{"id":1573341,"date":"2023-06-26T13:56:08","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T17:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1573341"},"modified":"2023-06-26T13:56:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T17:56:09","slug":"nbc-blew-fox-out-of-the-water-nascar-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/nbc-blew-fox-out-of-the-water-nascar-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"How NBC Blew Fox Out of the Water in Its First Weekend of NASCAR Coverage, and It Wasn't Even Close"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the first 16 Cup Series races of the season, fans have been outspoken in their criticism of Fox's NASCAR coverage<\/a>. It started at the Daytona 500<\/a> and didn't stop until the network's last broadcast from Sonoma.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, NBC picked up coverage and aired its first race of the season from Nashville Superspeedway<\/a>. It wasn't perfect. But it was objectively better than Fox's coverage and it wasn't even close.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fox's NASCAR coverage issues throughout the season\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Fox
Fox Sports cameras capture the action from high above the track during the running of the NASCAR Xfinity series Ag-Pro 300 race on April 24, 2021 at the Talladega Superspeedway. | Photo by David J. Griffin\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fox didn't get the 2023 Cup Series season off to a good start at the Daytona 500, front-loading commercials early in the broadcast, which ended with some jokingly referring to the race as the Commercial 500. And that was just the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The large volume of commercials was a fan concern that continued throughout the year, but, unfortunately, that wasn't all. The same issues that have dogged the network for the last several years continued in 2023. More specifically, the broadcast failing to show the action on the track and what the broadcasters are talking about, and most importantly, what fans want to see. Denny Hamlin addressed the issue<\/a> earlier this year on his\u00a0Actions Detrimental<\/em>\u00a0podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“One thing I saw at (Bristol) dirt last week or when I watched it back, the announcers would be talking about some side-by-side battle, and the camera wasn't on it,” Hamlin said. “So you didn't know \u2014 what are they talking about? Let me see this battle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I did notice too, as soon as some action would start to heat up on a side-by-side battle, they'd cut to like 12th place. You see the second-place guy working over the first-place guy like right on his ass and about to make a move and they cut to like side-by-side for 12th. It's like, s***, let's keep it in the battle that's about to dictate who's going to be leading this race. Certainly I think from a production standpoint, we could make some improvements.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC sends message right out of the gate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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RETWEET if you're watching @NASCAR<\/a> on @nbc<\/a>!

We're underway in Nashville! pic.twitter.com\/jTZWiehTLF<\/a><\/p>— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 25, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>