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NBC Has Created "Sky-High Expectations" For Its NASCAR Coverage, Beginning Sunday

NBC has "built sky-high expectations for its portion of the Sprint Cup Series schedule that begins Sunday night" at Daytona Int'l Speedway, but "living up to the hype won't be an easy task, because NASCAR fans are notoriously picky when it comes to broadcasts," according to Jeff Gluck of USA TODAY. NBC is making its return to the sport for the first time since '05, and the net "has to make the most of its first impression." It hired "fresh, smart talent for its broadcast booth and has pledged to make the races more about the drivers than the announcers, along with a promise to dive further into the field to find interesting stories." NBC analyst Jeff Burton said, "We want to be really good at this. ... We know we're going to make mistakes along the way and we know it's going to be hard. The challenges, there are going to be a lot of them, because we care." Gluck writes the most exciting part of NBC's coverage "is its three-man booth of play-by-play announcer Rick Allen and analysts Burton and Steve Letarte." The "golden-voiced Allen has been awaiting his star turn for years, and Burton and Letarte are fresh from the garage." That talent, "combined with a great pit road and infield studio roster (including outspoken Kyle Petty), means NBC is capable of lapping the field right away" (USA TODAY, 7/2). USA TODAY's Brant James writes Burton and Letarte are "known and respected commodities," they are "sharp and opinionated, and perhaps more importantly, current." Letarte said, "That relevancy will bring a different approach because it's very, very difficult to stand away from the garage for a length of time and still understand it from a competitive side." But NBC Sports Exec Producer Sam Flood said relevancy "matters little without relatability" (USA TODAY, 7/2).

TEST LAP: USA TODAY's James reports NBC during the race last month at Michigan Int'l Speedway "was undertaking a phantom broadcast in conjunction with Fox to practice full-scale before the network broadcasts a NASCAR race live." The result came out "less folksy and more informational." There also was, "as is the demand from Flood, storytelling." Ask anyone involved in what "will underscore an NBC NASCAR broadcast and the answer will either be 'storytelling' or 'if you ask Sam Flood, our job is storytelling.'" Flood "made that premise the hallmark of the networks foray into the NHL and sees fertile opportunity in a sport with multitudes of competitors each week." James notes the mock broadcast also included "noticeably fewer insertions of sponsor references." Allen said, "We know this sport is run by sponsorships and we have to do sponsor mentions when it fits, but as far as forcing anything upon anyone, I don't want it to be commercialized in my broadcast. Because again, it's conversational" (USA TODAY, 7/2).

INDEPENDENT OF INDEPENDENCE DAY: In Jacksonville, Don Coble noted the Coke Zero 400 since '87 "traditionally has been run on the closest Saturday to July 4," but this year, a "one-time move to Sunday was made to help usher NBC’s new 10-year contract." DIS President Joie Chitwood III said, "With NBC’s absence for 10 years, them coming back into the sport and some of the magic they created with Sunday Night Football, it seemed appropriate for this opportunity with them coming back to the sport to make it unique." Coble noted the move "also should help with ratings," as Saturday night races "routinely have some of the lowest ratings of the racing season" (JACKSONVILLE.com, 6/30).

END TO UNEVEN YEAR FOR FOX: YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg wrote last Sunday's race at Sonoma "capped a year that was incredibly disjointed and, frankly, embarrassing at times" for Fox. Analyst Larry McReynolds next year will be replaced in the Fox booth by Jeff Gordon, and as he was "fighting back tears and embraced" fellow analyst Darrell Waltrip and play-by-play broadcaster Mike Joy following Sunday's race, the "production awkwardly and abruptly cut from the booth without much of an opportunity for McReynolds to reminisce on his time calling races with his two friends." The broadcast "was seemingly unable to figure out how to address McReynolds' move to a lesser role within the telecasts despite having months to prepare for the moment." Bromberg wrote the ability to "match up what Fox's broadcasters were exclaiming about on screen with the pictures provided to viewers tailed off precipitously" in '15. Bromberg: "Don't get us started on the fake objectivity Michael Waltrip tries to maintain. A vast, vast majority of viewers know he owns two cars in the race." Fox' effort to "pretend that Waltrip is an unbiased observer is pathetic." NBC "has done a fantastic job" with its F1 and IndyCar broadcasts, as the net is the "magical combination of being entertaining and informative, mostly because you can tell the analysts are prepared." Bromberg: "Hopefully NBC's NASCAR broadcasts hit the same notes" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/1). Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Steve Mickey wrote the opportunity to add Gordon to the booth in '16 "was too much for Fox to pass on." Gordon’s entrance into the booth next season "will give Fox a fresher look at what it is like behind the wheel from the newly retired driver to go along with Waltrip’s old school feel for the sport." The new pairing "will definitely give you the coverage from the eye of a driver," but McReynolds’ insight "on pit strategy and what was going on with the race car will be missed." McReynolds "will be moved to the roll of a technical insider and will be used throughout the race broadcast as well as being featured during their prerace show" (WILLIAMSON DAILY NEWS, 6/29).

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