SPEED Channel
| SPEED Channel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Owned by | Comcast/News Corporation |
| Headquarters | Charlotte, NC |
| Formerly called | SpeedVision |
| Website | speedtv.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | Channel 607 |
| Dish Network | Channel 150 |
| Star Choice | Channel 406 |
| Cable | |
| Verizon FiOS | Channel 71 |
| Comcast | Channels Vary |
| Time Warner Cable | Channels Vary |
| Charter | Channels Vary |
| Cox Cable | Channels Vary |
| Cablevision | Channel 56 and 69 |
| Bright House Networks | Channels Vary |
| Shaw Cable TV | Channels Vary |
| Midcontinent Communications | Channels May Vary |
SPEED Channel, commonly referred to as SPEED, is a cable and satellite television channel broadcast to various parts of North America, but primarily the United States. The channel, based in Charlotte, NC, is primarily devoted to things, usually motorized, that have four (or two) wheels, and move fast.
Programming includes live Formula One racing, NASCAR-related shows, how-to programming, auto related movies such as The Fast and the Furious, auto shows, less-popular racing series, a weekly news show, call-in shows, and even reality shows. Bobsledding, luge, and skeleton events are shown during the winter months. SPEED is also the exclusive United States broadcaster of the 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans, the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Challenge and the Gatorade Duels at Dayonta.
History
The channel which eventually became SPEED Channel was launched on New Year's Day 1996, by Roger L.Werner Jr., E.Roger Williams, Nickolas Rhodes and Robert Scanlon under the name SpeedVision. Ownership included Cox Communications, Continental Cable and AT&T. Under their management, SpeedVision became the fastest growing cable network of all time while delivering the highest male viewing audience per household of any cable or broadcast network in existence.
In the summer of 2001, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased one-third of Speedvision. In August 2001, they negotiated to acquire the stakes owned by Cox and Comcast, thus giving them majority ownership. Fox leveraged the network as a negotiating tool for NASCAR television rights which were split with NBC. The plan was to morph the channel into a 24-hour NASCAR network. This plan was ultimately shelved in the fall due to Fox management's unwillingness to place NASCAR races on the channel.
On Monday February 11, 2002 at 7:59 p.m. ET, SpeedVision relaunched as SPEED Channel. The first program of the new format was a special launch show and 2002 NASCAR preview focusing on Speedweeks 2002. News Corp.'s FOX had a year-old relationship as a NASCAR broadcaster, many NASCAR shows began airing on SPEED Channel, a move that was unpopular with some of the network's viewers. However, with the increased NASCAR programming, viewership is at all-time highs, with the channel being added to many regular cable lineups.
In its nearly four-year existence under its new name, SPEED has made an effort to show more live races. In 2001, 2002, and 2006, SPEED broadcasted select Champ Car races.
In October 2002, SPEED bought out the remaining year of ESPN's three-year contract for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and in February 2003, began showing live exclusive coverage of the series. The network's coverage of the Truck Series' Florida Dodge Dealers 250 for February 18, 2005 scored a Nielsen rating of 2.1, the highest-rated program in the network's history. Another SPEED staple is WindTunnel with Dave Despain, a live call-in show that has been on the network since February 2003.
Since its inception in 1996, there has been a racing series which was created by Werner, Williams and Scanlon, named after the network-the SPEED World Challenge, formerly named, not surprisingly, the SpeedVision World Challenge. SPEED also runs a very short segment during its commercial breaks, titled, "My First Car", in which celebrities like Ron Howard, Pierce Brosnan, and George Lucas (who has a great love for Fiat) and SPEED Channel viewers talk about the first set of wheels they ever drove.
SPEED made news with the 2005 firing of network president Jim Liberatore, who had been with
the network since FOX bought it in 2001 when it was still SpeedVision, reportedly because Liberatore had wanted to reduce the
number of NASCAR-related shows on the network, and the network brass wanted more NASCAR-related programming. In 2002, Speedvision
had collaborated with Disney, causing the channel to resemble the
Disney Channel in some ways, making the channel targeted for younger viewers in the
preteen and teen age. This angered some network viewers, who fear that SPEED is becoming ever closer to becoming an all-NASCAR
channel and the lost of intelligence because of the collaboration of the executives. Liberatore left this message for SPEED viewers on the network's
SPEED is primarily a satellite and digital cable network, although many areas in the U.S. do have the network in their basic cable packages. It is also available in Canada and in Brazil. Racing coverage, particularly that of Formula One, is sometimes subject to blackout outside the U.S.
In the spring of 2006, SPEED launched SPEED Mobile, where fans can download ringtones and wallpapers made by SPEED to their cell phones.
In late 2005, SPEED Channel rebranded themselves as SPEED, cancelling some TV shows including NASCAR Nation.
In late 2007, SPEED is expected to launch in
Controversy
- During the October 7, 2006 edition of the NASCAR opinion show Tradin' Paint, Ray Dunlap made a racially insensitive remark about Hispanics during a discussion about diversity in NASCAR. SPEED suspended Dunlap for a week for his comments. The news came the same week Fox Sports fired baseball analyst Steve Lyons for controversial comments about Lou Piniella's Hispanic heritage.
List of SPEED Channel programs
- American Muscle Car
- American Thunder
- Autoline Detroit
- Back in the Day
- Barrett-Jackson LIFE on the BLOCK
- Car Crazy
- Chop, Cut, Rebuild
- Corbin's Ride On
- Dream Car Garage
- Formula 1 Debrief
- Forza Motorsport Showdown
- Inside Grand Prix
- Lost Drive-In
- Lucas Oil on the Edge
- NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup
- NASCAR Live!
- NASCAR Performance
- NASCAR RaceDay
- NASCAR Victory Lane
- NOPI Tunervision
- Pinks!
- Redline TV
- SPEED Channel Test Drive
- The Speed Report
- Sports Car Revolution
- Street Tuner Challenge
- Super Bikes!
- Trackside
- Tradin' Paint
- Two Guys Garage
- Unique Whips
- Victory by Design
- V-Twin Motorcycles TV
- WindTunnel with Dave Despain
Former programs
- 7 Days
- Barrett-Jackson Car Search
- Behind the Headlights
- Build or Bust
- Cars at Carlisle
- Fifth Gear
- Formula 1 Decade
- Indy 500: The Classics
- Inside NBS
- I Wanna Date a Race Car Driver
- Legends of Motorsport
- Men Behind the Wrenches
- Motorsports Mundial
- MotorWeek
- NASCAR Nation
- NASCAR Classics
- NASCAR Past Champions
- NBS 24/7
- Payback
- Pit Bull
- Speed News
- Speed Racer
- Shooting Cars
- Texas Hardtails
- The Motocross Files
- The Reality of Speed
- The World's Greatest Auto Shows
- Tuner Transformation
- Two Wheel Tuesday
- WRC Rally Magazine
Racing series SPEED Channel broadcasts
- A1GP
- AMA Superbike
- AMA Supercross
- American Le Mans Series
- ARCA RE/MAX Series
- Australian V8 Supercars (Winter months only)
- Champ Car World Series
- CORR
- Craftsman Truck Series
- Crown Royal IROC Series (series on permanent hiatus)
- Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (Winter months only)
- Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
- FIM MotoGP Series
- NEXTEL Cup Series (Gatorade Duels at Daytona & NEXTEL All Star Challenge)
- FIM Superbike World Championship
- Formula 1 (4 races per year on FOX)
- German Touring Car Masters (Winter months only)
- GP2 Series
- IHRA
- KONI Challenge Series
- Rolex Sports Car Series
- SPEED World Challenge
- Star Mazda Series
- Summer Shootout (Winter months only)
- USAR Hooters Pro Cup
- USHRA Monster Jam
- World Of Outlaws
Specials broadcast by SPEED Channel
- 12 Hours of Sebring
- 24 Hours of Le Mans
- 24 Hours of Daytona
- Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction
- Knoxville Nationals
- Michael Waltrip Celebrity Poker Tournament
- Nextel All-Star Challenge
- Petit Le Mans
- Race of Champions
- SCCA National Championship Runoffs
- NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown
SPEED Channel on-air personalities
- Rick Allen
- Rick Benjamin
- John Bisignano
- Steve Byrnes
- Greg Creamer
- Derek Daly
- Alain de Cadenet
- Dave Despain
- Bob Dillner
- Brian Drebber
- Ray Dunlap
- Calvin Fish
- Nicky Grist
- Sandy Heng
- David Hobbs
- Bob Jenkins
- Drew William Johnson
- Mike Johnson
- Vicki Johnson
- Mike Joy
- Kazzer
- Tommy Kendall
- Nicole Manske
- Steve Matchett
- Toby Moody
- Chris Neville
- Phil Parsons
- Craig Reynolds
- John Roberts
- Dorsey Schroeder
- Ralph Sheheen
- Michele Smith
- Jimmy Spencer
- Ken Stout
- Brian Till
- Jim Tretow
- Bob Varsha
- Wendy Venturini
- Krista Voda
- Kenny Wallace
- Darrell Waltrip
- Michael Waltrip
- Greg White
- John Willenborg
- Peter Windsor
- Rutledge Wood
- Dan Woods
- Lindsay Czarniak
- Carl Edwards
- Jeff Burton
Former on-air personalities
See also
References
External links
- Official Site
- Official Site with content for mobile phones
- That'sRacin.com: SPEED Channel suspends reporter over remarks
- SPEED Channel Latin America (in Spanish)
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