Prime's NASCAR problem is not only what viewers saw. It is how viewers are counted. That follows the paper's June 2 warning that Prime's first NASCAR race split into two audience results, after the Coca-Cola 600 made Prime's Cup debut a ratings test.

Sports Media Watch reports that Nashville averaged 2.01 million viewers under Nielsen's Big Data + Panel currency and 1.66 million under the panel-only method NASCAR is now reporting. It says the Big Data + Panel number was 21 percent higher at Nashville, after a 15 percent gap at Charlotte. [1]

Charlotte had already shown the split. The Coca-Cola 600 drew 3.06 million under Big Data + Panel and 2.65 million panel-only, producing two usable stories about the same race. [2]

X can litigate a clipped interview. The industry has a colder issue: Prime changes both the production surface and the measurement surface.

-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos