SPEED Channel - can we affect?

I'm not what you would call a "car nut." Rather, I am more of a casual fan of neat cars and certainly enjoy learning about fine automobiles and racing that requires a more developed skill set that flooring it and turning left in cars that are more developed than carrying drivers who can only floor it and turn left--on highly banked turns.

That said, I often click the TV remote to the SPEED Channel in search of something to quinch my thirst for Ferrari/Porsche/road driving/road racing/sports car interest.

And all I get is a steady diet of NASCAR, more NASCAR, boring shop goobers drilling holes and arguing, NASCAR over-analysis, breakfast with past NASCAR champions, NASCAR drivers playing poker, old NASCAR races, tours of NASCAR tracks, paid programming, more goobers building bikes and more childish arguing over bolt sizes, NASCAR insiders, more paid programming, and on and on.

I actually caught a glimpse of something entitled "Victory by Design: Maserati" the other night. I understand that there are similar programs about Ferrari and Porsche (and others). Who know when (if!) they'll ever be on SPEED. And it'll be a difficult find, squeezed in amongst all the NASCAR and arguing goobs and "become a boat mechanic" paid programming.

If you care to listen to the corporate line about their porgramming, here's their address and phne number:

SPEED Channel
9711 Southern Pine Boulevard
Charlotte, NC 28273
www.speedtv.com
(704) 731-2222

While regional snobbery is very laughable in itself, a look at the address might explain their obsession with NASCAR. (Hey, I'm in Alabama! I know the love of NASCAR...and its roots run deep here!). But if SPEED wants to be known as covering all motorsports (otherwise, call it the NASCAR channel and be done with it), then they should put on more about things other than NASCAR, arguing gearheads and "fix boat motors for a living" infomercials.

I just called 'em. Got the proverbial "press one for..." crap that has infected every phone system of companies who hate their customers and wish they would go away (but still send checks) and pressed "one" for porgramming...and got the voicemail of "Nathan" who was sorry he couldn't take my call right then, but (he was probably wiping some NASCAR guy's butt). So I left Nathan a message.

Shall we all (leave Nathan a message)?

 

Speed was great when it first came out. Just like MTV was, and like MTV, they have sold out to the masses. Good Luck on your quest. I have found Discovery, Spike and TLC have better automotive coverage then Speed. WRC @ 11:00 at night yet arm chair NASCAR drivers overdebating all day long? They messed up a good thing.

 

When Fox signed the contract to broadcast NASCAR they also agreed to air 50+ hours per week of other NASCAR related programming. Thus, they purchased Speedvision as a way of honoring the contract. Until the contract is renegotiated we're probably stuck with NASCAR domination of Speed TV.

 

While, they do have a lot of Nascar programming, my TIVO has more non-Nascar on it now than I could watch in a month. Buy a TIVO, progam in what yu like to watch and you will get enough to make you bleary-eyed from watching TV!

 

Yup, between Formula 1, F1 Decade, Rolex Grand-AM series, American LeMans series, SCCA nationals, FIA Rally, and specials (yes they have aired Victory by Design Jaguar, Porsche, Ferrari, Masarati, etc.) and motorcycles there is plenty to watch. I've traded e-mails with them months ago about HDTV, the their target is spring of 2006, but they might pull it in. We'll see if they get (pay for) an HDTV F1 feed....we can only hope.

This is the entertainment business. NASCAR is great business, and Danica is good business. Don't confuse your hobby and real sports (completion with no compensation) with business because they really have no connection.

And yes, please buy a TiVo I need those guys to stay afloat!

 

Is it time for another SPEED bashing thread? I guess so....

You are correct, sir. A Tivo is the answer, the only problem is keeping up. Without listing everything, SPEED shows international automobile & motorsport programming that nobody else ever has or ever will carry. Complain about NASCAR if you must, but if it means they can afford next year's F1 contract, then as far as I'm concerned they can show NASCAR drivers on the toilet if that's what people want to see.

By the way, SPEED created the "Victory by Design" series so you can't really praise it and complain about SPEED in the same breath.

JLocke, since you were enterprising enough to find their contact info, you may want to solve your problems by clicking the link you posted and looking at the program guide. Just a thought....

 

AUTO RACING

24 Hours of Le Mans
American Le Mans Series
ARCA Stock Car Racing
Champ Car Qualifying
Champ Car World Series
Championship Off-Road Racing
CORR Sportsman Series
Crown Royal IROC Series
F1 Decade
FIA European Drag Racing
FIA World Rally
Formula 1 Preview
Formula One
Formula One Practice
Formula One Qualifying
Grand-Am Cup Series
IHRA Drag Racing
Inside Grand Prix
Inside GT Live
Le Mans Endurance Series
Legends Of Motorsport
Lucas Oil On the Edge
Mobil High-Endurance Charity Poker Challenge
Monster Jam
Motorsport Mundial
NOPI Tunervision
Pinks
Porsche Owners Club Enduro
Rolex Sports Car Series
Speed GT Championship
Speed News
Speed Touring Car Championship
SpeedFreaks
Stacker 2 Xtreme Series
Star Mazda Series
Superfund Euro 3000
Toyota Atlantic Series
Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race
Trans-Am Race Series
USAR Hooters Pro Cup
Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain
World of Outlaws Stacker 2 Late Model Series





AUTOMOTIVE

2005 Barrett-Jackson Auction
American Muscle Car
Autoline Detroit
AutoWeek
Barrett-Jackson 2005 - The Auctions
Barrett-Jackson Car Search
Behind the Headlights
Car Crazy
Cars at Carlisle
Chop Cut Rebuild
Dream Car Garage
Fifth Gear
Monterey Automotive Festival
MotorWeek
My Classic Car
Sports Car Revolution
Street Tuner Challenge
Truck Universe
Tuner Transformation
Two Guys Garage
Unique Whips
Victory By Design
Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise
World’s Greatest Auto Shows




NASCARTV


NASCAR 2004 Nextel Cup Revisited
NASCAR Infield Hot Pass
NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup
NASCAR Men Behind The Wrenches
NASCAR Beyond the Wheel
NASCAR Busch Practice
NASCAR Busch Qualifying
NASCAR Busch Series
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
NASCAR Edition Speed News
NASCAR Fast Forward
NASCAR Live!
NASCAR Nation
NASCAR Nextel Cup Final Practice
NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying
NASCAR Nextel Cup Replay
NASCAR Past Champions
NASCAR Performance
NASCAR This Morning
NASCAR Victory Lane
NASCAR NBS 24/7
NASCAR Racing Across America
NASCAR Reality of Speed
NASCAR Trackside


MOTORCYCLES

2 Wheel Tuesday
Adrenaline Rush
AMA Formula Xtreme
AMA Superbike Championship
AMA Supercross
AMA Supersport
American Thunder
Build or Bust
Corbin's Ride On
FIM Motocross
FIM World Championship Enduro
FIM World Superbike Championship
FIM World Supersport
MotoGP 125
MotoGP 250
MotoGP World Championship
National Arenacross Series
Texas Hardtails





MISC


IHBA Drag Boat Racing


Michael Waltrip Celebrity Poker Tournament





It still seems like a lot of NASCAR to me.

 

I did.

And it's infomercials, NASCAR, more NASCAR and more infomercials, ad nauseum.

Look, the root of my complaint is (obviously) that there is more demand for NASCAR programming than there is for, say, a two-week series of nothing but detailed car reviews of current and past Ferraris and Porsches. Maybe even a contest you can enter where the grand prizes are a few laps on a track in a F430 Spider and a Carrera GT.

And, to be fair, they could put on some fluff about NASCAR at 2:00am and let them buy a TiVo and record their circle race commentary!

Hey, if SPEED has a contract to air 50+ hours of NASCAR a week, then my little voicemail is going to mean nothing to them. If it were my business, I do what people willing to write the biggest checks were willing to pay me to do.

But I can wish for some more sports car and road course programming, can't I? And I can enlist your help, can't I?

 

I understand what you mean, and you are not alone. I've seen threads like this all over the internet. It's all been done before (petitions, letter writing, emails, phone calls), and in greater numbers than F-chat can muster, yet nothing has changed so far. Like you said, they are taking care of the biggest demographic and it would be a bad business move to do otherwise.

What keeps me happy is that they DO still make an effort to show other stuff for guys like us. Look through that list Matt posted, there is a lot of NASCAR, but unless you live in front of the tv you won't have enough time to watch all the worthwhile stuff.

I realize the issue is that it's not on when you want. I agree, but again, Tivo solves that. I don't want to get into nuance of using a Tivo, but if something that I want to watch is on, I'd rather record it than watch it live so I can skip the commercials, so for me it wouldn't even matter if they showed Fifth Gear in primetime.

Of course you shouldn't HAVE to go buy a Tivo to see what you want, but there's a lot in life you shouldn't have to do. At least in there case there is a solution.

 

Always remember, Speed is a for-profit business and I suspect that there are more Nascar fans in the USA than F1, ALMS, CART, IRL and WRC fans combined. And TIVO is the best new technology to come to TV since color IMHO. It has changed the way my family watches TV. We program in the kind of programs, titles and topics we like and watch what it records at our convenience...without having to watch 25 minutes of commercials in a 60 minute program. So it really makes TV easier to watch rather than a nuisance.

 

It's futile.

My favorite forum, before I found FerrariChat, was speedtv.com's forum.

This subject was brought up UNTOLD numbers of times within the open wheel and formula one sub-forums.

There were people that worked at Speed that frequented the forums and the answer was always, sorry, be thankful you're getting what you're getting. We would still be successful if we went NASCAB 24/7/365.

 

The only time I dial in is for F1. And, with CBS coverage this year that's getting less and less.

 

I do not remember the channel anymore, I have to look for it. I guess it says it all.

 

Does your Tivo know that a true Ferrari has 12 cyl?

 

It's all about money. Speed TV will make a contract to anyone that will bring in some extra revenue even though they might loose some customers in the process for not showing F1 races and so forth. In this case Nascar is known for the largest Spectator sport in America so they can make more money going with Nascar more and televising it a lot more than other racing series. And that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Also it is more of Supply and Demand, you know economics ( the class that everyone couldn't stay awake in lol jk). Well there is more Demand for Nascar from the Fans out in the USA than others.

 

I second Frank's comment about Tivo though. I wasn't a believer until I used our in-laws' DVR on their satellite. I'd almost wait with a moderate delay to avoid all of the commercials.

 

Why are people complaining? It makes no sense. What company would do otherwise than what Speed is doing?