NASCAR/TV/BUSINESS: RPM2night, on the outside looking in
pr...@motorsport.com
In what has become a battle of the Titans, ESPN's RPM tonight will
continue to be denied access to pre and post race on track interviews
and highlight footage of NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Grand National
events.
In what started in 2000 with the announcement of a multi-million dollar
T.V. deal between NASCAR, Fox and NBC, ESPN reporters have been denied
broadcast credentials to the racing venues at the discretion of the
current contracted broadcasters.
When asked if the networks have "buried the hatchet", NASCAR's vice
president of communications Jim Hunter noted, "The hatchet is still out
there"
In an effort to assist ESPN, Hunter remarks that NASCAR has been
supportive in getting competitors to ESPN off race facility grounds to
be interviewed for the RPM broadcasts.
Hunter continues, "We are trying to get them to cooperate, but the
bottom line to NBC and Fox is that this is a business decision"
Problems between the networks date back to the final race of the 2000
season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, when ESPN, by contractual right,
denied FOX the ability to shoot trailer footage for the 2001 broadcasts.
Prior to the comprehensive broadcasting contract, it was up to each
individual facility to negotiate television rights. A majority of the
tracks had deals with ESPN, a pioneer in motorsports television.
IN 1999, NASCAR proposed collective bargaining for all sanctioned
races, and the contract was given to the highest bidders.
When the bidding was over long-term contract were awarded to NBC and
FOX to grant them exclusive on track broadcast rights for the top two
series. (Previous both networks had little or no motorsports experience)
A deal, that cost the networks four hundred million dollars per year,
and left ESPN's twenty-year investment in Winston Cup a memory.
Averaging out, between the Busch Grand National series, and the Winston
cup Series, the networks are paying in excess of five million dollars
per race, and have become very protective of there intellectual
property.
RPM2night is not denied access to the tracks, RPM reporters can
interview drivers and teams to gather information, they are just not
allowed to broadcast or record footage from the track.
In what has become confusing to many fans that may see race highlight
clips provided by NBC/Fox on local news shows, many do not understand
why RPM tonight cannot do the same.
The answer lies in semantic language that has determined that RPM2night is
not news broadcast, and therefore not eligible to receive the feed of
images.
The concept that this can be resolved prior to the start of the 2002
season is not out of the question, but highly unlikely.
With sky rocketing ratings, NBC and Fox have yet to see a return on
there investment.
The pressure is certainly on ESPN, even though it survived the 2001
blackout, one of its competitors, Speedvision's Inside Winston Cup did
not broadcast due the lack of available footage.
This situation has changed as Fox has announced, that it has acquired
Speedvision (renamed Speed channel), and Inside NASCAR will return on
February 18th.
This programming move combined with already established line-up that
includes, Totally NASCAR, NASCAR Victory Lane, and NASCAR Tech. Leave
RPM tonight the odd man out.
ESPN needed to reach an agreement with the networks last year.
NBC and FOX as well their cable affiliates have saturated the television
market with NASCAR coverage.
In monopolistic fashion NBC and FOX seem to understand that any
potential exposure or promotion of Winston Cup by ESPN means little to
the corporate bottom Line.
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pr...@motorsport.com
In what has become a battle of the Titans, ESPN's RPM2night will
continue to be denied access to pre and post race on-track interviews
and highlight footage of NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Grand National
events.
In what started in 2000 with the announcement of a multi-million dollar
T.V. deal between NASCAR, Fox and NBC; ESPN reporters have been denied
broadcast credentials to the racing venues at the discretion of the
current contracted broadcasters.
When asked if the networks have "buried the hatchet", NASCAR's vice
president of communications Jim Hunter noted, "The hatchet is still out
there."
In an effort to assist ESPN, Hunter remarks that NASCAR has been
supportive in getting competitors to the ESPN off-race facility to
be interviewed for the RPM2night broadcasts.
Hunter continues, "We are trying to get them to cooperate, but the
bottom line of NBC and Fox is that this is a business decision."
Problems between the networks date back to the final race of the 2000
season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, when ESPN by contractual rights,
denied FOX the ability to shoot trailer footage for the 2001 broadcasts.
Prior to the comprehensive broadcasting contract, it was up to each
individual facility to negotiate television rights. A majority of the
tracks had deals with ESPN; a pioneer in motorsports television.
IN 1999, NASCAR proposed collective bargaining for all sanctioned
races, and the contract was given to the highest bidder.
When the bidding was over long-term, contracts were awarded to NBC and
FOX to grant them exclusive on-track broadcast rights for the top two
series. (Previously both networks had little or no motorsports experience).
A deal that cost the networks four hundred million dollars per year
and left ESPN's twenty-year investment in Winston Cup a memory.
Averaging out, between the Busch Grand National Series, and the Winston
Cup Series, the networks are paying in excess of five million dollars
per race and thus, have become very protective of their intellectual
property.
RPM2night is not denied access to the tracks, RPM reporters can
interview drivers and teams to gather information; they are just not
allowed to broadcast or record footage from the track.
In what has become confusing to many fans that may see race highlight
clips provided by NBC/Fox on local news shows; many do not understand
why RPM2night cannot show the same.
The answer lies in semantic language that has determined that RPM2night is
not a news broadcast and therefore not eligible to receive the feed of
track highlights.
The concept that this can be resolved prior to the start of the 2002
season is not out of the question, but highly unlikely.
With sky rocketing ratings, NBC and Fox have yet to see a return on
their investment.
The pressure is certainly on ESPN, even though it survived the 2001
blackouts; one of its competitors, Speedvision's Inside Winston Cup did
not broadcast due the lack of available footage.
This situation has changed as Fox has announced, that it has acquired
Speedvision (renamed Speed channel), and Inside NASCAR will return on
February 18th.
This programming move combined with already established line-up that
includes, Totally NASCAR, NASCAR Victory Lane, and NASCAR Tech leaves
RPM2night the odd man out.