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Indianapolis 500 coveage in Indianapolis/Bloomington itself

I only have one question about the big race this weekend from Speedway, IN: Is there a specific reason why the race never airs live on WRTV-TV (ABC) channel 6 of Indianapolis? A banner on their website is counting down to 7 PM EDT for the race, instead of 11 AM EDT when it would be live for most everybody else. ???
 
So the Indy 500 is "blacked out" to Indianapolis viewers? What genius approved that decision?

And if WRTV had a countdown clock to well past the 500, you'd think they'd have an explanation as to why they are not airing the race. Wonder what they'll be airing in the 500's place.
 
By the looks at zap2it, WRTV is running tonight's ABC lineup this afternoon, while the rest of the network has the race live.
 
DToTheJ said:
So the Indy 500 is "blacked out" to Indianapolis viewers? What genius approved that decision?

And if WRTV had a countdown clock to well past the 500, you'd think they'd have an explanation as to why they are not airing the race. Wonder what they'll be airing in the 500's place.

It's been the case ever since ABC first started showing the race live, back in the 80s. People there are used to it. I'm told, however, that the live NASCAR race on Fox routinely gets higher ratings than the tape-delayed Indy 500.

WRTV's schedule for today:
12:00 This Week w/Christine Amanpour
1:00 The Middle
1:30 Modern Family
2:00 Modern Family
2:30 Cougar Town
3:00 Cougar Town
3:30 Happy Endings
4:00 America's Funniest Home Videos
5:00 Judge Judy
5:30 Fearless at the 500
6:00 6 News at Six Race Day
7:00 Indy Pre-Race
8:00 Indy 500
 
Viewers in central Indiana are used to it. In fact, WRTV used to promote the live airing of the Indy 500 on other ABC stations available to some viewers in Indiana.

If you're lucky enough to have an antenna, you can watch the race on the following stations in adjacent markets:

WCPO 9 in Cincinnati

WHAS 11 in Louisville

WICD 15 in Champaign, IL (which puts a solid signal in Lafayette and Terre Haute)

WPTA 21 in Fort Wayne

WKEF 22 in Dayton

WEHT 25 in Evansville
 
The Indy 500 has aired on WRTV at 7pm every year since the late 1940s. Possible exception: races delayed by weather to Monday. I've never watched the tape-delayed broadcast. A tape delay blackout like this is pretty stupid when TV is the only medium blacked out.
 
i assume the reason is less people will get tickets for the race and go see it if it is on tv live.

the NBA, NFL and major league baseball blacks out local games if it is not sold out 24 hours before the game is scheduled.at least the local indianapolis channels show the race later in the day.
 
flashback said:
the NBA, NFL and major league baseball blacks out local games if it is not sold out 24 hours before the game is scheduled.

I don't believe the NBA or MLB has any blackouts due to unsold tickets -- if so, many teams would have all their home games blacked out.

Only the NFL has this blackout rule, which is 72 hours before gametime.
 
azumanga said:
flashback said:
the NBA, NFL and major league baseball blacks out local games if it is not sold out 24 hours before the game is scheduled.

I don't believe the NBA or MLB has any blackouts due to unsold tickets -- if so, many teams would have all their home games blacked out.

Only the NFL has this blackout rule, which is 72 hours before gametime.


I know that Because Here in the Bay Area Oakland Raiders have the most blacked out games in the country. The question is does Nascar do the same thing black out races like the IRL. like when a race is in Datona?
 
many an indiana pacers home game has been blacked out on tv here in indianapolis.it may be 72 hours instead of 24 on the NBA.

the MLB may not have that rule.there are no major league teams here .it would make sense if they did for the same reason the NFL and NBA do .
 
flashback said:
many an indiana pacers home game has been blacked out on tv here in indianapolis.it may be 72 hours instead of 24 on the NBA.

I think that's between the Pacers and their TV outlet, not an NBA rule. No Phoenix Suns game has ever been kept off TV in Arizona due to unsold tickets. AFAIK. That's completely unrealistic. The NBA is like MLB in that sellouts are not always the case except for some markets.

the MLB may not have that rule.there are no major league teams here .it would make sense if they did for the same reason the NFL and NBA do .

If MLB had a rule like the NFL, there would be no baseball on TV. Baseball games rarely sell out other than opening day, certain rivalry games, and the postseason - unless you're in Boston. ;D Even the Cubs don't sell out anymore.

The network blackout rules are different. That's because of ESPN/Fox exclusivity, not ticket sales.
 
heres an wikipedia article on blackouts.i know you need at least a grain of salt but it gives things you can compare other sites for verification.a good first stop to reserch things.

it does mention the indianapolis 500 and why the delay till later in the day for race broadcast.

if i read the NBA portion right it did have blackout rules that changed over time.the blackouts i saw were in the 1980`s so they may have ben in effect then but not now.
 
I was also making this thread to reminisce a little. I visited Indianapolis for parts of 4 days last summer. I took in an Indians game at Victory Field (AAA-International League affiliate of Pittsburgh), looked around the state capitol, took pictures of Lucas Oil Stadium and stopped by the lobby and box office of Conseco Fieldhouse. The Indiana Convention Center was being expanded on the site which was once the RCA Dome. Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the one major attraction I didn't get a chance to visit. I still remember the hotel "cable" only carrying the big 4 and what was supposed to be WTTV-TV (CW) channel 4 of Bloomington.
 
cowboybud said:
1:00 The Middle
1:30 Modern Family
2:00 Modern Family
2:30 Cougar Town
3:00 Cougar Town
3:30 Happy Endings
This is last Wednesday's lineup. Are they going to show that night's lineup anytime?
 
KeithE4 said:
flashback said:
many an indiana pacers home game has been blacked out on tv here in indianapolis.it may be 72 hours instead of 24 on the NBA.

I think that's between the Pacers and their TV outlet, not an NBA rule. No Phoenix Suns game has ever been kept off TV in Arizona due to unsold tickets. AFAIK. That's completely unrealistic. The NBA is like MLB in that sellouts are not always the case except for some markets.

the MLB may not have that rule.there are no major league teams here .it would make sense if they did for the same reason the NFL and NBA do .

If MLB had a rule like the NFL, there would be no baseball on TV. Baseball games rarely sell out other than opening day, certain rivalry games, and the postseason - unless you're in Boston. ;D Even the Cubs don't sell out anymore.

The network blackout rules are different. That's because of ESPN/Fox exclusivity, not ticket sales.

What you might be thinking of are radio-only games. The Arizona Diamondbacks still have a few of those; in fact, there was one on Saturday (an away game).

vchimpanzee said:
cowboybud said:
1:00 The Middle
1:30 Modern Family
2:00 Modern Family
2:30 Cougar Town
3:00 Cougar Town
3:30 Happy Endings
This is last Wednesday's lineup. Are they going to show that night's lineup anytime?

I bet last Wednesday's lineup in Indy was preempted for weather reasons anyways.
 
Raymie said:
What you might be thinking of are radio-only games. The Arizona Diamondbacks still have a few of those; in fact, there was one on Saturday (an away game).

That was because of the Fox exclusivity rule. Fox had 6 regional games, but the D'backs-Astros game wasn't one of them. That game between an improving (and currently in 1st place) team in a weak division vs the NL's worst was irrelevant to everyone outside of Phoenix and Houston. It was streamed outside the US, but I doubt that this game taxed their servers much. ;D

The Diamondbacks used to black out Saturday home games to try to boost ticket sales, but it didn't work. That practice stopped several years ago, but that was a team policy, not MLB's or the networks'. If a D'backs game isn't on FSN Arizona, it's because it conflicts with a Fox or ESPN game, or is on one of those networks.
 
- There is no blackout rule in NASCAR or IRL. The decision to air the Indy 500 on tape delay is made by Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It's an antiquated rule and hopefully someone will drag IMS kicking and screaming out of the 1970s soon.

- There is no blackout rule in MLB, the NBA, or the NHL. The decision to televise games is made by the teams (except in instances where a network has exclusivity for national games).
 
Raymie said:
vchimpanzee said:
cowboybud said:
1:00 The Middle
1:30 Modern Family
2:00 Modern Family
2:30 Cougar Town
3:00 Cougar Town
3:30 Happy Endings
This is last Wednesday's lineup. Are they going to show that night's lineup anytime?

I bet last Wednesday's lineup in Indy was preempted for weather reasons anyways.

If it wasn't for the weather the previous Wednesday, what would WRTV show instead of Indy 500? (Don't say "infomercials".)
 
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