IMSA: Series working on enhanced TV package

Working from the recognition that the WeatherTech Championship is certainly capable of drawing bigger audiences, Atherton hopes a strengthened relationship with FOX will lead to bigger Nielsen figures.

"I think everybody who's close to our paddock is familiar with our focus on television, and that we've got spectacular results in many categories – social media, live streaming, video consumption etc. – but television has not fit that profile in recent times," Atherton told RACER. "We have made an extra effort in preparation for the 2017 season to not leave any stone unturned in that category.

"What that means is we have had a bit of a breakthrough with the senior executive decision-makers at FOX, which can only be seen as a positive. In the not too distant future we will be able to add some more content, some more substance to the subject. We aren't ready to announce what's happening, but we're definitely going in the right direction."

IMSA and FOX collaborated on a number of changes leading into the current season with the goal of creating a more robust TV presentation package. The modification of its announce and pit lane reporting team, shift of its broadcast hosts from trackside to a studio in North Carolina, tweaks to the production staff, and stylistic alterations to the presentation of each race were made starting at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Although those wholesale adjustments have yet to move the ratings needle, Atherton believes the reimagined IMSA TV product will please a wider audience once they see the WeatherTech Championship in action.

"There was some outcry before the season that IMSA was cutting the television budget, and it could not be further from the truth because our production budget was actually expanding," he said. "What it did enable us to do by making the change of having our play-by-play announcers based in Charlotte is it freed up some resources to be able to add some elements to the broadcast, such as an aerial platform. If you have watched the races this year, some of the most spectacular imagery has come from the helicopter camera. Now we're able to follow cars and battles, and just get a perspective that the ground-based cameras simply can't bring.

"The other element that we were able to bring to the equation was a dedicated feature producer. So, again, if you watch the broadcasts, you see we're going behind-the-scenes more, digging deeper with this topic or this individual or this team. It's all a byproduct of the changes we've made. Long story short, we're very pleased with the content. When we watch our broadcasts, we are our own worst critics. We sit down and watch them start to finish, including the commercials, all the breaks, everything that a fan would experience at home. And we're always trying to improve."

Among the speculation making the rounds in recent weeks, and in light of the strengthened relationship with FOX's executives, it's believed IMSA could see more of its WeatherTech Championship racing on the network in 2017. FOX's cable sports outlets, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2, have been the regular outlets for IMSA – and the source of the low ratings.

Atherton would not be drawn on whether more network time will be on the menu next year, but he did say the series is working with its TV partner to find more ways to fix the ratings problem.

"We have a great relationship with both FOX and our production partners, such that whenever there is an acknowledgment of something that we could have done better, we are all-in," he added. "Looking to the future, is network the cure-all? I would say any sports property would say there's no substitute for prime sports time network TV broadcasts of a live sporting event. That's where everybody wants to be all the time. NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, that is their criteria.

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"Because of the unique nature of our events, in some cases very extreme times – 24 hours, 12 hours – it makes airing those races in their entirety on one channel very difficult. So being on the network is important, but it is not at all the end of the story, because it is also making sure that you've got the appropriate timing for the broadcast."

Among the options being discussed, lead-in programming for WeatherTech Championship events, rebroadcast dates and times, and other mechanisms designed to build a bigger audience are on the table.

"It's considering the East Coast versus West Coast, live versus delay, it might be a situation where the best possible TV window creates a very difficult set of circumstances for the promoter," Atherton said. "Especially when you are on the West Coast, where you want to hit a certain window of an East Coast timeline but it means starting a race at 11 in the morning. That's tough to do.

"The other elements that we are always looking at – and always looking to the network partner for assistance with – is the lead-in programming. You want to come off of something that ideally is in some way connected to the audience you are trying to attract, if not race fans in particular.

"We wouldn't want to come out of a shuffleboard competition into a live broadcast of a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event. If we can come out of NASCAR-related programming or something of that ilk, and that leads into our broadcast, then we automatically have a leg up. That is the complex process we are working through with our partners."

Atherton also acknowledged the need to greatly reduce the movement of IMSA's long-haul endurance events between multiple FOX channels and its live stream.

"The other element that we are taking into consideration is minimizing the number of jumps that occur in true long-distance endurance races, because in some cases this year it has been very challenging to follow," he said. "For reasons everybody by now is familiar with, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to have a full, live television broadcast in one place.

"We all look back with great memories of Speed Channel and what Roger Werner did for endurance racing and his commitment to showing the entire event, but in the reality that we operate in now, we do have to go from network to network, to the live stream, back to the network, etc. Minimizing the number of jumps is now the criteria, as well as improving every aspect of the product that is possible. Hopefully that'll be reflected in the TV product we put forth."