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Tim Barnett (Tim_barnett)
New member
Username: Tim_barnett

Post Number: 29
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 8:44 pm:   

Andy,

You're right. Bob's not that bad but he should really just stick to ice skating.

Rick really has to go. Speed should just leave it to David and Steve.

I forgot about Jason Priestly - now that was painful!
89TCab (Jmg)
Member
Username: Jmg

Post Number: 466
Registered: 9-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 3:01 am:   

Actually, ABC uses feeds from Bernievision, they obviously don't offer the per car shots etc that are available in the full Bernievision package.
Andy Falsetta (Tuttebenne)
Junior Member
Username: Tuttebenne

Post Number: 144
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 8:53 pm:   

Jeffrey,

You're right - I totally forgot about Jason Priestly's coverage of the US GP. That was a new low point in F1 coverage.
Jeffrey Caspar (Jcaspar1)
Junior Member
Username: Jcaspar1

Post Number: 105
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 2:42 pm:   

The ABC coverage is terrible. I remember seeing Jason Priestly(!?!) covering the US Gran Prix: didn't seem to know the names of the drivers and when Montoya passes Ralph to take second behind Michael he referred to him being in a "Schumacher Sandwich"! Thank god SpeedChannel covers F-1 or I would only see 3 races a year...
Andy Falsetta (Tuttebenne)
Junior Member
Username: Tuttebenne

Post Number: 143
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 5:43 am:   

Give us BernieVision!

Tim,

I hear you on Bob Varsha too but I feel he's the "best of the rest" so to speak.

I really enjoy the job done by David Hobbs and Steve Machette (sp?.) At least they know what they're talking about. It took Paul Page two laps (yesterday's Indy 500) to figure out the engine cover was loose on one of the cars yesterday even after one of the other talking heads had already mentioned it and half the fans had seen it. They should turn his volume down.

Bob Jenkins is probably a nice guy but during the inaugural US GP at Indy, it was mid race when, after not remembering who was driving one of the McLarens, (it was Mika) after a long pause, he referred to his McLaren as "that other car". That's inexcusable for a professional broadcaster.

Anybody remember the old days when John Bisignano did the F1 broadcasts? He was a bit over the top but did a better job than most of the commentators we've had to listen to since he and ESPN went their separate ways.

Sorry for going a bit off track - now back to Speed Channel sucking.
Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member
Username: Tifosi12

Post Number: 1076
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 8:08 pm:   

Actually the broadcasts on ABC have nothing to do with Bernievision. They're basically the same feed that Speed is using. Just different commentators, who in the case of ABC have to appeal to the US mass audience. Agreed, that those guys suck, but again has nothing to do with the feed.

Bernievision is something entirely different: F1 TV is his own set of professional cameramen who are taping the races from any conceivable angle and sell the feed to paying (cable) customers in Europe. The customers have their own control box to select whatever picture they want to have. Pretty nifty actually.

With the boring last season (hey I love Ferrari!) the audience turned off their TV sets. So Bernie offered his pay feed for free to some degree to the regular stations. That's why once in a while we see some really cool footage of e.g. Schumacher's helmet from the left side. However we're not getting the whole spiel, which would include also telemetry data of the revs etc.

So don't please blame Bernievision. Bark up ABC's tree if you must. Personally I don't give a damn who comments the race. As long as I get the visual feed I can make heads and tails myself.
Gerald L. Roush (Ferrmktltr)
Junior Member
Username: Ferrmktltr

Post Number: 56
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 11:21 am:   

Didn't we last year get three Formula One races--Monaco, Italy and USA--where the feed was from Bernievision and not the usual Speed feed? As bad as Speed's coverage might be it was far better than the ABC version via Bernievision. I watched both, despite having to wait a week to see the Speed telecast, to compare.
Gerald L. Roush (Ferrmktltr)
Junior Member
Username: Ferrmktltr

Post Number: 55
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 11:17 am:   

Last year on 26 May ABC (which reaches many more homes than Speed) broadcast the Monaco GP on tape delay at 3:30 p.m. EDT following the Indianapolis 500 live on the same network, and Fox broadcast the Charlotte NASCAR race live at 5:00 p.m. EDT. On 15 September ABC broadcast the Italian GP on tape delay starting at 1 p.m. EDT and NBC broadcast the Loudon, NH NASCAR race live at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Two weeks later on 29 September ABC broadcast the USA GP live from Indianapolis starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT and NBC broadcast the Kansas City NASCAR race live starting at 12:30 p.m. EDT. That's Formula One going head-to-head against NASCAR. It would be interesting to see what the ratings were for each broadcast.
Mr. Doody (Doody)
Intermediate Member
Username: Doody

Post Number: 1116
Registered: 11-2001
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 10:49 am:   

why don't the satellite guys (DISH, DirectTV) and the cable companies feed quality F1 coverage to us via PPV? i'd be happy to pony up for quality coverage (i don't consider the SPEED coverage to be "quality" - it's maybe adequate on a good day, but not really).

bernie should be down this this idea since it wouldn't hurt him to increase his base of happy US customers. he wouldn't have to rape the provider (DISH, DirecTV, cable co's) since only those who sign up will get the coverage - give it time to grow. SPEED couldn't whine too much if it's PPV.

etc. etc.

is this available and i'm just clueless? if it's not available, why do folks think it's not?

doody.
Ernie (Ernie)
Member
Username: Ernie

Post Number: 702
Registered: 11-2001
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 10:38 am:   

Gerald, that is true, however. Try airing the Nascar races only at 4:30am PST or at 6:00pm like they do with F1, and I bet you that those numbers will take a huge nose dive. Now lets put a F1 race on air in the same time slot the Nascar race aired, and we will see the F1 ratings go up. But that isn't the point. Yes Nascar pulls dollars, just the same way other programs do, but don't flood the channel with it. Take the NBC show "Friends", it is a huge money maker in prime time. Now start airing "Friends" or something related to the show, everyday at least 8 times a day, and see if people complain about NBC. That is the point. Speed showing Nascar, and related programing, all the time every day, is OVER KILL!
Dave328GTB (Hardtop)
Member
Username: Hardtop

Post Number: 562
Registered: 1-2002
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 10:57 pm:   

Frankly, I agree with Gerald on this. Besides, there are more NASCAR races than any other type, so there is plenty to show/ talk about. Besides you can see just about every type of racing there is on speed at one time or another.
Besides, NASCAR is more entertaining than most other racing.

DAve
Gerald L. Roush (Ferrmktltr)
New member
Username: Ferrmktltr

Post Number: 44
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 7:27 pm:   

Did any of you Speed Channel bashers catch Dave Despain and Wind Tunnel last night? He explained it. The Las Vegas NASCAR race broadcast (that's just ONE RACE) was seen by more households in the USA than all the Formula One, IRL and CART race broadcasts comined to date this season (that's a total of 14 RACES!). I would guess that he could have included all the WRC broadcasts and not changed the final result. TV is going to show what the viewing public wants and the sponsors are going to pay for what the draws an audience. Why do the TV networks show NFL football in the fall instead of Rugby? Why are they showing Major League (even minor league and college) baseball now instead of cricket? That's our capitalistic economy for you. They're just trying to make money.
Tim Barnett (Tim_barnett)
New member
Username: Tim_barnett

Post Number: 25
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 2:37 am:   

Andy,

You're right about Arute. Come to think of it, Bob Varsha is pretty terrible too.
Jack (Gilles27)
Member
Username: Gilles27

Post Number: 872
Registered: 3-2002
Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 7:25 pm:   

Ken, you don't get SpeedChannel? RCN and AT&T carry it in some areas. Check it out.
Keith Maxwell (Keith_maxwell)
New member
Username: Keith_maxwell

Post Number: 12
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 10:49 am:   

WRC is totally insane and great to watch! At the end of the season SpeedVision would always show a highlights program. The 2000 series had a few unbelievable scenes - on a single-track hill climb in Portugal a Subaru hit a bull at 70+ mph. The in-car camera showed the bull flying over the cliff!
Ernie (Ernie)
Member
Username: Ernie

Post Number: 699
Registered: 11-2001
Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 10:21 am:   

Here is another thing I'm talking about. Last night Speed had the World Rally Championship on, at guess what time, 11:00PM!!!!! This has to be one of the most exciting forms of racing. The rally drivers run full blast at insane speeds on the worst surfaces. In my opinion they are some of the best drivers in the world. With a racing series this intense, how do they think that they are gonna get ratings airing it at that hour? The show doesn't even have a chance of even pulling half a point. Poor placement of the shows is why they don't do well.
Andy Falsetta (Tuttebenne)
Junior Member
Username: Tuttebenne

Post Number: 139
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 6:02 am:   

Tim, (Tim Barnett)

Worse than Paul Page? How about Jack Arute? Where do they get these idiots?
Bart Duesler (The_bart)
Junior Member
Username: The_bart

Post Number: 75
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 12:38 am:   

I saw my Ferrari win in Austria this past Saturday. LIVE!
Tim Barnett (Tim_barnett)
New member
Username: Tim_barnett

Post Number: 18
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 12:35 am:   

I also lament the programming changes at Speed. Where is the variety?

It's true we should be grateful for the F1 broadcasts, but am I the only one that can't stand Rick DeBruhl's commentary? I can't think of anyone more annoying or less informed. Well perhaps Paul Page...

BTW, any truth to the rumor that the success of NASCAR programming will spawn it's own channel?
Mitch Alsup (Mitch_alsup)
Member
Username: Mitch_alsup

Post Number: 673
Registered: 4-2002
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 1:32 pm:   

The cammera work at NASCAR events while of high technical quality is of low technical utility. I like to watch a single turn and watch every car come round that turn several times. This way, I can see which cars are tight, loose; which drivers are loafing and which drivers are pushing. When the cammera follows a small group of cars, you loose the fixed fram of referene that lets the viewer 'see' what is happening at the surface of the road.
Lloyd (Lloyd)
Junior Member
Username: Lloyd

Post Number: 83
Registered: 8-2001
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 1:27 pm:   

Ernie, I agree with you. I enjoy most all motor sports to some degree, but variety is the key. Nevertheless, I do find the track description on the link I posted rather funny.
Ernie (Ernie)
Member
Username: Ernie

Post Number: 698
Registered: 11-2001
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 11:34 am:   

Lloyd, it isn't that I hate Nascar. What it is, is that it is over kill. Like right now as I'm typing this out, geuss what is on. The Nascar Truck series. I like the trucks actually better than the cars, cause they drive hard and mean. But when there is Nascar something or other on EVERY TIME I turn on Speed Channel, it is just too much. I would say the same thing if all of a sudden it was re-run after re-run and then more re-runs of an F1 race. Too much of the same thing gets extreamly boring. It's like if all you could eat was apple pie. After a few days you would be sooooo sick and tired of apple pie, you could care less if you ever had any again. This is what Speed Channel is doing to Nascar. I like Nascar, as a matter of fact an aquiantance of mine races in the South West Nascar Series. He used to be heavily involed in CART and F1. Matter of fact when F1 used to run here a Long Beach, he had work on the turbo charged engines for Ferrari. I asked him how come he didn't stay it that sport. His answer, cause he was tired of it. So now he runs Nascar. If you get over killed with something be it Nascar, CART, or F1 is gets old after a while.
Frank Parker (Parkerfe)
Intermediate Member
Username: Parkerfe

Post Number: 2321
Registered: 9-2001
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 10:55 am:   

Like it or not more people in the USA like NASCAR than like F1 or sports car racing combined. In fact, I believe it is both the largest spectator and cash sport in the USA. Although I prefer F1 and sports car racing, I also prefer capitalism which results in more NASCAR coverage on Speed. Money talks !
RockStar (Remix)
New member
Username: Remix

Post Number: 20
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 10:31 am:   

Haha, Ernie. I feel EXACTLY the same way about radio and rap music.

REMIX
Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member
Username: Tifosi12

Post Number: 1051
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 9:41 am:   

The odd thing about the banned Marlboro stickers on the Ferraris is, that other F1 teams like West use their logos as they don't sell cigarettes in the US. Go figure.

I'm not a smoker, but I always think a Ferrari with those white patches is missing something.
Gerald L. Roush (Ferrmktltr)
New member
Username: Ferrmktltr

Post Number: 26
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 9:00 am:   

Craig, you asked "what does Marlboro do when F1 comes to America?" They get rid of ALL the Marlboro logos on the Ferraris and the uniforms! Under terms of the tobacco agreement they are only allowed to sponsor one team in the sport, and Marlboro sponsors the Penske team in American racing. Here's a photo (cropped out of a copyrighted publication) of Michael and Rubens in Victory Lane at Indianapolis.

Upload
Craig A (Milo)
Junior Member
Username: Milo

Post Number: 156
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 8:48 am:   

And in related news:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/05/21/who.tobacco/index.html

What will Ferrari do for sponsorship if this goes through? I seriously doubt Marlboro will continue to sponsor if they can't put their name on the car.
Lloyd (Lloyd)
Junior Member
Username: Lloyd

Post Number: 82
Registered: 8-2001
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 8:29 am:   

Ernie, I don't see how you can complain of a lack of variety in Nascar. One of my favorite Nascar sites demonstrates this variety with their detailed analysis of the unique features of each track. It is worth a look to all of you Nascar haters: http://www.noright.com/racetrack.html
Paul (Pcelenta)
Member
Username: Pcelenta

Post Number: 339
Registered: 7-2002
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 7:17 am:   

How about this...ALL Cable Sucks!! my wife and I recently moved from NYC to the burbs and now have the pleasure of Cablevision and the Dolans...we have gone from bad (TimeWarner) to worse....we chose both TW and CVs digital service because I wanted speedvision...so now $120 bucks a month later we have something like 200 chanels of crap!
Craig A (Milo)
Junior Member
Username: Milo

Post Number: 154
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 6:25 am:   

"someone made the comment that they need american sponsors- like Nike - look at Marlboro and HP
the two main sponsors of the 2 main teams - both american run corps-and people here could give a..."

You can no longer put cigarette sponsor decals on race cars in America. One of the craziest things I've ever heard. The entire series is sponsored by WINSTON for heavens sake. And they can't even advertise on the cars.

BTW... what does Marlboro do when F1 comes to America?
michaelthuber (Mikehuber)
New member
Username: Mikehuber

Post Number: 18
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 5:42 am:   

I think Speed is getting a little bit of a bad rap here. First of all, they cover pre-qualifying practice and qualifying LIVE for most if not all F1 races, then show the race live and as stated earlier, a rebroadcast later so those fans in time zones where the race occurs in the middle of the night can see it too. While I love the technology involved in F1 it is not a great form of racing entertainment. In most cases it is merely a high speed parade where no one passes, unless someone goes off, breaks down, or pits. Once you've seen qualifying, you've pretty much seen the outcome of the race. NOBODY ever comes from farther back than a 5th place start to win.
There is a big variety of events on Speed. They have two-wheel Tuesday, if you are into motorcycles, wet Wednesdays for you boat fans, and there are Rallies galore. Sure they are not the primary money maker, NASCAR is, but they are there.
Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member
Username: Ferraristuff

Post Number: 660
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 5:20 am:   

>>>No wonder the Euros think we're all a$$holes.

Nah, we don't!

Jack
Andy Falsetta (Tuttebenne)
Junior Member
Username: Tuttebenne

Post Number: 135
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 5:19 am:   

Norman,
"I just don't understand how anybody could watch so much NASCAR. "

Hey, these are the same folks who watch a car go round and round on a one mile track and can't watch a form of auto racing unless they can see the car at all times from where they sit -living room or track side. Ever see the broadcasts where they computer generate an arrow to follow a car around the track?. As a race fan I find that and the superimposed driver's faces on the track to be embarassing. No wonder the Euros think we're all a$$holes.
david charles (Supraboytt)
New member
Username: Supraboytt

Post Number: 41
Registered: 10-2001
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 1:57 am:   

Speedchannel is a sad commentary on the current white trashification of this country

we need to be spending less time overseas -
and focus on the sad status of the culture in the us

the government could reallocate its airdropping from granola bars and juice boxes over Iraq - to
birth control and dictionaries over Tennessee and Alabama-

like its been stated already speed channel needs to follow the dollars
nascars popularity will wane once, if ever they get an american driver in the sport

someone made the comment that they need american sponsors- like Nike - look at Marlboro and HP
the two main sponsors of the 2 main teams - both american run corps-and people here could give a

we need a corn fed yank in there - taking the pole at monaco - and then have him saying something other than the trite bs that we are forced to tolerate from all the eurotrash at the post race conference

put him on the cover of SI-along with an explanation of how F1 works for all the uniformed the week before the race at indy- air it on one of the major networks-and you can bet
people would watch

i think it would be more fun to watch a american compete in a sport dominated by euros- people love the underdog- as opposed to watching americans compete in sports they already dominate

just look at the hockey team in at the 1980 olympics


they also need to have a wrc race-and driver in this country- that sport kicks ass

until then ... nascar it is

Norman (Storminnormin)
Junior Member
Username: Storminnormin

Post Number: 133
Registered: 7-2002
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 1:17 am:   

I used to have a TV right next to my computer monitor so I could watch Speedvision while I was surfing the web. I would have Speedvision on all damn day. It was awesome. Then Fox took over. I knew there was going to be a problem because one of the commercials featured a NASCAR pit crew changing the Speedvision emblem to the SpeedChannel emblem. I took away the TV. The last time I watched Speed must have been over 3 weeks ago. I'd cancel it if it wasn't the only source of F1. I just don't understand how anybody could watch so much NASCAR. I recognize the importance of financial viability for the channel, but a little more variety would be nice.
Mitch Alsup (Mitch_alsup)
Member
Username: Mitch_alsup

Post Number: 668
Registered: 4-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 11:21 pm:   

Some might be inclined to say that the problem with F1 is that there is not enough passing.

I say that the thing wrong with NASCAR is that there is so much passing, the whole race is irrelevent until the last 10 laps. Watch the start, go mow the lawn, take a shower, read your e-mail, and come back and watch the last 10 laps. The rest of it is so predictable boring it drives me to tears.

{And this is from one who has been watching NASCAR since 1967 on TV when they only had 2 cameras on ABC WWoS.}
Erich Walz (Deleteall)
Member
Username: Deleteall

Post Number: 282
Registered: 12-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 9:10 pm:   

"How many Monte Carlo parts do you think a NASCAR really has?"

When the Nascar Monte Carlo was introduced Chevy was pround to announce the fact that the car had the "essence" of the Monte Carlo(street)-whatever.
Dennis in SE PA (Dennis_in_se_pa)
New member
Username: Dennis_in_se_pa

Post Number: 26
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 9:10 pm:   

Keith,

I have been a rabid fan of F1 since the early 70's. I remember the Lauda incident. I was at The Glen when Cevert had his incident. I remember Jody Scheckter as putting on one heck of a show!

There is a very interesting weekend on the NASCAR calendar. August 8-10 has a Grand Am race the same weekend as a NASCAR race at The Glen. Two equal (OK, I'm being nice!) but separate social entities at the same track at one time. And what a spectacle it is.

I usually camp at the heel of the boot. For this race I got a spot in section H.

Anyone else here going?
Andy Falsetta (Tuttebenne)
Junior Member
Username: Tuttebenne

Post Number: 134
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 9:04 pm:   

Hold on...

What do you mean Keith? Are you saying American car manufacturers DON'T sell front mounted V-8 powered sedans with rear wheel drive just like the cars they run in NASCAR? ;)
Keith Maxwell (Keith_maxwell)
New member
Username: Keith_maxwell

Post Number: 8
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 8:54 pm:   

I spent a few years in Europe as a kid (military brat) and was introduced to racing at Le Sarthe and Spa. I was there when Niki Lauda burned. It left an indelible image. Unlike most Americans, I don't have any nostalgia for stock cars running moonshine on dirty Georgia back roads. And like most Europeans, I expect that the technology tested onthe track will find it's way into my road cars. Maybe thats why we love Ferraris and why I've owned Porsches and BMWs. How many Monte Carlo parts do you think a NASCAR really has?
Dennis in SE PA (Dennis_in_se_pa)
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Username: Dennis_in_se_pa

Post Number: 25
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 8:51 pm:   

Kimi will be driving for Ferrari soon, eh? Or whoever else is the current top shelf team. A big part of Michael Shumacher's success IMHO is that Ferrari allowed him to have some direction of the team.

If we could only see all of the "Great Ones" drive together again!

I spent last weekend at Watkins Glen. I took a few pics of the driver's plaques on the "Walk of Fame". Brought back memories. I did not see one of Jody Scheckter, but I imagine there is one.
Andy Falsetta (Tuttebenne)
Junior Member
Username: Tuttebenne

Post Number: 132
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 8:35 pm:   

Dennis,

No "Dunkin Stool" here. I'm wondering what happened to the car Michael said he loved so much, you know, the 2003-GA - the car that was a full second faster than last year's car? Kimi was awful close wasn't he?
Dennis Arner (Dennis_in_se_pa)
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Username: Dennis_in_se_pa

Post Number: 24
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 8:21 pm:   

FWIW I don't like it either. There was a time (recenty) when I could turn to SpeedChannel and probably see something that interested me. Such is a rare occurance today. Money talks of course. At least they carry most of the F1 races. Will I be put on the "Dunking Stool" if I say that I am glad to see Kimi doing so well?
Andy Falsetta (Tuttebenne)
Junior Member
Username: Tuttebenne

Post Number: 130
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 8:10 pm:   

Keith (Keith Maxwell),

I too emailed the good folks at Speed prior to their change and let them know what I felt about an all Nascar format and never heard back from them. Great customer service - but what do we expect from an entity that features circle track racing?

The sad thing is that, even if all of the folks who wrote in this thread were to redirect their efforts into emails to the channel, we do not represent the mainstream auto racing fan. Like it or not, we're in the minority but there is daylight in there somewhere if they started broadcasting the '93 F1 season.

The humorous thing about this is, next time you're watching an F1 race or qualifying session, take note of the Speed Channel commercials where they list the programs coming up during the upcoming day(s). They'll list three programs with huge three hour gaps between them. Why? Because the shows in between the features aren't interesting. Those commercials tell it all, even Speed Channel is admitting their programming is lacking.
Ernie (Ernie)
Member
Username: Ernie

Post Number: 697
Registered: 11-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 6:58 pm:   

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that feels this way. It just irritated me alot went after the last three days in a row, every time I put on Speed Channel there was nothing but Nascar on. As far as showing live F1, that used to be the only time they would show it, 04:30 am PST. But lately they have been re-running the race at 6:00pm and 10:00pm. Formula 1 is my favorite, with the World Rally Championship in a Very close second. But non the less, I still want more of a variety of racing.
Lee Pierce (Leepierce)
Junior Member
Username: Leepierce

Post Number: 97
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 5:51 pm:   

Good, God, Faisal, that's hard core!

While on this discussion, which I agree with wholeheartedly, can someone point me to a web site or thread explaining the different levels of racing? I'm just getting into this whole racing idea. I always wondered why I never was interested since NASCAR is all the rage here. Ovals really are just boring aren't they?

I'm finding F1 more and more interesting these days...
Keith Maxwell (Keith_maxwell)
New member
Username: Keith_maxwell

Post Number: 7
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 5:44 pm:   

Does anybody still remember the SpeedVision GT series? There were cars people knew - Porsches, BMWs, Corvettes, Vipers, etc... The racing was exciting. The venues were fantastic - Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Lime Rock Park... And for the NASCAR fans, there were occassionally spectacular wrecks.
Faisal Khan (Tvrfreak)
Junior Member
Username: Tvrfreak

Post Number: 146
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 5:37 pm:   

Well, we don't watch for the sponsors, but certainly a familiar sponsor would make it less "foreign." I am sure people worldwide would cheer for a Boeing-sponsored or Nike-sponsored team. And it just might help the economy too!

We were talking about this the other night and did some Google searches of the top world brands. Pretty interesting stuff. One of my family members teaches graduate-level marketing courses at Berkeley and she is full of nifty anecdotes about Morgan, the new Beetle, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, etc. Very cool person for a car-buff to talk to.

I think there might be some insidious forces at work too, keeping Nascar here and F1 overseas. Doesn't Bernie Ecclestone demand outrageous fees for broadcasting rightS? Why would American TV syndicates pay this if there's no audience? And there's no audience because Americans can't identify with a race series that doesn't come here except once per season, and doesn't have any American teams, and doesn't carry many American brand sponsorships. Same for Nascar and CART in Europe.

Rgds,
Faisal.
Erik (Teenferrarifan)
Junior Member
Username: Teenferrarifan

Post Number: 105
Registered: 2-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 5:04 pm:   

I agree Faisal who will most people cheer for and most people don't even know the companies that sponsor F1 cars. They don't know what agip is and probably don't know the products like Nascar and Viagra or Home Depot. If home depot sponsored a team americans would watch.
Erik
Faisal Khan (Tvrfreak)
Junior Member
Username: Tvrfreak

Post Number: 143
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 4:26 pm:   

Plus, there's no American team (unless you think of Mercedes as American).
Scott A. Rovito (Riv)
New member
Username: Riv

Post Number: 17
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 4:14 pm:   

Maybe if we have the Ferrari pit crew go out on a pit stop and bang on the back wing of Ruebens car with a rubber mallet we could draw more ratings from the Nascar crowd...all kidding aside I am not happy with the channel but I am happy to see my F1 races live.
Erik (Teenferrarifan)
Junior Member
Username: Teenferrarifan

Post Number: 104
Registered: 2-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 4:12 pm:   

I think the reason Formula 1 isn't that big in the US or even endurance races for that matter is because people have no venue(I looked that word up j/k) to watch these events. If they had somewhere to watch or even knew how exciting they are there would be more fans, but they have nowhere to watch them.
Erik
Jeff Green (Carguy)
Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 286
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 4:08 pm:   

I too feel everyone's pain! But I agree that it's better than not getting the few good programs at all. But also...just how much Nascar racing can a person (redneck) soak up? (....yes..I said soak...as in beer, etc.) I love the more sophisticated forms of racing, and I do think they could cut back a bit on the amount of Nascar stuff because no matter when I tune in 95% of the time that's what's on. But bottom line is I'm glad I have this channel for the few great shows like Dream Car Garage (my favorite) and the others. And even the occasional nascar tech. show isn't too bad as they aren't as low-brow as they appear. But the nascar folk around here seem kinda seedy and have mouths full of "baked-bean" teeth. As long as the general public's perception of what real racing is stays in the gutter, we might as well get used to it. Nascar is the proffesional wrestling of the auto racing world. (read NAS-WWF-CAR)
Sean F (Agracer)
Junior Member
Username: Agracer

Post Number: 143
Registered: 2-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 4:00 pm:   

Hello, is anyone home.

NASCAR has WAY more fans than F1, LeMans, WSC, or any other openwheel or sports car series in the US combined!!! They're also called SPEED TV, not Speedvision.

Viewers=Ratings=$$. Speed Channel would be DOA if they continued to broadcast the channel content they had before Fox bought them.

Not that I like it, but stop bitching and be happen you can at least watch F1 live.
Keith Maxwell (Keith_maxwell)
New member
Username: Keith_maxwell

Post Number: 6
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 3:49 pm:   

I e-mailed the folks at SpeedVision just prior to their re-birth as Speed Channel and made my opinion pretty plain - Speed Vision is the only TV venue to watch GT racing - please continue coverage of Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, etc.. I don't watch NASCAR, chew tobacco, or drink Busch beer and don't care about Indy/CART.

I never got a response - unless you count the 18 hours a day of NASCAR programming as the ultimate insult.
DJ (Godfather)
Junior Member
Username: Godfather

Post Number: 60
Registered: 11-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 3:16 pm:   

Tell us how your really feel Jason! Upload I don't have time to watch TV much so I can't really complain. I do enjoy all sorts of racing, if it goes fast then I like it! I love F1 but when i feel like watching passing take place other than in the pits I'll put on Nascar, IRL, and Cart! God forgive me...Upload
Faisal Khan (Tvrfreak)
Junior Member
Username: Tvrfreak

Post Number: 140
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 3:08 pm:   

Is there any Satellite Channel or package available that's better?

If this is all that's available, I suggest getting Tivo or some PC-TV card with the same real-time recording capability (and a big hard disk).

I have my computer set up with an ATI card and it works beautifully. It supports two monitors so I can watch TV while surfing, if I want. And it also puts out the picture to my big-screen so I don't have to watch it on some small computer monitor.

I cancelled Speed Channel too, but now I watch only my favourite shows at the times that I want, commercials are a 2 second annoyance, I can replay the good parts in slow motion, grab pictures and video clips and email them, etc., etc. Technology rocks!
Erik (Teenferrarifan)
Junior Member
Username: Teenferrarifan

Post Number: 101
Registered: 2-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 3:00 pm:   

I used to watch speedvision all the time they showed american muscle car, dream car garage, autoweek, and motortrend TV a lot more then they do now. Now dream car garage is on either real early or late and motortrend and autoweek are only shown like once a week when before they were on all the time. American muscle car and car crazy used to be on thursday's now they aren't on at all its just NASCAR and NASCAR behind the scenes. But, they do show F1.
Erik
Ron Vallejo (Ron328)
Junior Member
Username: Ron328

Post Number: 135
Registered: 3-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 2:50 pm:   

I share the same frustration...it's Nascar here and there. At one point, I thought "Fine Living" channel was much better bec. they featured a variety of cars (Ferrari's and other exoticars have been covered a number of times although briefly). But hell, now, they just keep on airing the same shows. What a waste!
Craig A (Milo)
Junior Member
Username: Milo

Post Number: 153
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 2:47 pm:   

NASCAR is the only racing Americans know. I live in the south where the stuff was born. NASCAR, NASCAR, NASCAR. It is especially bad right now because I live about 20 minutes north of Lowes Motor Speedway. You can't even get to Charlotte during these two weekends (The Winston and Coca-Cola 600). I told some guy the other day I was more interested in F1 over NASCAR and he says: "That's the road racing right?"

:shaking head:

NASCAR is where the money is in America, these guys run a race almost every weekend of the year with each one drawing 80,000 to 150,000 people a race. Naturally the Speed Channel is going to cover it.

On the other hand... at least they still have manual transmissions. :-)
Jason Wesoky (Wesokyjb)
Junior Member
Username: Wesokyjb

Post Number: 105
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 2:10 pm:   

NASCAR is garbage as is nearly all oval racing. Watching people tailgaite at high speeds and turn left for 3 hours ain't that exciting.
Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member
Username: Tifosi12

Post Number: 1044
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 2:08 pm:   

If you like to let Speed know what you think:

http://www.speedtv.com/feedback/
Dave (Maranelloman)
Intermediate Member
Username: Maranelloman

Post Number: 1630
Registered: 1-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 2:07 pm:   

Art, I am not sure Mr. Penske is involved in NASCAR. He is more of a CART/Indy 500 guy, as I recall. But you're right about the France family. They also own the Grand-Am series...

Speedvision was sold to Fox by its founding owner for hundreds of millions of $$$. Fox has the NASCAR contract at this time. Any other questions? So we have to put up with NASCAR in order to get F1, F1 Decade, WRC, et al. It sucks this way, but it's better than nothing.
Erich Walz (Deleteall)
Member
Username: Deleteall

Post Number: 278
Registered: 12-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 2:06 pm:   

Speed vision was losing money and needed more markets, picking up NASCAR helped tremendously(read: saved it). At the time the line was that the cash infusion would allow them to continue broadcasting the wide-variety of materials they used to show. Unfortunately, this has proven not to be true.
Greg Owens (Owens84qv)
Member
Username: Owens84qv

Post Number: 792
Registered: 10-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 2:06 pm:   

I watch SpeedChannel about 1/4 of what I did before. Every damn evening they've got this NASCAR review crap on. We need to find the Fox/SpeedChannel email address and bombard them with complaints.
William Huber (Solipsist)
Member
Username: Solipsist

Post Number: 939
Registered: 9-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 1:50 pm:   

"I want the old Speed Vision back."

I couldn't agree with you more. The lack of variety is running off veiwers. What happened to what the raciing fans wanted to see? Not what the network brass & advertisers want us to watch. Write the network & to make a change or just rename Speed to the Nascar Network.
Mitch Alsup (Mitch_alsup)
Member
Username: Mitch_alsup

Post Number: 666
Registered: 4-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 1:02 pm:   

"fox = nascar"

The quality of their news cast is equal to the variety of their sports programming..........
Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member
Username: Tifosi12

Post Number: 1042
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 1:01 pm:   

Agreed to the NASCAR argument, but remember without Speed there'd be no F1 in the US at all. In Europe they have several different channels to pick their F1 coverage from, we have Speed or nothing. So I take Speed over that.

I know, there are the ABC covered races, but did you ever listen to those commentators? Outch!
Jim (Sphaccim)
New member
Username: Sphaccim

Post Number: 1
Registered: 5-2003
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:59 pm:   

Well, they have begun showing the 93' F1 season on off Sunday nights - a step in the right direction.
Lawrence Coppari (Lawrence)
Member
Username: Lawrence

Post Number: 613
Registered: 4-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:53 pm:   

Reminds me of professional wrestling......
Kevin Butler (Challenge)
Junior Member
Username: Challenge

Post Number: 166
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:50 pm:   

"SPEEDchannel" is no longer an appropriate name, since a variety of vehicles can go fast. There would be no problem if they renamed it NASCARchannel. I can't agree more. FOX caters only to the twangy tobacco-spitters. And I don't want to watch talk shows about racing ("Wind tunnel"). 80% of those callers are NASCAR fans that are all worked up over the latest weekend shoving match.
89TCab (Jmg)
Member
Username: Jmg

Post Number: 461
Registered: 9-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:43 pm:   

Relax...it was better as Speedvision but losing money big time. Skip the NASCAR and ENJOY the fact that you have any chance of watching F1 Live, WRC same day and a few other goodies sprinkled in. NASCAR pays the bills...we still get to watch something.

- JMG
Jamil Jamal (Jameel)
Junior Member
Username: Jameel

Post Number: 105
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:33 pm:   

This is the exact reason I've cancelled my Sport Package, I'm sick of the NASCAR and crap they have on now.
Ken (Allyn)
Member
Username: Allyn

Post Number: 897
Registered: 10-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:27 pm:   

At least you GET Speed Channel!! I'm still waiting; I must live too far Nawth as they figure we Yankees don't like NASCAR.
arthur chambers (Art355)
Intermediate Member
Username: Art355

Post Number: 1705
Registered: 6-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:22 pm:   

What did you expect. Most Americans think that racing is NASCAR. Thank the France and Penske families for this. Their brilliance in making NASCAR what it is, caused this.

Art
TomD (Tifosi)
Advanced Member
Username: Tifosi

Post Number: 3687
Registered: 9-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:21 pm:   

fox = nascar
Ernie (Ernie)
Member
Username: Ernie

Post Number: 696
Registered: 11-2001
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:20 pm:   

Speed Channel has been getting worse and worse. Everyday that I tune in, to see what they have on, there is nothing but NASCAR, NASCAR, and more NASCAR. Like right now, they have a re-run of the 1992 Daytona 500 race. Get this they are now showing what is coming up. You guessed it more FREEKING NASCAR. If it isn't NASCAR it is the BUSCH series, or Modifieds, or the NASCAR Truck series, or dirt track, on and on. They should rename it REDNECK Channel.

Don't get me wrong. I like NASCAR. But I also would like to see other racing during the week. Speed shows F1 only on Sunday, and only the live race early in the morning, then the re-run late at night. They show some Superbike racing. Oh yeah and a little bit of WRC. But EVERY FUTHER MUCKING ELSE is Nascar.

What happened to variety? When it was Speed Vision they had everything. There was the Airplane races in Las Vegas, Off Shore Power Boats, Hydro Planes, Cart, DTM, JTCC, BTCC, World Sports Cars, F1, Trans Am, Super Bike, Drag Racing, Swamp Buggies, Hover Craft racing, Snow Mobiles, Super Cross, Ice Bikes, Drag Boats, Formula Atlantic, etc. My point is that I wanna see more that just one kind of racing.

Oh yeah another thing is that "IF" and "WHEN" Speed Channel does show something other that Nascar, it is very early in the morning, or very late at night. Ok I'm done with my ranting and raving. So I will sum it up.

SPEED CHANNEL SUCKS!!!!!!!!

I want the old Speed Vision back.

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