NASCAR on NBC
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NASCAR on NBC was a series of NASCAR races that aired on the network from 2001-2006. NBC also aired the Pennzoil 400 in 1999 and 2000, as its only contracted race during that time.
NBC's cable partner in NASCAR was TNT, which retained its television rights as part of the new NASCAR contract for 2007 and beyond.
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[edit] Background
On November 11, 1999, a new $2.48 billion contract was signed for American television broadcast rights for NASCAR, split between FOX/FX and NBC/TBS. The contract would run from 2001 through 2006, with FOX/FX covering the first half of the season, and NBC/Turner covering the second half of the season. Shortly after the 2001 season began, and before the second half of the season began, on March 27, 2001, Turner replaced TBS with TNT for its NASCAR programming, as part of its "We Know Drama" re-launch marketing campaign. The song "Fuel" by Metallica was used as the intro song for its telecasts from 2001-2003 as well as for the 2004 Daytona 500 (which aired on NBC), with the song's instrumental backing used as background music and commercial bumpers.
- See also: NASCAR on FOX and NASCAR on TNT
[edit] Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 coverage
As part of the 2001 television contract, NBC and Fox shared rights to the two races held at Daytona International Speedway each year. Fox had the rights to the Daytona 500 in odd numbered years, while NBC had the rights to the race in even numbered years. Whoever didn't air the 500 instead aired the Pepsi 400 in July. NBC aired the Daytona 500 in 2002, 2004, and 2006.
Under the new television contract beginning in 2007, FOX will broadcast the Daytona 500 exclusively, and TNT will have exclusive rights to the now-Coke Zero 400 in July.
The start time for the Daytona 500 had progressively moved later into the day. In 2001, the start time was 1:15 p.m. In 2002, the start time was shifted back to 12:45 p.m. (because of the Winter Olympics on NBC), but in 2003, the start time was 1:01 p.m. (originally 1:28 p.m. but NASCAR tried to start the race before rain, which stopped the race prematurely) In 2004, the start time was 1:52 p.m., and the 2005 and 2006 races started at 2:45 p.m. while the 2007 race began at 3:30 p.m.
[edit] Announcers
[edit] Lap-by-lap
[edit] Pit reporters
- Allen Bestwick (Now at ESPN/ABC) - Allen Bestwick had been the lead commentator until 2005, when he switched duties with then-lead pit reporter Bill Weber.
- Dave Burns (Now at ESPN/ABC)
- Marty Snider
- Matt Yocum (worked for FOX as well)- Matt Yocum was in the pits at every NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event over the six years of the contract, as he had separate talent contracts with FOX/FX and NBC/TNT. He still holds the contracts with FOX and TNT, but will only be in the pits for the first half of the season (Yocum is not working for ABC/ESPN, who broadcasts the second half of the season).
- Lindsay Czarniak (At Busch Series stand-alone events, now permanently part of TNT's pit crew team)
In the opening sequence, a driver can be heard shouting over his radio, "Good job guys, good job!!" This is the voice of driver Rusty Wallace when he won the 2004 Advance Auto Parts 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
[edit] Regular segments
A segment during the telecasts was the Aflac Trivia Question, where Benny Parsons "cued the duck" and the Aflac Duck walked across the screen before the question is displayed.
[edit] Fan bias
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A large number of fans were biased against NBC's coverage, claiming that it was largely inferior to FOX in terms of both technological capabilities and bland commentators. Wally Dallenbach and Bill Weber were viewed as monotone and boring compared to Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip. Statistically after its first season FOX Races had more viewers than NBC Races in 2001.
NBC was also criticized by fans for having long commercial periods during the race, much longer than the commercial periods when FOX televises a race. Two glaring problems on NBC were that restarts were often missed due to long commercial breaks, and the frequent breaks during green flag runs. The name itself, NBC, has been used as an acronym for "Nothing But Commercials." The term originated from fans at the NASCAR.com chat room during the race. This cliché was poked fun at in the film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, when NBC is shown to take a commercial break in the middle of a ridiculously long crash sequence (then-NBC team Weber, Dallenbach, and Benny Parsons made cameos in the film during this sequence).
[edit] NASCAR leaves NBC
In mid October 2005, NBC announced that it would not renew its package starting in 2007, largely because of its acquisition of the Sunday Night Football telecast from ESPN.
From 2007 until 2014, the Daytona 500 will be shown every year on FOX under the terms of the television contract. ESPN and ABC rejoined the NASCAR broadcast team as part of the deal, taking the second half of the season's races, and TNT retained its broadcast rights by signing a contract to air six mid-season races. The ESPN family of networks became the exclusive home of the NASCAR Busch/Nationwide Series as part of the contract, replacing TNT, NBC, and FX as broadcasters.
[edit] References
| Preceded by CBS |
Daytona 500 television broadcaster 2001 - 2006 (even numbered years only; FOX aired the Daytona 500 in odd numbered years) |
Succeeded by FOX |
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