time that the dinner was taking place. SPEED then joined the program inside the ballroom when the awards and additional entertainment began. It was a good effort, but oftentimes awkward due to the reality of the function.

So, option two is to keep things as they are, using the red carpet and interviews to fill an hour before joining the live awards and watching the drivers read their speeches. It was 12:52AM ET on Saturday morning when Jimmie Johnson finally appeared on SPEED to accept his championship earnings.

Option three is a combo platter. Use the NASCAR.com website to stream the entire function online live from start to finish for hardcore fans, including dinner. Not a big polished production like SPEED creates, but basic coverage of an event like NASCAR.com delivered for other events in Vegas and during the season.

That would let SPEED and the NASCAR Media Group do what they do best, record everything that goes on and edit it for a later airing. Let's say the following week SPEED sends NASCAR out with a bang by putting together a final evening or perhaps an entire day of the best of the year programs ending with the banquet.

Let's review the choices:

1 - No TV for the banquet. Let the NASCAR reporters, photographers and bloggers send along pictures, stories and clips but leave the night for the teams and sponsors.

2 - Polish up what SPEED tried to do. Use red carpet interviews, highlights and pre-banquet driver interviews to create an hour show and then join the banquet for the awards in their entirety.

3 - Stream the entire evening online using the NASCAR.com website. Let the TV professionals record the events, edit a feature program and use it as the cornerstone for a final send-off for NASCAR on SPEED.

One final note before you respond. The format of the Sprint Cup Banquet is not going to change. For those who enjoyed the combined Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series banquet on SPEED, the format of brief interviews in a talk show like setting is not going to apply. That's one key reason we narrowed our discussion down to three choices.

What do you think about how or even if the Sprint Cup Series banquet should be on TV now that you have seen SPEED's effort for this season? To add your opinion, 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.