Alternate Plans In Place For NFL Conflicts (New Info)

Update: ESPN has advised that due to Tropical Storm Isaac, the Miami TV market can see the Sprint Cup Series race tonight on the local cable channels for ESPN. The ABC affiliate advised ESPN that they will be providing non-stop storm coverage, so ESPN made the switch. Great move by both parties.

The powers that be assure us that NASCAR fans will not get run-over Saturday night by local NFL preseason games. Before the regular season starts, some local stations get to actually produce and cover these semi-meaningless affairs. This Saturday, several areas will be affected.

There are six TV markets in the country that have NFL programming conflicts. All of them have made alternate viewing arrangements for NASCAR fans.

The easiest way to solve the problem is to switch NASCAR fans to the ESPN cable channel in their area. ESPN is not carrying the race nationwide, it's just a local market temporary channel switch. Buffalo (NY), Tulsa (OK), Quincy (IL) and Westlaco (TX) are the areas where fans just switch to their regular ESPN cable channel for the race.

Update: In the four markets where the race will be on ESPN, the race will also be on DirecTV channel 210, and DISH channel 145.

In the major market of Detroit, the ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV will move the NASCAR race to the station's digital tier 2 channel and the main station will join the live race when the Detroit Lions game is over. WXYZ's D2 channel is called 'Live Well Detroit' and in the Detroit area is channel 7.2 over the air, 437 on Charter, 297 on Comcast and 127 on Bright House.

Update: More locations for WXYZ-TV tier 2 "Live Well Detroit" viewing:

ACR Cable Beacon Hill: Channel 8
Lamont Digital Systems: Channel 144
WOW: Channel 101
Wyandotte Cable TV: 141

In Rochester, NY the local station WHAM-TV will do the same and carry NASCAR on its digital 2 tier channel. WHAM-TV's D2 channel is also the CW affiliate. It is Time Warner Cable Channel 16 or Channel 1016 for CW-HD, Digital Over-the-Air: Channel 13.2.

Due to the time zone issues, there are a handful of ABC stations that have news at 7PM ET when the NASCAR Countdown show is on. In Little Rock (AK), Corpus Christi (TX), and Omaha (NE) the news will end and NASCAR will be joined at 7:30PM before the green flag.

Local stations have their own agendas and sometimes that just does not mesh with live national sports. Over the years, ABC stations have preempted NASCAR races for everything from local charity telethons to the Mummer's Parade in Philly. That is why the move of most of the Sprint Cup Series races to ESPN and away from ABC was a good one.

Needless to say, the Watch ESPN service cannot be used as this telecast is on ABC. All those fun features fans get when telecasts are on cable go away in the broadcast network world. Thanks to Andy Hall from ESPN for providing the specific information on Saturday night's issues.

We will be here on Saturday and also on Twitter monitoring the situation. Stop by and drop us a line if there is a problem. Happy to have your opinion on this topic. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.