Editing Daytona 500 (section)

==Television==
{{See also|List of Daytona 500 broadcasters}}

The Daytona 500 was the first {{convert|500|mi|km|adj=on}} auto race to be televised live flag-to-flag on network television when [[CBS]] aired it in 1979, continuing to air until 2000.

From 2001 to 2006, the race alternated between [[Fox NASCAR|Fox]] and [[NASCAR on NBC|NBC]] under the terms of a six–year, $2.48 billion NASCAR television contract, with Fox broadcasting the Daytona 500 in odd-numbered years (2001, 2003, 2005) and the [[Coke Zero 400|Pepsi 400]] in even-numbered years (2002, 2004, 2006) and NBC broadcasting the opposite race in that year.

In 2005, a new television contract was signed, which made Fox the sole broadcaster of the Daytona 500 for eight years, from 2007 to 2014. In 2013, 10 more years were added to the contract, giving Fox every Daytona 500 from 2015 to 2024 as well, for a total of at least 20 Daytona 500s in a row. The installation of the [[Night game#Motorsports|lighting system]] at Daytona International Speedway in 1998, as well as the implementations of the television packages in 2001 and 2007 respectively, have resulted in the race starting and ending much later than it did in the race's early years. The race started at 12:15&nbsp;p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] from 1979 until 2000. The start time was moved to 1:00&nbsp;p.m [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] from 2001 to 2004, 2:30&nbsp;p.m. in 2005 and 2006, and 3:30&nbsp;p.m. from 2007 to 2009, all for the convenience of west coast viewers. The 2005 race ended at sunset for the first time in its history, and the 2006 race ended well after sunset.

Every Daytona 500 between 2006 and 2010, as well as the 2012 and 2014 races, ended under the lights. The changing track conditions caused by the onset of darkness in the closing laps in these years forced the crew chiefs to predict the critical car setup adjustments needed for their final two pit stops. The 2007 race was the first Daytona 500 to go into prime-time, ending at 7:07&nbsp;p.m. Eastern time. In 2010, the race moved back to a 1:00&nbsp;p.m. start time, which should have resulted in it ending in daylight; however, two red flags caused by track surface issues led to long delays that pushed the race to 7:34&nbsp;p.m. EST, pushing the race into prime-time for the second time. The 2012 race was also scheduled to start at 1:00&nbsp;p.m. EST on Sunday, February 26, but heavy rain in the area caused the race to be postponed to 7:00&nbsp;p.m. EST on Monday, February 27, making it the first Daytona 500 to be postponed to a Monday, as well as the first (and only) Daytona 500 to be run as a night race. Due to a two–hour red flag period after a jet dryer fire on the track with 40 laps remaining, the race did not end until about 12:40&nbsp;a.m. on Tuesday, February 28. The 2013 race marked a return to the race's past tradition of ending in the late afternoon, as it ended at about 4:40&nbsp;p.m., the race's earliest ending time since 2004. Although the 2014 race started around 1:30&nbsp;p.m. EST, heavy rain and a [[tornado warning]] red–flagged the race after 38 laps and it was delayed for a record six hours and 22 minutes; the race finished the entire 500–mile distance around after 11:00&nbsp;p.m. the same day, which effectively competed with the time-delayed East Coast broadcast of [[Olympics on NBC|NBC]]'s coverage of the [[2014 Winter Olympics closing ceremony]], scheduled between 7:00 and 10:30&nbsp;p.m. The 2015 race started on time around 1:00 &nbsp;p.m., and ended after 203 laps due to a Green–white–checkered finish.

The television ratings for the Daytona 500 have surpassed those of the larger [[Indianapolis 500]] (which has much larger physical attendance and international attendance) since 1995, even though the 1995 race was available in far fewer homes than the year before. Then-broadcaster CBS had lost well-established [[very high frequency|VHF]] (channels 2–13) affiliates in major markets as a result of the [[1994 United States broadcast TV realignment|Fox affiliate switches of 1994]]. As an example, new affiliates [[WDJT-TV|WDJT]] in [[Milwaukee]] and [[WANF|WGNX]] in [[Atlanta]]&nbsp;— both cities that are home to NASCAR races&nbsp;—  and [[WWJ-TV|WWJ]] in [[Detroit]], close to [[Michigan International Speedway]], were on the [[ultra high frequency|UHF]] band (channels 14–69), meaning that they had a significantly reduced broadcast area compared to former affiliates [[WITI (TV)|WITI]], [[WAGA-TV]], and [[WJBK]], respectively.  WDJT was not available in many Wisconsin markets by the time the Daytona 500 took place.

Rain delays forced the [[2025 Daytona 500]] race to go on longer, with television coverage cutting into numerous Fox [[Animation Domination]] shows.