NASCAR: Objects in Mirror may be Larger than you Think

by Valerie Wood  

NASCAR's current television package basically has FOX televising the first "half" of the racing season, then NBC/ TNT taking over for the second half. Concern has grown all year among NASCAR's brass because the ratings have steadily slipped a couple of percentage points after most races. Is it the racing? Is the sport overexposed? Are the results too predictable? Why one could easily answer "yes" to any of those questions, the larger problem appears to be the Fox Sports racing broadcasters, who have been compared in a not necessarily complimentary manner to the 3 Stooges. There's the "brains" behind the operation, Jeff "Moe" Hamilton, the out-of-control wild-idea'd Darrell "Larry" Waltrip, and the not so with it Larry "Curly" McReynolds. One can take these three broadcasters in small doses, but week after week of week...well, is it truly any wonder the ratings have floundered? One reaches the point where you hit the mute button on your TV just so you DON'T have to hear ol' DW's tired, overkilled race-kickoff of "Boog-ity, Boog-ity, Boog-ity!"  

Welcome, NBC!!! Fans are now realizing that NBC/ TNT, while not as conversant with all the nifty bells and whistles of a Fox Sports production, at least give the fan time to merely watch the race and enjoy it, rather than be bombarded for 3 hours with the loudly stated opinions of outspoken broadcasters who constantly try to one-up each other while simultaneously attempting to direct the race from the broadcast booth. Countless times the past two seasons have seen cautions called only after the Fox broadcasters called for them. NASCAR has taken a lot of heat this season--and by the most part quite justly in fact--for their own inept calls on the track, but one can only wonder how much the sanctioning body's hypersensitivity to the commentators added to the melee'. Fox's race commentators seem to have forgotten that they are supposed to 'call' the race and provide insight--not use the broadcast forum to lobby for their own purposes, enterprises and opinions.  

TNT's airing of Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 Nextel Cup race at Pocono Raceway on August 1 earned a 4.7 national cable rating/3.8 US rating (4.1 million households). The figures represent a 2 percent increase over last year's 4.6 national cable rating/3.7 US rating (4 million households). The cable station said the NBC/ TNT pairing is averaging a 4.5 US rating through three Nextel Cup races, which is up 7 percent from last year's 4.2 US rating through the same three races. Fox's ratings dropped, overall, 3 percent this season, and it will be interesting to see if they attempt to blame this on the "Chase for the Championship" playoff system initiated by NASCAR's President, Brian France. As has been noted before, however, if you overexpose anything, you will eventually kill off all but the most diehard followers. And, while NASCAR is still certainly prospering in the mainstream sports world, it might be worth noting that, at one time, so was WWF wrestling. You remember that...scripted fights, with scripted outcomes. Then, pay-per-view. Overexposure. Overkill. History.

Let's not see that happen here. Maybe NBC can turn racing back into a "fair and balanced" broadcast effort. The fans deserve that much.    

For information on Valerie Wood's novel, Enforcer, visit http://www.enforcer.fcpages.com/ (Official Website for Enforcer) or http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/14441 (Publisher's Website/read an excerpt).

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