TNT gets fans inside the production of NASCAR

By Andrew
Lippe

NASCAR
fans flooded to NASCAR.com to get their first glimpses at TNT’s Inside Angle, an
exclusive online feature that takes fans behind the scenes of a NASCAR race.

For the next six weeks fans get to go inside
the production truck and see how it’s all put together.

“Inside
Angle gives fans inside access, not available anywhere,” said Michael Adamson, TNT,
vice president of new media creative. “We wanted to show fans the human nature
of what it takes to put on a race.” TNT’s initiative was to expand their
broadband content. TNT has a long history with NASCAR. For the past 23 years
they have been broadcasting NASCAR races and they continually deliver a top
quality product.

“Our goal
was how far could we push the envelope,” said Adamson. “We can’t show HD online, but we wanted high quality 16:9,”
Adamson said. While this footage is streamed online the live feed of races is
broadcast on TNT. “TV was not the right platform for this technology,” said
Adamson.

Two days a
week an assembled TNT crew interviews the production team and technical about
the upcoming track.

“The technical
director discusses what he thinks about the current track, and why it’s hard to
shoot there.”

TNT’s
Inside Angle also gives fans the chance to see live video feeds from cameras on
pit road. A special feature was created called the Pit Box Breakdown is a
graphic indicating the pit road position of every driver prior to the race. Fans
will hear the natural sounds of pit road just like if they were watching the
race live. Fans will hear the warming off of air guns to a tapestry of sounds
only provided in a race environment.

TNT Inside Angle will profile six racing
legends including Richard Petty, David Pearson and Junior Johnson, among
others. Editorial pieces from TNT announcers, from Bill Weber and pit reporter
Matt Yocum will be constantly updated.

TNT
incorporates footage to NASCAR.com using a Sony Anycast Station for the first
time.
“It is an amazing piece of
equipment that does basic graphic integration,” said Adamson.

Live race footage streaming is created using
the Cheetah server that connects back to their home station in

Atlanta.

The NASCAR
on TNT Summer Series includes coverage of six consecutive NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series races, which began in Pocono on June 10 and will conclude in

Chicago on July 15. The
debut of a new television format, Wide Open Coverage, is expected to be
featured at Daytona for the Pepsi 400.