|
One of the
continual complaints fans have had regarding FOX’s coverage of
NASCAR races has been the lack of coverage on restarts. In many
cases, during a caution period, the network will cut away to
commercial, and not return to the race in time, causing viewers
to miss some of the action.
FOX has
defended its actions saying that they have contracts with
advertisers that say they have to air a certain number of
commercials during each race. So, they have to either air a few
extra commercials early and miss a few restarts, or air them
later and miss some green flag action in the race’s later
stages.
While
watching the IRL Indy 500, I noticed that ABC might have found
the solution. They used a new “side-by-side” format for most of
their commercial breaks. Instead of completely leaving the race
for commercials, they showed a split screen, with the
commercials airing on one side, and the race action showing on
the other. You couldn’t hear the race, because the
commercial audio was being broadcast, but at least you could
still see the action on the track. And you didn’t miss any
restarts.
I have to
wonder if ABC plans to continue this format when they take over
the final third of the NASCAR season next year. It could
certainly be a plus for NASCAR broadcasts. And maybe FOX and
NBC should look into doing the same thing during their
broadcasts.
I’m sure a
program format like this would require agreements and
cooperation not only between the network and NASCAR, but between
the network and all of the various advertisers as well. That
could be a tall order to try and implement quickly. Plus, this
season’s advertising contracts have probably all been set up.
But it could certainly be done for next season.
So could
this be the end of missed restarts? The end of green flag
commercial breaks? The end of missing track action because of
it happening during a commercial? We can only hope so.
Of course,
with the side-by-side commercial breaks, when do we get up to
get another drink and more chips and salsa? |
