Is Barry Pepper going to make a cameo?

[Birdscribe]

On my daily perusal of SportsBusinessDaily, this slammed me between the eyes...

ESPN2 in February will air a five-part series on NASCAR Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. titled "Shifting Gears," which chronicles his move from DEI to Hendrick Motorsports. The series will be presented by the National Guard and is produced by Earnhardt's Hammerhead Entertainment, a division of JR Motorsports, in cooperation with Hendrick. The program is part of an exclusive multimedia agreement between ESPN and Hammerhead, and the first episode will air Friday, February 8 at 7:00pm ET

Probably an interesting story to gearheads, but FIVE PARTS? :o ???

I don't think Scorsese or Spielberg could make this interesting over five parts.

 

[GB-Hack]

Depends how long each episode is. If it's five 30-minute shows, then I think there'll be an audience.

It is Junior after all.

 

[Pastor]

A company owned by Earnhardt is making a movie about Earnhardt. Gee, I wonder if this will be a negative portrayal of his move...

 

[Starman]

It's all bookkeeping. If it lasts longer than five 30-second episodes ... zzzzzzzzz.

 

[GB-Hack]

It's all bookkeeping. If it lasts longer than five 30-second episodes ... zzzzzzzzz.

I think you underestimate the average Junior fan. They will watch anything associated with the man.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

A company owned by Earnhardt is making a movie about Earnhardt. Gee, I wonder if this will be a negative portrayal of his move...

I got the impression it was more of a reality show than a movie, but the point stands.

 

[wickedwritah]

ESPN did a multi-part series last year on sponsor ***** Michael Waltrip's formation of a "race team" (really, just a fleet of rolling chicanes).

Advertorial programming at its finest.

 

[budcrew08]

It's all bookkeeping. If it lasts longer than five 30-second episodes ... zzzzzzzzz.

I think you underestimate the average Junior fan. They will watch anything associated with the man.

Ding, ding, ding....

oh wait.

 

[Jar of Flies]

All I wanna do is race, Daddy!

 

[DanOregon]

I wouldn't mind these things if they weren't so controlled by the sponsor. I know there is a whole side of NASCAR that is never reported. I respect the drivers and crew chiefs for staying "on script" when they appear before TV cameras, but we'll never see a meeting between a team owner and a sponsor where the team owner wants to make a driver change, but the sponsor blocks the move because that guy sells product like no other.

 

[CollegeJournalist]

ESPN long ago forgot about the whole "conflict of interest" part of journalism...

Signing a deal with a production company owned by a guy it covers on a regular basis. Nope, no conflict there.