Last Minute Deal Brings NASCAR Content Online

Since 2007 we have been describing the stand-off between Turner Sports, the online rights holder for NASCAR, and two of the sport's key media partners, ESPN and FOX.

Veteran reporter Dustin Long of Landmark Newspapers is reporting that Turner and ESPN have made a last minute deal to settle most of those differences. Basically, the agreement involves some good old fashioned horse trading. Click here to read Long's complete story.

ESPN has an online service called Watch ESPN. This allows existing cable customers of Time Warner, Bright House and Verizon FiOS access to the ESPN networks online. It gives devices like laptops, iPads and smart phones streaming of all things ESPN.

What the Watch ESPN app did not have was NASCAR. Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and the daily NASCAR Now program were all blacked-out because Turner held the online rights. Those shows could be watched on TV, but not online.

Meanwhile, Turner has been working hard to expand the RaceBuddy franchise as a part of the online package of goodies that the NASCAR.com website can offer. This year RaceBuddy was available for the six TNT Sprint Cup Series races, all of the truck series races and several non-points events carried by SPEED.

Since 2007 ESPN has been enforcing the TV exclusivity that prohibits Turner from using any live racetrack footage online. ESPN paid a pretty penny for the final 17 Sprint Cup Series races and the door has been tightly shut to allowing any of that content destined for TV to be used for RaceBuddy.

As Long reported, in the agreement scheduled to be announced Wednesday, both Turner and ESPN have made moves that ultimately benefit their own agendas. NASCAR fans just happen to benefit as well.

Turner allows ESPN to stream Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Now show on the Watch ESPN service. ESPN allows Turner to use live race video and audio in a Sprint Cup Series version of RaceBuddy. Ultimately, both sides walk away happy.

NASCAR fans might need a second to sort all this out. Those with existing Watch ESPN service will now get to see that NASCAR content online. Folks who have Comcast or other major cable companies who do not offer Watch ESPN are still out of luck. The Charlotte race is on ABC and is not in this package, just the other nine races.

Meanwhile anyone with online access can get the RaceBuddy application through the NASCAR.com website. The new version will have two mosaic (mix) video boxes with four windows each for a total of eight video sources. Whatever in-car cameras are chosen will also have the team scanner.

This version of RaceBuddy will have a live leaderboard, social media chatting and Raceview's position tracker. It will be similar to the layout used for the TNT races this year. RaceBuddy is a great way to see live video when the race is in commercial break and watch different coverage angles for more track views.

What RaceBuddy does not provide is actual streaming of the finished race program that ESPN viewers will be seeing. None of the eight video sources is the actual "race." This protects ESPN by forcing those without the Watch ESPN service back to the TV set.

In the end, fans do win because more access is great. RaceBuddy is a solid online race companion and Watch ESPN will allow folks nationwide to catch the live video on any kind of handheld device or tablet. Hopefully, positive feedback from both these developments will lead to some additional online content sharing and development between these two parties in the future.

While the timing of this deal may seem strange, it's really not. NASCAR, ESPN and Turner are all standing on the beach and seeing the same thing. There is a huge wave approaching and it is timed to hit on Sunday afternoon. The NFL is back and NASCAR is poised to take a huge hit in the TV ratings.

One glance at NFL Sunday Ticket, NFL Red Zone, NFL Mobile and the NFL Network coming straight at NASCAR's ten little races is pretty good motivation to make something happen. The NFL seems poised for its strongest TV ratings in history.

It's been a long road to these changes. Thanks to all the TDP readers who have consistently made their voices heard on these issues. While there are some additional online and production issues to solve, this is a nice present for a tired fan base watching NASCAR since February.

If any additional details are made public, this post will be updated on Wednesday throughout the day.

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

Repost: Puzzling TV Changes At SPEED

Update: Monday night brought lots of email and social media messages about the changes to the RaceHub program on SPEED. This is a repost of the story describing those changes from last week.

A trio of announcements from SPEED has made for some interesting reading and some head scratching moments. Let's take the items one at a time.

The young lady pictured above, Marianela Pereyra, is joining Trackside as a reporter for the next four programs. As we know, SPEED has been working to revamp the series and began by eliminating Larry McReynolds from the program this season.

Trackside has also been searching for a new host since Steve Byrnes moved into the network's RaceHub studios to host that series. It appears for the moment that Rutledge Wood has been given the role, at least for the next several programs.

Wood will host Kyle Petty and Jeff Hammond on the show this weekend from Atlanta with Joey Logano and David Ragan as guests. Trackside's new reporter goes simply by Marianela and is a TV veteran of music, poker and sports programs.

It should be interesting to see what this new format has in store for viewers and what role Marianela will be filling working among NASCAR fans in a program taped live outside. More fan interaction with the guests, perhaps?

We have been asking SPEED to offer the Victory Lane show after Saturday night Sprint Cup Series races for years. Now, the network has taken that idea even one step further. Victory Lane starting at Richmond will now air immediately after ESPN goes off the air with Sprint Cup Series post-race coverage.

That means fans can literally switch over to SPEED for an extended post-race show in the Victory Lane format. This program offers John Roberts, Kyle Petty and Kenny Wallace on a small set right in the actual Victory Lane area of the track. The idea is to capture the moments and also interview the winning driver, crew chief and owner. Bob Dillner reports for the show and highlights are also included.

This is a wonderful change for both the Saturday and Sunday races. The network deserves credit for moving to this flexible air time format to capitalize on the Sprint Cup Series TV audience that watched the live race.

Victory Lane will also keep it's Monday morning re-air. WindTunnel with Dave Despain will move to 8PM on Sundays to fill that now vacant timeslot.

The final news item is the head scratcher. It has already resulted in some rather upset NASCAR fans immediately after the announcement was made. SPEED's Monday through Thursday RaceHub show is being moved from 7PM to 6PM Eastern Time beginning September 12.

This move puts RaceHub squarely up against local TV station and broadcast TV network newscasts from Florida to Maine. The sacred 6PM hour of news is an East Coast institution. Even more interesting is the fact that for September, SPEED is airing two repeat episodes of the Pass Time drag racing game show in the 7PM hour. In September, the show continues to re-air at 11PM Pacific Time.

We asked for an explanation of the RaceHub move, but did not get a response from SPEED.

As always, we want your comments on these topics. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Post-Race: Sprint Cup Series From Richmond On ABC

It was a wild night in Richmond. From start to finish, the stories were almost unbelievable at times. It was up to the NASCAR on ESPN team to cover them for ABC.

Nicole Briscoe hosted a pre-race show that did not air in areas where the ABC local stations chose news or local programming. Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace manned the Infield Pit Studio with Briscoe. The pre-race show was themed around the Chase.

Richmond International Raceway did a great job of putting together a 9/11 tribute. Unfortunately, things did not turn out as planned once the race started. An accident during the tribute on laps 9-11 made things a bit awkward.

Allen Bestwick led Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree through a race telecast that featured an incredible number of cautions and incidents in the early going. At times, it seemed that the TV team was overwhelmed by just how many top teams were involved.

Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, Dave Burns and Vince Welch were on pit road. The information was flowing fast and furious, but often it was not perhaps what was being reported by other media members or teams via social media. Once again, ESPN was caught in a bit of an information gap.

The coverage for the last several years has emphasized the tight shots of two cars at a time as they race for position. This race, even on a short track, featured the same. Gone were the wideshots and the aerial views. The perspective on each segment of racing being shown was quickly lost.

ABC kept in all the scoring tickers as if it was an ESPN telecast. At times, there were four lines of graphics on the screen. It was interesting to see just how much of a focus on other sports the network kept during the race telecast.

The closing lap featured the winner, but again the director chose to cut away to a shot of the winning driver's wife. None of the other races to the flag were covered. In this event, there were many stories other than the winner. It was Chase time.

Once the race was over and went to commercial, many ABC stations across the country chose to leave and begin their local news telecast. My home station in West Palm Beach, FL was one of them. As if nothing happened, the local news just began.

This meant that fans who had watched the telecast for four hours were denied any post-race coverage of the final race to set the Chase. It was a huge mistake. ESPN does not control the ABC local stations and tonight was a great example of that issue. It might be time to move the night races over to cable for 2012.

The RIR team offered a one-hour version of NASCAR Now at midnight ET. That helped to ease the pain for those of us who saw none of the live post-race show.

What did you think of the ESPN on ABC coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Richmond, VA?

To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.