I come from a medium size country with a population so scarce the words "neighbour" and "city", in their general European understanding, really are not relevant.
In this country we are absolutly mad about sports. Since the climate is off the kind that only apeals to the true enusiast of frost bite and the following gangrene, sports involving the word "ski" is on the top of the interest curve.
But we have exceptions to the rule. Number one is soccer. Even tough the green grass is only visible from beneeth the snow every fourth year - or there abouts.
But we also have other exeptions, of a more exeptional nature. Sports that really should not appeal to the general public, atleast not as a TV-sport, but does - beqause of a set of circomstanses (that word cant be spelled corectly?. Petter Solberg helped bring rallying not only in the newspapers, but on to the front page. But we have even better examples, and the best one, the sport that really takes off on television in Norway right now, is the extremly not entertaining game of Chess!
Yep - Chess is one of the biggest successes in Norway the last couple of years.
Well... Since the sport is not called Chess-skiing, the answer to the question "WHY THE HELL????!!!" must be something else.
Well, in Magnus Carlsen we have the new world champion in chess. This helps. But the young Mr. Carlsen, tough not completly without a sence of houmor, is what You can describe as an (extremly) introvert person. He is not the person to come out of the TV-screen and touch the audience, to put it mildly.
But, VG, wich is the largest newspaper in Norway, and has the largest internet-site, has taken chess under its wings, and made it to something special. Something that reaches far beyond the viewers this sport really desserves, if You only look at what it really consists of. To men sitting downat a table thinking really hard. And making small movements every half hour or so.
Well, how has Norways largest and most tabloid newspaper made this into a viewing frenzy?
Have they done it by dumbing it down? Showing chess "for the masses" by comenting really simple so everybody should understand?
No!
They have done the complete oposite. They have taken the nerd-factor to elleven!
VGs own commentator is a chess fan, this helps, but the real stroke of genious comes from how they have picked their expert commentator.
(Follow this link to see a picture of him: http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Olav_Lahlum)
He is a super nerd, in the best possible meaning of the term, and has a genious level of competence and knowledge.

This - I believe - is the true challenge of Rallying. We need the expert commentators, and the expert angle, to make the sport interesting. We should not think of the audience being stupid, we should smarten up!

I have earlier described rallying as chess at 200 km/h. There are so many factors You can bring forward to make the viewing more interesting.
- Ingeneering
- Tactics
- Driving technique
- Strategy
- Pace notes
- etc

But You should do it the nerd way, not the superficial way. Go deep!
Stage end commentators should know enough to answer the right questions.
The teams should be forced to openness.
The engineers should be interviewed regularly.
The audience should be let in to the deepest aspects, team meetings, etc etc.

And regarding broadcasting, a combination of internett and TV would be the perfect one.