[opendtv] Re: Value of Broadcast to NASCAR

  • From: Don Moore <don@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2013 20:43:58 -0400

I had Season Tickets to both Rockingham Races - a relatively small track -
for years.  As NASCAR grew, the Super Speedways in the large Metro Areas
bought out the smaller tracks.  Races became more suited for TV and less
Fan Friendly for all but the hard core fans.

I think that NASCAR must move to Saturday Nights.  They have tried tweaking
the cars.



On Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 7:37 PM, <dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> So I found the recent NASCAR events to be interesting, where TNT and ESPN
> did not bid on NASCAR so NBC bought the rights:
>
>
> http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2013/07/29/Media/NASCAR-NBC.aspx
>
> I wonder if the sag in NASCAR ratings isn't related to the fact that it is
> not on a broadcast channel for the second half of the season.  Take a look
> at the last graphic, comparing FOX, TNT, ESPN and ABC viewership.  Fox is
> always broadcast while TNT and ESPN are not.  ABC is broadcast but only a
> few races a year and they are during the ESPN portion.  I usually miss the
> ABC broadcasts because I forget.
>
> Then, there are several sentences in the article that suggest the value of
> a broadcast:
>
> "But NBC still made its pitch. It promised NASCAR more promotion, more
> storytelling, more broadcast TV and, perhaps most importantly, a return to
> the Fox-NBC days when the sport posted its highest ratings in history."
>
> "But where others saw danger, France saw opportunity. He trusted Lazarus
> and believed the upside in promotion and broadcast exposure for NASCAR
> outweighed the downside of leaving ESPN."
>
> "And they will hope that NBC will be able to fulfill its promise that a
> return to the broadcast pairing of Fox and NBC will bring a return of the
> ratings growth the sport last saw a decade ago."
>
> I, personally, think that the downward turn had much to do with taking
> NASCAR off broadcast.  But that is based on my own viewing habits.  It will
> be interesting to see if NBC puts the NASCAR productions on broadcast or
> their new NBC Sports Network cable channel.  And then it will be
> interesting to see if ratings go back up.
>
> Dan
>

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