http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns14087.html

Welp, you SPEED haters will finally get a chance to see what you've been missing. This sucks. Thank god I will be at MTL so I won't have to suffer through the botched coverage. :mad: I wonder if Jason Priestly will be back, or will they just get Ashley Simpson to call the action?

The idea here is obviously to get more people to see the coverage. Problem is it won't work. With no American (USA) presence in the sport, Jim Bob won't care. Meanwhile real fans like us will have to suffer the pre-school level commentary geared at n00bs.

i didnt read the article. Does that mean that those 4 races will not be shown on speed because CBS has the rights to them here?

at least it's not more NASSCAR.

what he said^

Ungh.
I'm all for the mass coverage so people at least know what the eff Im talking about when I mention JPM or Michael Schumacher. I can only hope they take the time and respect to do it right and get the proper people to call the race. I love Stewart Scott and John Madden but I don't think they are right for this job.

Those races will not be on Speed. :(
And 3 of the 4 will be taped.
Suck.

But the REAL question is: will they be broadcast in HD? If they are, then as far as I'm concerned, it's ok by me that they'll be tape delayed. I usually record everything on the DVR anyway and watch it when I have time.

Network TV is a big deal. Sure it will be dumbed down for many of us, but for the attention, and having people get interested in roadracing, and having sponsors notice roadracing more, it needs it.

As far as no american in the sport.. and not caring, it will still get MUCH more attention than on SPEED. you still up the households that its getting into, which raises the ratings.

Now.. if you would rather F1 still be an exclusive sport for us elitists :D than yea it needs to be on SPEED. But if you hope to gain an american presence, sponsors, etc.. this is a very very good thing.

Jon K
www.seat-time.com

I just want the commentators to be knowledgeable. I really don't want cross over NASCAR guys (not that they are bad) but there are just so many little things to know about the sport that helps. Steve Matchett is amazing at relating what is happening on the track and in the car to lae people. Maybe get JYS back in the booth or Mario A. in there to ad validity to the die hards and flavor to new comers, who are more then welcome.

I'll wait for the 1st showing before passing judgement...

But someone please post a reminder when the time comes, otherwise I'll wake up 4 in the morning and wonder why Speed is still showing NASCAR. :lol:

If I understand correctly, SPEED will handle the practice and qualifying sessions, then turn it over to CBS for the race. I appreciated the positive attitude you guys are showing, hopefully it won't be as lame as ABC's coverage. Hey, maybe it will be fantastic, who knows?

As for an US presence in the sport, I expect that to become a reality in the next few years with Red Bull buying out Jaguar, as they are still doing that driver search. This will make it much easier for them to put that driver in the car now that they own it.

F1 with crappy coverage > no F1...IMO


Not having SPEED, id be happy if they showed the race muted....

I do really hope they get someone knowledgeable, but I can deal.


with two hour-long lifestyle specials to promote Formula 1 in the United States

^^thats from the article. any ideas on what this will be? maybe some red-bull drivers search stuff like they did in the past?


- andrew

Is Ken Squier still under contract w/CBS? Which is more difficult: remembering 40 NASCAR drivers week after week, or the names of 20 guys you've never heard of before? Nevermind - he would botch both of those... :/

hopefully it won't be as lame as ABC's coverage. Hey, maybe it will be fantastic

let's hope it isn't as CRAPTASTIC as the ABC coverage.

more important than all this pointless complaining by "uberfans" is the fact that this stunt will fall completely on it's face if ferrari dominates the living poo out of it again. nobody wants to watch non competitive racing. I would like the see another version of the giles cat and mouse racing. that was racing.

that sucks. guess that's 4 races I won't see.

this is a good point. while the excitement and novelty of F1 on regular tv is enough to carry it's popularity for a while, non-competitiveness will dillute it, especially since it's a furrin country winin all da time.

lets hope they show a lot of the hot furrin babes in tight spandex, that might help :)

more important than all this pointless complaining by "uberfans" is the fact that this stunt will fall completely on it's face if ferrari dominates the living poo out of it again. nobody wants to watch non competitive racing. I would like the see another version of the giles cat and mouse racing. that was racing.

Ungh.
I'm all for the mass coverage so people at least know what the eff Im talking about when I mention JPM or Michael Schumacher. I can only hope they take the time and respect to do it right and get the proper people to call the race. I love Stewart Scott and John Madden but I don't think they are right for this job.


<3 JPM!!! One of my fav drivers!

Please say CBS HD channel...please say CBS HD channel.

...
As for an US presence in the sport, I expect that to become a reality in the next few years with Red Bull buying out Jaguar, as they are still doing that driver search. This will make it much easier for them to put that driver in the car now that they own it.

Scott Speed has done some F1 testing, and general feedback has all been positive. He was a former RBDS winner. I would not be surprised to see him in a Red Bull F1 car in 2006.

This is an interesting mix of events, and not what I would have guessed. $$$ probably has a lot to do with it, and I believe ABC has the rights to the USGP. Montreal makes sense, but I'm a bit surprised at the other three. San Marino, Barcelona, and Nurburgring would not have been my top choices if I was to be covering 3 other F1 races in the US. I would have gone with Spa, Monza, and either Monaco or Silverstone for the publicity factor.

I would have gone with Spa, Monza, and either Monaco or Silverstone for the publicity factor.
You got to it before I could! But I completely agree with you.
Like someone said earlier, Ferrari walks, we can kiss American exitment to the curb for quite awhile. If Scott Speed gets a RB seat in 06 and the car is slow, it will not help the Yankee cause either. We tend to only pull for winners in international comp. on a general basis.

<<The first race to be aired will be the San Marino Grand Prix which will be broadcast on April 24. CBS will then show the events at Barcelona, the Nurburgring and will show the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal live.>>

If the networks are taking notice of Formula One, that is a good thing for many reasons: increased viewership, even accidental, some of which might translate into new fans for the sport; increased exposure, so that as others have mentioned, the word gets out. Both of these can contribute to the sport's increased popularity in this market, which means that we won't have to fret about whether anyone is going to carry the races, as we did a couple of years ago when Speed didn't have an F1 contract.

You can even see that the races make sense. They'll show the Senna thing, hyping Imola, still a great track. Barcelona is another grand facility, and the fans are crazy at the Nurburgring, and Canada. I'm sure that Speed will have rebroadcast rights, so fans of Hobbs and Varsha will still be able to get their fix.

I just don't see anything bad coming of this, particularly if CBS uses the most excellent world feed. Might the announcing not be up the level that truly knowledgeable fans are accustomed to? Sure. But exposure is critical for the race. And if the new rules have the expected effect, the racing should even be close, unless (as everyone fears) Ferrari has some mojo up their sleeves.

Kevin

Odd.. I'm surprised Mr. Murdoch didn't put it on FOX before CBS got a chance. I guess that's just further proof that he's an idiot.


-Matt

good and bad..

Networks use to show F1 and it was pretty much terrible.

The last 2 yrs of SPEED has been great...especially with LIVE broadcast.

I'll wait for the first CBS broadcast before I pass judgement too...they better get a good broadcast team!!!

However might be gooad as CBS F1 will bring F1 to the massees and maybe get that sponsorship needed down the road when an American gets a F1 seat.

They need to record the races in HD with 5.1 channels. At least get .1 channel so we can hear the low frequency noises from the cars that just doesn't come over the current recordings. Like the Super Speedway DVD.
eh, I can dream.

Speed might have rights to show the race a week or two later, I believe they've done this in the last couple years with races that were on network TV?

They will show the race replay that same day....at night

Umm...

Speed in HD. :D:D:D:D

I don't care about the morons talking. I just wanna see teh cars in HD!

~ Miranda

CBS: hire Rahal and Sullivan at the very least...or Mario..........

Its actually a good thing though IMHO. EXPOSURE
Circuit choices were probably a network scheduling thing more than any other explanantion...

Hopefully can still catch Speed sunday night replays..............

BriDrive

Speed channel will show the races at night, read the article people.

Even if the races are boring, it will get people to watch them. This year, even though Ferrari dominated, there were still very interesting races. I think that F1 will be better anyways since all the major changes from last year.