SPEED Channel to drop F1

johnnymat · 12 October 12, 21:52

I just read an article at the Autoweek website that says Speed Channel will end it's 17 year association with F1 at the end of this season. That's a shame because I think Varsha , Hobbs and Matchett make an outstanding broadcast team.

Merlin0859 · 12 October 12, 22:05

I don't know why they don't drop their name really. Their programming is not that good in my opinion. I think they should just go ahead and call themselves the Nascar channel. Now before you blast me, I've lived in the south all my life but heaven forbid if you favor open wheel or sports car racing as I do! Why it's nearly unpatriotic! Hehe! Do you know what they plan to replace it with by the way?

CX650 · 12 October 12, 22:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin0859

Do you know what they plan to replace it with by the way?

Paint drying is on the short list of more interesting topics.

vondutch51 · 12 October 12, 22:19

Fox is looking to phase out the Speed Channel and replace it with the Fox Sports Channel. Probably the reason why they are dropping F1.

Merlin0859 · 12 October 12, 22:52

Paint drying could be an improvement!

johnnymat · 12 October 12, 23:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin0859

I don't know why they don't drop their name really. Their programming is not that good in my opinion. I think they should just go ahead and call themselves the Nascar channel. Now before you blast me, I've lived in the south all my life but heaven forbid if you favor open wheel or sports car racing as I do! Why it's nearly unpatriotic! Hehe! Do you know what they plan to replace it with by the way?

The article says that F1 is in negotiations with NBC. I don't know who will pick up F1 if they can't work something out with NBC.

Merlin0859 · 12 October 12, 23:57

I agree Varsha, Hobbs and Matchett need to be there! NBC will ruin it with somebody popular but totally clueless! It won't cover the whole race well, because it will just be entertainment to them! No love of the sport! Look at network coverage of the Superbowl! All glitz, glamour and oh yea the game! Halftime gets better coverage than the game IMHO.

davehenrie · 12 October 12, 23:58

Great F1 on a network. That means tape delays, reduced coverage, increased human interest stories. blech

dh

Eurostc · 13 October 12, 00:06

seen the Fox emblem on the Speed logo during this weekend's races
Circuit of the America's is reporting the NBC contract neg's also...

max attack · 13 October 12, 00:33

More room for surf and skateboards and NON FUEL BS? They have no idea IMO.

Spike · 13 October 12, 00:40

Quote:

Do you know what they plan to replace it with by the way?

From what I've read Baseball, Baseball and oh did I mention more Baseball

, guess they are trying to get more baseball games than ESPN, I don't know how anybody can seriously sit and watch that on TV for 4hrs

. Speed hasn't really been worth watching since it became the Nascar & stupid reality tv channel

.

JacnGille · 13 October 12, 00:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by merlin0859

paint drying could be an improvement!

+1

tlgtr · 13 October 12, 03:24

The article I read at RACER said that Fox/Speed made an offer to continue and F1 chose to go 'another direction'. And we all know how the dwarf likes the moola...

So maybe it wasn't all one sided. Speed shows the practice, the qualifying and the races for F1 what more did you want? While F1 does have a lot of fans in the US it isn't the number one series here...sorry... What kind of coverage does NA$CAR get in Europe? My guess is similar to F1 over here? Lets just hope that they are able to find someone to continue coverage.

skrusinbin · 13 October 12, 04:17

ESPN's early '90s coverage seemed good. Great implementation of the metal music @ 6:30

>B-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm9JHOAzc5E

Zpectre · 13 October 12, 04:38

Not surprised, SPEED is the NASCAR channel after all...

Here in Brazil they killed SPEED and replaced it with FOX Sports. Maybe the same will happen in the USA?

Stratman · 13 October 12, 05:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike

From what I've read Baseball, Baseball and oh did I mention more Baseball

, guess they are trying to get more baseball games than ESPN, I don't know how anybody can seriously sit and watch that on TV for 4hrs

. Speed hasn't really been worth watching since it became the Nascar & stupid reality tv channel

.

Well, if you watched ANOTHER incredible comeback win by the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, you'd know why someone can watch baseball for 4 hours !! Amazing game.....

On topic... I just hope SOMEBODY in the US picks up F1 broadcasts.... ESPN did a decent job when they had it ...

mdelaney · 13 October 12, 14:52

There's just no way to spin this positively. No other major network in the US has shown they have even the first clue about motorsports coverage. SPEED dropping (losing?) ALMS was bad enough, but this is pretty bad.

Tkrau · 13 October 12, 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stratman

Well, if you watched ANOTHER incredible comeback win by the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, you'd know why someone can watch baseball for 4 hours !!

That! And Go Giants! Again!

Speed did a decent job of bringing F1 to a country (USA) that generically thinks open-wheel racing begins and ends at Indy, IMO. And I agree that whoever does pick up coverage would be foolish to overlook Varsha, Hobbs, and Matchett. NBC does show three or four races a season (basically a rebroadcast of Speed's showing) for reasons I'm not at all sure of, but I wouldn't complain if they get the contract. And keep the boys behind the mikes.

MickeyMouse · 13 October 12, 16:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tkrau

That! And Go Giants! Again!

Speed did a decent job of bringing F1 to a country (USA) that generically thinks open-wheel racing begins and ends at Indy, IMO. And I agree that whoever does pick up coverage would be foolish to overlook Varsha, Hobbs, and Matchett. NBC does show three or four races a season (basically a rebroadcast of Speed's showing) for reasons I'm not at all sure of, but I wouldn't complain if they get the contract. And keep the boys behind the mikes.

I think you mean the Fox network channel. They already own Speed, so they just show it on the local channels a few times a year, presumably to get people to sign up for Speed.

Tkrau · 13 October 12, 17:07

You're right...brain fart up there. Oops. Never mind, etc.

Paul_in_DC · 13 October 12, 17:11

To all those knee-jerkers slamming the Speed Channel ... the fact is they were outbid.

Stupid move on the part of Formula One Management though, as others have noted.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireSto...3#.UHmf1Gez71k

MickeyMouse · 13 October 12, 17:57

That's not to say that Fox's offer was reasonable however. They may have thrown a really low take it or leave it offer that was rejected. Of course we'll never know, as these negotiations are usually pretty secretive.

Spike · 13 October 12, 22:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stratman

Well, if you watched ANOTHER incredible comeback win by the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, you'd know why someone can watch baseball for 4 hours !! Amazing game.....

Well you'll have to excuse me because if it doesn't have 2 or 4 wheels it doesn't really excite me

. Although I will admit the few games I have watched when Griffey jr, Sosa and McGwire were knocking them out of the parks in the late 90's was interesting enough to keep me glued to the tv for a while.

Tkrau · 13 October 12, 23:11

What - the Juice Bros? Please...

GTAce · 14 October 12, 01:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlgtr

What kind of coverage does NA$CAR get in Europe? My guess is similar to F1 over here?

Worse (Germany). There are only three options to watch NASCAR:
Summaries on the Austrian channel ServusTV (sometimes live broadcasts).
Sky's Motorvision TV (pay TV).
MotorsTV (pay TV and only Nationwide Series).

The live races on ServusTV are great though.

jgf · 14 October 12, 01:36

Considering that, with Time-Warner at least, it requires about $80 worth of channel packages to get SPEED ...and FOX grudgingly shows four F1 races each year... I don't care if they lost the broadcast rights. Perhaps someone on basic cable will now get it.

Does anyone remember when, about twenty years ago, between ABC, ESPN, and TNN, we could see all the Winston Cup races, all the F1 races, all the Indycar races, and an assortment of other venues (BGN, F2, IMSA, SCCA, TransAm, etc.), all live and usually preceded by qualifying coverage?

LogRoad · 14 October 12, 03:26

Hey! Anybody seen my GRID disc?

Frank

Vette4Life · 14 October 12, 05:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin0859

Their programming is not that good in my opinion. I think they should just go ahead and call themselves the Nascar channel.

This, lol....

Seems like all that goes on Speed these days is either Nascar Race Hub, Victory Lane, Pre-Race Show, Speed Report (which is 90% Nascar) and what not. If you watch Speed on a regular basis and claim not to know about what's going on in Nascar, you're deaf ! That or all the rubbish reality TV stuff, MTV all over again, except with cars and trucks !

They even scratched the V8 Supercar at Bathurst for a replay of a Nascar qualifying ! R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S

Stratman · 14 October 12, 06:56

I agree about all of the NASCAR coverage on Speed, how exciting can NASCAR practice be? Or qualy? I know it's popular here, but quit shoving it down our throats!!

OhioSpeed · 14 October 12, 08:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgf

Considering that, with Time-Warner at least, it requires about $80 worth of channel packages to get SPEED ...and FOX grudgingly shows four F1 races each year... I don't care if they lost the broadcast rights. Perhaps someone on basic cable will now get it.

Does anyone remember when, about twenty years ago, between ABC, ESPN, and TNN, we could see all the Winston Cup races, all the F1 races, all the Indycar races, and an assortment of other venues (BGN, F2, IMSA, SCCA, TransAm, etc.), all live and usually preceded by qualifying coverage?

Man those were the days. I miss the old nashvillie network.

LogRoad · 14 October 12, 18:40

Make broadband available and affordable to everyone in North America and stream all the races all the time.

Frank

brabham67 · 14 October 12, 18:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgf

Considering that, with Time-Warner at least, it requires about $80 worth of channel packages to get SPEED ...

Ouch!! That sucks!

Speed is part of Comcast's Expanded Basic package. We would only have to pay extra if we wanted the HD channel.

brabham67 · 14 October 12, 19:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by LogRoad

Make broadband available and affordable to everyone in North America and stream all the races all the time.

Frank

The government is working toward that goal actually. The downside is that they consider the lowest tier(around 760k down / 256k up) acceptable. I don't think an HD stream would work with that speed. And even a SD feed would choke if someone else was on your network.

LogRoad · 15 October 12, 00:32

How slow can you go with broadband? Seriously. I don't know. I'm traveling right now and in netbook hell, but at home my connection is at the local wifi hotspot. Actual download throughput on a good day is 50Kb/sec.

Frank

P.S. Whoops. You did say "lowest tier."

Eurostc · 15 October 12, 00:51

"SpeedVision ".........now that was coverage of racing

edubz123 · 15 October 12, 01:01

well if F1 goes to NBCSports (formerly the Versus channel which covered IndyCar) then I'll be ok since I get NBCSports in HD as well.

Just hope they don't put Ryan Seacrest or his Kardashian minions in the booth.

GTR Dude · 15 October 12, 03:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eurostc

"SpeedVision ".........now that was coverage of racing

+1

I remember those days well...... they even had Airplanes.

I miss the Speedway Motorcycle races too.

Sadly the stuff we view today is mearly a shadow of the old "Speedvision".

OhioSpeed · 15 October 12, 04:40

Ill miss varsha. He was the voice of F1 since I first started watching him, Hobbs, even Daly wasn't bad for all the flack people give him. I hope we at least get comparable coverage to what we have now. I don't want any taped delayed bull shite.

Vince Klortho · 15 October 12, 05:51

This thread title is incorrect. Speed Channel did not drop F1. F1 dropped them as tlgtr said.

LogRoad · 15 October 12, 14:29

Based on what?

Frank

brabham67 · 15 October 12, 15:39

Based on most of the articles I've read. They got outbid for the TV rights in the US by NBC, so naturally F1 boss Bernie EEEklstone dropped Speed for the higher paying deal.

johnnymat · 15 October 12, 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by brabham67

Based on most of the articles I've read. They got outbid for the TV rights in the US by NBC, so naturally F1 boss Bernie EEEklstone dropped Speed for the higher paying deal.

I'm think Speed made a bid they knew wouldn't be accepted. Their plan is to change Speed to the Fox Sports Channel. Auto racing will become a small part (other than NASCAR maybe) of their coverage.

I'm sure that Bernie realizes that Speed's coverage of F1 was always going to be a superior product in comparison to the networks. Having said that, we all know he was going to go with the highest bid regardless of the quality of the coverage.

Tkrau · 15 October 12, 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnymat

I'm think Speed made a bid they knew wouldn't be accepted.

That.

Eric Rowland · 15 October 12, 16:27

Since NBC now owns Versus, I would think the live broadcasts (i.e. 7:30 am etc. qual and race) would go there and the 2 hour package would run at NBC. As far as announcers go it gets downright scary if Bob, David, Steve and Will aren't available. NBC is probably glad to get F1 since they are way behind the other networks in top tier sports programming.

johnnymat · 15 October 12, 16:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Rowland

Since NBC now owns Versus, I would think the live broadcasts (i.e. 7:30 am etc. qual and race) would go there and the 2 hour package would run at NBC. As far as announcers go it gets downright scary if Bob, David, Steve and Will aren't available. NBC is probably glad to get F1 since they are way behind the other networks in top tier sports programming.

I hope you're right as far as being able to get live broadcasts.

I too would love to see them keep the broadcast team; I think those 4 are far and away the best announcers covering U.S. motorsports.

brabham67 · 15 October 12, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnymat

I'm think Speed made a bid they knew wouldn't be accepted. Their plan is to change Speed to the Fox Sports Channel. Auto racing will become a small part (other than NASCAR maybe) of their coverage.

I'm sure that Bernie realizes that Speed's coverage of F1 was always going to be a superior product in comparison to the networks. Having said that, we all know he was going to go with the highest bid regardless of the quality of the coverage.

It's possible Speed lowballed the bid. But I doubt they would admit to it. I guess we'll see how it all works out next year. Until then, any speculation of NBC's coverage is just that, speculation. No one likes change, and this change is a big one, so it's only natural to assume the worst, imo.

Eurostc · 15 October 12, 17:39

NBC for 4 years.....

johnnymat · 15 October 12, 17:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eurostc

NBC for 4 years.....

Yes, it's now official. It sounds like NBC Sports is trying to make a serious commitment to showing F1. The only downside I can see is the size of their audience. I know Indy Car has been criticized heavily for showing their series on NBC Sports.
Maybe this change won't be as bad as I originally thought.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121015/F1/121019908

joaoa13pt · 15 October 12, 19:57

Yeeeeeey

Petty Andretti · 17 October 12, 10:25

Hopefully Hobbs & Matchett will go to NBC. No reason for them to stay at Speed now.

I wonder what Speed's long term plans are for non-Nascar related coverage will be in the short and long term future. I hate to see another U.S. network broadcast the 24 Hours of Le Mans with only few hours of coverage.

12 October 12, 21:52	#1
johnnymat Donated Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: : N42 19.59467 W122 52.536 Age: 66	SPEED Channel to drop F1 I just read an article at the Autoweek website that says Speed Channel will end it's 17 year association with F1 at the end of this season. That's a shame because I think Varsha , Hobbs and Matchett make an outstanding broadcast team.

17 October 12, 10:25	#50
Petty Andretti Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Macomb, Michigan	Hopefully Hobbs & Matchett will go to NBC. No reason for them to stay at Speed now. I wonder what Speed's long term plans are for non-Nascar related coverage will be in the short and long term future. I hate to see another U.S. network broadcast the 24 Hours of Le Mans with only few hours of coverage. Last edited by Petty Andretti; 18 October 12 at 13:22.

12 October 12, 22:05	#2
Merlin0859 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Tennessee	I don't know why they don't drop their name really. Their programming is not that good in my opinion. I think they should just go ahead and call themselves the Nascar channel. Now before you blast me, I've lived in the south all my life but heaven forbid if you favor open wheel or sports car racing as I do! Why it's nearly unpatriotic! Hehe! Do you know what they plan to replace it with by the way?

12 October 12, 22:19	#4
vondutch51 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Virginia USA Age: 38	Fox is looking to phase out the Speed Channel and replace it with the Fox Sports Channel. Probably the reason why they are dropping F1.

12 October 12, 22:52	#5
Merlin0859 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Tennessee	Paint drying could be an improvement!

12 October 12, 23:57	#7
Merlin0859 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Tennessee	I agree Varsha, Hobbs and Matchett need to be there! NBC will ruin it with somebody popular but totally clueless! It won't cover the whole race well, because it will just be entertainment to them! No love of the sport! Look at network coverage of the Superbowl! All glitz, glamour and oh yea the game! Halftime gets better coverage than the game IMHO.

12 October 12, 23:58	#8
davehenrie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Post Falls Idaho, in a house so new Google can't find it.	Great F1 on a network. That means tape delays, reduced coverage, increased human interest stories. blech dh

13 October 12, 00:06	#9
Eurostc Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Central Texas	seen the Fox emblem on the Speed logo during this weekend's races Circuit of the America's is reporting the NBC contract neg's also...

13 October 12, 00:33	#10
max attack Donated Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Melbourne Age: 47	More room for surf and skateboards and NON FUEL BS? They have no idea IMO.

13 October 12, 03:24	#13
tlgtr Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Madison, WI USA Age: 63	The article I read at RACER said that Fox/Speed made an offer to continue and F1 chose to go 'another direction'. And we all know how the dwarf likes the moola... So maybe it wasn't all one sided. Speed shows the practice, the qualifying and the races for F1 what more did you want? While F1 does have a lot of fans in the US it isn't the number one series here...sorry... What kind of coverage does NA$CAR get in Europe? My guess is similar to F1 over here? Lets just hope that they are able to find someone to continue coverage.

13 October 12, 04:17	#14
skrusinbin Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Baltimore	ESPN's early '90s coverage seemed good. Great implementation of the metal music @ 6:30 >B-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm9JHOAzc5E

13 October 12, 04:38	#15
Zpectre Donated Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Brazil Age: 25	Not surprised, SPEED is the NASCAR channel after all... Here in Brazil they killed SPEED and replaced it with FOX Sports. Maybe the same will happen in the USA?

13 October 12, 14:52	#17
mdelaney Join Date: Sep 2007	There's just no way to spin this positively. No other major network in the US has shown they have even the first clue about motorsports coverage. SPEED dropping (losing?) ALMS was bad enough, but this is pretty bad.

13 October 12, 17:07	#20
Tkrau Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Central California	You're right...brain fart up there. Oops. Never mind, etc.

13 October 12, 17:11	#21
Paul_in_DC Uploader Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Northern Virginia near DC Age: 56	To all those knee-jerkers slamming the Speed Channel ... the fact is they were outbid. Stupid move on the part of Formula One Management though, as others have noted. http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireSto...3#.UHmf1Gez71k

13 October 12, 17:57	#22
MickeyMouse Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Ohio, USA Age: 26	That's not to say that Fox's offer was reasonable however. They may have thrown a really low take it or leave it offer that was rejected. Of course we'll never know, as these negotiations are usually pretty secretive.

13 October 12, 23:11	#24
Tkrau Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Central California	What - the Juice Bros? Please...

14 October 12, 01:36	#26
jgf Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Columbus, OH Age: 59	Considering that, with Time-Warner at least, it requires about $80 worth of channel packages to get SPEED ...and FOX grudgingly shows four F1 races each year... I don't care if they lost the broadcast rights. Perhaps someone on basic cable will now get it. Does anyone remember when, about twenty years ago, between ABC, ESPN, and TNN, we could see all the Winston Cup races, all the F1 races, all the Indycar races, and an assortment of other venues (BGN, F2, IMSA, SCCA, TransAm, etc.), all live and usually preceded by qualifying coverage?

14 October 12, 03:26	#27
LogRoad Join Date: May 2008 Location: In SE Alaska, in an ex-logging camp.	Hey! Anybody seen my GRID disc? Frank

14 October 12, 06:56	#29
Stratman Join Date: Jul 2006	I agree about all of the NASCAR coverage on Speed, how exciting can NASCAR practice be? Or qualy? I know it's popular here, but quit shoving it down our throats!!

14 October 12, 18:40	#31
LogRoad Join Date: May 2008 Location: In SE Alaska, in an ex-logging camp.	Make broadband available and affordable to everyone in North America and stream all the races all the time. Frank

15 October 12, 00:32	#34
LogRoad Join Date: May 2008 Location: In SE Alaska, in an ex-logging camp.	How slow can you go with broadband? Seriously. I don't know. I'm traveling right now and in netbook hell, but at home my connection is at the local wifi hotspot. Actual download throughput on a good day is 50Kb/sec. Frank P.S. Whoops. You did say "lowest tier."

15 October 12, 00:51	#35
Eurostc Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Central Texas	"SpeedVision ".........now that was coverage of racing

15 October 12, 01:01	#36
edubz123 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Chicago USA	well if F1 goes to NBCSports (formerly the Versus channel which covered IndyCar) then I'll be ok since I get NBCSports in HD as well. Just hope they don't put Ryan Seacrest or his Kardashian minions in the booth.

15 October 12, 04:40	#38
OhioSpeed Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: A suburb of Dayton Age: 27	Ill miss varsha. He was the voice of F1 since I first started watching him, Hobbs, even Daly wasn't bad for all the flack people give him. I hope we at least get comparable coverage to what we have now. I don't want any taped delayed bull shite.

15 October 12, 05:51	#39
Vince Klortho Join Date: Oct 2007	This thread title is incorrect. Speed Channel did not drop F1. F1 dropped them as tlgtr said.

15 October 12, 14:29	#40
LogRoad Join Date: May 2008 Location: In SE Alaska, in an ex-logging camp.	Based on what? Frank

15 October 12, 15:39	#41
brabham67 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Kent, Washington, USA Age: 37	Based on most of the articles I've read. They got outbid for the TV rights in the US by NBC, so naturally F1 boss Bernie EEEklstone dropped Speed for the higher paying deal.

15 October 12, 16:27	#44
Eric Rowland Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Chattanooga, TN Age: 56	Since NBC now owns Versus, I would think the live broadcasts (i.e. 7:30 am etc. qual and race) would go there and the 2 hour package would run at NBC. As far as announcers go it gets downright scary if Bob, David, Steve and Will aren't available. NBC is probably glad to get F1 since they are way behind the other networks in top tier sports programming.

15 October 12, 17:39	#47
Eurostc Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Central Texas	NBC for 4 years.....

15 October 12, 19:57	#49
joaoa13pt Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Portugal	Yeeeeeey