It isn't necessarily that the money isn't there, for racing fans to make a living running a racing station.

But once the guy from FOX talks to the investors and says, "Ditch these racing fans, I can make you a hundred times as much money," the investors, who don't care about racing but want 22% instead of 12% return, ditch the racing fans who ran the station and made a profit, but didn't maximize profit, because they wanted to maximize racing.

Oh how I miss the days of Speedvision. I have been completely dissapointed with SPEED since FOX made all these ridiculous changes, The worst so far is the coverage of the SCCA Touring and GT races. I will commend the coverage of the Runoffs last year. I did really enjoy them. However, I'm probably grasping here but could it be that FOX is generally a conservative station. Mostly NASCAR is a southern states sport which are generally conservative states. Since they love the NASCAR so much and buy all the hats, and shirts and jackets, and ZMax, NASCAR and reality shows will be on SPEED for a very very long time.

People on these boards might not all like NASCAR, but it is still the most popular and profitable racing series in north America.

I cannot blame any station for running NASCAR; it's racing and it's popular. As far as I know, Rupert Murdoch never lets his politics come between him and a dollar.

FOXnews is a very conservative station because Murdoch saw that conservative hyperbole gained fans for talk radio, while AirAmerica and its liberal hyperbole didn't. Remember, Murdoch is the one of the biggest TV providers in communist China, so I don't think he cares all that much about right/left issues if cash is involved.

FOX ruined SPEED to make maximum profit, that's all. They would show whatever cost least to make and sponsors would pay for. And sadly, there is a huge market for juvenile, repetitious, scripted "reality" TV. (I recall quite a while ago the scandal when people found that programming execs aimed shows for a 12-14 yr. old intellectual demographic - successfully.)

We have "Wrecked" and "Pinks" because of our poor educational system and bad childhood nutrition, more than politics.

In ten years, Versus will be the big pure-sports channel, featuring in-depth coverage of half-a-dozen or so sports, and no bull. The cable market will be increasingly fractured, as equipment costs drop and racing fans can buy an almost-broadcast quality camera for what a really nice still camera costs today.

We will have streaming video from every corner of every course, and we will have to be our own directors, deciding which shots to feature on our own screens (by then, we will all have attached our computers to our widescreen TVs.)

And SPEED will have a solid following of people who like its new "24-7 Reality" format.

And racing fans won't even know which channel it is.

Have you ever looked at the bleachers at a sports car race? I went to the Rolex race last year at Sears Point. The bleachers were almost empty. That proves that sports car racing isn't popular enuf to attract a lot of media coverage. If it suddenly became the latest craze, the media would be all over it.

I installed DirecTv years ago primarily to get Speedvision; shortly after it become the SPEED channel. So; it MUST be my fault.

Yah I was just throwing out that political view angle as more of a hypothesis to gauge reaction. Does Speed down in the States blackout races? Rogers up here in Toronto seems to blackout a few races. I'm sure it's just the provider here and not Speed directly. I guess I have to take what I can get here...for the time being, until online streaming is the way to go. Then I have no reason for cable at all.

Like many of you, I enjoyed the days when SPEED gave us everything from Hooters Pro Cup...to F1...to Speedway GP/World Cup...to Aussie/German Touring Cars...and a host of open wheel stuff from USAC/WoO etc...

But some of the points above ring true...about investors, advertisers, and the cost of programming. People need to keep in mind that SPEED does not 'produce' programming per se (unless it's part of their NASCAR deal)...they accept payment for programming produced by outside sources, or purchase programming that's attractive to the advertisers and the demographic.

This is why you see shows like 'Pimp My Ride' (purchased from Viacom/MTV), 'Livin The Low Life', 'Wrecked', etc.

With the high cost of TV production (and the need to step up to HD broadcasting), many sanctions and speedways simply can't afford the costs, nor can they offset them with advertising dollars, as their product is still considered a 'fringe' element with a loyal, but SMALL core audience (in comparison to things like tuner cars and NASCAR, whichh have a far wider and deeper viewer base).

While it's nice that we can express our opinions on forums like these, until we find a way to, as a group, communicate with our dollars and cents in a manner that makes programmers take notice and advertisers want to hawk their products to us, I'm afraid it'll be status quo for quite a while...

And as much as I'd like to see VS. succeed, I don't know that they have the necessary capital to wait for that to happen...it's a risky gamble at best.

Not judging by Versus' track record with other sports, and with its treatment of IRL.

Versus takes sports and promotes them tho the hilt, and covers them in depth.

Look at bull-riding, which wasn't even a sport until Verus built it. It was part of a sport, rodeo, that almost no one watched or carried. Now it is insanely popular and growing.

Versus took MMA and built the only credible alternative and competitor to the UFC, and people love it.

Versus go the NHL, and IRL, and is promoting both to the hilt, generating excitement and imbuing the sports with impact far beyond just another game or race.

Look at its coverage of soccer - during the UEFA games, Versus had two or more games on live every day, and reruns every night. Look at the Tour de France: Live coverage (4-5hours) every morning and a rerun and then a recap.

(This torpedoes the idea that they only do American. They do any sporting events they think they can sell with a huge promo push and serious coverage. Yes, it is all dollar-oriented, but they are willing to spend to get the good stuff.)

Versus doesn't cover anything halfway.

The only limit to what Versus can cover is programming hours, which is why I expect a Versus II is in their business plan.

Yes, they intend to be another ESPN - but where ESPN is gravitating towards more talking-head studio shows (about as cheap as reality shows) Versus is building its reputation with solid, in-depth sports coverage and excellent promotion.

If Versus covers V8 Supercars - well actually they would probably buy the programming from Australia, as I doubt they'd set up a separate crew just for that (all their overseas stuff seems to be feeds purchased from other sources.) But idf they hasd the series, I am sure they would promote it to the hilt and make it accessible. True, it might fill up those 2 a.nm. EST slots now given over to infomercials. But I doubt they'd bother with it if they weren't going to do a good job of promoting and presenting it.

I doubt they'd go for V8 Supercars now anyway. That is for five years hence, when V2 hits the airways (cableways.) For now Versus is looking for spoerts with a dedicated fan base and a lot of immediate appeal in the U.S., which can be pumped up into big-drawing events.

I keep hoping for something to happen at SPEED and a ton of these filler shows disappear, but I am in a fairy tale state of mind I guess.

I'm not a NASCAR fan, but I know it's on this channel to stay. But I will echo everyone else, we need more racing.

I miss the weekends when they were pact full of racing, and on Saturday night, Lost Drive In would come on to relax your mind, only to prep you for another day of F1 or whatever on Sunday.

My my, how things have regressed.

Versus, however much it promotes and pushes the sports it covers, is still a variety sports network a la ESPN. What is still needed is a racing network as Speed once was before greed and playing to the crowds took over.

Versus have a motorsport in the IRL, but I'm not expecting their penetration into racing to go any further than that.