DAVID HILL SAYS NASCAR'S FUTURE IS BRIGHT ON FOX SPORTS
While the NASCAR faithful feared the Fox-ification of
their sport when NASCAR sold half its TV rights package to
Fox Sports in '99, there is little doubt that the network's
first year of broadcasting the series has been a financial
and artistic success and has eased many of the sports'
suspicious minds. While ratings are up significantly over
last year in a largely depressed ratings environment, Fox
has also won kudos for its production and broadcast
personnel. In looking back at the network's first year of
coverage, Fox Sports TV Group Chair David Hill tells THE
DAILY that a consistent network TV schedule, Fox' full-year
of preparations and the candor of its broadcast team have
been key to its success, while technological improvements
will serve to enhance future broadcasts.
THE WORK PAID OFF: Hill stresses the continuity that
Fox was able to bring to NASCAR's TV schedule. Hill: "Until
this year, NASCAR didn't have a regular carrier. It was on
seven different outlets and it was doing the second-highest
rating in the regular season of any sport to football. If
you put it on week in, week out, and the fans knew where
they could get it, the ratings would go up." Hill says
another aspect to Fox' success was that his network (and
NBC/Turner) had "the luxury of 12 months to tear the
coverage of the sport down and build it back up again." In
addition, Hill says the broadcast personnel, "primarily from
Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds, and the
excitement that they generate and the way they explain what
is going on -- so there's no hidden areas -- has really
struck a chord with the viewers."
RED FLAGGED: While Fox has been criticized by media
writers and local viewers for tape-delaying races in some
markets, Hill says tape-delaying races in N.Y., Boston, and
S.F. is "the best thing that's happened to the sport."
Ratings in Boston for a race shown after a recent Red Sox
game were up 80%, while in N.Y., ratings after a recent
Yankees game were up 40%. Hill says the tape-delayed races
are attracting a significant amount of new viewers: "I think
that the sport is such that all you've got to do is watch it
and you get hooked, and I think it was a very smart thing to
do and the right thing for NASCAR."
NASCAR'S FX: While Hill is pleased with NASCAR ratings
on FX, he says that FX' NASCAR coverage has yet to propel
the cable service into more households. Hill: "We haven't
seen any increase in the FX numbers going up due just to
NASCAR. ... Even though the increase in household numbers
that FX reaches has escalated dramatically, these were all
contracts that have been done two to three years prior."
But Hill says NASCAR is "making the FX brand better in the
eyes of the viewing public."
ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN: While Fox had unsold ad inventory
during its NASCAR broadcasts, the network maintained its ad
pricing throughout the season, believing it needed to set --
and keep -- the bar high. Hill acknowledges the soft market
and says, "We haven't seen people step in through the door
this year because obviously their budgets have all been set.
But a lot of advertisers viewed NASCAR as very much a
Southeast sport, and it probably wasn't even on their radar
screen." Now with the greater awareness in the major
markets, strong ratings and "incredible demos," Hill feels
the "more advertisers that are aware of NASCAR as a delivery
service for their message will result in a 100% sellout."
THE FUTURE: Hill says that after Fox' last Winston Cup
broadcast in June, the production and broadcast personnel
"will go through elements that worked, what didn't work and
how we can improve the coverage next year." Hill: "I
definitely want to get Fox Trax more secure and better. I
want to try and improve the quality of in-car cameras, and I
want to improve the audio coming out of the cars. So next
year, our coverage will be tighter and better."
This story appeared in The Sports Business Daily's Special Motorsports
Marketing issue published on May 25, 2001.
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