TNT to go commercial free

UPDATE #3 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today. TNT will incorporate advertising into its broadcast of the July Nextel Cup race at Daytona in place of commercial breaks, a network official said Wednesday. This would be the first time a network broadcasting a Cup race has limited or eliminated commercial breaks by showing the advertising on-screen during the race. Turner Sports executive producer Jeff Behnke said the plan "is going to happen." "We have a lot of pride in being innovative and exploratory with ways to do our broadcast," Behnke said. "The fans and viewers at home that see our broadcast in July will be very surprised with our product."

01/12/07 TNT, for the prime-time July 7 Pepsi 400, wants to add some wrinkles. Trish Frohman, TNT executive vice president, hopes to enlist 12 advertisers — she says Pepsi, DirecTV and pain reliever 360 OTC are in — to air commercials, running up to two minutes, in about a quarter of the TV screen as race shots continue. Correction. Those "won't be commercials," says Frohman, but rather "branded content" that's "organic to the environment." Meaning, she says, that TNT's production staffers will work with advertisers to make ads — er, "content" — specifically for the race. TNT announcers, she says, will "absolutely" be "as engaged as anybody" in the effort. Which shouldn't surprise anybody. TV networks, paying millions or even billions for big-time TV rights, already seem like ad agencies for sports they cover. While Pepsi 400 coverage will still include local cable ads beyond TNT's purview, Frohman says the total time devoted to marketing messages will be less than normal NASCAR coverage. USA Today

01/04/07 Rumors now say that only the Pepsi 400 at Daytona may run commercial free.

10/18/06 Sports Business Journal reports that TNT is floating a package to potential advertisers that would allow advertising during the race broadcast and eliminate commercial breaks. The advertising would take place on the screen during the broadcast and allow continuous race coverage. TNT will broadcast six Nextel Cup races next summer. The story reports that officials from Turner and NASCAR would not comment. The story also reported that TNT's Cup ratings are down 8.3% in Canada from last season, which negates Brian France's excuse that it was caused by the switch from NBC to ABC/ESPN that has caused a similar drop in USA TV ratings for NASCAR. We are of the opinion that over saturation of their product has resulted in the downturn.