Seven ways FOX can improve its Will Buxton-led IndyCar broadcast

With the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, IndyCar inaugurated a new era of broadcasting by realizing the much-hyped move to FOX. Unfortunately, FOX dropped the ball.

Not all was bad — in fact, we’ll start out this story with all the things that FOX got right. But critical information was lost in translation, leaving viewers — even longtime IndyCar fans — perplexed and confused.

What FOX did right with its IndyCar broadcast

Before I really dig in, I want to talk about what a motorsport broadcast should be, and, really, it should only be one thing: Informative. I like to use the word “nutritious,” because I think that encapsulates things particularly well.

A nutritious broadcast is one that provides key information at the right moment, without oversaturating viewers in unnecessary facts and stats, and without leaving them hungry — or, wondering what’s going on. This is a comprehensive need, one that includes the quality of the camera work, the commentary from the broadcasters, and the graphics used throughout the event.

It also requires an intuitive understanding between the production crew and the commentators: When the production crew feeds in an onboard, the commentary team should know whose onboard that is; when the commentary booth mentions something like Push-to-Pass, there should be an accompanying graphic or data to illustrate that concept.

In some respects, FOX was on top of this. Ahead of the race, a pre-recorded clip of each driver introducing himself aired as a way to illustrate the starting lineup. The broadcast kicked off with an animated Indy car that pointed out its key specs, such as speed and engine power. As the race came to a close, a three-point race summary popped up on the bottom right of the screen to help viewers understand the big moments of the event.

Other features were strong but underutilized. During the first pit stop, a graphic popped up that noted how many drivers had pitted and how many had remained on the track. The lap counter was slow to emerge, but when it did, it featured a race status tracker that filled up with either green or yellow, depending on whether the race was running normally or under caution. And every so often, primarily when it pertained to tires, an “IndyCar 101” graphic popped up to explain allocation.

Also worth noting was the strength of the broadcast in terms of the commentary booth. New play-by-play commentator Will Buxton brought an exciting and well-informed direction to the broadcast, keeping things fresh even as the graphics and camera direction floundered.

But these positive moments were few and far between. The remainder of the broadcast left a lot to be desired.

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Lap counters must always be visible

For the first seven laps of IndyCar’s season opening race at St. Petersburg, no lap counter was on display. While most of this period was under caution, it created unnecessary confusion and failed to tell fans how much of the race had progressed to that point.

The lap counter did appear after that, using a progress bar that featured green or yellow depending on whether those laps were completed under caution or under normal racing conditions — but the fact that the race started without this key piece of information is extremely surprising.

Session time clocks are critical

While this is less important for the race, practice and qualifying sessions are defined by the amount of time remaining on the clock. The fact that a session timer was not present for practice or the earliest qualifying sessions is a massive oversight. It was also almost impossible to tell when a session had concluded as a result.

Lap timing updates must be immediate

During qualifying, I was shocked by the fact that the scoring pylon wasn’t present for the initial sessions, and that FOX struggled to keep lap times updated at a rapid pace. The commentators would spend several seconds talking about a driver’s fast lap before that lap registered on the scoring pylon.

In qualifying, the pace of these updates is critical to sustain the interest of the session. Delayed updates only made things more confusing.

Driver illustrations take the place of critical data

Another key scoring pylon issue was the fact that a cartoon illustration of the drivers was shown next to their name on the pylon, which took the place of what could have been far more relevant information: Tire compound, manufacturer tags, remaining push-to-pass, or even an illustration of the driver’s livery for the weekend. The illustrations offered nothing in terms of better understanding the broadcast.

No hybrid or push-to-pass information

The IndyCar Series features two limited forms of power boost to aid in overtaking. An amply charged power unit provides a little extra horsepower to help overtake, while drivers also can press a button on their steering wheel for a limited number of seconds each race to achieve the same effect.

Both of these features are critical in determining race strategy, particularly at the end of an event. The hybrid power can be recharged thanks to its energy storage system, while push-to-pass is confined to a specific amount of time. Knowing how drivers are using their hybrid energy or deploying their push-to-pass helps illustrate how the final laps of a race may play out.

Both of these features were mentioned during the race, but without any accompanying graphics, it was impossible to know how drivers were using these overtaking strategies.

Full-screen ads shouldn’t air with 20 laps remaining

Early last week, reports emerged that any commercial breaks taking place during green-flag action would be done in side-by-side format — meaning that the commercial would air in a box next to the race. This wasn’t the case, and in fact, FOX went to full-screen commercials with 20 laps remaining in the race, as the final battles were starting to take shape.

International viewers should receive the same broadcast package

International viewers received a partial broadcast graphics package from FOX — they got a scoring pylon, but none of the head-up displays that were visible to American viewers. Critically, those head-up displays were referenced by commentators multiple times, which only exacerbated the issue and the feeling that viewers overseas had been given a half-baked package.

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