Subject: [NEXTEL-1] NBC tries keeping Nextel in mind

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 16:27:37 -0500

NBC tries keeping Nextel in mind
EDDIE PELLS, AP Sports Writer
Thursday, February 12, 2004

(02-12) 00:39 PST DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) --

When pit reporter Bill Weber gets up in the morning, the first thing he looks at
is the word "Nextel" written on the mirror in his hotel room. He stares at it
all day on TV monitors. And it's the last thing he looks at before he goes to
bed.

Such is the life of a TV announcer during the biggest sponsor shakeup in the
history of NASCAR, the sport that cherishes its sponsors like no other.

Weber, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach and Allen Bestwick will be on the spot
when they call the Daytona 500 for NBC on Sunday. Their goal will be to avoid
calling the NASCAR Nextel Cup the Winston Cup, which is what it was known as for
32 years before the historical switch of sponsors in the offseason.
"Any kind of huge change for something that becomes so subconscious, you're
bound to slip up," Weber conceded.

Knowing slip-ups are bound to happen, the folks at NBC have started a kitty --
$10 for each time anyone at the network calls it Winston Cup. The proceeds will
be donated to charity
.
The Nextel-Winston issue figures to be one of the more interesting sideshows
during the race. As it did in 2002, the first time it televised NASCAR's premier
event, NBC plans on playing it relatively straight, focusing on action, good
camera angles and story lines more than glitzy graphics, the way Fox has in the
past.
"The deal on Sunday is to tell the story of the race," NBC producer Sam Flood
said. "Our job is to make sure everyone at home knows what's happening. It's to
document the race, tell stories, make you care even more about heroes on the
racetrack."

Since NASCAR signed a revolutionary $2.8 billion contract with NBC and Fox in
2001, however, Daytona telecasts have been anything but routine.

In the first year of the contract, Fox televised the race and made news when it
tried to limit air time of car sponsors that didn't buy ad time during the race.
The network relented after protests from NASCAR, the teams and the sponsors,
whose relationships are as intertwined as oil, gasoline and car engines.

Fox also was criticized for ending the broadcast with the fate of seven-time
series champion Dale Earnhardt unknown. He crashed on the final lap of the race,
never emerged from his car -- an almost-certain sign of a very serious injury --
and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Later that year, NBC televised the Pepsi 400 from Daytona and was somewhat
embarrassed when it was revealed that producers were coaching drivers to look
and act excited after the race.

Last year, some guessed the decision to declare the Daytona 500 official after
277 miles and a lengthy rain delay was a television-driven move, although Fox
and NASCAR denied that. Fox also got credit for saving the race, in part because
of its decision to move the start up by 23 minutes, knowing a bad storm was
bearing down.
The Janet Jackson debacle at the halftime show of this year's Super Bowl gave
the networks a stark reminder about the pratfalls involved in live television.
NBC isn't as concerned, however, about the Daytona 500. Among those performing
during the pre-race "Nextel Tribute to America" will be country singers LeAnn
Rimes and Lee Greenwood.  President Bush will attend.

Then comes the race -- 43 multicolored cars circling the tracks in the first of
36 races that will determine the Nextel Cup.

NBC's goal for the race: "People who go to work Monday and didn't watch the
Daytona 500 are going to feel as if they really missed something," Bestwick
said.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/02/12/sports0339EST0234.DTL

--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/