What's the website for the Streaming coverage?

PainterDude - 19 May 2008 11:47 PM

I am happy for all we get. Thank you SPEED for tossing us Race Fans a bone every so often.

Thank you for tossing us a bone??? I got left on the line during Despain's converstaion with Humpy Wheeler during the last WindTunnel, but what I wanted to say to Humpy was, despite everyone around NASCAR wanting to line his or her pockets with cash and working private agendas, I appreciate that Humpy was running a business (Lowe's Motor Speedway, for one) but I honestly think that his agenda was "what is good for the fan is good for the sport." "Thank you Speed" ignores the simple reality that it is the viewer that makes ANY programming possible: The sponsors are only there (whether it's ads or entire programs) because the audience is watching. If you want to "thank" someone, send a note to a sponsor once in a while, for paying to put the show on the air. We get LeMans coverage when Speed can't find anything else that pays more money, and the fans be damned. If Speed thought it would make more money with yet another endless telethon of Hicks Race For Pinks, they'd do it.

That brings up the bigger question of why America's leading technology and industry firms spend millions on sponsoring F1 teams without demanding -- as every other country's sponsors do -- that they put an American driver in the seat . . . or even run a U.S. G.P.! If you want to whine about why everyone's going broke except NASCAR, or why Speed runs motorsports dreck most of the time (we couldn't see German touring cars on some evening during the week?), complain to sponsor who spend their greenbacks oversears and ignore racing in America.

"complain to sponsor who spend their greenbacks oversears and ignore racing in America."

Maybe they are spending their greenbacks oversees because their target market audience is oversees? You really think that US companies are dumb enough to spend money on F1 for the American market? US companies that are involved in F1 or other oversees racing programs are there because the marketing budget is not a US/NA budget.

louistheshark - 03 June 2008 09:25 AM

"complain to sponsor who spend their greenbacks oversears and ignore racing in America."

Maybe they are spending their greenbacks oversees because their target market audience is oversees? You really think that US companies are dumb enough to spend money on F1 for the American market? US companies that are involved in F1 or other oversees racing programs are there because the marketing budget is not a US/NA budget.

I don't think American companies are dumb at all: They're going to spend their sponsor dollars where they will get the biggest bang for the audience they're targetting. But most of these companies are experts in what they do; they aren't experts in motorsports. And the people who liaise between sponsors and teams have a vested interest in directing the money where their interests lie. Look at how much coverage you could get sponsoring a NASCAR truck or Nationwise car, or an ALMS car, or an IRL TEAM, for what it costs to get a 12 inch x 12 inch decal hidden somewhere on an F1 car. (A couple of years ago I would have included a Speed Touring Car or GT team, but Speed hides coverage of those races so badly that even diehard followers have problems finding the taped races on Speed.)

It isn't just a question of going where someone wants you to go (for their piece of the action) or where everybody else is. It's a question of innovation and smart buying to get a package that gives you visibility and has an audience, and buying the foreign glitz of F1, for example, means nothing in the U.S. as long as Bernie doesn't think the world's premier consumer market means nothing to European F1 teams racing on state-owned tracks in Asia. Hey, Bernie certainly knows where HIS money's coming from.

I'm kinda glad there's only 16 hours of coverage otherwise I might not get anything done that weekend.

I was just checking the coverage myself and was about to post a raving complaint before I saw this thread. I think it is abysmal that the LIVE coverage of the TOP sportscar race all year is pre-empted by any race series PRACTICE!!! They only have 50+ hours of Nascar coverage every #### week, they can't give appropriate coverage to us hardcore? Although they are an automotive lifestyle channel, I personally feel their prime directive should be RACING. Qualifying over practice, racing over qualifying. Show a variety to expose people to all sorts of things, maybe a stockcar fan might like something a little different. Please, Speed, do better next year.

As far as nighttime coverage, I would be satisfied with pointing the existing cameras at interesting vantage points and just letting a producer choose between the views at hand. Give a camera and mic to a couple of tv interns and let them wander around and see what they come up with. Just play radiolemans over the camera shots. It doesn't have to be complicated, just something there. Night racing is the coolest part of endurance racing. The visual is amazing, problems can happen, and it is so different from any other type of racing, save desert racing.

It is very disappointing that Speed has fallen off the original direction. I think there should just be a Nascar channel, like NFL. That way the rest of us could actually see racing and WRC and the other stuff we want.

What I have been trying to figure out is why would Speed show highlights of Le Mans testing and qualifying DURING the race?

While I am pleased Speed is showing 15 or 16 hours out of 24 and still shows some recognition of the race's importance to sportscar fans, the part of the LeMans coverage I miss the most is the 'day into night' timeframe. The lights on at dusk, the colours in the sky with far camera views looking at the Dunlop bridge from the pit area, the time when you see the brakes glowing and fire out the exhaust, but can still see the rest of the car because it's not totally dark, are the visuals that I like the most, following closely behind by the full-night racing. For Speed to be showing PRACTICE, Lexus test drive and such dreck instead of LeMans' most visually appealing timeframe shows that they have no true appreciation of what LeMans is to those of us here who cannot afford to attend in person. I thank Speed for showing me any of LeMans at all, but for me the period from (US time) noon through 9 is what I really miss the most, and I was gutted when I loaded up the schedule and saw nothing from noon to 9. I'll be bringing the laptop home from work to watch streaming coverage and listening to Radio LeMans, and more likely than not, won't even have the TV on tuned to Speed.

Once again, I am terribly disappointed in Speed's lack of Prime coverage of the 24. I mean, at least throw in an hour or two during the mid-day, instead of making us wait for 9 hours with nothing...I still dont know why there are no "Pay per View" options for the greatest race on the planet. I would give anything for the good old days of SpeedVision. They would show the entire 24 of LeMans, as well as the 24 of Daytona.
I was in Paris last year during the 24, and it was shown on a major network, for all 24 hours, without interruption for most of the race. It was tough to leave my hotel room.....

Hey everyone. Qualifying tomorrow. Does anyone know when the Radio Le Mans coverage starts? Thanks!