TNT scales back "Wide Open Coverage" for Daytona

HoneyBadger

HoneyBadger

I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
91,277
Points
1,033
Location
A short track somewhere
In the past, the commercials were broadcast in a picture-in-picture format allowing TNT to air most of the race without interruption. Looks like they're only using that format in the last 30 laps this year.

This has also been the reason, in the past, why their commercials have been excusable. They run more commercials in the other races but broadcast an entire race without commercials. Not the case this year. Just more commercials than ever before.


Statement from TNT:

"Turner Sports continues to evolve the Wide Open model we introduced in 2007. For this year’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona powered by Coca-Cola, TNT will present the final 30 laps without commercial interruption courtesy of sponsors Coke Zero and Sprint. This approach ensures our viewers will continue to see all the action at the pinnacle moment of the race."
 
Great so the best part of the race (last 30 laps) we will only get to see half the screen, as the other half will have a huge Coke Zero banner across it.
 
We will hear about "Wide Open Coverage" the whole race..while they plaster us with endless buy its to make up for the last 30 laps..then while it is going...wide open coverage brought to you by...blah blah blah, don't know about you guys, I can't wait for 30 laps without I Ate The Bones.
 
This is from Sporting News:

No wide-open coverage for TNT

TNT will not have its traditional split-screen coverage for the Cup race Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

In the past, the TNT coverage has featured advertisements on half the screen during all national breaks, allowing the network to miss very few green-flag laps.

But TNT won’t be doing that this year. Instead, it will have only the final 30 laps of the 160-lap race commercial free.

“Turner Sports continues to evolve the Wide Open model we introduced in 2007,” the network said in a statement. “For this year’s (Daytona race), TNT will present the final 30 laps without commercial interruption courtesy of sponsors Coke Zero and Sprint. This approach ensures our viewers will continue to see all the action at the pinnacle moment of the race.”

http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/...ain-delay-matt-kenseth-win-race-date-schedule
 
Personally, I hated the oversized graphics on TNT's Wide Open coverage but, at the same time, it meant seeing the entire race without interruption. I wonder if TNT's advertisers simply weren't game. I noticed last year they only had a handful of sponsors for Wide Open.

If that's the case, I'd say it's a stupid move by advertisers. When commercials come on, it's instinct for people to either flip the channel to something else or get up and leave the room. If the commercials are PIP or split screen, it's more likely people are going to see the ads and maybe even pay attention to them.

Full screen commercials during a NASCAR telecast are as frustrating as those video ads on the internet. If I go to a website and I'm bombarded with a big, loud video ad, not only do I not pay attention to the ad, I hit the "back" button on my browser and never visit said website again.
 
The side by side option seems like a no brainer in the age of dvr's. Without side-by-side, I record and chase and watch very few commercials. With side-by-side, I watch them all even if most of my attention is on that postage stamp sized race going on, the commercial message and product name still register.
 
FenderBumper said:
The side by side option seems like a no brainer in the age of dvr's. Without side-by-side, I record and chase and watch very few commercials. With side-by-side, I watch them all even if most of my attention is on that postage stamp sized race going on, the commercial message and product name still register.
Click to expand...


Advertising types aren't exactly the smartest people in the world. Unfortunately, they don't think of ways for ads to be less obtrusive and done in a way where people see them but can still see what they're wanting to see. For them, it's all about bigger, louder and more obtrusive. Hell, we had to pass a law to do something about the ads being twice as loud as the broadcasts they were on and even that didn't work because they use audio editing techniques that allow the ads to still be excessively loud while being in compliance with the law.

On the internet side, it's about those damn video ads. Like I said, if I click on a website and I'm bombarded with a LOUD, bandwidth hogging 30 second video, I'm clicking the back button and never visiting that site again. I actually downloaded the "Ad Block" plugin for Chrome on my laptop. I can deal with the banner ads but I don't like the sound and video ads or the ads that get bigger and smaller and force you to scroll up and down numerous times just to read something. The advertisers think this is genius. I think it's obnoxious and now I don't see and thus don't ever click on any ads at all ever (except for the ones on the site I work for) because some genius decided it'd be a good idea to make ads so obnoxious that it completely pisses people off.

On the TV side, they think ads that are louder, flashier and longer ads are the way to go even when the networks have said that it's more likely people will watch commercials if commercial breaks are 90-120 seconds instead of 180-240 seconds.

Wide Open Coverage was a good format. The ads were done in a way where they were on the screen in a way that people could see them without obstructing the race broadcast. The result, I'm watching the race instead of taking a piss.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Advertising types aren't exactly the smartest people in the world.
..........
Click to expand...

Yep. It's not like they were even giving up much of the screen with the pathetic TNT postage stamp format, especially when considering todays huge HD screens.
 
I'd rather have the final 30 commercial free than side by side by side. At least TNT is trying. FOX and ESPN would likely never consider such a tactic.
 
Matthew2470 said:
I'd rather have the final 30 commercial free than side by side by side. At least TNT is trying. FOX and ESPN would likely never consider such a tactic.
Click to expand...

That's probably true but I do give ESPN a lot of credit for their NonStop coverage they use for the last half of each Chase race.
 
FLRacingFan said:
That's probably true but I do give ESPN a lot of credit for their NonStop coverage they use for the last half of each Chase race.
Click to expand...
Don't give them too much credit quite yet. We may just be reading a ESPN scales back "NonStop Coverage" for the Chase thread in the near future.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Statement from TNT:

"Turner Sports continues to Devolve the Wide Open model we introduced in 2007. For this year’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona powered by Coca-Cola, TNT will present the final 30 laps without commercial interruption courtesy of sponsors Coke Zero and Sprint. This approach ensures our viewers will continue to see all the action at the pinnacle moment of the race."
Click to expand...

:fixed:
 
Matthew2470 said:
I'd rather have the final 30 commercial free than side by side by side. At least TNT is trying. FOX and ESPN would likely never consider such a tactic.
Click to expand...


The final 30 laps aren't the only time anything happens in a race. I, like most race fans, watch the entire race.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom