Listers:
I saw a lone message on the digest about a Triumphs at Sebring Legends of
Motorsport episode, so I thought I'd share a nugget of information that
some listers may not know about:
Speedvision will cease to exist on Feb 11, so get your viewing in now. The
reason they are running the old ads again (as they did in their early days)
is that they don't have the same new program and new advertiser
count. That's also why they have a ton of infomercials on now too. Fox
Sports, who paid NASCAR huge money to broadcast their events, bought
Speedvision from its founder late last year for $100 million, moved the
offices to Charlotte NC from Stamford CT, will rename it Speed Channel (you
can see the ads now on Speedvision and during the Super Bowl..here's a
hint, you don't see any F1 in them) and will eventually be all NASCAR. You
may have noticed that a couple Fox Sports NASCAR shows are already running
on Speedvision.
There are many conjectures of what will happen, but it seems that out the
gate, a big block of time will be devoted to NASCAR (right now, they are
saying 3PM to Midnight). As they get it up and running, it seems it will
eventually go all NASCAR (based on what the execs are saying in the local
Charlotte press). However, the new exec team says they will still carry
F1, World Rally, LeMans etc. Hmmmmmm......not sure how that's possible.
Since they are not really showing a lot of new programs and just re-running
what they own now, they are running a lot of Legends of Motorsports. Last
week, I recorded the History of Austin and the History of Rover (both from
the 1950s). They also have one with TR4s at Le Mans (the twin cam
prototypes). TIVO is very helpful here.
Whatever your opinion of NASCAR, the move makes business sense for Fox but
is painful for those of us Speedvision junkies who like to watch Formula 1
live, World Rally, SCCA Runoffs and Vintage Racing....you just can't get
them anywhere else on TV in the US. I guess my wife will be happy to get
the TV back (I installed Direct TV in '97 just to watch F1 live) but, I,
for one, will be a little sadder on Feb 11.
William Whitmoyer
National Sales Manager
Samsonite Consumer Electronics
Division of Photoco Inc.
T: 800-955-5505/ 440-996-0880
F: 800-321-1329/ 440-996-0892
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