FOX Television Coverage of Subway 500

I've always been a little fascinated by the "Heidi Game" where the TV network terminated coverage of a football game because it was time for a movie to air. During the remaining 65 seconds of the game the Raiders made two touchdowns and came from behind to win the game. It was the eventual fallout that proved this should not have happened and as a result, contractual agreements were made so that this situation would not occur and NFL games would be shown in their entirety regardless of circumstances that may cause them to run longer than there scheduled block of time.

Tonight's race coverage on FOX followed a Yankees and Red Sox baseball game that was delayed for rain. As a result FOX had their pre-race show, but interrupted it to return to the baseball game when the rain delay ended. The coverage of the baseball game continued until the exact moment the cars crossed the start/finish line to start the race. Unfortunately, the baseball game was at a critical point with two out and a full count on the batter. If the third out occurred without a score, the game was over.

I'm not a baseball fan, but if I'm watching a sporting event, any sports event, and now that it is a critical point then I need to see how it works out.

The baseball game was shifted to the FX network, but the handling of this disappointing. The network should have had better contingency plans and separately covered both events in their entirety between both networks when it became evident that they could occur at the same time. A scroll on FOX could have notified viewers looking for the game that it was on FX or vice versa. Even if there were reasons not to handle this in this way, how the hand off would occur between the two shows should have been better communicated in advance of it actually occurring.

Is the start of a race really that important to give it priority? Likely this was based on a contractual agreement. However, once NASCAR decided that it is more important to show full screen advertisements instead of continuous coverage using split screen, they conceded that a broadcast could be accomplished using replays if something important were to occur. As a race fan, I'd have understood if the baseball game coverage continued with either a split screen or a scroller that alerted that the race had started and what was happening.

My disappointment with FOX is, as professionals, they should have known better and have a better way to handle this. While its unlikely there will be anything like the football game fallout, hopefully FOX will look into what happened and take necessary steps to make sure they handle a similiar situation better in the future.

Races - April 2008

Cup Races


April 6, 2008 (Sunday)
Samsung 500

Texas Motor Speedway
Track Completed : 1996
Seating: 159,585
Course Length: 1.50 mile
Type: Quad-Oval

Laps: 334
Distance: 501 miles (806 km)

Time: 1:30 PM
Television: FOX


April 12, 2008 (Saturday)
Subway Fresh Fit 500

Phoenix International Raceway
Track Completed : 1964
Seating: 76,800
Course Length: 1.00 mile
Type: Tri-Oval

Laps: 312
Distance: 312 miles (502 kilometers)

Time: 8:00 PM
Television: FOX


April 27, 2008 (Sunday)
Aaron's 499

Talladega Superspeedway
Track Completed : 1969
Seating: 143,231
Course Length: 2.66 miles
Type: Tri-Oval

Laps: 188
Distance: 500.08 miles (805 kilometers)
Restrictor Plate Race

Time: 1:30 PM
Television: FOX

Series Races


April 5, 2008 (Saturday)
O'Reilly 300

Texas Motor Speedway
Track Completed : 1996
Seating: 159,585
Course Length: 1.50 mile
Type: Quad-Oval

Laps: 200
Distance: 300 miles (482.8 km)

Time: 2:30 PM
Television: ESPN2


April 11, 2008 (Friday)
Bashas' Supermarkets 200

Phoenix International Raceway
Track Completed : 1964
Seating: 76,800
Course Length: 1.00 mile
Type: Tri-Oval

Laps: 200
Distance: 200 miles (321.9 kilometers)

Time: 9:30 PM
Television: ESPN2


April 20, 2008 (Sunday)
Mexico 200

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Track Completed : 1962
Seating: 70,000
Course Length: 2.518 miles
Type: Road Course

Laps: 80
Distance: 201.44 miles (324.32 km)

Time: 1:30 PM
Television: ESPN


April 26, 2008 (Saturday)
Aaron's 312

Talladega Superspeedway
Track Completed : 1969
Seating: 143,231
Course Length: 2.66 miles
Type: Tri-Oval

Laps: 117
Distance: 311.22 miles (500 kilometers)
Restrictor Plate Race

Time: 2:30 PM
Television: ABC