49 replies to this topic

[AgRacer]

I read today that ABC, ESPN, and Speedvision are both trying to get rights to broadcast F1 races in America.

OHHHH, I hope Bernie does NOT give it to ABC. Unless he wants to see F1 coverage go down the toilet in the US. ABC broadcasts CART and IRL races and they are TERRIBLE!!!

I used to follow CART pretty closely and sort of lost touch because the broadcasts were terrible, and they were also very inconsistent with them. Sometimes they were live (usually 2PM EST), other times tape delayed and once or twice not shown until the next day. I never knew when they were going to come on and started to miss them. The announcers are also really bad and frequently call out the wrong cars or drivers and when it comes to technical issues it's like they are explaining it to a 4-year old. Pathetic. ABC is the reason CART racing viewing #'s are down from a high just a few years ago. They've mucked it up terrible and will surely screw up F1.

Speedvision/Fox Sports has done a great job with the broadcasts. ESPN had just started showing qualifying (which I thought was great) until Speedvision took over and they've followed with showing both Qual. and the Race, LIVE. Fox Sports shows it tape delayed the same day as the race (I can't get Speedvion in my area, so I watch in on Fox). They do a great job covering the races and I hope it continues.

I really, REALLY hope ABC does NOT get the broadcast...or F1 will go down the tubes and we'll look forward to no F1 race in America in a few short years....

[Greg L]

I agree that Speedvision's coverage is by far the best, but at this point, I'm willing to accept just about any kind of coverage just as long as we get to see the race. At this point, my only alternative is driving 6 hours to the nearest Canadian sports bar to see the race, so ABC getting the coverage would be slightly better. If Bernie doesn't give ANY network the coverage, I swear to God . . .

[bigblue]

AgRacer, i feel exactly the same way. I used to follow Cart also till it got that I couldn't figure out when the races were going to be on and Paul Page drives me friggin bonkers. I hope SV gets it. I must see live qualifying.

[Jackdaw]

AgRacer, ESPN is owned by ABC (which in turn is owned by Disney). If ABC/ESPN got the rights it's most likely the US Grand Prix would be shown on ABC and the others on either ESPN or ESPN2.

Fox is probably out of the running thanks to their huge mega-deal with NASCAR this season.

Maybe we'll see a situation like last year where two different channels get the rights, only it'll be Speedvision and ESPN instead of Speedvision and Fox. That would probably be the best situation.

[MP4/?]

Why not digital TV in the States!!! I live in Florida and I can't support having the worst coverage in the world!!!!

[Mr T]

The worst coverage in the world is probably in Sweden. Unfortunately for me I cannot afford digital TV so I have to put up with the crappiest commentators in the history of television.

[Pacific]

I hope ESPN gets it, because here at WVU I don't get SpeedVision.

Seriously, ESPN's coverage wasn't that bad. I've always liked Bob Varsha's impartial coverage.

Right now, ESPN has CART, IRL, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. They lost a lot of NASCAR and NBS programming. I think they'd give F1 some good coverage. Again, I foresee ESPN becoming a more open-wheeled channel with F1, CART, and the IRL. Maybe more Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantics as well. That'd be quite cool if I could have consistent coverage of all of those series on ESPN.

Really looking forward to Melbourne this year though, whoever covers it. (Getting kind of late to decide doesn't it seem?) For me, hopefully it's ESPN and ESPN2.

F1 was SpeedVision's kingpin though, so...but I'd have no problem with SpeedVision becoming the major ALMS supporter. (I could watch once I get back to Cedar Rapids.)

So much great auto racing to choose from.

[George Bailey]

Pacific,

You're in Morganhole? Great rustbelt town. As a Pittsburgh native I have a soft spot in my heart for cities like Morgantown that make Pittsburgh look like Paris.

[JB]

I, too live in an area where Speedvision isn't carried by my cable provider so I really hope ESPN wins the rights.

[Mrv]

Either you guys are too young or you do not remember that when ESPN had the rights in the 90's it was BOB VARSHA and Derek Daley that were the broadcasters. For those that don't know who Bob Varsha is he is the commentator for Speedvision at the moment. I am sure if ESPN secure the rights that he would jump back to ESPN.

[Option1]

If you ever want to identify Bob Varsha, well he's the one with the world's absolute champsionship winning toupee. But a nice enough commentator.

I actually hated Speedvision's coverage, but only in the sense that Sam Posey was amazingly boring and they're calling it from what must be the world's smallest monitors in a studio.

Having said that, I really hope Speedvision get the coverage again, because there's one thing I can guarantee with the Disney channels is that we'll be very very lucky to get the races live and probably won't get any qualifying at all.

[AgRacer]

For those that don't have speed vision, the races are all re-broadcast at 11:00 AM EST race day on regional fox sports net affiliates. If you check there web site during the season, you'll see that it's on all of the Fox Sports Net channels either at the time above, or maybe later in the day. That's how I watch the races because I don't have Speedvision either. If you can't get any FoxSportsNet channel, then I guess you're SOL. I actually prefer it because I don't have to get up at 5:00AM on Sundays, and they time the commercials so that you don't really miss anything.

Remember in '97 when Villeneuv and Schumacher came together. ESPN was on commercial break when this happened!! Here I'm watching the broadcast, Schumi's leading, the pit stops are over and he's only got ~15 laps to go...happy as a clam I am...then back from the break and it's a picture of him in the gravel...AHHHHHH, what the hell happened?????

Anyway, I still want Speedvision to get it because they promote the event (both on FoxSportsNet and Speedvision) and they are dedicated to getting it right. ABC is the worst sports broadcast channel in America. Heck, they can't even get college football correct!

For the US race, SpeedVision and Fox Sports Net both broadcast every practice, qualifying and the race LIVE. BOTH channels did. Speedvision knows that not every one has Speedvision, but many people have one or the other.

ABC will screw this up, mark my words. If they get it, they'll screw it up and F1 viewing in the US will go down in the first and second years. Then we'll lose Indy and have to wait another 10-years for a US race.

Jackdraw-Fox owns Speedvision, hence the dual broadcasts.

[bugeye]

I'll be heartbroken if Speedvision doesn't get the rights, I felt like they did a great job, and combined with the FSN additional coverage it reached alot of eyeballs..Speedvision lives and dies by motorsports so you know they are committed to a give the best broadcast they can, perhaps BERNIE is planning a motorsports network of his own anchored by F1 and so see's no reason to help SV. ( I am just guessing here, but it could make sense with his digital broadcast in the future)

ABC would be terrrible...Ugghhh..


Dave

PS: I almost had a Myocardial last night, I was watching Speedvision Touring cars (Excellent series BTW) and they interrupted to say that they would be carrying the Malaysian Grand Prix live....of course it was a rebroadcast and they were talking about last years, but I got excited for a minute...

[shoofirbin]

i don't think bob varsha has a toupee. i think it's just spectacular hair.

i'd like to come out in defense of abc's coverage of cart. paul page, for my money, is the best american motorsports commentator. he's an indy guy from way back, knows the sport, and adds a nice level of excitment. i know he makes mistakes sometimes, but who doesn't? they just need to find him a good partner. i think parker johnstone's ok, he knows his stuff, but i liked bobby unser a lot better. he had that southern thing goin' on. as far as the general coverage, at least they cover every race, either on abc or espn, and they actually send a crew to every race, which is more than you can say for any american network that's covered f-1 over the past 7 years or so.

[Zeus]

Let's just hope that if ABC wins the rights, it will actually mean ESPN. I can't imagaine Paul Page and Gary Gerald trying to explain grooved tires for the 1 millionth time.

And the butchered up tape delays: "Let jump forward in our coverage...."

[NYR2119935]

Paul Page, Parker Johnstone, Jon Beeukhas, and Gary Gerould are the best CART announcers in the business. I don't want them ever touching F1. They are my CART guys. I want the Speedvision crew to cover F1. And I wish Speedvision would step up some CART coverage too.

[miniman]

Guys, If you live in the States and don't get Speedvision dump your cable operators and get a small dish, the monthly programming charge from Direct TV is the same as cable.

Speedvision shows live qualifying, live racing and post race ceremonies and interviews something that Fox, ABC or ESPN will not do.

Speedvision also rebroadcasts the race the following Monday at 8PM Eastern Time.

[freq019]

right now I don't give a piss who shows F1 as long as someone does. It is starting to get close to the 11th hour

[Todd]

freq,

Maybe that is the point. Picking ABC/Disnespn would cause an outcry, unless everyone is just relieved to get coverage. I don't have much of a preference between ABC and just reading about the races on the internet, myself. Neither compares well with decent live TV coverage.

[Snow1]

As I have said in previous threads, ESPN is a network owned by Disney. They are good with presenting other sports, but they are not as good as Speedivision for televising auto races. Speedivision and Fox have a much more natural affinity when it comes to showing this stuff.

ESPN has decent commentators and the coverage is fine, but the scheduling is much more rigid. For example, if they are scheduled to end at 2pm they will no matter what. This means no pre-race interviews, podium, or post-race interviews. This also means many commercials filled with nonracing adverts. You could be enjoying the climax of the race and then all the sudden it gets cut off to billiards.

It's sad to think how much time Bernie has wasted on this when he could have used it to properly promote the season in the US ahead of time. So what if it's on ESPN. It doesn't automatically mean that a significant number of more people are going to watch it just because it's on that channel, especially if the overall presentation is marginal. I don't agree with his marketing strategy at all.

[freq019]

If ESPN/Disney shows F1 races live, there will be no conflict schedule-wise for most of the races, being that a good portion of the races are in Europe and I've watched ESPN at 6:30 and you ain't missing much. They should be able to accomodate the races even if they extend out of a 2 hr window. The problem comes when the races are closer to mid-day, (ie Canada, Brasil, and Indy) then you will see races cut for football, baseball, or even bowling I don't know. Anyway I would rather see some F1 on tv rather than none.

[Elspeth]

The last time the contract was up for grabs it went to the absolute last hour before the decision was made. There is nothing we can do about it but wait.

I will simply be grateful if there is coverage. I am old enough to remember when there was NO COVERAGE AT ALL. You guys don't appreciate how good we have had it.

[zakspeed]

I thought Speedvision has been pretty good, with the exception of Sam Posey always saying exceptionally stupid ****...I don't know how many times he said so and so was in a certain "mode". ESPN with Hobbs, Varsha, and Bisigniano(?) was great. Let's just hope that if ABC does get it, we won't see Brett Jackson doing a play by play analysis, like when they used to cover Monaco.

[bigblue]

Zackspeed, Keith Jackson was his name. You guys that like Paul Page must be stoned ;). I can't stand him, he knows nothing. I guess to each his own. I certainly hope he stays with CART because I don't want F1 ruined for me also by him (if ABC/ESPN gets rights).

[paulb]

bigblue:
You guys that like Paul Page must be stoned ;). I can't stand him, he knows nothing.

So true.

But then, by not having an ABC/ESPN broadcast, we would miss out on all possible inflections of the word battle!

[Option1]

Originally posted by shoofirbin
i don't think bob varsha has a toupee. i think it's just spectacular hair.

i'd like to come out in defense of abc's coverage of cart. paul page, for my money, is the best american motorsports commentator. he's an indy guy from way back, knows the sport, and adds a nice level of excitment. i know he makes mistakes sometimes, but who doesn't? they just need to find him a good partner. i think parker johnstone's ok, he knows his stuff, but i liked bobby unser a lot better. he had that southern thing goin' on. as far as the general coverage, at least they cover every race, either on abc or espn, and they actually send a crew to every race, which is more than you can say for any american network that's covered f-1 over the past 7 years or so.

I have absolutely no problems with the CART commentators, I think they're quite good.

My problem would be that ABC would do everything in their power to avoid showing the races live and would definitely not bother to show qualifying or the post race press conferences. In fact if the race cut into something really really important like say "Days of our lives" or an infommercial then I can guarantee what would take precedence and it wouldn't be F1.

US network TV is really the greatest collection of boneheads gathered in one spot since....since...since.....damn I don't know, probably since ever. What moron other than Dick Ebersoll of NBC would come out and blame the VIEWERS for the poor ratings of the Olympics. He claimed it was the viewers fault for finding out results for events that NBC showed anything up to 18 HOURS after they happened and therefore not watching his "wonderful" coverage. ABC management is no better.

[shoofirbin]

Originally posted by bigblue
You guys that like Paul Page must be stoned ;). I can't stand him, he knows nothing. I guess to each his own.

i wish i was stoned.

how can you diss paul page? how can you say he knows nothing? he started on the indy racing radio network in the late sixties, and worked his way up through american broadcasting doing motorsport, of all things. also, he's like gives lectures on motorsports and all this other stuff. yeah, that's it. paul page most certainly does know his stuff, and as i said before, he is a polished broadcaster, who adds excitment and insight to the race. c'mon, help me out here, cart-metallica guy, whatever your name is.

big blue, i went easy on you. i would have really torn you a new one if it weren't for that red sox logo you've got there. manny baby! nomah! yankees suck!!!!!!!!!!

[AgRacer]

paul page most certainly does know his stuff, and as i said before, he is a polished broadcaster, who adds excitment and insight to the race.

OK, I'll agree he adds excitement, but he must not have been paying attension while he "grew up" with the sport. He makes technical mistakes, and asks dumb questions all the time. And the two pit guys are just as dumb. They are like dumb and dumber out there. I remember during one interview they were doing,with Parker Johnstone no less, he said something that Bisingiano (sp?) mis-understoond but repeated to the viewers something about "cucumbers"...What?? All the drivers that heard it just broke up with laughter.

Parker knows a little but the coverage it terrible.

Just today, while I was at lunch I noticed a TV had some CART stuff from ESPN on. Well, low and behold, ABC/ESPN, in there infinite wisdom, decided to do the CART pre-season special on Friday, at NOON CST. Who the hell is going to be watching, or listening at lunch time (CST only mind you, the East and West coast were done with, or had not started lunch). Most of us actually have real jobs and go to work. I just happened be in the right place to see (but no actually hear) it. Needless to say, my opinion of there coverage continues to go down.

ABC will screw up the F1 coverage if they get it, I promiss. Don't believe for one minute they will send guys to the track to do the races. Maybe Indy, Canada and Monoco, but that would be it. At least Speedvision/FSN has a guy in the pits at every race.

Bye the way, his name is JOHN, not Jon. He just says it that way to sound more "European" so poeple will think If he's from Europe, maybe he actually knows something about open wheel cars. Unfortunately the name doesn't help.

OK, maybe I'm being hard on ABC, but I think they deserve it. If they would put just a little effort into the broadcasts and promote the sport a little, they could be so much better. As it stands, they look like a bunch of small town local news casters covering the annual turkey gobblin' festivle.

[NYR2119935]

That's the re-air you TOOL.
The original already aired on a nice Sunday evening at 6:30 pm.

[jbf1]

Bye the way, his name is JOHN, not Jon. He just says it that way to sound more "European" so poeple will think If he's from Europe, maybe he actually knows something about open wheel cars. Unfortunately the name doesn't help.

Agracer: I expect with someone with the last name "beekhuis" probably is of european ancestry, and Jon (pronounced with a "y" sound) a very likely name. You seem so ill-informed on matters CART I wonder why you comment on them?

Then again, this is an F1 forum.

[jstan]

I've been checking the Speedvision website frequently to see if they have managed to re-sign the rights to F1. I agree, ABC has mucked up CART broadcasts to no end...Speedvision does a much better job, even if Sam Posey is a bit wooden. ESPN is a fair alternate to Speedvision, ut only just......

[AgRacer]

OK, I'll admit I was wrong about the "re-air" of the CART pre-season special, but I was on a soapbox about it and ranting. I take it back.

You seem so ill-informed on matters CART I wonder why you comment on them?

As I said, I lost touch with CART because I could never find the races on TV. ABC never broadcast them at the same time two races in a row. My last name is 100% german only 3-generations removed, but I still was born, and grew up in America. That doesn't exactly make me European.

I got the "info" on Jon/John from a guy who knew him when he worked at the Russle Race school (or maybe Skip Barber, they're both in CA). All the school guys laughed at him because when he was in the US, his name was "JOHN" but when on TV, or in Europe, it was YON (maybe he's always spelled it Jon, whatever - he's still a pretty bad announcer).

Anyway, I'm not trying to argue about the CART series, merely that ABC has really screwed up the broadcasts of CART (IMO) and I really hope that Speedvision/FSN can retain the rights. Heck, Speedvision is preparing as if it's a go.

If ABC gets it, the broadcast will be some cobbled togther, second thought affair and it'll be pathetic. We'll be lucky if they get Mika and Michael's names correct.

[jstan]

The worst case scenario I can think of is that ABC gets the rights. They'll cut to the race right at the start (no pre race show), and cut out right after the flag ( or cut away for some golf
tournament). Hopefully we'll get an announcement BEFORE the Aussie
race, and not have the situation when Speedvision took the rights away from ESPN. I'd set the VCR to tape the 1st race on ESPN and got
something like the world's strongest man competition instead. Fortunately I already had the DSS so a quick phone call added the sports package that got me Speedvision. I can live with Sam, even if he has the broadcast personality of a 2x4. Thankfully, Derek (lookadis!!!) has gone on to other things. Kudos to Speedvision for their 24 hr coverage of Daytona and last years Le Mans.

[NYR2119935]

Originally posted by jstan
Derek (lookadis!!!)

lol
I love that funny Irishman

[RacerX]

At this point I will be thrilled if I can see the race at all. Here we are less than a week from the race and I have no clue if I can see the race on any channel. I prefer Speedvision, as they are willing to show live coverage. I don't really care who the announcers are, most of them are telling me things I can see for myself. I just want to be able to see the race!! Please, somebody, anybody, show the frikkin' race. A trip to Canada is not out of the question. Anyone know of decent place to watch the race in the Windsor, ON area?

[SKL]

OPtion1, I've met Bob Varsha at the races and his hair may be long, but it's REAL. I also hope SV keeps the coverage- it would be nice to see the end of the race, and the post race press conference, something you'd NEVER see with ESPN or ABC!

[freq019]

Originally posted by RacerX
At this point I will be thrilled if I can see the race at all. Here we are less than a week from the race and I have no clue if I can see the race on any channel. I prefer Speedvision, as they are willing to show live coverage. I don't really care who the announcers are, most of them are telling me things I can see for myself. I just want to be able to see the race!! Please, somebody, anybody, show the frikkin' race. A trip to Canada is not out of the question. Anyone know of decent place to watch the race in the Windsor, ON area?

I agree, Couldn't have said it better myself. I don't care if they have a talking Monkey doing the commentary I just want to see F1 on TV.

[Williams]

From Feb 22

I read today that ABC, ESPN, and Speedvision are both trying to get rights to broadcast F1 races in America.

OHHHH, I hope Bernie does NOT give it to ABC. Unless he wants to see F1 coverage go down the toilet in the US. ABC broadcasts CART and IRL races and they are TERRIBLE!!!

============

From Feb 26

Please, somebody, anybody, show the frikkin' race.

============

My how things have changed...

[colossus]

ABC covering F1....say it isn't so!

Do you want to hear that Unser-moron discussing chukanes again? Or listen to his litanies about how a dry-weather track loses grip as the race progresses because there's more rubber on the corners? And before you protest, no, he wasn't discussing marbles. Interruptions every time an in-car is shown, graphics outlining the latest plot updates for 'Dharma and Greg', cleverly placed at the apex of the turn so that you lose the whole effect? EPSN's insistence on that idiotic 'update-blue-bar' showing scores, they can't even figure out how to compress the area w/out distorting the images, so that the cars look flattened out...next time you watch ESPN, make a point of how much of the screen is actually SHOWING THE EVENT YOU'RE WATCHING. The percentage will typically fall around 60%, since at least 10 minutes of it will have 90% of the screen covered. And BTW, you're PAYING for ESPN via your cable bill.

Do you remember the same commericals being shown twice during the same break? Just kill me now.

Sam Posey might sound like he's had a few too many Valium, but sometimes his one-liners are spot-on. And you gotta love a network that shoves commercials into dead-spots, like the first ten minutes of qualifying....

Speedvision is indeed limited in distribution, but face it, it beats the pants off ABC, ESPN, or any other thing those clowns (mice?) at Disney offer...

[JPMCrew]

at this point I'll settle for the food network

[shoofirbin]

Originally posted by SKL
OPtion1, I've met Bob Varsha at the races and his hair may be long, but it's REAL. I also hope SV keeps the coverage- it would be nice to see the end of the race, and the post race press conference, something you'd NEVER see with ESPN or ABC!

you met bob varsha!?!?!?!? what was he like?

[tony]

Beggers can't be choosers....


We are on the verge of possibly not having F1 coverage at all in the US and you guys are complaining that ESPN will not do as good a job as Speedvision. We should all wait to complain when we have coverage to complain about. MY guess, and I'm sorry for being pessimistic, is that we will not get F1 coverage in the US at all. The reason is simple. Bernie and whoever else, wants megabucks for the contract. There are only about 500,000 F1 fans in the US. And only about 300,000 of them will wake up at 5 AM to watch the races. It's all about advertising....so if you tape the races and watch them when you wake up, you will not watch the commercials. Why would any company pay a huge amount of money to broadcast a two hour race which a very small number of people will watch at an odd hour.

[Greg L]

This is the most recent update from Speedvision.com:


"The inquiries continue to flood into Speedvision headquarters as to the status of the network’s Formula 1 coverage, which included live qualifying as well as race broadcasts last season.

Speedvision is still working on securing the U.S. rights to the broadcasts and will continue to do so right up until the time the green flag waves on Saturday qualifying according to senior vice president and executive producer Bob Scanlon.

"We’re continuing to negotiate for the rights with Bernie (Ecclestone)," Scanlon said. "We placed a call to his offices as recently as this morning."

A look at the Speedvision programming schedule shows that the network has the time blocked off for the F1 opener from Albert Park in Australia, as well as having time set aside for pre-race festitivies.

"We’re going forward as though that’s going to happen," Scanlon said. "We can literally wait until two minutes before the green flag and still get the broadcast on the air."" [dated 2-26-01]


Here's keeping the fingers crossed . . .

[NYR2119935]

pray Speedvision gets it
pray

[P1 Senna]

NYR - have you called FOM yet?

[NYR2119935]

Originally posted by P1 Senna
NYR - have you called FOM yet?

I was waiting too see your phone bill ?

[tifosi98]

Mr Speedvision,

If you are reading this, I ask you to sell your soul to Mr Bernie. Give him what he wants. I am personally willing to contribute 10% of my soul for a 5 year deal.

Most Gracious,
Tifosi98

[NYR2119935]

Speedvision, get the F1 contract and please add some CART programming. Thank You.

[Yohbi]

I agree with all posters who would at least like to see F1 on TV. I could care a rat's ass what network it's on. I don't have that choice.

[Keith Steele]

I hope ESPN gets it too. I dont have Speedvision. Fox showed qualifying once last year and that was for the USGP. Of course here in Chicago they then showed the race 5 hours after it was over. Fox was Much much much weaker than ESPN was. At least I got to watch qualifying which is more exciting than most races nowadays.