no flag to flag coverage...in north america

[Lee Janotta]

Jim's a well-meaning guy, I've spoken to him, but FOX is leaning on him constantly to push NASCAR and infomercials... Speed TV really needs to get a younger fanbase interested, though... Young males make the 2 AM timeslot useable for WRC, MotoGP, import shows, and other revenue creators... Advertisers love that demographic!

If they push it properly, rallying could surpass everything except NASCAR here. It's just _so_ damn cool! There was a good article in Autoweek last month about how WRC drivers are amazed by how recognizable they've become in the US, and how eager the manufacturers (even Citroen and Peugeot) are to have a North American round.

I still say we need a strong continental championship run by IMSA, though, to truly capitalize on the growth.

[LouisTheShark]

Sadly, the cost of bringing the extra hours as in 2001 cannot be offset by advertising revenue. Apparently, there are several issues:

1. The French broadcaster charges the same price per hour. No discount for taking the whole broadcast and no discount for night time hours.

2. SpeedTV still has to provide production crews in France and in the U.S. By breaking up the first two segments by 8 hours, they can use the same crew again the next day.

[Liz]

Good thing they're not a real network then; can you imagine them showing only the first hour and the last half hour of "Gone with the Wind" and filling the time in between with The Bowflex Hour? Surely they could make some kind of arrangement for the most important race in the world! What do they do in other countries?

[paul-collins]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I was just perusing Grand Am's site, and saw that Speed is supposedly broadcasting a tape-delay of GA's "Grand American 400" Fontana race at 9pm on the 15th of June.

edited to say: Jeez, I can't read a calendar. That's after the real race - the 15th is Sunday.

[Liz]

Now that is what I call Grand Am Suicide. Showing that race after the greatest race in the world, so people can compare them?

[LouisTheShark]

"Now that is what I call Grand Am Suicide. Showing that race after the greatest race in the world, so people can compare them?"

After a boring 24 hour parade it will be good to see a real race! I might watch SpeedTV that day afterall.

[Tim Northcutt]

You can watch a "real race" with 3rd graders running around a playground, too, Louis, and you can even see it "live" -- without the tape delay....

Doesn't mean that it will be fast, though, does it????

[paul-collins]

Originally posted by LouisTheShark
babble babble babble

[Tim Northcutt]

To Lee on the WRC:

My son is into it big time (he's 17), but to be honest, it does less than zero for me...

I'm just not into watching hyped up four-bangers that sound like electric blenders on steroids play "Beat the Clock" on goat paths in Albania....

Maybe it is just me, but racing involves competing side-by-side with other cars in the same conditions...In WRC, the first two or three guys sweep the road of debris for everyone else who follows...

If I'm going to watch cars run on the dirt, I'll take open-wheeled sprinters or midgets any day of the week..

1. They race against each other (not the clock) and

2. You can see the entire race if you attend, not one small stretch where cars go by one at a time...

But I digress...sorry to all others

[ZXKawboy]

Right...

As an SCCA rally driver (but not national champ'ship by any stretch) it does my heart good to see that us gravel-grinders get at least *some* recognition for the sport we take part in.

Tim, trust me. If you took part in even *one* off road rally, you'd understand the car control that those WRC guys have to have in order to simply keep them pointed in the right direct, much less traveling at *speed*.

Yes, road-racing is great stuff to watch, as it's a contest to see who's got the best car *in a group* of cars, but rallies are..well...different. It's a contest to see what combo (car/driver/co-driver) can go the fastest over *real* road conditions and do it under a deadline.

Trust me. 80 mph sideways on a wet gravel road is guaranteed to pucker your sphincter.

Anywhoo...on with the normally scheduled discussion now...sorry to rant and rave, all....

[Tim Northcutt]

I have the utmost respect for the drivers in WRC -- Anybody who can charge down goat paths at the speeds they run on snow, gravel, rain, mud, etc., without kikking themselves has enormous talent...it is the only reason why I watch it with my son....

However, racing a clock, as opposed to other cars, just isn't my thing...

I'm not trashing WRC....it's just not for me when it comes to racing, and I watch just about everything on four wheels -- IRL, CART, F-1, Midgets & Sprinters, NASCAR on "speedways"

[ZXKawboy]

Understood. My apologies, Mr. Northcutt. I thought, at first, that you were bashing rally competition. I was wrong (thankfully)

Laters, all

[paul-collins]

Originally posted by paul-collins
I was just perusing Grand Am's site, and saw that Speed is supposedly broadcasting a tape-delay of GA's "Grand American 400" Fontana race at 9pm on the 15th of June.

Don't know why, but this has now changed. Speed is no longer showing a Grand Am race the same weekend as Le Mans.

Has anyone here tried to contact Speed recently about their schedule?

[danhx]

Originally posted by paul-collins
Speed TV has three segments this year:

Time
Le Mans-----------EDT------------PDT
15:30-22:30|--|09:30-16:30|--|06:30-13:30 The Start
06:30-10:00|--|00:30-04:00|--|21:30-01:00 Overnight Summary
13:00-16:30|--|07:00-10:30|--|04:00-07:30 The Finish

Between segments 1 and 2 they have CART qualifying, WRC Acropolis Leg 1, Mundial, Speed News, and the Toyota Atlantic race. (I'd say they could drop the WRC leg 1 'cause they replay it on Sunday, and reschedule the Atlantics - I've already pointed that out to them)

Between segments 2 and 3 they're showing infomercials. I've complained rather more bitterly to them about that one.

Fox has not responded to my emails of complaint.

I miss the 25 hour coverage from last year already.

They only had partial coverage last year too, and it was a similar schedule to what you described above. It's appauling to me that FOX can be so enchanted with NASCAR that they would spurn those that subscribed to Speed from the beginning, those fans of real racing that want to see more than stock cars. In 2000 and 2001 I stayed up the entire night watching the race, but now i'm unable to do that. It irks me to no end that a corporate entity will shun its viewers to such an extent as to hack apart the coverage of one of the world's most significant races. Oh well, i guess some people just don't have the respect for motorsport that we do.

[danhx]

Originally posted by LouisTheShark
"Now that is what I call Grand Am Suicide. Showing that race after the greatest race in the world, so people can compare them?"

After a boring 24 hour parade it will be good to see a real race! I might watch SpeedTV that day afterall.

No need to watch Speed that day if you're looking for grand-am...NASCAR coverage should start on FOX shortly after noon

[paul-collins]

Originally posted by danhx
They only had partial coverage last year too, and it was a similar schedule to what you described above.

I think I've confused you, dan - the schedule you quoted above was, in fact, the 2002 coverage (check the date of the original post). I resurrected the thread to show that this year's schedule was similar to last's, with the exception being that this year they have to accommodate F1 qually as well as CART's.

[Fab]

What about the LE MAns cover on Eurosport ? Any news ?