IMSA, FOX Sports Announce Enhancements For 2016 Television Coverage
The IMSA broadcast team in 2016 will include Greg Creamer handling play-by-play alongside analyst Calvin Fish, with Brian Till and Justin Bell calling the action from pit road. Additions for 2016 include the use of aerial cameras for a majority of events and special feature segments led by Bell that will highlight the personalities, technology, event experience and lifestyle of IMSA racing.
“We are focused on delivering the most compelling television content we can provide to our viewers," said IMSA Vice President, Marketing David Pettit. “To achieve this goal, we have reallocated our resources to add enhancements to the production of our telecasts and amplify the drama. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge racing is inherently thrilling, and together with our partners at FOX Sports and the broadcast team, we will improve how we showcase that excitement."
Creamer becomes the television play-by-play voice after spending the 2015 season as part of the IMSA Radio team. One of the most respected voices in road racing, Creamer previously has hosted and provided play-by-play coverage of the American Le Mans Series across four different television networks, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Fish joins Creamer in the booth, providing his unique brand of expert analysis as he has done for the past 20 years. Fish’s broadcasting career followed a successful driving career in which he won a Formula Atlantic championship in addition to class victories in both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida.
Like Fish, Till also transitioned from a successful driving career to become one of the foremost voices for road racing in North America. Till won the Formula Atlantic title in 1990 before moving into IndyCar racing. He made more than 20 IndyCar starts from 1992-94, highlighted by a 12th place result in the 1994 Indianapolis 500.
Bell takes his exuberant style from the broadcast booth last season to the action on pit lane in 2016. The 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans GT2 winner and 1997 FIA GT2 world champion also will play a leading role in numerous features during WeatherTech Championship telecasts in 2016, similar to his popular features in past 24 Hours of Le Mans telecasts.
The production quality of the telecasts will remain at the high level longtime fans have come to expect, but will become more operationally efficient by leveraging technology. The core production will be done at-track and will be supplemented by a studio production in Charlotte, N.C., from which Creamer and Fish will call the action beginning with the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. The at-track production will continue to include both an international “world feed," as well as a specific FOX Sports production.
The efficiency provided by shifting some production resources to Charlotte allows for the addition of aerial cameras for eight of 12 WeatherTech Championship races and a creative producer who will work with Bell on the in-depth feature segments.
Full television schedules for the WeatherTech Championship and Continental Tire Challenge will be announced shortly.
The 2016 WeatherTech Championship opens with the 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31, one day after the Continental Tire Challenge opens at Daytona International Speedway with the BMW Performance 200.