SPEED to change format

[Daveroo]

according to an artical on jayski.com,from the Charrlotte observer,Fox is going to rebrand (rename?) SPEED to "Fox Sports 1" ,they say they will keep automotive content,they will add NFL and major league baseball and other "big sports"...

so much for racing i guess....seems fox doesnt believe racing is a real sport after all..

[Terry]

I'm afraid it will be like ESPN2 carrying NHRA. It's extremely rare for an NHRA event to start on time. We will miss the start of races on a regular basis.

[Daveroo]

yeah...last yeah most of the nationwide races were "late" on ESPN2....had to watch the pre-race on one of the ESPN news channels,and i remember atleast one race that was a good 20 laps in before the basketball game was over..

[Panther_99FS]

I hope not!
I like how SPEED covers some of the more "obscure" forms of racing....

[stansdds]

This bites! I loved the fact that any time of the day or night you could watch SPEED and see programming related to racing or vehicles in general. Turning into an ESPN clone means less racing and more ball playing. I have nothing against other sports, I enjoy them too, but SPEED became the defacto home of racing sports.

[Terry]

Fox Sports is expected to announce this month its plans for Charlotte-based Speed channel.While motorsports will continue to be a big chunk of programming, the company is likely to retire the Speed name late this summer and replace it with a channel called Fox Sports 1.
This would provide Fox a platform to broaden the channel’s focus into other sports, including content drawn from the network’s NFL and Major League Baseball contracts.
It is not clear what the impact will be on Speed’s modern production hub at Harris Boulevard and Interstate 85, but it will probably grow. A broader variety of programming should result in more production from the center.
Already, the largest studio at Speed’s Charlotte headquarters is undergoing a renovation, presumably as an anchor desk for the Sports 1 network. Speed has 75,000 square feet of space on Harris Boulevard, a third of which has not yet been built out.
Speed is one of Fox’s most widely distributed channels, available in more than 80 million homes in North America. By pushing into general sports programming, it positions Fox as a competitor to ESPN’s various channels, including the ESPN-U brand, based in Ballantyne.
Sports channels have been exploding across the dial in recent years, though none can match ESPN’s reach. Both NBC and CBS have developed tiers and are bidding aggressively on contracts, thus driving prices up. ESPN is owned by Disney, which also owns ABC.
One thing I believe this means for the NCAA is that previously overlooked sports will suddenly become popular just to fill schedules for the sports nets. College baseball, maybe even wrestling, may get into the bidding for rights.
One of Fox’s lesser sports channels, Fuel, may be headed for a rebranding as Fox Sports 2. Fox’s soccer channel, which has never really caught on in the U.S., could donate some programming to the sports channels and become an entertainment channel.

Whatever happens, Fox can be expected to continue using Charlotte as its major NASCAR hub, with motorsports contracts running years into the future.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/03/01/3884099/mark-washburn-speed-channel-rebranding.html#storylink=cpy

[Thoe6969]

There goes another channel down the tubes. I watch it for the dirt races mainly,and the hotrod building shows,and some nascar stuff.The only sports I watch has cars or motorcycles in them, Damn shame.

[Naismith]

[QUOTE=Daveroo;788059]they will add NFL and major league baseball QUOTE]

Oooh Baseball, the excitement is tangible, where I was raised it's called rounders and played by girls.
I'll get my hat. LOL