The "tough part" of CBS' final broadcast of the Daytona
500 is "having to leave a sport it built to the pinnacle of
TV properties," according to USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke. CBS
Sports President Sean McManus said that the net's NFL TV
rights contract took it "out of the running for the second
half of NASCAR's schedule that NBC bought." McManus: "We've
got a very strong schedule in the first two quarters of the
year. NASCAR was interested in maximizing their exposure.
We weren't in a position to do so." Martzke notes that CBS
has "cut down on Daytona 500 promos." CBS Sports
VP/Communications LeslieAnne Wade added, "We have promoted
the Daytona 500 for 22 years" (USA TODAY, 2/18). McManus
said it "wouldn't surprise me if the Daytona 500 at some
time in the future was back on CBS. I'd love to have it
back. They're going to be around a long time and I'm going
to be around a long time" (ST. PETE TIMES, 2/18). In
Atlanta, Prentis Rogers writes, "Don't look for CBS to
pepper Sunday's telecast with a lot of sentiment." But
while CBS will use 11 in-car cameras -- the same number as
last year -- it "promises a little something extra." CBS'
Bob Fishman, who has "sat in the director's chair throughout
CBS' run at Daytona," said, "We've added a couple of speed
shots at the front straightaway. ... If we can keep our
talented announcers quiet for about 30 seconds, people will
see and hear speed like never before" (CONSTITUTION, 2/18).
In CA, Bob Keisser writes that CBS "likely deserves as much
credit for its coverage of auto racing as NBC once did for
its baseball coverage," as CBS was the first to cover a 500-
mile race from start to finish and was also the "first U.S.
network to put cameras inside cars and other unique places
to give viewers a sense of speed" (PRESS-TELEGRAM, 2/18).
In Orlando, Jerry Greene: "Why does NASCAR work so well on
TV? Well, what's easier to follow on your screen -- a golf
ball, a hockey puck or a one-ton car?" (O. SENTINEL, 2/18).
