Turner is taking a team approach with its coverage of Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
In addition to TNT's telecast of what is typically the highest-rated race of the NASCAR Summer Series, TruTV will step onto the speedway with a simulcast of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona Powered by Coca-Cola. The simulcast marks another step by TruTV step into the sports realm: the male-skewing network also presents game coverage as part of Turner and CBS's shared coverage of March Madness.
Race coverage on both TNT and during TruTV's inaugural NASCAR presentation will showcase the Wide Open television format, which provides for continuous coverage sans national commercial breaks. For the sixth consecutive year, TNT will employ the Wide Open gambit that offers 20% more unobstructed race action than the standard telecast via a letterbox screen that allows for a continuous roll of race action and information.
National sponsors featured in this year's telecasts on TNT and TruTV, include: AndroGel, Coke Zero, Dodge Ram, Geico, Goodyear, Sprint, Toyota, Twitter and Viagra.
Headline News is also in the mix from Daytona. HLN's Robin Meade will sing the national anthem and interview troops attending the race. Her weekday show on the network, Morning Express with Robin Meade, regularly features a "Salute to Troops" segment that next week will incorporate those interviews following the race.
"TNT's Wide Open coverage, truTV's simulcast and the integration with HLN allows us to increase NASCAR's presence across the Turner portfolio and pay tribute to troops in a meaningful way," said Christina Miller, Turner Sports' senior vice president, strategy, programming and marketing, in a statement. "There could not be a more fitting time than Daytona, the biggest race of the summer."
