Bye Bye SpeedTV...

[SteveG]

From the Huffington Post Today...

"The Associated Press has learned that Formula One will end its 17-year relationship with the cable channel Speed at the end of the season."
...
"The departure of F1 comes as Speed parent company Fox moves closer to rebranding the motorsports network as all-sports carrying FOX Sports 1"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-w...d-formula-one/

From Jayski last week...

"[FONT=Arial]UPDATE: The curveball in a new FOX deal is the impact the network's change of SPEED into Fox Sports One, a new all sports channel that will carry Major League Baseball, college football and basketball and other sports in addition to NASCAR programming. Hoping to keep up with the likes of the ABC/ESPN, NBC/NBC Sports Network as well as CBS/CBS Sports Network pairings, FOX plans to flip the current motorsports and automotive channel into its own general sports cable network."

[/FONT]http://www.jayski.com/pages/media.htm

Not that SpeedTV has been all that good recently, I hope we're not going back to tape delayed, edited Wide World of Sports type of racing coverage on TV.

[terryeaton]

No need to keep a speed subscription then. What a stupid move.

[dc]

Aaaaaaaand, there goes the last reason to keep paying the ridiculous prices of cable TV.

[Paul LeCain]

OK, SpeedTV is where it won't be.

Any news on where F1 will be?

[Matt King]

If NBC gets it, I hope they air it on NBC Sports network, which I get free through my cable. I dropped SPEED a year ago and don't miss it at all. Been watching F1 all year through other means and even though it isn't as convenient, it beats paying the bill for SPEED.

[Stan Clayton]

Pay-per-view via teh intarwebs, Bernie!

Dropped DirecTV in the summer of '11 and still miss not seeing F1 races (tho nothing else from the 900 channels I never watched...), but I'd subscribe to an F1 internet channel.

[dc]

Pay-per-view via teh intarwebs, Bernie!

Dropped DirecTV in the summer of '11 and still miss not seeing F1 races (tho nothing else from the 900 channels I never watched...), but I'd subscribe to an F1 internet channel.

This.


We've been talking about dropping cable just for financial reasons, not to mention that we don't watch too much of anything anymore. Most of what we DO watch can be fond on the web anyway, so it's pointless to continue to drop so much money on cable TV for so little in return.

[John Merriman]

Stan, "F1 Internet channel"..? Tell us more. Is there live GP coverage?....preferably with commentary in English..... :-)

But wait guys: SPEED had 21 hours of LeMans coverage, European and Australian SuperCar V8s, F1 Debrief....geez...a whole lot of good stuff. Maybe it will all be picked up by some other channel.......seems like it would make sense.

[Stan Clayton]

Stan, "F1 Internet channel"..? Tell us more. Is there live GP coverage?....preferably with commentary in English..... :-)

John, there is no current "F1 internet channel", as the commercial rights to F1 races have been under long-term TV contracts virtually everywhere on Earth for years. With Speed dropping their long relationship with F1 this creates a unique opportunity for those of us in the USA. Sorry, our Canadian friends would be left out.

How it would work is simple. They feed the video signal into a bank of internet servers, which then stream the video on demand or live-only, depending on how they set it up. Interested viewers subscribe with a credit card just as you do with Netflix or Amazon video, and log in to watch practice, qually and the race. Watch it on your laptop screen or pipe it to your big-screen TV...whatever.

The only real question is...has Bernie already signed another cable provider, or is he looking at newer technology? Either way, I am confident we'll find out soon.

[webby459]

FYI, the V8 supercar races are available on youtube, all but the last round at Bathurst. Full race coverage. The Bathurst top 10 shootout is available now. If more of this were available I'd cancel the cable. I can stream youtube through a Blueray player.

[Stan Clayton]

We've been talking about dropping cable just for financial reasons, not to mention that we don't watch too much of anything anymore. Most of what we DO watch can be fond on the web anyway, so it's pointless to continue to drop so much money on cable TV for so little in return.

Yep, same with us. $75/mo to watch one or two races just wasn't worth it. The land line is next. We recently went 10 days with the phone never being used...why am I dropping $51/mo for it?

[Keith Carter]

The land line is next. We recently went 10 days with the phone never being used...why am I dropping $51/mo for it?

http://www.ooma.com/


I pay $4 a month for taxes and 911. Free long distance, free caller-ID, etc... It's $40 to have your exiting number ported over though. You just need an internet pipe that will support it. It works great with at least an 8Meg connection.

[Canadian Formula 3 Championship]

...that's the worst news that I've heard in a long time! Bring back ESPN's SpeedWorld and get Bisignano off the Colorado slopes!...better yet, spinoff into the old SpeedVision and bring Peter Windsor back into the fold.

[Keith Carter]

Please tell me they keep Hobbs, Varsha, and Matchett wherever F1 coverage goes!

[KodaBear]

This may just be the reason I've been looking for to finally drop directv. Here's to f1 ending up on a network or Internet other non-cable/dish.

[Stan Clayton]

http://www.ooma.com/

I pay $4 a month for taxes and 911. Free long distance, free caller-ID, etc... It's $40 to have your exiting number ported over though. You just need an internet pipe that will support it. It works great with at least an 8Meg connection.

Thanks...yeah, I have good high-speed and that may way be the way to go.

[Gary_T]

Sorry, our Canadian friends would be left out.

Not at all, Speed isn't allowed to broadcast F1 in Canada, TSN has the rights, so shouldn't matter to us at all. Speed is blacked out for any sessions TSN is playing.

I'd prefer an internet version as you mention though!

I still like speed for the other racing, but there just isn't enough of it on. If they add stick and ball sports, I'll drop it.

[Stan Clayton]

Not at all, Speed isn't allowed to broadcast F1 in Canada, TSN has the rights, so shouldn't matter to us at all. Speed is blacked out for any sessions TSN is playing.

I'd prefer an internet version as you mention though!

Exactly.

[Matt King]

Looks official now:

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/artic...rtner-in-2013/

But no confirmation on the new broadcaster yet. I hope whoever does get it offers an internet option, although that is still likely to be tied to a cable or dish service provider, like SPEED has now for some other series it covers.

MotoGP offers live video packages directly through its own website. You can purchase a plan that includes all practice, qualifying and race sessions for about $130/year. I would hope that F1 eventually follows suit.

[Rick Kean]

Perhaps Leigh Diffey, in lieu of Bob Varsha. Bob's ...,...,... commentary is best preserved for Barrett-Jackson and Mecom auction coverage; good riddance.

Though without Speed's Live F1 coverage, I'll have to conduct a channel surfing expedition to replace such a rich vein of Little Miss QuiBids and Montel's Money Mutual commercials...

I'm feeling conflicted


Rick

[dc]

Peter Windsor is reporting that F1 will be on NBC Sports in the future. I hope they get the whole crew to do the broadcasts.

Will Buxton found out about it on Twitter, like many of us.

[KenT]

I hope they continue the coverage of practice and qualifying. They show qualifying of Indycar so there is hope.

[Canadian Formula 3 Championship]

Not at all, Speed isn't allowed to broadcast F1 in Canada, TSN has the rights, so shouldn't matter to us at all. Speed is blacked out for any sessions TSN is playing.

Actually Speed is not blacked out here in Canada completely, it is only for the live Race and live Qualifying coverage, but not for the live Free Practice Session 2 which I watched live here last night in Montreal.

And even after the live TSN coverage is over, if Speed does a later re-broadcast, (which they used to all the time but have stopped for some dumb reason!) then their Race re-broadcast is not blacked out here.

I should also input that TSN's F1 coverage is horrendously terrible! They only pay to BBC for shortened time and they don't have their own pre-show, post-show, sometimes don't show the podium celebration, and never show post-race interviews.

TSN's coverage is by far the worst! that I've ever seen anywhere in watching Formula 1 in other markets. If a major broadcast network can't even say "We'll be back after these messages" with a lead out instead of cutting directly to commercials in the middle of a commentators sentence, then they aren't worthy enough to broadcast Formula 1.

[Chris Elwell]

Lots of stuff can be found on Youtube. I've found entire Indy car races and Le Mans coverage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QiAY...eature=related

ALMS race at Baltimore. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3riGH...eature=related

It's usually pretty easy to find the British broadcasts of F1 races to download with torrents.

[Mike Scanlan]

I don't know........2 US GP's next season..........this just seems to have smell of Bernie negotiating like Bernie and holding the US market hostage Let's hope he's not overestimating the potential US interest in F1.

[ric baribeault]

Maybe you guys will come over to the dark side now. MotoGP....the best racing on television...or the web apparently starting next year. Speed has become dominately NASCRAP so no loss for me other than the unfortunate timing of this being, up until now, the most interesting F1 season in years. The cars are still ugly, surpassed in ugliness only by the current indycar and the pile of crap sitting in Len's garage.

[azjc]

Please tell me they keep Hobbs, Varsha, and Matchett wherever F1 coverage goes!

Personaly... I can do without Varsha, others that fill in for him are much more qualified and entertaining.

[dc]

Maybe you guys will come over to the dark side now. MotoGP....the best racing on television...or the web apparently starting next year. Speed has become dominately NASCRAP so no loss for me other than the unfortunate timing of this being, up until now, the most interesting F1 season in years. The cars are still ugly, surpassed in ugliness only by the current indycar and the pile of crap sitting in Len's garage.

But with SPEED now being morphed into a stick & ball + NASCAR sports channel, I'd be surprised to see MotoGP (and the way more interesting Moto2) continue on the new iteration of the network.

[Allen_W]

Pay-per-view via teh intarwebs, Bernie!

Dropped DirecTV in the summer of '11 and still miss not seeing F1 races (tho nothing else from the 900 channels I never watched...), but I'd subscribe to an F1 internet channel.

Sky coverage is excellent, superior in every way. It would be nice if that became available via the little thing that Al Gore invented.

[Lotus7]

... With Speed dropping their long relationship with F1 this creates a unique opportunity for those of us in the USA. Sorry, our Canadian friends would be left out....

not at all, actually, Canadians get first-class F1 coverage on TSN and RDS as part of their basic cable package.

[Matt King]

Sky coverage is excellent, superior in every way. It would be nice if that became available via the little thing that Al Gore invented.

It is if you are willing to jump through some hoops. I've watched every F1 race this season on Sky via a bootlegged live streaming feed through VIPbox, including qualifying from Korea this morning. If a broadcaster like SPEED or NBC would make that available on demand without a bunch of annoying pop up spam ads for a reasonable price, I'd even be willing to pay for a season subscription. The only thing really standing in the way of that is Bernie and his national broadcast rights deals.

[flat tappet]

But with SPEED now being morphed into a stick & ball + NASCAR sports channel, I'd be surprised to see MotoGP (and the way more interesting Moto2) continue on the new iteration of the network.

Perhaps no more Rolex,Continental,Aussie V8 series aand other stuff, as well Doug.

[Rick Kean]

On tonight's

• 8:00PM ET
• Monterey Motorsports Reunion

I viewed, floating in the upper righthand screen corner:

Fox Sports
Speed

Lefthand turns only, shown here

Rick

[Rick Kirchner]

let's hope that it's a great opportunity for a couple of guys (like the ones that started the Speed Channel) to grab up the rights to all the cool stuff (F1, Indycar, Rally, Dakar, old indy re-runs, old F1 re-runs, decent racing movies- you get the idea) and launch a channel with the content that started it all. Let FOX keep NASCRAP, pinks, and all the other cheap ass dreck they bought to fill in time for that demographic.

[JohnPaul]

But with SPEED now being morphed into a stick & ball + NASCAR sports channel, I'd be surprised to see MotoGP (and the way more interesting Moto2) continue on the new iteration of the network.

exactly what I was thinking. How about AMA and WSB??? I'm not happy at all. I guess motorsports is just not on this country's radar (except Nascar). I don't get it, like the old saying goes: racing is a sport everything else is just a game.....

[Canadian Formula 3 Championship]

let's hope that it's a great opportunity for a couple of guys (like the ones that started the Speed Channel) to grab up the rights to all the cool stuff (F1, Indycar, Rally, Dakar, old indy re-runs, old F1 re-runs, decent racing movies- you get the idea) and launch a channel with the content that started it all. Let FOX keep NASCRAP, pinks, and all the other cheap ass dreck they bought to fill in time for that demographic.

my thoughts exactly! restart SpeedVision from scratch and bring in all the great racing content which some we have, but most we don't even get. So many great races going on in Europe and Asia which we're not privy of.

[DB4 Tim]

...and here we go

NBC Sports Group is the new home for Formula 1 in the U.S. from 2013. A four-year contract next year will see four races on NBC and the remainder will be on NBCSN, the same network that is the cable home for the IZOD IndyCar Series. Confirmation of NBC's decision came to the Associated Press Sunday afternoon, followed later by a tweet from the NBCSN account that read, “We are very excited to announce our partnership with Formula One Racing! Stay tuned for more details.”
The plan is for all races to be live on air, with live streaming also planned for the 20-race schedule. More than 100 hours of programming are expected.
The AP report said the four NBC races for 2013 are the Canadian Grand Prix June 9, then the final three races of the season at Abu Dhabi, Austin and Brazil in November. The inaugural Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial is scheduled for June 16, the same date as the U.S. Open golf final round, also an NBC property.
NBC will be a busy network in the offseason as it relates to racing properties. The network has not yet made a decision on who will replace Bob Jenkins as IndyCar's lap-by-lap announcer, while it remains to be seen whether any of the SPEED F1 on-air talent will be able to join on NBC.
It appears four F1 races – Malaysia, China, Belgium, Korea – will serve as lead-ins to IndyCar races – St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Sonoma and Houston. Those occur on March 24, April 14, Aug. 25 and Oct. 6, respectively.

[Speed Sport Engineering]

I wonder what happens to the AMA Supercross this coming season? I always enjoyed watching the live SX events on speed. I thought they did a great job with it. I really hate to see that go!

[DB4 Tim]

My issue with speed, it really has turned into the NASCAR network ....

[ric baribeault]

Doug, i completely agree with the possible exception of the American races. however, their webcast is more than adequate for a nominal yearly fee