Award Date
1-1-2000
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication Studies
First Committee Member
Lawrence J. Mullen
Number of Pages
69
Abstract
The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR, has seen a tremendous popularity surge in the past decade. The sport is attracting record crowds at its events nationwide and its televised broadcasts are gaining audiences rapidly. While there are many reasons why NASCAR has gained an audience recently, this exploratory study examines the role of communication technology in the proliferation of the sport; Each technology is discussed as it relates to a NASCAR fan's enjoyment of the "total experience," a term that defines the ultimate mediated experience available to a fan using communication technology without his or her presence at the race. This study investigates several communication technologies and their impacts on NASCAR's popularity. Cable television, radio frequency scanners, point-of-view cameras, the Internet, and statistical graphic displays are all components of today's NASCAR broadcast. The uses and gratifications theory is used to explain the sought gratification of the total experience by NASCAR race fans.
Keywords
Communication; Experience; Fans; Nascar; Racing; Rise; Technology; Total
Controlled Subject
Mass media; Recreation
File Format
File Size
2365.44 KB
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Permissions
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Repository Citation
Smith, Elizabeth M, "Racing for fans: Communication technology, the total experience, and the rise of Nascar" (2000). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1133.
http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/t52b-beae
Rights
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