Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Media

NBC Ready To Impress With Net's First Indianapolis 500 Broadcast

NBC is arming itself with more than 140 cameras, a crew of near 400, a helicopter and a blimp for the raceGETTY IMAGES

Sunday's Indianapolis 500 will be a "monstrous proving ground for NBC, which has taken the reins from ABC" and will broadcast the race for the first time, according to Jim Ayello of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. NBC will "try to halt the 500’s recent trend of plummeting TV ratings," which is highlighted by ABC last year drawing the race's lowest overnight rating ever. NBC Coordinating Producer Rich O’Connor has spent more than a year "plotting NBC's nearly four-hour pre-race show." He said, “You only get one chance to make a first impression." Ayello notes NBC has been "promoting the race with a vigor unseen in recent years." Ads for the race "began during the NFL playoffs in January and have hit another gear lately, including eight spots" during the Kentucky Derby. For the race itself, NBC is "arming itself with more than 140 cameras, a crew of near 400, a 14-person broadcast team, a helicopter, a blimp and a whole lot of star power" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/24). AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Phillip Bupp noted NBC has "made sure everyone is aware" the network is airing the race. From advertising "during other sporting events ... and other highly rated primetime shows," NBC is "hoping this pays off in terms of added viewership and bringing in both new and casual fans and turning them into diehard fans" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 5/23).

ON THE CALL: In Milwaukee, Dave Kallmann notes NBCSN has "carried IndyCar broadcasts for years, so the feel of the race itself won’t be anything particularly new." The broadcasting team of Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy have "built the sort of chemistry that takes years." While much of the surrounding cast is "new to their broadcasts, they’re not the strangers it might seem" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 5/24). Sunday will be Diffey's first time calling play-by-play for the Indy 500, and he said that fact "won’t quite become real until race day." Diffey: "When I joined NBC Sports seven years ago, I got to do a qualifying weekend and we did a Carb Day once. ... We did a pole day one year, which was very cool. But, then again you know, it’s removed, it’s different. It’s different to being able to do race day" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 5/23).

FORTUITOUS TIMING: In Indianapolis, Mickey Shuey noted NBC "battled through early-morning storms and intermittent rain" on Thursday to broadcast an hour of "Today" live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Show co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker were joined at IMS by Tom Hanks, while Sheryl Crow performed a three-song set. The Hidden Heroes organization picked IMS "to celebrate military caregivers and their families on 'Today' as part of a special trip to Indianapolis." Libby Leist, an Exec Producer for "Today," indicated that the broadcast "was not originally part of NBC's strategy to promote" the Indy 500, but the net "made the most of the unexpected overlap." Leist: "This was actually done completely separately, but it happened to be a good chance to coordinate because we're so close (time-wise) to the race" (IBJ.com, 5/23). 

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2019/05/24/Media/NBC-Indy-500.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2019/05/24/Media/NBC-Indy-500.aspx

CLOSE