18 replies to this topic

[Bill949]

Hi Im new so maybe somoeone has bought this up before but..
a lot of people are worried that SV will turn into the Nascar channel
and that a lot of other great racing programs will be dropped ie F1, Rally etc, however I have been reading this board and the one on SV (when it works) for about two years now and the one thing I can be assured of is that at the start of every season there are a ton of emails from people complaining that they cant get SV on there local cable line up etc.
The reason for this is because of the limited amount of cable operators that carry SV (in fact Cox who I have just dropped SV in some areas, not mine thank god). The last time I saw any figures it showed about 42million homes had SV.

Think about this there are porbably 50x the amount of Nascar fans in the US than there are F1 fans probably more. Why would FOX suddenly think it would be a good idea to make SV completely Nascar and lose about 100 million homes ??

Can you imagine the outcry from all the Nascar fans who do not get or do not have cable....suddenly there sport is taken from free to air to cable only and on a channel that has a 100th of the exposure that FOX free to air has ?

Would not make to much sense from a marketing standpoint.

Yes Fox may try to pressure more cable companies to carry SV etc but with the likes of AT&T and Cox who are the two largest cable providers in the world that is going to be mighty expensive.

My theory is that SV will go back to how it was before Nascar signed with Fox and have the same coverage that they did last year and te years before that. F1 wll be safe along with most of the other racing events.

Just my 2c

Thanks for reading

Bill

[biercemountain]

Speedvision is not carried by a lot of Cable systems because they don't consider SV's programming to be commercially viable for their audience. If SV suddenly became the "Nascar" channel you can bet those same Cable systems would suddenly be on the phone to SV begging to have their channel added to their lineup. Nascar commands a lot of American eyeballs.

Of course the channel would then SUCK, and F1, sportscar racing, rally and cycle racing would die a tragic death in America. I sure as hell wouldn't watch it.

I remember when ESPN dropped (or lost) the rights to F1 a couple of years back. I woke up early in the morning to watch the Australian GP and was stunned to see that instead they were broadcasting "happy hour" from some boring Nascar oval. I got so pissed I wrote an email to ESPN and called them "Every Single Possible Nascar"

[jonpollak]

Has someone,as far as anyone knows, bothered to send the petition (and an attached
demand for some official Speedvision position on how this will effect their programming
output) to the Speedvision BBS?

I would but cannot get the Speedvision site to load...
I have Neck filtering software installed.


Anyway..I feel F1 will NOT be on Speedvision from next season on...So,.. perhaps it's time for the PPV digital multi channel feed??
(...dream on Pollak)
Jp

[Turbo]

Unfortunately, Napcar has an endless array of support series that they can show on SV, plus nightly news programs, interview shows, archival races, etc etc etc. If they want to, it would be easy to fill up the channel 24/7 with tin tops driving in circles. My sole remaining hope is that they will realize that they must retain things like F1, sportscars, rally, bikes, etc in order to retain some viewership from the existing channel. If they keep all these series and just use Napcar to fill the rest of the schedule, SV will still be worth having. However, I wonder if Napcar isn't out to simply try and break any other existing series that could conceivably compete with them. They tried to block a new ALMS street race in Miami, and they have contributed to the ongoing splits of CART/IRL and ALMS/Grand Am. These guys won't be happy until the only racing people in the USA can see anywhere is Nascrap.

[Locai]

I believe that your understanding of the situation is all wrong.

Obviously, NASCAR will not allow their races to be shown exclusively on Speedvision. Speedvision has limited availability and is not an over-the-air broadcast network. Racing cannot survive on it's own without sponsorship money and sponsors won't pay "the big bucks" just to be seen by the few fans that would be willing to pay to watch the races on TV. This is the same reason why F1 doesn't want EM.TV to make the F1 races exclusively Pay-Per-View.

The risk with Fox taking over Speedvision is not that they will air all of the NASCAR races, it's that they will end up airing nothing but shows about NASCAR...and there is already a bunch of them! The fear is that Speedvision will fill its schedule with a bunch of fluff pieces about NASCAR and squeeze out all of the other programs and races they currently show.

The concern isn't that F1 won't be available in the U.S. F1 will almost certainly be shown SOMEWHERE on cable. The concern is what will happen to everything else that Speedvision shows.

[Mrv]

It doesn't really matter I think as Bernie has his sites on getting F1 back on ESPN/ABC. I hope it doesn't happen, but there is a good chance of it.

[Vince]

I think the plan would be for SV to carry the lesser NASCAR series, as well as things like practice/qualifying that aren't on broadcast TV. They wouldn't take any of the WC races away from the FOX/NBC audience.

If you notice, SV is at a dearth of programming right now. Each race/show is replayed many times. If they showed each race only once, they'd have plenty of time to show lots of NASCAR without cutting out the current programming. This would probably get them on more cable systems, giving F1, sportscars, etc. a wider audience.

With the advent of PVRs (TiVo), there's no real need to replay races anyhow (or at least cut down from 3 replays to 1 replay). Every F1 fan in the US should have one anyhow, watching a race at 4:30 in the morning would be insane.

[Turbo]

Yes Vince, that's what I'm hoping for also, that the Nascar programming and support series races, qualifying etc will replay the boat and plane shows and some of the race replays but that they will retain coverage of F1, ALMS, bikes, rally, etc. What I fear is that we'll get 24/7 support series races, talk shows about Napcar, and tons of old Napcar races. In any case, it seems highly likely that flag to flag LeMans, Petit LeMans, Daytona 24, and Sebring will remain.

[mono-posto]

As much as I find NASCAR boring, I don't at all mind that SV's NASCAR coverage may increase. What I hope though is that the remain true to a comfortable balance.

The will need to balance out all the various racing series, plus boating/plane shows. Afterall, they are SpeedVision. So let's hope they can do it.

Some elements that just have to remain for this loyal viewer are:

Flag to flag coverage of Le Mans
Flag to flag coverage of Sebring
Flag to Flag coverage of Daytona
Friday/Sat/Sun F1 coverage live.
1 hour of World Rally Highlights
WSB/FIM 250/500 Motorcycle racing on Sunday Nights
ALMS/Grand Am Coverage
Legends of Motorsport
F1 specials (Lap of the Gods, Grand Prix etc.)

If they keep the above as is, I don't give a damn what they do with the
rest of the time. But increasing NASCAR and CART and IRL coverage would solidify them as the MotorSports channel.

[chrislonie]

SV needs to get rid of that Hooters series crap. What a waste of air time.

[dick]

I'm afraid Mrv's got it right. From what I've been hearing ABC/ESPN are hoping for a five year deal. There goes televised practice and probably qualifying too. However it may be the best we can hope for, because I suspect Speedvision will be unrecognizable next year.

[jonpollak]

Originally posted by Vince
.If you notice, SV is at a dearth of programming right now. Each race/show is replayed many times. If they showed each race only once, they'd have plenty of time to show lots of NASCAR without cutting out the current programming. This would probably get them on more cable systems, giving F1, sportscars, etc. a wider audience.

WELL SAID VINCE..!!!
I totally agree that if the scheduling was tweeked we could have our "Mono-Posto minimum annual requirements"Which by the way is the reason those 50,000 odd sigs ARE on that petition..those programmes mentioned in his list..
< Flag to flag coverage of Sebring
Flag to Flag coverage of Daytona
Friday/Sat/Sun F1 coverage live.
1 hour of World Rally Highlights
WSB/FIM 250/500 Motorcycle racing on Sunday Nights
ALMS/Grand Am Coverage
Legends of Motorsport
F1 specials (Lap of the Gods, Grand Prix etc.)>>

Bottom line though is just as Mrv said...It don't matter..
you WILL see it ...I wouldn't be as downcast as Dick is...
However.. the last few laps of the championship decider might be interupted by NFL Gameday or some other Heidi scenario..¿?¿?

Jp

[obi-one]

Originally posted by Bill949
Hi Im new so...

Yes Fox may try to pressure more cable companies to carry SV etc but with the likes of AT&T and Cox who are the two largest cable providers in the world that is going to be mighty expensive.

My theory is that SV will go back to how it was before Nascar signed with Fox and have the same coverage that they did last year and te years before that. F1 wll be safe along with most of the other racing events.

Just my 2c

Thanks for reading

Bill

Bill:
You seem to have a great deal of knowledge of Fox and Nascar. Could you possibly have some professional interest in their success? If so maybe that petition is starting to get the job done. Anyway, since this is your first post, welcome to the BB.

[jonpollak]

Bill949;
it sounds like obi-one is a bit sceptical about your intentions!!!
I,on the other hand, feel that media related issues bring forth a better class of contributor....;)
As i have said before on this BBS...I think a permanent F1/Motorsports TV and Media related thread or topic would be a wonderful thing...

Jp

[jondoe955]

I posted this statement before somewhere else, but I liked my revelation:
FOX taking over SV for nascar is like ABC buying the Spanish channel to allow more english programming.
Yes, F1 will be shown somewhere. But we will lose the other series, the special shows, the extended race coverage (Daytona, Le Mans…), Davy Hobbs and qualifying.
BTW – what does it say about current F1 (or any) racing when the best part of the race is the last 20 minutes of qualifying?

[Bill949]

Hi again,
Actually I do have a small commercial interest in Nascar doing well on SV but not to the point of it jeopardizing any of the other great shows that SV put on including F1, LeMans, Sports, Rally.

SV to me has always been a place to watch outstanding motor sport related shows.

Do I want Nascar to be successful on SV ? : Yes
Do I watch Nascar at all ? : No
Do I want Nascar to replace other motorsports on SV ? : No
Do I think it will happen ? : No
Do I watch F1 : Yes
Will SV get F1 next year ? : Yes (and with more and better coverage).
Will I still have to get up at 4am to see F1 ? : Yes


All in all it is my honest belief that there will be little to no change
in the line up of SV as we enjoy it now. Sure some of your regular programming will move and possibly a lot less "Paid Programming"
(if I see Bostwicks Hair Replacement ads one more time !!!).

Anyway thanks for the welcome to this board and I look forward to having some interesting conversations ;)

obi-one : no need to be skeptical

I agree with you Jp a permanent media related thread or topic would be good.


Bill

[biercemountain]

Originally posted by chrislonie
SV needs to get rid of that Hooters series crap. What a waste of air time.

Amen!!!! What a snore fest.

"And they go green, wait Todd Scratchinballs has spun on the restart. Full course caution"

They don't even show the Hooters Girls!

[NYR2119935]

I will miss my beloved Speedvision

[jonpollak]

Originally posted by Bill949
Hi again,
Actually I do have a small commercial interest in Nascar doing well on SV

AH..HA!!! so they were right!?!?!?
well then..I think your opinion will hold that much more value!!!

I do like the way you think and if the "VINCE" view comes to fruition all WILL NOT BE LOST!!

yes I hate to say it, but NASCAR may just raise the profile of F1 on Speedvision...

And WHY NOT play the Hooters 350 from Nebraska raceway park instead of the Bosley hair implants or SMC(schmuck merch company)
infomercials....
PAID PROGRAMMING =DEAD AIR:stoned:

si?

Jp