{"id":64798,"date":"2018-05-04T07:46:15","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T07:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=64798"},"modified":"2018-05-04T07:46:15","modified_gmt":"2018-05-04T07:46:15","slug":"pruett-imsas-nbc-deal-a-potential-game-changer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/pruett-imsas-nbc-deal-a-potential-game-changer.html","title":{"rendered":"PRUETT: IMSA’s NBC deal a potential game changer"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRUETT: IMSA’s NBC deal a potential game changer<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Conversations about IMSA and the growth of its WeatherTech SportsCar Championship have followed a similar pattern since the series was launched in 2014. Even now, in its fifth season, those conversations come to an end with the same conclusion: The cars are cool, fast, and diverse; the tracks on the schedule are amazing; and now, with big names like Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske, and Team Joest involved to draw interest, everything is on an upward swing\u2026 except for its TV ratings.<\/span><\/p>\n

With its upcoming move from FOX Sports to NBC Sports in 2019, IMSA has taken a big step towards addressing those ratings; they\u2019ve been the one lingering problem that has kept the WeatherTech Championship from reaching its full potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth stating right up front that I worked for FOX for eight years at the former SPEED Channel, have been a sporadic contributor to its endurance racing broadcasts, and have deep ties to the men and women who produce and present its IMSA content. The problem of low ratings has, as I\u2019ve seen it, been unrelated to the people putting on the show.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a company, FOX\u2019s interest in endurance racing has continually diminished since it turned SPEED into FOX Sports 1 in 2013. And with the option of using its widely unavailable FOX Sports 2 channel for whatever\u2019s fallen out of favor, IMSA has seen far too many hours of its racing dispatched to FS2\u2019s purgatory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nielsen numbers haven\u2019t been bad on FS1, and with its brief appearances on big FOX, the WeatherTech Championship has occasionally handed its teams, their sponsors, and the numerous auto manufacturers involved in the series something positive to report. But with the ongoing use of FS2, which often generates ratings too low to mention \u2013 below a 0.1 \u2013 those sponsors and manufacturers have had an increasingly hard time justifying their investment in the series. And that\u2019s where the NBC Sports deal offers hope.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Verizon IndyCar Series has been a model of all that\u2019s possible with NBC Sports, and with its full-time move to NBC\/NBCSN in 2019, further increases in its Nielsen ratings are expected. To be fair, IndyCar\u2019s numbers on NBCSN have not been insanely high, but as an example of a series and broadcast partner working in tandem, IndyCar has been one of few racing properties to deliver a genuine growth in audience size.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well aware of IndyCar\u2019s ratings story, IMSA\u2019s manufacturers and teams have been begging the series\u2019 leadership for relief. As part of NBC Sports\u2019 consolidated motorsports programming with IndyCar and NASCAR, IMSA\u2019s new six-year deal to place the WeatherTech Championship on NBC and NBCSN is a massive victory for every brand involved with the series.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got a terrific portfolio, and I completely agree,\u201d said IMSA CEO Ed Bennett. \u201cThe NBC Sports Group, they\u2019re passionate about motorsports, and they\u2019re a promotional powerhouse. We think they\u2019re going to do tremendous things to further develop IMSA\u2019s fan base, awareness, audience, popularity \u2013 all of the above.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNBC Sports Group, is much more keen to have an advanced marketing and cross-promotion strategy within their different properties, so they\u2019re going to be doing things to promote, tune in to promote building a fan base. They\u2019re going to be doing things on their own because they want to grow the audience. They believe in the property. They\u2019re passionate about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it was a really good process. I think we really talked to all the major broadcast players that could be available for a partnership, and we were fortunate to have multiple options and ultimately came to the conclusion that this was the best place for IMSA and for our stakeholders. We thought that would generate the most value from a distribution, from a marketing promotion and all that should ultimately equal consumption and ratings. We think we\u2019re going to have the best outcome, of everything that was available, with this partnership with NBC Sports Group.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Live streaming through mobile apps, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other online destinations has become an increasingly important part of every series\u2019 broadcasting strategy. With its new partner, the NBC Sports App will feature heavily in IMSA\u2019s future, especially for the endurance races that last between six and 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the modern media distribution model,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cObviously, linear is still primary, but digital is growing like crazy, and you\u2019ve got to have a good digital strategy and digital partner. Our standard [2h40m] races, you would expect them to be uninterrupted on linear and digital. When we get to the longer races, on the digital side, to be able to say that it\u2019s uninterrupted regardless of any shifting that may occur on linear, is great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With the nine hours of airtime secured for the WeatherTech Championship on NBC\u2019s big network, IMSA is looking at a usage plan that would provide more frequent rating bumps to its Nielsen numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d probably want three hours for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, three hours for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and you\u2019d probably want three hours against Petit Le Mans at the end of the year,\u201d he said. \u201cStart with a big show and close out the season the same way. Then, obviously, NBCSN will play a big role and our digital offering is there uninterrupted, seamless to consumers, all season.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The last area of interest for me at this stage comes with the exceptional talent involved with IMSA\u2019s current broadcasts. NBC Sports will definitely need to hire more hosts, pit reporters and production staff for its new sports car property, and if we\u2019re lucky, some of the experts we\u2019ve come to know at FOX will continue presenting the series in 2019 and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe honest answer is we\u2019ve had very preliminary conversations, and we\u2019ve got, thankfully, enough time to work through all that the right and professional way,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cWe want to have the best possible mix of talent that can be on the broadcast and tell the story, and I think there will be opportunities, whether it\u2019s people that are currently very familiar with the property or people that may have been in the past. I just think that it\u2019s probably going to be a mix. I don\u2019t know where it will land in the final decision, but it\u2019s been preliminarily discussed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

IMSA, IndyCar and NASCAR will soon be under one broadcast roof. Of the three, I can\u2019t wait to see how NBC Sports\u2019 passion for racing takes the WeatherTech Championship to a level it has always dreamed of, but never known.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-http:\/\/racer.com\/2018\/04\/30\/pruett-imsas-nbc-deal-a-potential-game-changer\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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