ACK!!! In case you haven't seen the latest... Speedvision is about to have 24/7 coverage of NASCAR and sales of Earnhardt's paraphernelia. No more F1, Touring Cars, rallies, etc...
So much for Speedvision's promise to provide more coverage of grassroot motorsports... I suppose NASCAR could be considered "grassroot", depending on how you look at it... Son 90 GLI Check this from the Business Journal: Sports network needs home for new NASCAR effort Erik Spanberg Senior Staff Writer Fox Sports has quietly begun scouting Charlotte-area sites for its proposed NASCAR cable network headquarters, eyeing a February launch coinciding with the Daytona 500. Area real estate sources say Fox wants as much as 50,000 square feet to house the network. Target sites include Huntersville Business Park, home to Joe Gibbs Racing and other teams, and Twin Lakes Business Park. "It certainly would make sense (to have a Charlotte headquarters) from a lot of perspectives," says Paul Brooks, NASCAR vice president of broadcasting. "Because so many drivers and teams are in that area, it would make producing and creating the shows much easier." Brooks says the presence of Charlotte-based NASCAR Images, an archival video source, also works in the area's favor. NASCAR Images is jointly owned by NASCAR and Fox. The idea for a NASCAR network began two years ago, when the stock-car sanctioning body completed a $2.8 billion broadcast contract with Fox and NBC/Turner. That deal began this year. With viewership at an all- time high, Fox and NASCAR executives have again turned their attention to starting a cable channel. The plan is to convert Speedvision, an existing cable network reaching 41 million households, to the NASCAR Channel. By comparison, The Golf Channel, launched in 1995, reaches 37 million homes. A name hasn't been selected, but it is expected to include NASCAR. NASCAR has already licensed its name to Fox for a motorsports cable channel. Fox parent News Corp. owns a third of Speedvision and is negotiating for an 80% stake with other shareholders. David Hill, Fox Sports chairman, says the deal should be finished by August. "We haven't finished the acquisition yet," Hill says. "I don't think the ink's dry on the paper until August so we can't do anything yet. We're doing a heck of a lot of planning." Industry experts say the revamped Speedvision will emphasize NASCAR while incorporating other forms of racing and automotive collectors' shows. Speedvision generates $75 million per year in revenue, with annual advertising gains of 40% to 50% the past five years. It became profitable last year. _____________ List Sponsor: http://www.netsville.com To remove yourself from this list, send mail to [email protected] with 'unsubscribe a2_16v' in the body of your message See us on the web at http://www.a2-16v.com Visit the 16V Homepage at http://www.gti16v.org
