Hi all. The following is what - in, fact, it is all - that I can find on any of the FOX websites about the future - and future coverageprogramming - of what I understand is now officially The Speed Channel.
FYI, the www.foxsports.com site also has a parallel story about a so-called NASCAR site-within-a-site on the new Speed Channel.
Oh!!! BTW, note that this particular article emphasized the apparent decision to relocate SVSC operations to Charlotte, North Carolina,
" . . . to be closer to the NASCAR teams and drivers."
Despite what they say farther down in this article, that doesn't exactly sound like open-wheel, single-seat formula racing will get equal time with the Good Ole Boys in their tin-tops, now does it?????
- FOXSports.com
Oct. 23, 2001 1:39 p.m.
Speedvision, the first and only 24-hour cable network devoted exclusively to motor sports, will re-launch early next year with a new name, Speed Channel, logo and the return of the program Inside Winston Cup after a one-year hiatus.
Speedvision re-launches as Speed Channel Mon., Feb. 4
The channel, purchased by Fox Cable Networks in July 2001, is expected to move to Charlotte, closer to the NASCAR teams and drivers who will provide their unique, in-depth perspective to the new and improved Inside Winston Cup, which will also benefit from FOX Sports' national television partnership with NASCAR.
February 4, 2002 is the re-launch date for the network's new programming and look.
"We have every expectation, that with our enhanced FOX Sports influence, Speed Channel programming and production will continue to be the benchmark for motor sports television," said the network's president Jim Liberatore.
Speed Channel, which celebrates its sixth anniversary in January 2002, is home to much of the world's marquee racing events including CART, F1, Classic Cars, LeMans, the American LeMans Series, World Rally and car shows from around the globe.
Fox Cable Networks is the parent company of FOX Interactive Television, LLC, which produces FOXSports.com.
For more information about Speedvision, go to speedvision.com.
There is a parallel story (someone here posted it from www.insidef1.com) that there may, in fact, be a deal struck between F1SLEC and either ABC or ABCESPN. So, I am continuing to hold off on going to a dish or switching cable carriers until some (more) dust settles. I still get no response to repeated e-Mails to SVSC about when they will announce they actually have broadcast rights - or the broadcast rights - to F1 for this season.
Fun, fun.
The Mourning Anchor
Washington DC
