Versus - new name, new programming

[VanIslander]

VSNBC

"Vee-ess"NBC sounds and looks good!

 

[Mwd711]

Perhaps Versus' angle is that they're not part of the "sports tier" of cable packages (in most places anyway), so they might pick up a certain amount of viewers who don't get the regional networks and don't have the sports tier?

I dunno, pretty much just made that up on the spot. Maybe it's just better than showing rodeo reruns.

I don't think it's a bad idea. It just isn't going to help raise the network's profile much. Let's say they showed the Frozen Four or something, then you'd draw in some more casual fans. A weekly college game is fine and all but it's largely going to draw flies nationally.

People had high expectations when NBC took over and I'm not sure that adding college hockey fulfills the expectations that people like Dick Ebersol trumpeted so much. I know Ebersol is gone, but he certainly made it sound like they were going to be aggressive in getting other rights and so far, NBC and Versus have largely been on the outside.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Nascar

Those are really the best shot for Versus. I dont think the NBA is going anywhere. They are tightly aligned with Turner as Turner runs NBA.com and NBA TV. I also don't think ESPN will let it go.

One thing not mentioned is NASCAR. The bidding for that should start next year.

MLS wouldnt be a bad addition but that's still small potatoes when it comes to drawing viewers.

UNLIKELY, NASCAR'S MOVING to NBC (VS), or back to it, that's why they left and how ESPN/ABC returned to THE SCENE.... Highly doubtful VS will be able to take the chase from ABC, OR THE 1ST 13 from Fox, Mwd711.... VS already has the majority of INDYCAR

 

[Mwd711]

UNLIKELY, NASCAR'S MOVING to NBC (VS), or back to it, that's why they left and how ESPN/ABC returned to THE SCENE.... Highly doubtful VS will be able to take the chase from ABC, OR THE 1ST 13 from Fox, Mwd711.... VS already has the majority of INDYCAR

You can carry both Indy and NASCAR. Every rights holder has done it in the past and ABC does it today.

The number one reason that NASCAR left was Ebersol. He saw racing as a fill in for the NFL. Once he got football, he had no interest in shelling out big bucks for racing. It's well known that he wasn't a fan of NASCAR or auto racing in general. Ebersol is gone and Comcast has a history with NASCAR. They've sponsored cars and put some regional NASCAR tours on Versus. I'm not saying that NBC will get the rights but there's no reason to rule them out at this point. I should also add that NASCAR isn't exactly a fan of ESPN at this time. There's lots of friction between both parties.

 

[KzooShark]

I don't think it's a bad idea. It just isn't going to help raise the network's profile much. Let's say they showed the Frozen Four or something, then you'd draw in some more casual fans. A weekly college game is fine and all but it's largely going to draw flies nationally.

People had high expectations when NBC took over and I'm not sure that adding college hockey fulfills the expectations that people like Dick Ebersol trumpeted so much. I know Ebersol is gone, but he certainly made it sound like they were going to be aggressive in getting other rights and so far, NBC and Versus have largely been on the outside.

The Frozen Four draws flies nationally. About a million households. I love college hockey, but its ratings are so low that you're better off as a network showing a hunting or fishing show since companies that supply those things will at least buy commercial time.

 

[Mwd711]

The Frozen Four draws flies nationally. About a million households. I love college hockey, but its ratings are so low that you're better off as a network showing a hunting or fishing show since companies that supply those things will at least buy commercial time.

For Versus, one million viewers is pretty good. There are very few regular season NHL games that draw that for them. Heck, even during the playoffs, outside of the last couple of rounds, there were plenty of games that didn't crack a million. I don't remember what the ratings were for this year's Frozen Four but I remember that they were very respectable. Obviously, being on ESPN for the final helps.

I agree with the rest of your comments. It's good that college hockey is getting more television coverage but it's not going to help put Versus in more hotel rooms or get bartenders to know that it even exists.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

A weekly college game is fine and all but it's largely going to draw flies nationally.

Agreed. Who's going to tune into a Minnesota-Duluth vs North Dakota game? Also, you're missing a huge segment of the population. College Hockey is only played in 20 states, almost all of them in the Northeast and Midwest (Alaska, Colorado and Alabama being the exceptions.)

How are you going to get people in Texas or California or even Illinois to watch these games?

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

You can carry both Indy and NASCAR. Every rights holder has done it in the past and ABC does it today.

The number one reason that NASCAR left was Ebersol. He saw racing as a fill in for the NFL. Once he got football, he had no interest in shelling out big bucks for racing. It's well known that he wasn't a fan of NASCAR or auto racing in general. Ebersol is gone and Comcast has a history with NASCAR. They've sponsored cars and put some regional NASCAR tours on Versus. I'm not saying that NBC will get the rights but there's no reason to rule them out at this point. I should also add that NASCAR isn't exactly a fan of ESPN at this time. There's lots of friction between both parties.

not happening , Mwd711.... Brian France is very happy w/ the current arrangement and contracts w/ all 3 partners..... the only tweak you might see is whether Fox will sublet some of its contractual races to SPEED, which is owned by Fox....

 

[jkrdevil]

College hockey would be filler programming. Basically supplemental programming to boost the brand of its hockey (NHL) coverage. Given that hockey fans are already coming to the network for the NHL coverage they hope that a small percentage stick around to watch the college hockey. Also guessing a deal comes cheap and the coverage will be bare bones. It better for the channel's overall brand to air college hockey games than say programming like Holy @$%*!.

 

[tarheelhockey]

It better for the channel's overall brand to air college hockey games than say programming like Holy @$%*!.

This is true. I don't know about you guys, but I have developed a sense for which channels to check to see if "a game", any game, is being shown. Maybe it's because they stick out as long bars on the guide, but I'm a lot more likely to linger on those listings than on a bunch of half-hour blooper shows. Sort of like I give an extra glance to FX, USA, AMC, etc because they are always showing movies. It gives those channels a little edge in the hierarchy, even if the movies that night are pure garbage.

This is also another opportunity for me to plug the idea that college hockey is stunted by its regional limitations.

 

[Mwd711]

not happening , Mwd711.... Brian France is very happy w/ the current arrangement and contracts w/ all 3 partners..... the only tweak you might see is whether Fox will sublet some of its contractual races to SPEED, which is owned by Fox....

Im not sure I'd say he's very happy. NASCAR officials were not happy about ESPN moving all the Chase races to ABC. They have also complained about the daily NASCAR show being bumped off the air. Same goes for the Nationwide Series being bumped to ESPN Classic multiple times. There's also been numerous production problems with the races on ESPN. Another complaint centers around coverage on Sportscenter. I don't necessarily think NASCAR will make any broadcast changes but it would be foolish for NBC to not make a serious bid for it. At this point NBC needs to bid on everything that comes up if they wanna build up Versus.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Im not sure I'd say he's very happy. NASCAR officials were not happy about ESPN moving all the Chase races to ABC. They have also complained about the daily NASCAR show being bumped off the air. Same goes for the Nationwide Series being bumped to ESPN Classic multiple times. There's also been numerous production problems with the races on ESPN. Another complaint centers around coverage on Sportscenter. I don't necessarily think NASCAR will make any broadcast changes but it would be foolish for NBC to not make a serious bid for it. At this point NBC needs to bid on everything that comes up if they wanna build up Versus.

no the above post is factually incorrect........

not all the Chase races are on ABC..... WHAT NASCAR Now has not been moved around nor pre-empted.... Nationwide has either been on ESPN2/ESPN or ABC per contract(1 race was moved to SPEED bc of other committments, everybody wanted NBC gone after the original contract bc they were so inept which is why Brian restored them to ESPN BEGINNING THIS WKND

 

[He Lied to Mario]

I think it would be wise for NBC/Comcast to make a huge bid for Thursday Night Football, which will now become a weekly thing I believe starting for the '12-'13 NFL season. Would tremendously raise the profile of the network.

The TBS MLB package should also be eyed by NBC/Comcast.

There was a report about a month ago that NBC/Versus was going to make a very large bid for an 8 game Thursday package which would go along with the 8 games that the NFL Network already has.

 

[He Lied to Mario]

For Versus, one million viewers is pretty good. There are very few regular season NHL games that draw that for them. Heck, even during the playoffs, outside of the last couple of rounds, there were plenty of games that didn't crack a million. I don't remember what the ratings were for this year's Frozen Four but I remember that they were very respectable. Obviously, being on ESPN for the final helps.

I agree with the rest of your comments. It's good that college hockey is getting more television coverage but it's not going to help put Versus in more hotel rooms or get bartenders to know that it even exists.

Versus can't get just the Frozen Four, it's part of a package deal with the NCAA for most of their Championships, i.e. woman's softball, lacrosse, etc.

 

[Mwd711]

no the above post is factually incorrect........

not all the Chase races are on ABC..... WHAT NASCAR Now has not been moved around nor pre-empted.... Nationwide has either been on ESPN2/ESPN or ABC per contract(1 race was moved to SPEED bc of other committments, everybody wanted NBC gone after the original contract bc they were so inept which is why Brian restored them to ESPN BEGINNING THIS WKND

NASCAR Now gets bumped and pre-empted many times a year for golf, tennis, and various other programs including SportsNation (http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2010/08/nascar-preempted-by-nothing.html) and the beginning of multiple Nationwide races have been moved to ESPN Classic because of overruns on ESPN. And like I said before, NBC didn't bid at their own choosing, NASCAR didn't force them out. You do realize that Turner and NBC were partners- if NBC was so inept, so was Turner yet Turner still holds rights today. Most of the producers and directors of NASCAR on NBC almost all work for NASCAR on TNT today. NBC dropped out of that partnership because Ebersol didn't want to spend the money. ESPN got the rights because they were the highest bidder. Their bid was higher that Fox's or anyone else's bid. Also, ratings on NBC were significantly better than they currently are on ABC/ESPN.
You should read the website the Daly Planet by former NASCAR TV producer John Daly. It mentions all of the issues that I brought up here.
In fact, here's some quotes from a few posts that he just put up about ESPN.
http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/

In 2010, TV ratings for the first four Chase races were down almost 30%. ESPN executives were summoned to Charlotte for an October meeting. They pointed to the NFL, they pointed to earlier race start times and they made a lot of excuses. ESPN originally aired most of its races on ABC, but ran into the same issues with logistics and local stations. Now, 14 of the network's 17 races are on cable TV. While ESPN may promote itself as NASCAR friendly, the tensions have been rising between NASCAR and the network for the last several years

This story reads like how NHL fans felt about being disrespected on ESPN when it came to Sportscenter
http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-sportscenter-hates-nascar.html

Now five years into the current NASCAR TV contract, the open contempt and outright hatred of NASCAR by SportsCenter anchors is not only tolerated, it is encouraged.

It's not all happy times between NASCAR and ESPN. I don't think NASCAR will leave ESPN but as I said before, NBC needs to make a serious bid. Versus can't just sit there and keep hoping for a handful of NFL games. That's not enough. If they are serious about growing the network, they need to bid on EVERYTHING and finally win the rights to a few major sports properties. So far, the only victory for NBC has been the Olympics and considering that only takes up a few weeks every two years, it's not gonna do much to grow the network's daily programming.

Versus can't get just the Frozen Four, it's part of a package deal with the NCAA for most of their Championships, i.e. woman's softball, lacrosse, etc.

You're correct. My point was that the Frozen Four is the only college hockey that has any national following at all.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

NASCAR Now gets bumped and pre-empted many times a year for golf, tennis, and various other programs including SportsNation (http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2010/08/nascar-preempted-by-nothing.html) and the beginning of multiple Nationwide races have been moved to ESPN Classic because of overruns on ESPN. And like I said before, NBC didn't bid at their own choosing, NASCAR didn't force them out. You do realize that Turner and NBC were partners- if NBC was so inept, so was Turner yet Turner still holds rights today. Most of the producers and directors of NASCAR on NBC almost all work for NASCAR on TNT today. NBC dropped out of that partnership because Ebersol didn't want to spend the money. ESPN got the rights because they were the highest bidder. Their bid was higher that Fox's or anyone else's bid. Also, ratings on NBC were significantly better than they currently are on ABC/ESPN.
You should read the website the Daly Planet by former NASCAR TV producer John Daly. It mentions all of the issues that I brought up here.
In fact, here's some quotes from a few posts that he just put up about ESPN.
http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/

This story reads like how NHL fans felt about being disrespected on ESPN when it came to Sportscenter
http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-sportscenter-hates-nascar.html


It's not all happy times between NASCAR and ESPN. I don't think NASCAR will leave ESPN but as I said before, NBC needs to make a serious bid. Versus can't just sit there and keep hoping for a handful of NFL games. That's not enough. If they are serious about growing the network, they need to bid on EVERYTHING and finally win the rights to a few major sports properties. So far, the only victory for NBC has been the Olympics and considering that only takes up a few weeks every two years, it's not gonna do much to grow the network's daily programming.



You're correct. My point was that the Frozen Four is the only college hockey that has any national following at all.

THE NASCAR portion is incorrect again, Mwd711----France told ESPN NOT to do that w/ any races----NASCAR Countdown has been shown on Classic when necessary.... NBC was horrible and doesn't even do auto racing any longer.... the Olympics are one reason why NBC doesn't need auto racing....

NASCAR Now is in the same position as Countdown..... in fact name one other show that's repeated twice..... I've even seen Races repeated on ESPN FROM EARLIER in the night..... something SPEED already does w/ practice and qualifying, even the Truck races were originally ESPN property since it was the track's option which network to go with....

If you'd notice Turner's 6 race package.... Adam Alexander is from SPEED as is Kyle, and Versus allowed Wally to do those 6 and Wally returned @ Edmonton , in fact, TNT brought in Chris Neville, who does the ROLEX series for those 6....

Even Larry Mac and DW work 19 races until this weekend....

in fact, VS IndyCar broadcast team is former members on ESPN'S NASCAR coverage, while Marty Reid shuttles back and forth when Indy is on ESPN/ABC , IN FACT, Jenkins was the PBP from the day ESPN added NASCAR UNTIL NASCAR changed from having the individual tracks and having NASCAR ITSELF do their contracts w/ each partner.

 

[Mwd711]

THE NASCAR portion is incorrect again, Mwd711----France told ESPN NOT to do that w/ any races----NASCAR Countdown has been shown on Classic when necessary.... NBC was horrible and doesn't even do auto racing any longer.... the Olympics are one reason why NBC doesn't need auto racing....
.

I'm not sure why you continue to argue with me when I just gave you links that supplement everything I just wrote. If you want more links, I'll be happy to PM them to you since I'd rather not hijack this thread. Yes, the announcers have ties with other networks, but the behind the scenes people do not, that was my point when it came to the NBC/Turner partnership. My other point was Dick Ebersol wasn't a fan of racing - hence, NBC has rarely ever showed much auto racing. Ebersol refused to spend money on both NASCAR and the NFL. He chose the NFL. You may not have liked NBC's coverage of racing, but that doesn't mean that every person or NASCAR execs had an issue with them. The ratings disagree with you and since Turner still has many of the same BTS people that NBC did, I don't think NASCAR had much of a problem with them either.

The bottom line is this, and you keep failing to address it in any of your posts...why shouldn't NBC and Versus make a bid for NASCAR? Even if NASCAR is happy with it's current situation, that's not a reason for other networks not to make a bid on it. NBC says they want to grow Versus. Adding more popular programming is needed to do that. NASCAR is popular, whether people on this board like it or not. It makes sense to bid on everything sports when it comes to Versus since they have so little to start with. Let's say the NHL is happy with CBC, should CTV say "No thanks, we decline to bid?" Of course not. If it's open bidding, then there's no reason not to make an effort for it. You seem to think otherwise. I don't understand that theory. Versus needs high profile programming, and adding NASCAR or any other sport brings that, how is that a bad thing?

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'm not sure why you continue to argue with me when I just gave you links that supplement everything I just wrote. If you want more links, I'll be happy to PM them to you since I'd rather not hijack this thread. Yes, the announcers have ties with other networks, but the behind the scenes people do not, that was my point when it came to the NBC/Turner partnership. My other point was Dick Ebersol wasn't a fan of racing - hence, NBC has rarely ever showed much auto racing. Ebersol refused to spend money on both NASCAR and the NFL. He chose the NFL. You may not have liked NBC's coverage of racing, but that doesn't mean that every person or NASCAR execs had an issue with them. The ratings disagree with you and since Turner still has many of the same BTS people that NBC did, I don't think NASCAR had much of a problem with them either.

The bottom line is this, and you keep failing to address it in any of your posts...why shouldn't NBC and Versus make a bid for NASCAR? Even if NASCAR is happy with it's current situation, that's not a reason for other networks not to make a bid on it. NBC says they want to grow Versus. Adding more popular programming is needed to do that. NASCAR is popular, whether people like it or not. It makes sense to bid on everything sports when it comes to Versus since they have so little to start with. Let's say the NHL is happy with CBC, should CTV say "No thanks, we decline to bid?" Of course not. If it's open bidding, then there's no reason not to make an effort for it. You seem to think otherwise. I don't understand that theory. Versus needs high profile programming, and adding NASCAR or any other sport brings that, how is that a bad thing?

ESPN IS DOING 14 of the next 17; 7 of the 10 Chase races will be on ESPN

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'm not sure why you continue to argue with me when I just gave you links that supplement everything I just wrote. If you want more links, I'll be happy to PM them to you since I'd rather not hijack this thread. Yes, the announcers have ties with other networks, but the behind the scenes people do not, that was my point when it came to the NBC/Turner partnership. My other point was Dick Ebersol wasn't a fan of racing - hence, NBC has rarely ever showed much auto racing. Ebersol refused to spend money on both NASCAR and the NFL. He chose the NFL. You may not have liked NBC's coverage of racing, but that doesn't mean that every person or NASCAR execs had an issue with them. The ratings disagree with you and since Turner still has many of the same BTS people that NBC did, I don't think NASCAR had much of a problem with them either.

The bottom line is this, and you keep failing to address it in any of your posts...why shouldn't NBC and Versus make a bid for NASCAR? Even if NASCAR is happy with it's current situation, that's not a reason for other networks not to make a bid on it. NBC says they want to grow Versus. Adding more popular programming is needed to do that. NASCAR is popular, whether people on this board like it or not. It makes sense to bid on everything sports when it comes to Versus since they have so little to start with. Let's say the NHL is happy with CBC, should CTV say "No thanks, we decline to bid?" Of course not. If it's open bidding, then there's no reason not to make an effort for it. You seem to think otherwise. I don't understand that theory. Versus needs high profile programming, and adding NASCAR or any other sport brings that, how is that a bad thing?

ESPN is doing 14 of the next 17 and 7 out of 10 Chase races..... NO one liked NBC's coverage and that's why when ESPN WON THE BID in 2007, it was like saying, NASCAR SHOULD never have left to begin with.... it's like saying the NHL should be on ESPN WHEN VS is doing quite well when ESPN walked away in 2004.

 

[Mwd711]

ESPN is doing 14 of the next 17 and 7 out of 10 Chase races..... NO one liked NBC's coverage and that's why when ESPN WON THE BID in 2007, it was like saying, NASCAR SHOULD never have left to begin with.... it's like saying the NHL should be on ESPN WHEN VS is doing quite well when ESPN walked away in 2004.

That's all your opinion, just like it's my opinion that ESPN is terrible. You still didn't answer my question, why shouldn't Versus try to land NASCAR? If your reason is that "no one liked NBC's coverage", I say to you, money talks. NASCAR isn't exactly a loyal series these days. If NBC shows the cash, I doubt they would pass it up just to stay loyal. If loyalty was something that NASCAR's broadcasting division really believed in, we'd still have races on CBS and NASCAR would've never left ESPN in the first place. They came back when ESPN showed them the money, not because of past history.

 

[BogsDiamond]

I hope they give us an alternative to "Sportscenter".
And I hope it doesn't do what ESPN does in overload the viewers with sports and highlights from games they broadcast and nothing else.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

That's all your opinion, just like it's my opinion that ESPN is terrible. You still didn't answer my question, why shouldn't Versus try to land NASCAR? If your reason is that "no one liked NBC's coverage", I say to you, money talks. NASCAR isn't exactly a loyal series these days. If NBC shows the cash, I doubt they would pass it up just to stay loyal. If loyalty was something that NASCAR's broadcasting division really believed in, we'd still have races on CBS and NASCAR would've never left ESPN in the first place. They came back when ESPN showed them the money, not because of past history.

ya it is.... originally, and up to 2001, the tracks themselves did their own contracts, now NASCAR does them through its television rights.... why do you see VS and ESPN/ABC split Indycar the way it does..... Fox is doing that w/ F1, BUT IT'S NOT Their production, it's SPEED'S GRAPHICS just on Fox....... ESPN didn't show them the $, if it wasn't for them, NASCAR wouldn't be the way it is now.... the only major difference is France wanted its fanbase to have one series on ESPN, WHICH IS Nationwide, while the Trucks remained on SPEED.... IT'S THE SAME REASON WHY THE NHL left ESPN and won't ever return despite many ppl whining about it, most of those networks have folded that did NASCAR, OR HAD ITS business model changed except for Turner... there has been nothing except maybe outsourcing some of Fox's schedule to SPEED..... BUT THE OTHER CONTRACTS remain.... why would VS need NASCAR anyway if the majority of ESPN'S PRODUCTION is on Turner which only has 6 races?

 

[Mwd711]

ya it is.... originally, and up to 2001, the tracks themselves did their own contracts, now NASCAR does them through its television rights.... why do you see VS and ESPN/ABC split Indycar the way it does..... Fox is doing that w/ F1, BUT IT'S NOT Their production, it's SPEED'S GRAPHICS just on Fox....... ESPN didn't show them the $, if it wasn't for them, NASCAR wouldn't be the way it is now.... the only major difference is France wanted its fanbase to have one series on ESPN, WHICH IS Nationwide, while the Trucks remained on SPEED.... IT'S THE SAME REASON WHY THE NHL left ESPN and won't ever return despite many ppl whining about it, most of those networks have folded that did NASCAR, OR HAD ITS business model changed except for Turner... there has been nothing except maybe outsourcing some of Fox's schedule to SPEED..... BUT THE OTHER CONTRACTS remain.... why would VS need NASCAR anyway if the majority of ESPN'S PRODUCTION is on Turner which only has 6 races?

I'm not sure what you mean by that. ESPN doesn't produce anything for Turner. Mike Wells is the director for NASCAR on TNT. He's also the director for IndyCar on Versus and was the director of NASCAR on NBC, which is one of the reasons that Wally Dallenbach and Marty Snider are on both networks. That's what I meant earlier by that there's plenty of behind the scenes people from the old NBC/Turner partnership that are still working for Turner today.

If NBC bids on NASCAR, I don't think it's to get the 6 races that TNT has, it's going to be for one of the bigger packages. There's no guarantee that those 6 races will even be out there this time around. That part of the contract was created specifically to keep Turner involved because NASCAR wanted to keep Turner as a partner. Who knows what will happen this time around. I think NASCAR wants to stay with who they have but they want a bidding war. Open bidding should mean higher rights fees. We just saw that in the NHL. Remember that the France's control ISC which is a publicly traded company. If NASCAR gets a big TV deal, the France's will directly benefit because ISC's stock will rise since ISC will get more cash. It's in NASCAR's best interest to have as many people bidding as possible.

This comes from a June article about NASCAR's new VP of broadcasting and the upcoming bidding for rights.
http://www.scenedaily.com/news/arti...n_ratings_executives_analysts_optimistic.html

NASCAR Chairman Brian France mentioned the recent success of the Pac-10 in its TV negotiations, as well as the ambitions of Comcast-NBC, recently during an interview session with reporters at Charlotte Motor Speedway. While he stressed that he hopes to stay with the incumbent networks — Fox, Turner and ESPN — his mention of Comcast-NBC is sure to be interpreted as a nudge toward potential competitive bids.

In addition, such a scenario takes on greater intrigue with the recent decision by longtime NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol to leave the network. His replacement? Mark Lazarus, who is a former Turner executive with extensive experience negotiating and working with NASCAR.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'm not sure what you mean by that. ESPN doesn't produce anything for Turner. Mike Wells is the director for NASCAR on TNT. He's also the director for IndyCar on Versus and was the director of NASCAR on NBC, which is one of the reasons that Wally Dallenbach and Marty Snider are on both networks. That's what I meant earlier by that there's plenty of behind the scenes people from the old NBC/Turner partnership that are still working for Turner today.

If NBC bids on NASCAR, I don't think it's to get the 6 races that TNT has, it's going to be for one of the bigger packages. There's no guarantee that those 6 races will even be out there this time around. That part of the contract was created specifically to keep Turner involved because NASCAR wanted to keep Turner as a partner. Who knows what will happen this time around. I think NASCAR wants to stay with who they have but they want a bidding war. Open bidding should mean higher rights fees. We just saw that in the NHL. Remember that the France's control ISC which is a publicly traded company. If NASCAR gets a big TV deal, the France's will directly benefit because ISC's stock will rise since ISC will get more cash. It's in NASCAR's best interest to have as many people bidding as possible.

This comes from a June article about NASCAR's new VP of broadcasting and the upcoming bidding for rights.
http://www.scenedaily.com/news/arti...n_ratings_executives_analysts_optimistic.html

so what I don't buy that article since it's hearsay

 

[Hurricane Hugo]

Sounds convincing, hopefully they'll do something like the NHLN does with On The Fly. Except make it not suck and put some decent people on there. That would be something I'd watch.

As for the name, I think NBC Sports is perfect. It would attract a lot more attention than anything else.