Putting a restrictor on `RPM'

Sporting News, The, July 30, 2001 by Fritz Quindt

Don't invite ESPN Inc. and NASCAR to the same sandbox ... oops, too late. RPM2Night and the grease monkeys have been feudin' for seven months over access and video assets and the definition of "news."

History lesson: Leagues/organizers sell broadcast rights, then impose limits on what other telecasters can show, which is why we see 45 seconds or less of highlights per game at 11 o'clock. In extraordinary cases (i.e., Don King's pay-per-views), video images may be embargoed or prohibited; but news can't be (take NBC's Olympics--please).

Usually, courtesy prevails in garages. "We all used to get along," says Barry Sacks, RPM2Night senior coordinating producer. "Everyone was out to hype the sport." NASCAR folks even paid a friendly visit to Bristol, Conn., asking SportsCenter if there was anything they could do to help. Then ESPN got outbid by Fox, NBC and TNT in the 2001-06 contract, and 40-weight blood spilled all over the place.

Like other big leagues, NASCAR helped its new TV partners develop sideshows--Totally NASCAR (Fox Sports Net) and NASCAR Plus (TNT). Concurrently, it cut the fuel line to RPM2Night, ESPN2's 7-year-old daily incumbent. NASCAR forbade RPM from using video or interviewing on the premises, thus impeding journalism.

However: SportsCenter gets full access and video buffets. Per new NASCAR policy, SportsCenter does "news"; RPM is a "magazine show," subject to restrictions and road-rage whims. "We can co-exist if ESPN will cover the sport on SportsCenter the way it deserves," says Paul Brooks, NASCAR's broadcasting vice president, "not as the eighth or 10th topic on a given night."

ESPN's retort: It returned Daytona Speedweeks credentials, and SportsCenter is a habitual no-show at tri-ovals. "NASCAR is thinking, `We'll put RPM out of business,'" says Sacks. "Because of the loyalty of the drivers, crews and our fan base, that hasn't happened. Nor will it happen."

TNN's Raceday folded when it got NASCAR's cold shoulder; RPM's ratings are down only 0.02 points, and host John Kernan boasts, "We still provide the best news coverage." But it looks awkward. RPM conducts postrace interviews at airports. Sacks moans that when Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Pepsi 400, "RPM was the only show in the country that couldn't show it," not even an artist's rendering.

"And sponsors aren't happy. When we talk about Dale Jarrett, I show his Ford Quality Care car from last year, not this year's UPS car," Sacks says.

Right now, both parties are talking fast and furious and acting as hardheaded as Vin Diesel. Says Brooks: "If ESPN is truly interested in giving NASCAR coverage, they'll increase what they do on SportsCenter rather than worry about producing magazine shows." Better to downshift his words: If NASCAR is truly interested in giving fans a good ride, it'll play nice with RPM2Night rather than worry about co-producing magazine shows.

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