On the Right Track

A NASCAR BLOG BY Jeff Gluck

Ads make for frustrating viewing

Jun 23
MY COUCH, N.C. – I was benched for the Sonoma race weekend, so like all the rest of you race fans out there, I watched the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on TV.

Actually, let me correct that – I watched a bunch of commercials on TV, with the occasional racing in between.

At least it seemed that way.

Commercial after commercial after commercial. I knew almost all of the actors' lines by heart by the time the race was half over (and by the way, that Carl Edwards/Ralph Macchio commercial for Vitamin Water is just flat-out strange).
 
I don't know how people put up with this every week. I was ready to throw my TV remote through the screen and place an outraged call to TNT.

Then I started doing some research. According to cawsnjaws.com, which keeps commercial statistics on the race broadcasts each weekend, 25.6 percent of the Sonoma broadcast was devoted to ad time.

That's actually down 1.6 percent from last year, and it only ranked 10th out of 17 race broadcasts in terms of advertising this season, according to the cawsnjaws numbers.

I was mad at TNT yesterday for taking a commercial break every five green-flag laps in the first half of the race (actually they had 11 commercial breaks in the first 58 laps). But TNT's three broadcasts so far are just about average for the season in terms of commercial numbers.

The Richmond race, broadcast by Fox, had a season-low 19.1 percent of the broadcast devoted to commercials. But Fox also had the most commercials of the season, with 29.6 percent of the Bristol race used by advertising time.

The number of commercials seems crazy to me, but being at the races every week means I don't see what fans have to endure.

I understand TV networks are showing the races as a business venture and not out of public service. I get that. They have to make money.

But it sure is frustrating to sit there helplessly as the race fades into yet another commercial break.

Average Rating: 5.0

Comments

8 responses to "Ads make for frustrating viewing"
  1. 1
    Jason Boyd said:
    Jun 24, 2008 at 10:38 AM

    I totally agree with you. I love the new Aflac commercials, but that's all I can stand (and I see them three times a race, so I get to see it a lot). I usually Tivo the race and start watching it at least 30 minutes later. That way I can race through the commercials without missing the action. Although the numbers don't lie, it is frustrating when they cut to commercials over and over and over. It just seems like a lot more than what the numbers indicate.

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  2. 2
    rae said:
    Jun 24, 2008 at 3:05 PM

    I agree that there are too many commercials. I also know that it is the only way to pay for air time. One thing I do like about commercials is that I can take time to fix something to eat, or drink. I also have time to make a trip to the ladies room. Such is the life of a NASCAR race fan who has to watch from home.

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  3. 3
    Ben Jones said:
    Jun 24, 2008 at 11:43 PM

    Make it three. There are way too many breaks from the action -- so many that at some point in the race, I forget to return to the TV after wandering off to work on a home project, etc. Point is, NASCAR needs to help its fans out. I'd be fine with something similar to ABC's coverage of the Indianapolis 500, which is when the network splits the view with the commercials and the race. I'm inclined to keep myself parked in front of the tube that way. Thanks, Jeff.

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  4. 4
    Paul Baumgarten said:
    Jun 25, 2008 at 3:45 AM

    I totally agree with your too many commercial interuptions observation. I survive the commercial-fest called NA$CAR Racing by flipping on the MRN broadcast during the too frequent breaks from live TV. The radio broadcast needs commercial breaks too, but they don't seem to take as many breaks nor do their breaks seem to last as long. Live action doesn't seem to sync up, so listening to the radio while watching TV doesn't seem to work. How does NA$CAR and its sponsor partners not know that its fan-base is, in mass, moving away from the telecast during commercial breaks. Keeping the action and a position crawl on a split screen during commercials would hold many viewers to stay with the TV broadcast during commercials. The powers that be who make the commercial decisions should have to sit at home, race after race, year after year and endure the TV broadcasts so they make a more informed decision when deciding to not use the open wheel split screen option.

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  5. 5
    Worm Dirt said:
    Jun 25, 2008 at 1:52 PM

    I agree, BUT the problem is actually TEN TIMES WORSE than just 25.6% ad time. Just IMAGINE what the percentage would be if you factored in the advertising that goes on DURING the broadcast! How much racing went on under the Fox crews noses as they told us how great the "Fox Sports Digger Cam" is? It's like they take a baby step forward in improving camera coverage, then take five giant steps backwards by pointing out how great they are for inventing it.... I mean cars are racing on the track and DW is trying to sell me a "Fox Digger Cam" t-shirt!! There are a thousand examples of this type of distraction... Would you believe that there is actually someone out there who's job it is to count how many times a driver drinks their soft-drink on camera? Does anybody else want to puke everytime they see one of these guys align the label on the bottle for the camera and then force down a sip??? My advice..... Buy a Tivo!!!!!

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  6. 6
    Kyle Ocker said:
    Jun 25, 2008 at 2:23 PM

    I think the commercials were more exciting than the race. But yeah, the commercials are way too long, and occur way too often.

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  7. 7
    K P said:
    Jun 27, 2008 at 12:57 PM

    Tivo!!!! Enough said.

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  8. 8
    Worm Dirt said:
    Jul 5, 2008 at 7:00 PM

    www.tnt.tv IF YOU ARE AS OUTRAGED AS I AM at the ABSURDITY that is going on with TNT's daytona coverage, PLEASE!!!! go to this website immediately.... go to the bottom.... and click 'ask tnt'.... You can figure it out from there. Let them know that this WILL NOT be tolerated!!!!!!!!!!! I don't just want them to stop, I WANT AN APOLOGY for ruining the race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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