Speedvision as we knew it is dead, and I am mourning. That's right, dead. The only television network dedicated to motorsports and auto enthusiasts is gone. Speedvision is now Speed Channel and all the prime-time coverage of real racing is being replaced with hours of soul-sucking NASCAR coverage.
Welcome to the political world of televised motorsports.
Enter the world of NASCAR TV, Speed Channel's new programming block, which airs weekday afternoons between 3 p.m. and midnight EST. It's touted by Speed Channel as the first channel-within-a-channel dedicated solely to a single sport. Great.
As if the hundreds of hours already dedicated to the over-commercialized, under-developed world of roundy-round racing on Fox, FX, Fox Sports Net, NBC and TNT weren't enough, there's now another 45 hours a week for the pushrod-loving, beer-swilling masses. Meanwhile, the real enthusiasts are getting screwed. Again.
Jim Liberatore, Speed Channel president explains it this way: "Due to its amazing popularity, NASCAR programming will drive the Speed Channel." And to hell with those subscribers-like myself-who don't want nine hours of NASCAR every weekday. The new programming will make it virtually impossible for fans of other series to find any legitimate race coverage during prime viewing hours-hardly the vast motorsports venue Speedvision once was and a long shot from what Liberatore describes as an evolutionary process to deliver a higher quality product.
Short of a quick mention that the other racing series (CART, F1, American LeMans Series and the World Rally Championship) won't be axed altogether, little has been said about their future on the network. It's obvious Speed Channel's loyalty now lies with the money machine that is NASCAR.
Here's what confuses me most: With the switch to NASCAR TV, Speed Channel will resurrect "Inside Winston Cup," a program Speedvision killed in 2001, perhaps due to lack of interest. I suspect the return of this program and the entire NASCAR-centric programming switch is motivated by the Fox acquisition of Speedvision in July 2001. It gets better. As if the torturous event coverage wasn't enough, the return of "Inside Winston Cup" will be accompanied by other NASCAR-related programs, including Fox Sports Net's "Totally NASCAR," "NASCAR Victory Lane" and the oxymoronic "NASCAR Tech."
While I can't deny the drawing power of NASCAR, it's the sport itself which has me eternally puzzled. Where's the allure in watching 3,500-lb., steel-framed, pushrod-powered rolling billboards smash into each other for hours on end? I don't get it. Perhaps the thrill isn't in the racing at all. The huge effort made to keep the competition fair also succeeds in making NASCAR the least technically advanced motorsport in the world. The thought of fuel injection would make these guys pass out. What's the big deal? Why do Americans love it so much? And why has it taken over Speedvision? The answer is simple: Money.
It's obvious Fox's infusion of NASCAR into the last bastion of true enthusiast programming is an effort to increase its numbers and eventually, its profitability. While every network must look out for its bottom line, it's a shame the throngs of NASCAR fans who already had hours of programming every week will now absorb the remaining few dedicated to real enthusiasts.
I'm outta here, Speed Channel. I want a refund.