ISC-owned Motor Racing Network this afternoon is revealing a strategic alliance with Lucas Oil-owned MavTV to televise the sprint-car talk show “Winged Nation." Beginning this Saturday, the previously audio-only show, which is hosted by Kendra Jacobs and Steve Post, will be taped in its full 60-minute form on Tuesdays. It will then air on Saturdays at 9:30am ET in a condensed 30-minute form. MRN President David Hyatt said that the financial arrangement between MRN and Lucas Oil is not a typical licensing agreement but rather a hybrid that will see MRN and MavTV share in ad inventory and revenue. Amid a time of shifting priorities for all media companies, the move marks the first time in MRN’s 45-year history that it will have a program "simulcast" on TV. “We hope that this is the next step in making the show bigger and having our brand be more highly recognized in the digital space as well as in the sprint-car space," Hyatt said. "It’s highlighting -- I don’t want to call it a shift -- but that adoption of content in the digital space that has traditionally been in the more traditional TV or radio space.” MavTV, which was founded in ’04, is heavily focused on grassroots motorsports, and Hyatt said that it is for this reason that the two sides chose “Winged Nation” as the show with which to begin. Hyatt said that as of right now, this is the only MRN show that is being discussed for a simulcast with MavTV, but added that he hopes the relationship will expand to other programs moving forward. Hyatt: “It’s certainly a bit of an experiment for both of us that we’re poised to provide more content if it’s warranted and it makes sense" He said that “Winged Nation” has accrued 263,000 unique downloads thus far in ’15. For comparison, MRN’s “NASCAR Live” show has accrued 437,000 unique downloads this year, while MRN’s airing of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practices has accumulated 125,000 unique downloads.
