Aftermath, Chicagoland: Stuck At Home, Our Writer Discovers Unwatchable TV Broadcast

You Got It!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish you could challange Brian France, Mike Helton and others to only see the race on TV one weekend – no cheating allowed. Falling asleep during the broadcast will not be tolerated. No race buddy or other crib notes. Now, who would stay glued to the TV for that??

I’m glad to see someone in the media experience what we go through week after week.

I haven’t watched a NASCAR race all the way from start to finish in years. With DVR, we tape the race and begin watching it an hour after it starts. Fast forwarding through commercials, we watch the end of the race live with everyone else after “catching up.”

When you fast forward through commercials, you realize just how much of the race you miss.

I’m not defending TNT, but you do have to give credit to the network for experimenting with their “Wide Open Coverage” they do every year at Daytona. It’s a great idea and don’t know why something like that – or something like the IndyCar series does with SideBySide – can’t be used at other tracks.

Now if we could only get rid of Kyle Petty…

This is why I listen to the guys on Sirius 128 for the play by play. They do a great job painting a picture. I layer the sound with the NASCAR officials channel on the internet scanner channel loudest, the Serius channel is less and the TV is the lowest. If I see somthing on TV that I want to hear, the remote is close by. We do live timing and scoring from NASCAR as well

You can say it..“I was wrong, the fans were right”…and you thought we were all just little whiners!

I now either DVR the races or pause the live race for about an hour and then start watching. Fast forward through commercials either way. The money is WASTED on me.

If they follow your sponsorship of x lap segments idea, I’d see EVERY advertiser’s message. As of now, I fast forward through ALL of them. Seems to me that any business person worth their salt would figure out that the current model is BROKEN.

Ratings are falling. People can DVR and skip commercials. Use NASCAR’s RaceView, Race Buddy, etc. Get updates via twitter, etc., etc., etc.

More commercials will only serve to DECREASE ratings and at a FASTER pace.

If your pool has a leak in it, you don’t try to patch it with a billboard advertisement, you fix the damn leak!!!

You are spot on, Jeff. You can not follow the race on TV alone. I have to subscribe to Trackpass to find the information I need. I am strapped to my computer with headphonesalso. I nearly destroyed my laptop when Jr. came from the pack to a 2nd place position at Daytona when I was jumping up and down cheering. Hmmm, guess that is why I have to buy so many headphones because the wires are detaching.
The TV broadcasters need to call the race instead of having a good ole boy chat during practices, qualifying and races. They need to listen to Dave Moody to see how it is done.
I hope those in a position to change things read this column and comments and change things… SOON

Now you get it. Even with Trackpass, Hotpass, in-car audio, and Twitter, you still get bombarded with commercials and non-stop talking by analysts. Why do the guys in the booth feel we need them to talk every second of the race? WE’RE watching it for goodness sake. Then add in DW and Larry Mac with their own personal stories that make us want to gag, and you have more than you should have to listen to in order just to watch a race. One more important item. We don’t want to listen to the history of Jimmy Johnson or Kyle Busch 10 times a race. We are fed up with the overkill. Oh how much I miss men like Ned Jarrett. Races are the show…not the booth.

Finally, finally, finally… someone with a voice GETS IT!! TNT coverage s…s big time! They are the worst. The others are pretty bad as well but at least they often will cover some of what is going on!! Yep… 2 laps of racing and 10 minutes of commercials, ye gads do something for us!!!

Why doesn’t NASCAR put together their own premium network like the NFL did? All of their teams are together for the same “game” every week. And even if they covered all 3 major series, they would have at most 3 broadcasts a week.

If they’re going to give TV contracts to cable networks anyway, why not make their own and keep more of the money? Or take less money and air less commercials? The whole season would be on the same channel.

And while they’re at it, they can hire analysts that just call the race…as opposed to the ones who feel the need to spend the whole broadcast educating, prognosticating, & playing amateur psychologist.

I gotcha, but quit picking on Tony Sr. At least we love the man. And I sure as h*** rather hear from him than DW and LM.

Viewers already have to pay for cable/satellite to watch the majority of the races. In this economy, that’s a stretch for some people. A lot of people can’t afford to go to the tracks, so they want to watch the race at home. However, it’s hard watch the race with so many commercials and analysts who get tongue tied and blow hot air. Those who are hurting financially can’t afford Track Pass and Direct TV Hot Pass. I usually DVR the races and start watching them 30 – 45 minutes into the race and I can skip right through the commercials. The down-side of that is I have to stay off the computer during that time so I don’t read what’s happened that I haven’t caught up to yet.

If TNT can give us wide open coverage for the Daytona race, why can’t the other networks do it as well? As a consumer, I would be more inclined to support the advertisers who help make that possible. As it is now, I don’t watch the commercials, so their advertising dollars are wasted on me. With Wide Open Coverage or Side-By-Side, I would still see every commercial.

Thanks for a great article, hope some of the ones who need to see it the most do so and take it to heart!

Several years ago, I would watch every race from start to finish. I would be mad if I was going to be away from the TV and have to miss it. The last couple of years, I have been getting bored during the broadcasts. I now have to have something else to do so that I can just listen to the broadcast in the background. I too have now realized that it’s not the racing that is boring. (Well, all of it anyway). I guess it is the broadcast. You truly can get more information by being on Twitter than you can by watching the TV.

Thanks for the great article. Maybe this is the way to start a change.

But that broadcast was probably one of the worst I’ve ever seen. A commercial inside of 20 laps to go.. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I think the only one worse than that was when ESPN went to commercial with 15 laps go at BRISTOL for a Nationwide race LOL. Did they not know they run 15 second laps at Bristol? By the time they got back to the race there were maybe 3 laps left and then they had a power failure at the track and nobody saw the finish ROFLMAO!

whether to dope slap you, jeff, or give you a hug! i tried to tell you exactly this at the dover tweet-up a long time ago (when i told you JJ would win his 4th championship that season!) but I knew I was being dismissed, albeit very politely. and now, i’m having to restrain myself from saying “i TOLD you so!” (which, of course, i just said!)

for at least 3 years, i have contended that the racing isn’t the issue, that the broadcasts are and that those inside the sport are woefully off-base by dismissing the complaints of the fans. i also contend that fans are equally woefully off-base by dismissing the racing based on what we’re subjected to each week on tv.

the ONLY way this sport is going to re-gain even some of the fans is for the nascar media, executives, and network partners to sit and watch one entire broadcast, from green flag to checkers, with absolutely nothing but the broadcast: no twitter, no blogs, no chats, no scanners, no RaceBuddy, no radio. have each person pick a driver not in the top 12 or a fan favorite like earnhardt jr and see if said nascar person can understand where his/her driver is at any point in the race. watch it like a fan and then they’ll understand where the fan frustration is born and why we have become so very vocal about it.

there are a myriad of issues in our sport right but this disconnect that the fans feel is THE one that will impact the sport the most. we all have our personal gripes about nascar but we used to make certain we watched every race we could on tv. the abysmal state of race broadcasting on fox, tnt, and espn has now resulted in many of us just turning away and catching up with it later.

so, better late than never, jeff: welcome to our world!

I too have to watch the race. I Tivo it and start an hour after green flag. I skip every commercial. This has me thinking how many other people do this. On the few occasions where we have had side by side I actually consume the commercial and look favorably upon the advertiser. Here’s the plan … pick one advertiser and let them do a side by side commercial whereby they say “we don’t want to interrupt your race but we would like you to consider our product.” Sales would jump the next day. Fans want to be respected.

I like the idea of uninterrupted lap sponsorship. Hell … add a crawl. I don’t care.

Thank you for finally viewing a race like us race fans do every week and understanding that our gripes are real and not just complaining about anything and everything!

 I cant sit down and watch a race with out my laptop to chat here, facebook, and twitter as well as my phone to check twitter as well.

The announcers are trying way to hard. I remember when FOX first started and I loved the coverage, even DW! Now its like they are trying to hard to sell a sport that to me is easy to fall in love with. I have never liked TNT’s broadcast of the races and can’t stand ESPN’s Rusty Wallace and Brad D. I love when the comentators share stories of the past in racing and even current ones, but the not showing of live action happening on the track sucks. Thats what we are tunning into the race for, to watch the race cars on the race track!

Jeff, great ideas about how the tv model needs to be worked on. Have a great vacation!

Jeff, I looked for your usual follow up with Jr. after the race, when I did not find it I thought you must be on vacation. :) It is OK. Speed Report gave his interview. :) Too bad you had to watch the race on TV. :)
   Marybeth

While they are sitting at the track watching the race, jot down what makes the races so interesting as they claim.

Then sit them down in front of what they cram down our throats and see how much of their list of interesting things made it on air.

I’m fortunate to be able to listen to the scanners and I heard a lot of two inside and even a few three inside. Never did find out which drivers were three and four wide. Apparently they all made it through okay with crashing but it would have been nice to see that ‘racing action’.

Instead we get to see the 48 leading lap after lap. I find watching paint dry more interesting than watching the same car lead lap after lap after lap.

I too was disappointed. Chicago is my closest track. But the greedy track owners insisted on selling tickets in packages only which I could not afford. So I’m STILL hoping to make it to my first race.

Great job Jeff…thanks for being our voice.

@4xLeft—folks have been talking about that since I started watching in 2K. Some folks even back then were concerned that people wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of it. But we’ve been screaming for some sort of dedicated channel so that folks didn’t have to upgrade to get channels they’d never watch to be able to watch the races.

It’s needed even more now with the College Football & how frustrating that is on any given Saturday. But also helps when a race is rain delayed, goes OT or finishes on time with 10 minutes in the TV window they leave as if folks will tune in 10 minutes early to watch a movie or the zillionth rerun of COPS!

We shouldn’t have to multi-task to watch a frickin’ race! We shouldn’t need Twitter to tell us WHY Joe Blow is “off” because he’s not a “name” so TV is ignoring him and 2 hours later in their “update” that’s when they bother to tell us what happened.

We should be able to sit down and enjoy the race not pull our hair out and have 50 things running to get educated on the race that the TV partners SHOULD be telling us/showing us. I know many who record the race and watch other things and then if they hear it was worth watch do otherwise it’s deleted unseen.

Thanks for finally seeing what we’ve been screaming about Gluck! Now for TPTB to be subjected to it and get something changed NOW!

for being home that nite and watching it on tv.. NOW u see the light!!!! let’s hope this gets noticed!!!

I’m thinking of just providing a link to this story…enough said

Thank you for writing this article, we can only hope the powers that be in NASCAR will take into consideration what you have reported on because you are absolutely correct. It is real sad that one can sit and watch the race and know when the darn commercials are coming before the announcers even say anything, you can almost time it to the second.

I thought NASCAR advertising was accomplished on the vehicles and the tracks themselves. I personally could care less about the advertisements that are shown on the TV. I watch the race to see a race, not a set of commercials where we see bits and pieces of a race or the commercial is interrupted because a caution just occurred, then we get to see a quick replay then back to commercials, back to the race, watch two laps then back to commercials.

I never used to be an F1 fan but at least their broadcasts are worth staying up until 4 or 5AM to watch their races. That’s right, we actually get to see their races.

I suggest NASCAR takes a real close look at how the F1 broadcasts are going, NASCAR could learn a lot from them.

To add another voice to the chorus, yes, unfortunately the TV coverage is killing what interest there is left in NASCAR racing. The percentage of commercials (31.7% according to the website CawsnJaws) isn’t but approximately 10% more than a standard broadcast program but the flow of the race is destroyed.
The program director (who selects the camera to put on air) seems to be clueless as to what racing is about.
I would go with your speculation that NASCAR top management has little or no idea what this experience is like.

Jeff, Doug Demmons of al.com tortured himself today trying to figure out was wrong with Jr.‘s car this weeken. This is what I sent him:
 "Doug, Since your site won’t let me post a comment, I am sending it to you.
   You must not have seen the practice where the Speed/Fox announcers said that JJ & JG had the 2 new generation car. Jr. did not get one. I felt badly for Jr. when the Speed Report showed his post-race interview he said that he was just “confused”. I’ll bet he is! He is the one bringing in the greatest amount of money and all he runs are the r&d cars for the 24 & 48 with a cc whose job was washing the haulers during the week before he was made Jr.‘s cc. I am confused too.
   I have finally come to believe that Rick does not want Jr. in the top 12. I think he was bitterly disappointed at Daytona when Jr. won with and RCR car Friday night and then Sat. night, even with the piece of junk he had to drive, he managed to finish 4th and get in the top 12. :) He was going to make sure that that did not happen 2 weeks in a row.
     I was reading in the comments section of some blog a few weeks back that there is a story here, but the regular Nascar journalists/writers don’t dare touch it. Maybe we could get the National Enquirer to do another story on Jr., a good one, by looking into just what is going on here. Something is rotten. Maybe that guy who uncovered the John Edwards mess.
I can only hope & pray that Rick lets Jr. go and puts Kasey in the 88 car. The sooner the better.

The Nielsen ratings for the race were just posted on Sports Media Watch (a blogspot) and Chicago had a 2.8, the lowest rating in 9 years of the race.
The racing which is on the track may be exciting (or not) but it is a cinch that the TV product is a total snoozer, and viewers turned it off or went elsewhere.
NASCAR will not get the $ for the new TV deal (negotiated in 2012 and 2013) to start in 2014 unless there is some sort miracle next season. And at this rate that has a real low probability.
If the current trend continues then in 2 years or less, two-thirds of NASCAR Cup races will have TV ratings lower than Indy at Watkins Glen.
NASCAR rose in TV coverage in part due to the CART – Indy split; in less than a decade NASCAR went from a marginal, regional series to major national coverage and trumping Indy racing,… it can also go in the other direction, just as quickly.

Thanks for the dead on post Jeff. Hopefully this blog post & others like it spread like wildfire so NASCAR and its broadcast partners can get a clue.

I just wanted to say again, great article…

NASCAR seems to be heading towards the land of Soap Opera on TV which is really quite sad. As another mentioned above, just show the race and the ratings will return.

The broadcasts were way better back in the day, remember them? All you had was a little position meter in the corner of the screen and nothing but racing on the track.

Now look at it, the broadcasts are horrible.

You know i even tweeted Kyle Petty about this very thing during a race. I said I’m a nascar die hard fan and i can barely sit through this crap yet i am in NO WAY a soccer fan yet was able to sit through the 120 minute USA game with double overtime and no not because i gave a shit about USA pride as i live in Spain half the year anyway. But the COMMENTARY made it INTERESTING. Kyle Petty’s response: If you don’t like it change the change the channel. Talk about taking what we give you and you’ll like it or else? While he probably thought i was just another Kyle Petty hater tweeting him to rile him up his response to a very good point i was making is not going to get people to turn on their TV’s to hear his “expert analysis” anytime soon.

The NASCAR ratings are down since a peak in 2005. Gee, Nascar is not the same without Rusty Wallace and the Chase format has turned away a lot of people.