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.
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.....
What I have been trying to figure out is why would Speed show highlights of Le Mans testing and qualifying DURING the race?
What makes you think they're going to do that? The schedule is (EDT):
7:30AM - test coverage
8:00AM - qual coverage
8:30AM - pre-race LIVE
9:00AM - RACE LIVE
12:00 noon - non-Le Mans programming
9:00PM - RACE LIVE
9:00AM - post-race
What I have been trying to figure out is why would Speed show highlights of Le Mans testing and qualifying DURING the race?
What makes you think they're going to do that? The schedule is (EDT):
7:30AM - test coverage
8:00AM - qual coverage
8:30AM - pre-race LIVE
9:00AM - RACE LIVE
12:00 noon - non-Le Mans programming
9:00PM - RACE LIVE
9:00AM - post-race
Maybe because the DirecTV guide says Le Mans Test Day at 8:00 PM and Le Mans Pre-Qualifyin at 8:30 PM.
Yep, I saw that this morning when I was setting up the DVR; SPEED is going to re-air the test coverage and qual coverage prior to rejoining the race at 9PM. That is an odd move...
