Naive indeed! (Update)

UPDATE Another reader writes, Dear AR1.com, With so much NASCAR content on NBC and NBC Sports Network (thousands and thousands of hours of NASCAR programming) will there be any time slots left for IndyCar races to air? D. Chandler, St. Louis

Dear D. Chandler. Nope. IndyCar will probably have to move races to 10:00 AM on Sunday mornings or tape delay them to some other odd hour. Why? Because NBC has a $4.4B bill to pay and they have to maximize their NASCAR ad revenue to pay that bill. Hence NASCAR programming will get the best time slots to maximize ratings, and hence revenue. NASCAR will bring $millions in advertisers to NBC so when IndyCar tries to schedule a nice Sunday afternoon time slot for a race the answer will almost always be, "sorry that is already taken by NASCAR and we already sold all the ad space for it. Let's see, we still have 2:00 AM available. Would you like that.?" Mark C.

07/24/13 A reader writes, Dear AR1.com, Once again you are all over the issues related to IndyCar. I read Brian Mackey's article and was convinced he was right – that the NASCAR NBC deal would help IndyCar.

Then I read the Brian Carroccio article that put some reality to the situation that the NASCAR deal is more likely to hurt IndyCar than help it. As a huge IndyCar fan I would hate to see IndyCar TV ratings drop any further, but the fact of the matter is that NASCAR has a history of following IndyCar to whichever TV channel they go to, and 100% of the time there is no cross-promotion. IndyCar just gets buried and is forced to seek shelter elsewhere. D. Brenner, Chicago