No Brakes Coverage
Dateline: 10/09/2000The UAW-GM 500 from Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte was one of the more interesting races of the 2000 season and NASCAR fans were able to see more of the race than any other thanks to TBS Superstation's new "No Brakes" Coverage. Thanks to special agreements with many of the advertisers TBS was able to keep the race video broadcast down in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen during most of the regularly scheduled commercial breaks.
Win For The Fans
Race fans have complained rather loudly over the last few years that the increasing popularity of the sport has lead to more and more television commercials interrupting the race broadcast (especially the broadcast network coverage). TBS deserves a lot of credit for hearing those complaints and searching for a solution. "No Brakes" kept the race on the screen for the fans through an estimated 75% of the commercials.
As far as racing broadcast innovations go, this ranks right up there with the in-car camera.
Win For The Advertisers
The advertisers who allowed their commercials to be shrunk down scored big in three different ways.
- I mentally made a note of who the advertisers were and scored them some extra brownie
points for letting me continue to watch the race during their commercial. For the first time ever I can
actually remember who some of the advertisers during the race were.
- I actually watched more commercials on Sunday than I have all season long. The
race was in the corner all the time so I stayed in my seat but the audio and the catchy commercials
(score one for the advertising agencies) had me actually watching the commercials.
- And the final big score for the advertisers was the relative marketing. In other words, the only fridge/bathroom breaks were during the traditional commercial breaks. So companies that didn't participate actually scored lower eyeballs because that was the only time to make a run where you were assured that you weren't missing something.
You can make a difference!
TBS Superstation truly wants your feedback on "No Brakes" racing coverage. TBS will still be showing some races next year and you can bet that FOX and NBC will be listening too so if you liked the coverage and want to see more "No Brakes" coverage next year let them know!
Send them an email at: tbs.superstation@turner.com
