NBC Sports Focuses Production Resources on Four Drivers Contending for the Cup Series Championship

08/11/2024

NBC Sports Focuses Production Resources on Four Drivers Contending for the Cup Series Championship A NASCAR champion will crowned at NBC at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Friday, November 8, 2024 - 11:54 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

An eventful NASCAR season comes to a close this weekend as the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship revs into Phoenix Raceway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock) to crown a champion.

NBC Sports will take a unique approach to covering this race with a full field on the track but only four drivers still running for the championship: Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, and William Byron. The network will emphasize production resources on the contending drivers and has also assigned pit reporters to each one (Dave Burns with Reddick, Marty Snider with Blaney, Kim Coon with Byron, and Parker Kligerman with Logano.

We pride ourselves on our storytelling, says NBC Sports producer Rene Hatlelid, and that goes beyond the driver - not only does a driver win, a team wins, a crew chief wins, it takes an entire team. It's more of a team sport than people understand.

The broadcast crew will roll out an impressive complement of resources to cover the track and pit row, including 12 hard cameras, four of which will each have the responsibility on isolating one of the four title chasers. Additionally, there will be 10 robotic cameras, five handheld RFs, 1 RF Steadicam, a pair of jibs (one at the pre/post stages and one atop Rattlesnake Hill to capture the beauty and vista of the track and surrounding area), three cameras on the Peacock Pit Box, and a helicopter overhead. The front bench will also have access to 28 in-car cameras sprinkled between seven cars in the race (four of which are the Championship Four).

Hatelid pointed out that while much of the attention for fans heading into this weekend is the battle between the four drivers gunning for the Cup, there's a still a full field of drivers to cover.

It's important to find a balance, she says. At the end of the day, every driver is ending their season, but some drivers are ending careers, some are changing teams, some entire teams are ending. There are a lot of storylines to pay off and it's important to tell those stories and put a button on everyone's hard work. The Championship 4 are the most important, but stories like Martin Truex Jr. retiring, Stewart-Haas going away, Denny Hamlin once again missing the championship, and Reddick's regular-season championship are all examples of stories we plan to touch on as well.

This weekend is also a fork in the road for NASCAR. 2025 will officially begin NASCAR's next $7.7 billion rights deal that will see incumbent broadcasters FOX and NBC welcome new partners in TNT Sports, Prime Video, and The CW. This season, though, has the auto racing giant riding high into a new era. Phoenix closes the book on what's been a big year for NASCAR. Not only did the auto racing organization officially open its new $53 million, 58,000-sq.-ft. production facility in Concord, NC that has placed a greater emphasis on remote-based live production, but television ratings also ticked up 2% overall even despite its biggest race, Daytona, was hit with a 27% ratings dip when that race was marred by rain delays.

For NBC Sports, NASCAR's playoff format despite some controversy has proven to be a winner. Ratings for the races in the playoff schedule are up 6% so far from last year.

It's been an incredible season for us, says Hatelid, who noted she's excited to crown a champion in her hometown of Phoenix. We've had an awesome run of close finishes and historic moments. The competition in the Playoffs has been awesome and we've seen great viewership with five consecutive races and seven of eight with year-over-year gains heading into Phoenix. We were really proud of the Stage Two embeds with the race teams and the stories we were able to tell about the various team members, and we showed more than 600 live green flag laps from the Superspeedway races at Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega, and I think both of those resonated really well with the viewers.

NBC Sports presents the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship from Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., this Sunday, Nov. 10, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock with a special edition of Countdown to Green beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/11/08/nbc-sports-focuses-production-r...
	See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026