No more F1 on Speed?! - Team Juicy Racing's Racing School and Race Series Forums

rsr427 · #1 10-12-2012

Man, what a crappy year for the racing fan. I view the Grand-Am/ALMS takeover a net negative for fans, and now rebranding SPEED to Fox Sports 1 and featuring the slowest sport in the world? Yeesh. I remember some years ago getting surveys about interest in a new racing network, it may have been the brainchild of the original owner of Speedvision, but I guess it went for naught.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121012/F1/121019946

M3Perfection · #2 10-12-2012

What a shame, you know they are going to screw this up royally. This also means drama for those who love the less-mainstream levels of road racing like Continental and GP2. I wonder where we will get coverage of regional formula and road racing provided by speed2? I hope we will still get Varsha/Hobbs/Matchett/Posey through this new setup. Personally I don't care for Fox's version of opening promos. Love Posey's though, just something about the way he talks...What about the debrief? Boy the list goes on...

Are you in negotiation for any of this Pat?

dalyduo · #3 10-12-2012

Spoke with Sam at the LRP finale about his F1 commentary. He said he writes it himself and records it at a studio in Sharon CT. He does 5 different pieces. 3 different teases and 2 different intros. After recording, they're sent to video editors who Sam spoke very highly of because in a few hours they do a quick and magnificent job of cutting days old to minutes old images to his words. He knows how good their work is because when he did commentary at ABC they used to make him read intros to pre-cut images and it was always difficult and awkward to find the right energy and flow. He works hard on each piece and loves the work so he doesn't mind.

The Foxification of Speed Channel has been diluting the content for quite a while so the separation of F1 is not surprising. If we're lucky, NBC or whoever takes over the coverage will keep the current broadcast team intact as they are a well oiled machine that has built a significant and loyal following. It would not be surprising to see the same on air and production talent produce virtually the same program under a different network name. For everyone's sake, lets hope that's the case.

oldredracer · #4 10-13-2012

Great news!! Maybe now we can get rid of those practice seasons full of tedious details and boring, single car qualifying with even more trivia. Networks can reduce quali to a 15 second podium shot and show the race at a more convenient time. Hopefully Paul Page and Jon Beekhouse can be lured into the broadcast booth to bring the nonsequitor back to the broadcast prominence it truly deserves.

GregS · #5 10-13-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by dalyduo

Spoke with Sam at the LRP finale about his F1 commentary. He said he writes it himself and records it at a studio in Sharon CT. He does 5 different pieces. 3 different teases and 2 different intros. After recording, they're sent to video editors who Sam spoke very highly of because in a few hours they do a quick and magnificent job of cutting days old to minutes old images to his words. He knows how good their work is because when he did commentary at ABC they used to make him read intros to pre-cut images and it was always difficult and awkward to find the right energy and flow. He works hard on each piece and loves the work so he doesn't mind.

The Foxification of Speed Channel has been diluting the content for quite a while so the separation of F1 is not surprising. If we're lucky, NBC or whoever takes over the coverage will keep the current broadcast team intact as they are a well oiled machine that has built a significant and loyal following. It would not be surprising to see the same on air and production talent produce virtually the same program under a different network name. For everyone's sake, lets hope that's the case.

this is all very sad to me

Rosso · #6 10-15-2012

... and the other shoe drops... Personally, I abandoned Speed (or maybe it abandoned me) several years ago when it became more NASCAR and car-based reality TV centric, so for me, 4 live races on NBC is a better deal.

http://www.racer.com/formula-1-lands...=NTU2MzE2MjIS1

dalyduo · #7 10-15-2012

NBCSC is a viable alternative...
Now we wait to see how much of the broadcast team is brought over. Wouldn't be a bad time to let NBC know our preferences there.

Slowhands · #8 10-15-2012

Finding all the other racing that I wanted to watch (ALMS, GA, bikes, dirt, SCCA runoffs, V8 supercars, DTM) meant proactively keeping an eye on the SPEED TV schedule online, but it was doable so I kept my cable package specifically for Speed. Wonder where all those series are going to migrate to? Especially the premier events like the Rolex24, Le Mans 24, Sebring 12. I don't mind if they move online, fast DSL and a HD monitor are just as good as TV. Maybe time to get rid of my cable and save $50 a month.

rsr427 · #9 10-15-2012

I love the broadcast team, you're not going to find anyone who adds more depth and knowledge than Matchett (read his books,btw, all excellent) and I love the humor and knowledge Hobbs adds, he's a very accomplished and well-versed driver too. Varsha is becoming a little too, I don't know, professional yuk-yuk broadcast for me, if that can be a bad thing. I've been watching him since Trans-am and IMSA on ESPN's Speedworld in the 80's (and yes, I'm fairly young). I notice it when Leigh Diffey fills in, who I prefer. Maybe I just like the accent.

(What's Peter Windsor up to? Can he show his face on the paddock yet?)

Well, maybe if all the professional racing series keep merging, we won't need a dedicated motorsports channel...

I'm not gonna miss all those "lifestyle" shows like Truckin', or Gears, or Motorin' USA, or Overdrive, or Mullets and Motors, or whatever gets endlessly plugged during live events.

Rosso · #10 10-15-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slowhands

... Maybe time to get rid of my cable and save $50 a month.

I wanna know how you had Speed and a cable bill of $50 at the same time. In addition to the basic cable entry fee, I had to buy a digital gateway "lifestyle & sports" package and rent their goddamn box to get lo-def Speed. I think it was $100 bucks a month and no Hi-def anything. At least with basic cable I can get 8 or so broadcast channels in Hi-def for no extra charge.

Slowhands · #11 10-15-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosso

I wanna know how you had Speed and a cable bill of $50 at the same time. In addition to the basic cable entry fee, I had to buy a digital gateway "lifestyle & sports" package and rent their goddamn box to get lo-def Speed. I think it was $100 bucks a month and no Hi-def anything. At least with basic cable I can get 8 or so broadcast channels in Hi-def for no extra charge.

Thait's whutcha geyut fer livin in that theyr big city. Outcheer in the staicks, we still got us that no def package frum the 70's, kind ah grew up wif. We cawl it "Claissic Cayble." All fer fitty bucks. Lots of Junior an' Smoke, but ahm piyussed ah jes caint find me my Hee-Haw no more. You kin geyut dat hi-aind packij fer all you rich folks wi' the home thee-aters, an we got lotsa folks got that satellite fer thayut RedZone football packij, but ah sure aym tickled we still got Claissic Cayble. Aint worth a dam, tho.

Go Cats!!!