The Death Of "SPEED" As We've Known It?

[Al K]

Saw this on FB,and as if my day wasn't already shitty enough(though I did get my rods sent out for re-sizing and bushings added),I read this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/fox-sports-1-espn-24-hour-sports-network_n_2809010.html

Read the article;as we know,Fox took over Speed Channel,turned it into "SPEED" and IMHO,F@#$%D it up royally:angry1::angry9::icon_axe::icon_hang:. It's more of a NASCAR shill along with such nonsense as "Pimp My Ride","Unique Whips","Wrecked" and other visual drivel. I remember Speed Channel;I remember old school racing,"Legends of Motorsport",another show on vintage motocross riders(the name of which eludes me-help me out folks) and so much other cool shizz.

So;Fox wants to compete with ESPN? Fine;do it on another separate channel. WTF;I'm so effing pissed right now I can barely type this. What's next,"Real Housewives of Mooresville"? Affirmation of Gordon's sexual orientation? More **** about putting Double Deuces on your Hooptie? I don't take anti-depressants,am trying to quit smoking and I don't f@#$%&#g NEED to see this crap!!!!!!!!!

I just came from my local college that I attended years ago to request some transcripts,found a couple of grade discrepancies and the omission of a class I know I took(Physics II-in which I received an "A"). I also drove through my old hometown of Flint,which is a war zone of closed buildings and pawn shops and desolation and utter effing despair. None of which has anything to do with the above;it just got me more depressed and angry than I already was to read that.

What do we do? Contact Fox and ask them why they placed their collective heads up their collective asses in making this "decision"? I doubt that it would do much good;I'm sure this decision was made a while ago.

Gentlemen;your thoughts?

 

[cr8crshr]

Only thought I have is I think maybe it's time for you to leave Michigan for better climes. You're letting these small things really overtake you and pushing that BP to the Moon. It ain't nothin' but a thing....:toothy12:

 

[satman72]

That sucks! I remember when we first got SPEED around 20yrs ago here in Canada. What a great channel it was for a car nut like myself. Great historic pieces, great stuff that I could & did watch for hours.

Oh well, I guess there's the internet nowadays.

 

[Budnicks]

I'm sure it's just big corporate decisions & money to be made, it's the rot of all evils, forces un-needed/un-wanted changes... I've noticed a few program changes too... But I'll continue to watch SPEED over any of the many, other stupid idiotic main stream network crap channels, that aren't either sports, racing, wildlife, outdoor, history, discovery, military, non-biased actual news etc.... I doubt contacting them will do anything at all either.... Al K, I know this probably doesn't help your frustrations or mood any, probably adds to it...LOL... don't fell alone, it's what's happening all over the country now, so many once thriving neighborhoods & cities are really struggling now, because of what type of leaders & failed policies/who's running this stuff in DC & many other large or small cities even, like Detroit on the verge of bankruptcy for example, with less than 1/2 of it's population & less than 1/2 of it's jobs & revenue now... & without me turning this into a total political rant, I'll just leave it at that...LOL.... keep your chin up...

 

[furyus]

Yeah, don't get too upset. That channel has sucked since it went to it's current format. I only watch it occasionally for Chop Cut and Rebuild. I don't like Nascar. It puts me to sleep. I hate looking at a bunch of guys sitting at a desk yakking about Nascar. So I gave up long ago. Networks don't understand what car people want to see. They think we want the automotive equivalent of all the other crap they have on. I think that's why car channels fail. Velocity seems to have given up the idea of an automotive channel without really trying. I say move down to Florida where there's a cruise night 3 times a week and it only stops when it's too hot or cold. Then you won't have time to watch Speed.

 

[Al K]

Only thought I have is I think maybe it's time for you to leave Michigan for better climes. You're letting these small things really overtake you and pushing that BP to the Moon. It ain't nothin' but a thing....:toothy12:

Well;being underwater on the mortgage prevents a move,and I don't want to seem like a whiner. It's just reading that article,after the other events of the day caused me to rant. Small things,yes;but I've got more serious issues in my life as it concerns my daughter,my grandkids and the loss of close to 20 Grr in the last year that are NOT small things. Not bustin' on you,bud,but there's more to the overall story. I just was seriously bummed that Speed,as kind of screwed up as it is,could go the way of the former Speed Channel-which I loved!

You know,the thing is-I love Michigan! The only other places in this country(and I've been to all but about 10 states) where I'd go would be New Mexico-the Land of Enchantment,indeed-and the New England area. Not a knock on other states,but if I could move,those would be my choices.

Oh,this was,and should remain,a rant about Speed,not my personal issues-though I truly appreciate the kind words. Thanks,my Mopar brethren! -Al

 

[Budnicks]

Not bustin' on you, bud, but there's more to the overall story. I just was seriously bummed that Speed, as kind of screwed up as it is, could go the way of the former Speed Channel-which I loved!
Oh, this was, and should remain, a rant about Speed, not my personal issues-though I truly appreciate the kind words. Thanks, my Mopar brethren! -Al

It's all good here Al, I completely understand.... & your welcome...LOL...

 

[Bruzilla]

When did Fox take over Speed because I've thought Speed has sucked for a long time. Nothing against bikes, or indy cars, or folks who think racing-based reality shows are cool (I don't), but there hasn't been a lot of good stuff for car guys on Speed for years.

I like Velocity a lot better as they've taken the best of Speed and combined it. A lot of the shows are a year or so old, but if you haven't been watching Speed who notices? My only problem with Velocity is they keep showing a lot of filler programming since they aren't obsessed with providing hours of NASCAR, Indycar, and motorcycle racing footage.

 

[Al K]

Bru-;I don't get Velocity here(I'm with Charter) so that's a bummer. I've heard,here and through others that it's pretty good-at times,as you've stated-and it would be nice to see some of the obscure shows that Speed Channel had in their early years get resurrected.

I know,I know!!! Let's start our OWN channel! Of course it would be Mopar-heavy,but we could give the other guys a minute or three-it's only fair,right?

Right?

Heck,we could pull Pass Time over,and C-C-R,Car Crazy and maybe even resurrect a "Pinks" type of show-without the drama! Bring back the old car-oriented movies like S-C used to show. Have a half-hour(or more) of hot babes washing and waxing fine Pentastars for a good time. Find a way to include some aviation stuff(way-cool things like old prop fighters,air races and even early jets). Throw in a bit of shooting sports for grins once in a while. And...definitely cover things like the Lucas Oil Series better,and the NMCA,ADRL and some good ol' southern-style grudge racing. I'd also include the AMA GNC and vintage dirt-track bike events. And,and...

OK;it's a dream. One CAN dream once in a while,right?

 

[sublimegtx]

You know,the thing is-I love Michigan! The only other places in this country(and I've been to all but about 10 states) where I'd go would be New Mexico-the Land of Enchantment,indeed-and the New England area. Not a knock on other states,but if I could move,those would be my choices.

You don't really want to come to Taxachusetts, I'm dying to get outta here. If you don't mind the snow the sales tax free, Live Free or Die state (NH) is pretty nice. I want warmth and sun year round.

 

[Budnicks]

Southern Utah is nice too

 

[cr8crshr]

It's all good here Al, I completely understand.... & your welcome...LOL...

Me too. I wasn't tryin' to bust your chops. I know from how speaketh by being under H2O. Caused me a BK last year. I am in full agreement though about New Mexico...Great Place. You got friends here if you need us...cr8crshr/Tuck

 

[67 coronet]

Bru-;I don't get Velocity here(I'm with Charter) so that's a bummer. I've heard,here and through others that it's pretty good-at times,as you've stated-and it would be nice to see some of the obscure shows that Speed Channel had in their early years get resurrected.

I know,I know!!! Let's start our OWN channel! Of course it would be Mopar-heavy,but we could give the other guys a minute or three-it's only fair,right?

Right?

Heck,we could pull Pass Time over,and C-C-R,Car Crazy and maybe even resurrect a "Pinks" type of show-without the drama! Bring back the old car-oriented movies like S-C used to show. Have a half-hour(or more) of hot babes washing and waxing fine Pentastars for a good time. Find a way to include some aviation stuff(way-cool things like old prop fighters,air races and even early jets). Throw in a bit of shooting sports for grins once in a while. And...definitely cover things like the Lucas Oil Series better,and the NMCA,ADRL and some good ol' southern-style grudge racing. I'd also include the AMA GNC and vintage dirt-track bike events. And,and...

OK;it's a dream. One CAN dream once in a while,right?

what a great idea.i think a network needs to pick you up as a programer al.i feel ya on those problems as well.the nascar channel(also known as speed channel)has sucked bad for some time now.what kind of tv can we watch when the best car shows are the power block.makes me wanna stab myself in the eye.

 

[alsant]

I understand but they have been killing it for along time now. Try velocity it will help w/your fix alittle .

 

[roadrunnerman]

I remember watching Speed Channel years ago when they used to show the vintage nascar races When they used REAL Detroit iron to race. Don't watch a whole lot of speed or velocity unless i'm channel surfing and see something that catches my eye.

 

[69redrunner]

As I was reading the replies I was thinking "At least we still have Velocity" .... then I got to your post about not being able to get Velocity.....That sucks.
Call your provider and DEMAND the VELOCITY channel

 

[tallhair]

I'm with charter too and i'm pissed that i don't get velocity .. especially when channel surfing and see stuff i'd like to watch on there .. usually a sat/sun morning. I mainly program my own content on the internet via downloads, youtube, etc.

 

[69Coronetrt]

....DEMAND the VELOCITY channel

And we wonder why CATV and satellite bills go up.....Velocity is a premium HD service and not cheap.

I work for a cable provider and work with contracts.
This format change was announced last year.
Speed has been a back burner channel for Fox for about a year.

Fox1 will be the new national sports channel to compete with ESPN and compliment the Fox regional Sports Networks (Fox Sports Midwest, North, South, ETC)
It will carry MLB and College BB (they are negotiating with the Big East BB teams).
Fox carries the Pac12, Big 12 and Conference USA football. (FB games carried on FX this year will probably migrate to Fox1).

Here's the press release: http://msn.foxsports.com/other/stor...13?hq_e=el&hq_m=436239&hq_l=6&hq_v=fcbc95cfb0

We're currently in negotiations with Fox Networks (FX, Speed, National Geo, Fox College Sports and a couple more) The Fox Network channels are a different division from Fox Business and Fox News. They are sold and serviced as separate entities under the Fox umbrella.

Here's what I expect to happen...carriers that do not carry Speed (Fox1) will be forced to carry them on the same tier, and probably adjacent, to ESPN (Do you think your line up is random? Networks force us to carry channels next to certain channels and tell us on what channel they will be) and the price per subscriber, that means you, will go up about $1.00 more per month for the channel.

Want some other happy news? The Turner Networks contract is done too. My (YOUR) price for TBS went up over 50% with their new contract. TNT went up about 30%. CNN will go up 66% over the next three years.

 

[Al K]

Thanks for that input,bud. A lot of info I'm sure many of us-myself included-were not aware of. Does explain a lot. It's appreciated.

 

[kdtjb]

O.K.