NASCAR REVS UP RADIO Phyllis Stark - Billboard Radio programmers looking to rev up their stations are increasingly turning to NASCAR programming.
As motor racing quickly grows in popularity in the United States, stations in a variety of formats are finding it to be a valuable programming tool.
Not surprisingly, there is a growing array of syndicated NASCAR programming choices, including everything from live race broadcasts to music programs with a NASCAR theme (see story, page 15). And with a racing season that lasts from February through November, it is a nearly year-round commitment.
Country WUSN (US99) Chicago PD Mike Peterson says NASCAR "has become the hip sport to root for. It's cool." Peterson compares live motor racing events to rock concerts in the sense that "the stimulation factor is very high."
United Stations Radio Networks executive VP of programming Andy Denemark agrees that the drivers "are like rock stars, with their own managers and publicists."
The big dogs in the stock-car racing game are the Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Motor Racing Network and the Concord, N.C.-based Performance Racing Network. Both provide play-by-play coverage of different races and offer a variety of other race-related programming. But several other networks offer NASCAR shows as well, including USRN, which has three, and Fox Sports Radio, which has one.
MRN president David Hyatt says the appeal of the sport is that it is relatable. "Fans can't necessarily relate to making a three-point jump shot on a basketball court, but there are precious few people out there who don't drive a car."
Explaining USRN's commitment to NASCAR, Denemark says, "Anybody who follows any pop culture trend knows that NASCAR is just on fire."
The demographics are appealing as well. Denemark says nearly half of the sport's avid fans are women.
MOVING AWAY FROM MOONSHINE
Once thought of as primarily a Southern sport, motor racing is growing in popularity all over the States as race tracks have opened up in places like New Hampshire, Chicago, California, Phoenix, Delaware and the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. PRN's show "ZMax Racing Country" even has an affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska (KBRJ).
Likewise, the sport's radio presence was once tied primarily to country stations.
Explaining the sport's close affiliation with country music, Denemark draws a dotted line back to "The Dukes of Hazzard," tracing auto racing's roots back to "moonshine and bootlegging and building fast cars to run on the back roads at night so you didn't get caught. It was a really regional sport with one foot in the hayseed component of America," he says.
That, too, is changing.
Affiliates of racing programs now include news/talk, sports, rock and even pop stations. One of USRN's shows, "Racing Rocks," is for active rock and classic rock stations, and comes in a different version for each. Its host, Riki Rachtman, is best-known as the former host of the MTV heavy metal show "Headbangers Ball."
Still, country radio has not given up its claim on the sport. WUSN added live broadcasts of the Nextel Cup races to its weekend lineup at the start of this year's season.
Peterson says, "It's working really well in the sense that it's opened up a lot of doors for marketing and revenue. That's been immediate."
And while he says his male demo and weekend ratings are improving, Peterson thinks it is too soon to gauge the real ratings effect of NASCAR, which he estimates still accounts for only 2% of the station's programming. "We haven't seen the full impact of what running a five-hour race on a Sunday afternoon will do for the station," he says.
But he is optimistic, noting that "there was a hole in the market for NASCAR coverage . . . The chances of it helping us are greater than the chances of it hurting us."
Peterson adds, "I would recommend to anybody who's looking for a competitive advantage to look at NASCAR."
USRN saw the opportunity for NASCAR programming in the late '90s when it launched "Thunder Road," which now claims more than 100 affiliates.
Two years ago, USRN executives saw another opportunity for a show targeted at rock stations. The sport's appeal was growing among rock fans, Denemark says, partly because of the fast-paced way Fox presented the races on TV and partly because many of the younger drivers were fans of rock rather than country. The show now has about 90 affiliates.
Hyatt says country stations still represent MRN's largest affiliate group, followed by classic rock stations in second and news/talk/sports outlets in third.
TURN, TURN, TURN
MRN was founded in 1970 and is owned by track operator International Speedway, which owns about a dozen tracks and manages two others. Hyatt claims the network provides "90% of the coverage on the radio for NASCAR races." (PRN president Doug Rice could not be reached for comment by press time.)
MRN has about 750 affiliates in 48 states, although Hyatt says there have been years in the network's history when it could claim affiliates in all 50.
One of the reasons Hyatt thinks NASCAR coverage works well on the radio is the way it is presented. With other sports like football and basketball, there may be two booth announcers and a commentator on the sidelines. The motor sports networks, by contrast, have a commentator at every turn of the track, and they are highly skilled at handing off coverage to each other multiple times as the race progresses, describing every bump, screech and spin along the way.
"At our smallest race for our smallest track we're going to have a minimum of six voices you're going to hear on the air," Hyatt says. At a race in Mexico earlier this year there were 11 people providing coverage for MRN.
"In radio you have to paint that picture," Hyatt says, "and our guys are very good at [that]." In fact, he says, every time a TV broadcast deal is renegotiated, his announcing staff is raided for potential TV talent.
"The greatest compliment we get is when people say, 'We turn down the volume on the television [during races] and turn you up because it's so much more exciting.' "
Not that Hyatt is knocking TV, which he says has "brought a lot of innovation to the sport, and our growth coincided with NASCAR getting a presence on television." But, he adds, "Our style has kept our listeners tuned in."
Working in motor sports is also a sought-after gig among broadcasters with a passion for the sport. Hyatt says MRN, which employs about 25 announcers, has never had to advertise an opening because it always has so many qualified applicants on hand. In fact, he says, he has a stack of airchecks in his office from would-be MRN employees that reaches five feet high. |