• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 13, 2009

ESPN will air a prime-time documentary that was conceived as a marketing vehicle for German automaker Audi. "Truth in 24" is scheduled for March 20 and focuses on the performance of Audi cars in the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

ESPN did not pay a rights fee for the documentary, and in exchange will split the ad time 50-50 with sports marketing firm Intersport, an Audi representative said. "Truth in 24" was financed by Audi and is owned by the company, but the automaker says it had no influence on the content. NFL Films and Chicago-based Intersport are the co-producers of the 96-minute film.

The production follows an Audi team's successful 2008 pursuit of an eighth victory in nine years at Le Mans, and displays ample brand images. The filmmakers were also given special behind-the-scenes access by Audi. The documentary is the brainchild of Audi Chief Marketing Officer Scott Keogh, who was inspired after attending Le Mans shortly after joining the company in 2006.

Among Audi's goals is to convey the image of a high-performance brand and technological pacesetter. A version of the TDI clean diesel engine used in Le Mans race cars is in Audi's commercial vehicles.

"Audi is hands-off, so they're not involved in the editing," said Lee Berke, a sports marketing consultant. "As long as it showcases them legitimately, it's a boon to their market[ing] at a time when people may be saying--I may have a question about buying a domestic car."

ESPN could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

The Audi representative, Bradley Stertz, said the automaker has no plans to advertise during the ESPN broadcast, but has yet to make a final decision.

"Truth in 24" could struggle to draw an audience on ESPN. Airing from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST on March 20, it will compete with the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament on CBS.

But it will serve as a sort of lead-in for the 12 Hours of Sebring Grand Prix race that takes place the following day--a U.S. showcase competition for Audi marketers.

Audi considered releasing the film widely in theaters, but jumped at the ESPN opportunity. Stertz said one reason was that the producers wanted to be considered for an Emmy. The film has received glowing reviews from Motor Trend and Variety. The latter wrote that Audi produced "a piece of entertainment that doesn't come across as yet another advertisement."

Offering evidence that it had no say in the documentary's content, Audi says it gambled on backing the film, since there was no assurance that one of its cars would win the venerable race--especially with Peugeot a strong competitor. Stertz said that Keogh, the American CMO, gave the green light because he believed the "intensity" of Le Mans merited a story to tell.

Stertz said that if an Audi car had not won, the film might still have been distributed, although likely not on ESPN.