The Greatest Spectacle in Racing returns: Indy 500 is Sunday

ABC and 13 area IMS Radio Network affiliates to provide full race coverage beginning at 10 a.m. CT

The time has come once again for The Greatest Spectacle in Racing to grace our TV screens and radio speakers - the Indianapolis 500 is Sunday.

Coverage of this year's 96th 500 will begin at 10 a.m. CT (11 ET) on ABC (WEHT Local/Evansville, WAWV-ABC/Terre Haute, etc.) and the stations of the IMS Radio Network, which is marking its 60th anniversary this year.  More on that in a moment.

This year in the Tri-State, 13 radio stations in Southeastern Illinois, Southwestern Indiana and Western Kentucky will carry the race (see the local list after the jump or click here for a national list).

As I mentioned, this year's race marks the 60th anniversary of the IMS Radio Network.  The network was formed when the former Mutual Broadcasting System, which had previously provided spot coverage of the race, raised its advertising rates for the 1951 race, causing sponsors to drop out.  Forced to make a last-minute change, Indianapolis station WIBC stepped into the breach and provided some coverage.  Prior to the 1952 event, IMS president Wilbur Shaw and owner Tony Hulman announced the formation of a new radio network to provide coverage.

Announcers from each of Indianapolis' five radio stations called the action that year on 26 radio stations.  The number of affiliates grew to 135 in 1953 when the entire race was broadcast for the first time.  By the 1970s, over 1,000 stations joined in, and while the number has declined by several hundred in recent years as other media - particularly television, once ABC began carrying the race in full in the mid-1980s - began playing a more prominent role.

Despite that, it's great that the radio network is still with us and still making an important contribution to the enjoyment of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing for so many.

The Weekender for May 20-25

It's Friday, and that means it's time to look back at the week in TV and radio!

All of this week's headlines can, as always, be found below for your convenience.

Once you're done catching up, be sure to check out JDTVB's Facebook page, which now includes special exclusive items which aren't posted here, and follow me on Twitter for all the latest information, as well as comments on a host of other topics, too.

I'll see you back here on Monday Tuesday because of the Memorial Day holiday.  Have a great holiday weekend!

	KET's Reel Visions puts Appalachian films on display June 7-21 WULF forfeiture reduced from $7,000 to $5,600 NBCUniversal negotiating buyback of MSNBC.com
	Space really is the final frontier for Star Trek's Doohan NewWave working yet another outage
	NBCUniversal networks to cover 5,535 hours of Olympic events from London Feel the History returns with four new episodes beginning July 8 Create TV coming to WNIN-9.2 beginning July 1 MAKING HEADLINES: Winners and losers, and possibly buyers Scripps begins reducing dependence on syndicated programming
	Good Afternoon America set to begin 9-week run on July 9 Is GM on the ropes again? Carmaker decides against Super Bowl ads KET to cover Ky. primary election tonight, tomorrow

KET's Reel Visions puts Appalachian films on display June 7-21

In June, Reel Visions: Spotlight on Kentucky Filmmakers once again puts Kentuckians’ filmmaking talents on display. Each half-hour program features several short films produced, directed, written or edited by Kentucky filmmakers. Reel Visions is scheduled to air Thursdays, June 7-21 at 9:30 p.m. CT (10:30 ET) on KET2.

Featured productions include films created by the Appalachian Media Institute (AMI), a media training program for central Appalachian youth. Films include Missing Generation, about children being raised by their grandparents, produced by Dillon Fisher, Candace Hughes and Olivia Sizemore; Up in Coots Hollow, about a family who has shared the same plot of land for generations, produced by Cory Coots, AJ Hamilton and Sarah Kadish; and Carrie Jean Walls, a biopic of the fiddle player and Eastern Kentucky native, produced by Natalie Baxter, an established Eastern Kentucky filmmaker and mentor in the AMI project.

Thom Southerland’s film Last Glimpse explores the idea of the supernatural and the dynamics of family relationships. A video by Michael Molloy called CJIII illustrates his feelings about a close friend being sent to Iraq.

Tobaccolachia, by Steven Middleton, documents the current state of tobacco farming in Eastern Kentucky. Also featured is a short titled Skipping Fish Boat School by Stephen Kertis, a film about the Louisville school that teaches students of all ages how to build boats.

Reel Visions: Spotlight on Kentucky Filmmakers is a KET production, produced by Sara O’Keefe. Teresa Day is executive producer.

Information for this story was provided by KET.

WULF forfeiture reduced from $7,000 to $5,600

In September 2010, the FCC levied a forfeiture (fine) of $7,000 against Hardinsburg, Ky. country station WULF-94.3 FM (which can be heard in the eastern part of the Tri-State) for moving its main studio without Commission approval.

Today, the FCC released a new Forfeiture Order reducing the station's fine to $5,600 because, in the Commission's words, the station "has a history of compliance with the Rules."

WULF has operated from studios in Elizabethtown, Ky. since late 2002, meaning that this whole process has taken nearly a decade to come to its conclusion.

For previous coverage of this story, click here.

NBCUniversal negotiating buyback of MSNBC.com

Have you ever noticed that MSNBC.com looks very little like MSNBC?

The 16-year-old website, launched in 1996 by NBC and Microsoft, has very little content that would link it to its eponymous cable news channel.  Whereas the TV channel is staunchly liberal, the site is, most would agree, far more mainstream.

That could change, though.

NBCUniversal is, according to Adweek, deep into negotiations with Microsoft to purchase the technology company's share of the website.  (NBC bought majority ownership of MSNBC in 2005 and the rest of it in '07.)

It's unknown at this point what changes we might see should NBCU - now itself owned by Comcast - make the deal happen, but some sources indicate that the site could morph into something a lot more like the network - i.e., a site with a lot more liberal content.

We'll have to wait and see.