Fox Sports/ESPN/Comcast All Suck - Does NASCAR Even Give a Damn Anymore?

Tumbleweed

Tumbleweed

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I tried to watch Sprint Cup qualifying today but couldn't find it on the TV schedule anywhere. I discovered that it had been shifted to FS2 - which Comcast doesn't carry in our area. This is the second time in 4 weeks that I haven't been able to watch Cup qualifying because it had been shifted to FS2 and we can't get that station. We always got SPEED on Comcast, even though we had to pay an extra monthly fee for a "sports package" which included SPEED, NFL Network and several others so we at least previously got that content that had been carried on SPEED.

The NFL finally sued Comcast several years ago for charging extra for the NFL network, something the NFL said should have been included in our regular Comcast packages for no extra charge. The suit has apparently been settled....but we are still paying extra to get NFL network! We are still also paying extra for what used to be SPEED (now FS1) as well but now we can't even get the content (such as qualifying) that we are paying extra for because FOX has moved it to FS2.

Tonight, I turned to FS1 to watch the truck race and wouldn't you know it....19 laps had already gone by before FS1 even picked up the coverage. We didn't even get to watch the start of the race. The only good thing about the entire situation was that since we missed the first 19 laps of the truck race, that was 19 laps less that we had to listen to Mikey Waltrup babbling over the microphone. And NASCAR wonders why they're losing fans.

So......to all the suits everywhere who are responsible for this crappy situation but are too stupid to realize that we fans are the ones who buy their sponsors' products and which in turn, makes it possible for them all to have jobs (which they are lucky to have at all in this business climate)....here's to all of you:

 
Bring back Speedvision and The Nashville Network!!!

I know this topic has been beaten to death on here, but I don't understand why there isn't another channel in the works to replace Speed. There's NFL Network, MLB, NHL, NCAA conferences have their own networks...why doesn't NASCAR have a channel? Or at least get with IndyCar, ARCA, GT, NHRA, rallycross, whoever else wants a piece of the pie and start a new network. Everyone benefits.
 
It will never cease to amaze me why Fox 1 has spent billions to remake Speed into to whatever it is, I don't watch it, and their ratings and programming sucks the big one. If they had spent 20% of what they spent on Fox puke 1 to improve the programming on speed, they would be putting money in their pockets instead of loosing their ass. I don't see how the brass at Nascar can be pleased, I know the fans aren't, and tonite was another example, not to mention switching Nascar programming to a lesser channel. They are not helping Nascar build a fan base. Can't see how you can jack with the #2 most watched sport and their loyal fan base
 
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StandOnIt said:
It will never cease to amaze me why Fox 1 has spent billions to remake Speed into to whatever it is, I don't watch it, and their ratings and programming sucks the big one. If they had spent 20% of what they spent on Fox puke 1 to improve the programming on speed, they would be putting money in their pockets instead of loosing their ass. I don't see how the brass at Nascar can be pleased, I know the fans aren't, and tonite was another example, not to mention switching Nascar programming to a lesser channel. They are not helping Nascar build a fan base. Can't see how you can jack with the #2 most watched sport and their loyal fan base
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I like Fox Sports 1 as a sports channel though, when it comes to big ticket games, ESPN still has what matters.

FLRacingFan said:
NASCAR ego would never do that.

NBC/NBCSN's coverage can't get here soon enough.
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NBCSN is the bright spot. I'm no longer sold on FS1 as a motorsports channel. They proved tonight they don't give a crap. At least ESPN finds some place to dump their trash.

As for tonight's fiasco, I blame that on NASCAR more than I blame it on Fox. Like I said, as much as ESPN sucks, they still find a place to dump their trash. NASCAR should've been more aware of the situation and should've halted the start until television could join in.
 
That said, Fox could have and should have put the race on FX or FXX. And when they missed the start, they should've done a recap, immediately. That was terrible and a totally new problem.
 
Very few of the channels you watch are 'free'. The battle going on is what channels will the cable providers add to their 'basic' service and how much they will pay the content providers (Fox) without it showing up on subscribers bills. Sometimes, the content provider has to pay a small fee to get an 'undesirable' channel carried by cable providers.

Fox is trying to build a desirable sports package of channels the cable companies will pay a nice fee to carry, which is then added to the cost of the basic cable bill.

If FS2 doesn't get some traction, Fox will keep shifting programming to that channel, then start running those self righteous ads on FS1 telling you to call your cable provider and ask for FS2. Fox will keep shifting content until consumers put enough pressure on cable companies to pay what they want to have FS2 on their basic channel list. Then your basic bill goes up by that amount and you never know why.

Steinbrenner really started all this crap with the Yankees on Cablevision in the NY area. He took the games off local channel 9? and you had to pay $11 for the premium package that carried Yankee games. Then he sued cablevision claiming that package should be part of cablevisions basic service and cablevision should pay the NY Yankees $2.87 for each and every customer they have, even if they don't watch the Yankees.

George won and made a ton of money while every ones bill went up. 300,000 people paying $11 a month vs 3 million paying $2.67 a month, then the advertising income goes up too because more people can watch the games.

...and a lot of people blame the cable companies. Pretty slick.
 
Tumbleweed said:
I tried to watch Sprint Cup qualifying today but couldn't find it on the TV schedule anywhere. I discovered that it had been shifted to FS2 - which Comcast doesn't carry in our area. This is the second time in 4 weeks that I haven't been able to watch Cup qualifying because it had been shifted to FS2 and we can't get that station. We always got SPEED on Comcast, even though we had to pay an extra monthly fee for a "sports package" which included SPEED, NFL Network and several others so we at least previously got that content that had been carried on SPEED.

The NFL finally sued Comcast several years ago for charging extra for the NFL network, something the NFL said should have been included in our regular Comcast packages for no extra charge. The suit has apparently been settled....but we are still paying extra to get NFL network! We are still also paying extra for what used to be SPEED (now FS1) as well but now we can't even get the content (such as qualifying) that we are paying extra for because FOX has moved it to FS2.

Tonight, I turned to FS1 to watch the truck race and wouldn't you know it....19 laps had already gone by before FS1 even picked up the coverage. We didn't even get to watch the start of the race. The only good thing about the entire situation was that since we missed the first 19 laps of the truck race, that was 19 laps less that we had to listen to Mikey Waltrup babbling over the microphone. And NASCAR wonders why they're losing fans.

So......to all the suits everywhere who are responsible for this crappy situation but are too stupid to realize that we fans are the ones who buy their sponsors' products and which in turn, makes it possible for them all to have jobs (which they are lucky to have at all in this business climate)....here's to all of you:

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switch to Dish, I get all the channels without the extra fee for sports package and it beats Direct TV by 30 bucks a month. :)
 
I'm confused. What was FS1 suppose to do again? Cut the game off and go straight to the race? Sometimes programming goes long, it happens. What would happen if the truck race goes long and they moved it to FS2 with 5 laps left? You have to fufill the current program.

And put it in perspective... We're talking about a truck race here. Not being able to see the first 18 laps isn't the end of the world.
 
If Nascar cared about increasing TV viewership rather than the $$$$$$ they would stipulate practice, qualifying and the race be covered on normal OTA or cable stations in their TV contracts.
Speed at one time was on the lower tier of my cable system, then it moved to a upper tier and that was another 10-12 bucks a month.
FS1 and 2 is listed for Cox cable in a tier I get but the screen is blank.
 
Honestly, I think all the world's motorsport organization such as NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, ARCA, PASS, etc. etc. needs to get together and start their own channel that's about nothing but Motorsport. That's a channel I'd be more than happy to pay for.
 
Mojo said:
I'm confused. What was FS1 suppose to do again? Cut the game off and go straight to the race? Sometimes programming goes long, it happens. What would happen if the truck race goes long and they moved it to FS2 with 5 laps left? You have to fufill the current program.

And put it in perspective... We're talking about a truck race here. Not being able to see the first 18 laps isn't the end of the world.
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confused?, or just like to be disrespected because you try to watch racing, pay for the channel, and it isn't on. One of them I think ESPN shuffled the start of the race to another channel of theirs when they had a conflict. At least they made an attempt. These buffoons did nothing. No apology no nothing. And then to rub it in even more they have Rick Allen announce that Fox sports is the home for COMPLETE Nascar coverage.
 
BamaFan said:
switch to Dish, I get all the channels without the extra fee for sports package and it beats Direct TV by 30 bucks a month. :)
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There is always this answer, go out and buy everything including the kitchen sink package, and then you will jump with joy? when the race is preempted, and feel shivers of glee each month when your first year "we got cha" price wears off. But nooo problem I have every freakin channel under the sun, and there still isn't anything but re runs to watch.
 
FenderBumper said:
Very few of the channels you watch are 'free'. The battle going on is what channels will the cable providers add to their 'basic' service and how much they will pay the content providers (Fox) without it showing up on subscribers bills. Sometimes, the content provider has to pay a small fee to get an 'undesirable' channel carried by cable providers.

Fox is trying to build a desirable sports package of channels the cable companies will pay a nice fee to carry, which is then added to the cost of the basic cable bill.

If FS2 doesn't get some traction, Fox will keep shifting programming to that channel, then start running those self righteous ads on FS1 telling you to call your cable provider and ask for FS2. Fox will keep shifting content until consumers put enough pressure on cable companies to pay what they want to have FS2 on their basic channel list. Then your basic bill goes up by that amount and you never know why.

Steinbrenner really started all this crap with the Yankees on Cablevision in the NY area. He took the games off local channel 9? and you had to pay $11 for the premium package that carried Yankee games. Then he sued cablevision claiming that package should be part of cablevisions basic service and cablevision should pay the NY Yankees $2.87 for each and every customer they have, even if they don't watch the Yankees.

George won and made a ton of money while every ones bill went up. 300,000 people paying $11 a month vs 3 million paying $2.67 a month, then the advertising income goes up too because more people can watch the games.

...and a lot of people blame the cable companies. Pretty slick.
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Unless Nascar people are living under a rock, we know who are screwing us out of programming and playing footsie each and every week with.."I wonder where the racing went this week". Every week something isn't where it needs to be, AND this weekend, with two races left, OUR end of the season, Fox says, lets show a regional up the hell and gone Eastern basketball game, and not even attempt to show the Nascar race if the basketball game goes long. Miss the first 19 laps? no problem. Every weekend with Fox is like, what are those goofs going to screw up this week.
 
Hopefully they will have the bugs worked out by February.
 
StandOnIt said:
Unless Nascar people are living under a rock, we know who are screwing us out of programming and playing footsie each and every week with.."I wonder where the racing went this week". Every week something isn't where it needs to be, AND this weekend, with two races left, OUR end of the season, Fox says, lets show a regional up the hell and gone Eastern basketball game, and not even attempt to show the Nascar race if the basketball game goes long. Miss the first 19 laps? no problem. Every weekend with Fox is like, what are those goofs going to screw up this week.
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I Blame Brian for taking the bucks and letting Fox decide where things need to be. I Blame Fox for holding practice, qualifying, and now racing hostage to their negotiations with cable service providers. Fox will keep turning the screws until viewers help them make larger fees.
 
I would think that Nascar would still have some control on how their product should be displayed, but maybe not. Not a thing has been said in all the web based Nascar "news" outlets, no Nascar news to watch on TV of course. Not a peep. Not one of them has the gonads to even state the race was delayed. No apologies to the fans, nothing from Nascar either. No respect. Bunch of weasels.
 
Fox upped the contract $'s even though viewership had plunged. That tells me they were given latitude to leverage nascar programming to help force their sports suite on cable companies.
 
I don't know what it tells me, I only see that WE Nascar fans are suffering the consequences, and nobody in the medai or Nascar has said a word about it, despite fan outcry, and it was substantial last night on the Nascar chat site. there isn't a contract written that a good bunch of lawyers can't get you out of if you have the money. So I, like you and many others hold them all accountable and responsible. Guess I am off the hook for most, but I don't like to be treated like I am a second class viewer because I watch motorsports.
 
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AndyMarquisLive said:
That said, Fox could have and should have put the race on FX or FXX. And when they missed the start, they should've done a recap, immediately. That was terrible and a totally new problem.
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Switching the start to FXX wouldn't have solved the problem. Some people don't get FXX or Fox2 in their cable package.

And they did do a recap of the first 19 laps when the broadcast started.
 
Mojo said:
I'm confused. What was FS1 suppose to do again? Cut the game off and go straight to the race? Sometimes programming goes long, it happens. What would happen if the truck race goes long and they moved it to FS2 with 5 laps left? You have to fufill the current program.

And put it in perspective... We're talking about a truck race here. Not being able to see the first 18 laps isn't the end of the world.
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https://twitter.com/marcuslemonis/status/398992890598551552

Camping World's CEO was pretty pissed off. And this, folks, is all that matters.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
https://twitter.com/marcuslemonis/status/398992890598551552

Camping World's CEO was pretty pissed off. And this, folks, is all that matters.
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NASCAR started the race because that's their start time. What are they supposed to tell the people at the stands who paid tickets, drove out there, brought souvenirs and concession stand food? "Oh sorry folks, we would start right now, but we gotta wait for some college basketball game to finish up," That would be a bad business move on their part because instead of people sitting at home pissed off, now you have people in the stands pissed off.

Sorry, but if anyone is at fault, it's FS1. It's not NASCAR fault, it's not the owner of PIS fault, it's Fox Sports One fault.
 
SpeedPagan said:
NASCAR started the race because that's their start time. What are they supposed to tell the people at the stands who paid tickets, drove out there, brought souvenirs and concession stand food? "Oh sorry folks, we would start right now, but we gotta wait for some college basketball game to finish up," That would be a bad business move on their part because instead of people sitting at home pissed off, now you have people in the stands pissed off.

Sorry, but if anyone is at fault, it's FS1. It's not NASCAR fault, it's not the owner of PIS fault, it's Fox Sports One fault.
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Yes, that's exactly what they should have done. TV generates more money than ticket sales - especially when there are only 20,000 people (or less) in the stands at the race. Television is where the money is. Camping World held out on renewing their sponsorship with NASCAR because they were concerned about Fox Sports 1 and that their races would be moved to an obscure network.

If the fans in the stands don't understand - **** 'em. There was probably 10 times as many people watching on television. I was at Richmond one year and they went over the PA and announced that they were holding the start for a couple minutes because Fox was waiting for a baseball game to finish.

Fox Sports 1 dropped the ball. There was no contingency where there should have been one. However, NASCAR should have been more aware. This is a new problem because, for the Cup Series, Fox has been able to toss to SPEED in the past and the Truck Series has never had this problem because it's been on SPEED for ten years. ESPN has always had a place to dump their trash. In the worst case scenarios, ESPN's at least given us online streaming - something Fox refuses to do.

This one was on NASCAR, not Fox Sports 1. There are things they could have done better and will next time but, IMO, they did the right thing. They started broadcasting a basketball game and stayed with it until the conclusion. There's going to be a day when a NASCAR race runs long and "stick n ball" fans will be pissed.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Yes, that's exactly what they should have done. TV generates more money than ticket sales - especially when there are only 20,000 people (or less) in the stands at the race. Television is where the money is. Camping World held out on renewing their sponsorship with NASCAR because they were concerned about Fox Sports 1 and that their races would be moved to an obscure network.

If the fans in the stands don't understand - **** 'em. There was probably 10 times as many people watching on television. I was at Richmond one year and they went over the PA and announced that they were holding the start for a couple minutes because Fox was waiting for a baseball game to finish.

Fox Sports 1 dropped the ball. There was no contingency where there should have been one. However, NASCAR should have been more aware. This is a new problem because, for the Cup Series, Fox has been able to toss to SPEED in the past and the Truck Series has never had this problem because it's been on SPEED for ten years. ESPN has always had a place to dump their trash. In the worst case scenarios, ESPN's at least given us online streaming - something Fox refuses to do.

This one was on NASCAR, not Fox Sports 1. There are things they could have done better and will next time but, IMO, they did the right thing. They started broadcasting a basketball game and stayed with it until the conclusion. There's going to be a day when a NASCAR race runs long and "stick n ball" fans will be pissed.
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and what, should the stick and ball owners and mangers tell the people in the stadium that they're post-phoning the kick-off, first pitch...whatever because Fox Sport needs to finish up a NASCAR race? They don't need to do that, you know why? Because all the major sporting franchise in this country, except for NASCAR (only gods know why not...) have their own dedicated channel! This includes College Sports. Fox Sports One should've either gone split screen or change the broadcast to the channel that does nothing but college sports.
 
SpeedPagan said:
and what, should the stick and ball owners and mangers tell the people in the stadium that they're post-phoning the kick-off, first pitch...whatever because Fox Sport needs to finish up a NASCAR race? They don't need to do that, you know why? Because all the major sporting franchise in this country, except for NASCAR (only gods know why not...) have their own dedicated channel! This includes College Sports. Fox Sports One should've either gone split screen or change the broadcast to the channel that does nothing but college sports.
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Apples and oranges. This is a new problem. ESPN has places to put programs that run long. When baseball games ran long, Fox moved the NASCAR races to SPEED (which is no longer an option). When NASCAR ran long, Fox has moved baseball to FX (also not an option). Now, the Truck races have essentially gone from being the most watched regular program on SPEED to being filler content on Fox Sports 1. And it's going to be treated as such, very often.

This was a huge problem when NASCAR rejoined ESPN. After two years of NASCAR being shafted to accommodate football, basketball, baseball, tennis, ping pong, soccer and obscure television shows on ABC that nobody watches, NASCAR got pissed off, sat down with ESPN and straightened the mess out. There's still problems with races getting moved, but it's much better than it was. This is going to be a problem with Fox now until NASCAR intervenes. And they will. Quickly. Because Camping World is pissed.
 
FenderBumper said:
Fox upped the contract $'s even though viewership had plunged. That tells me they were given latitude to leverage nascar programming to help force their sports suite on cable companies.
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Fox is going to be a bigger problem than ESPN has been. A much bigger problem.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Apples and oranges. This is a new problem. ESPN has places to put programs that run long. When baseball games ran long, Fox moved the NASCAR races to SPEED (which is no longer an option). When NASCAR ran long, Fox has moved baseball to FX (also not an option). Now, the Truck races have essentially gone from being the most watched regular program on SPEED to being filler content on Fox Sports 1. And it's going to be treated as such, very often.

This was a huge problem when NASCAR rejoined ESPN. After two years of NASCAR being shafted to accommodate football, basketball, baseball, tennis, ping pong, soccer and obscure television shows on ABC that nobody watches, NASCAR got pissed off, sat down with ESPN and straightened the mess out. There's still problems with races getting moved, but it's much better than it was. This is going to be a problem with Fox now until NASCAR intervenes. And they will. Quickly. Because Camping World is pissed.
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Well asking NASCAR to post-phone the start of the race for a few minutes isn't the answer. This is NASCAR, the premier racing league, not Caraway Speedway.
 
SpeedPagan said:
Well asking NASCAR to post-phone the start of the race for a few minutes isn't the answer. This is NASCAR, the premier racing league, not Caraway Speedway.
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NASCAR's done it before. Television is more important than the 10,000 fans in attendance. Sponsors are also more important than the 10,000 fans in attendance. And the title sponsors seems to think the race should have been postponed a few minutes so television could join the start of the race.
 
Lemonis said this back in July

Lemonis also wants to reserve judgment until he sees whether the transition of SPEED to Fox Sports 1, a broader-based sports network, changes the level of visibility of the Camping World Truck Series. "I think the France family and Steve Phelps and all the folks (NASCAR president) Mike Helton--have done a fantastic job of taking Camping World to the next level," Lemonis said. "When it comes to the Truck Series, I think the bigger question that I have right now is 'What is the new SPEED/FoxSports network going to look like?' "Is it going to change the viewership? Are the ratings going to change? Is it going to be shuffled around? Because today on SPEED, the Camping World Truck Series is THE program (the Saturday night Truck race at Iowa). I want to just be sure that I'm not going to get shuffled to the bottom of the pack."
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Both NASCAR and FS1 screwed the pooch here.
 
FenderBumper said:
So they had a warning and ignored it. Perhaps we'll be watching the FS2 truck series soon....or not.
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Yep, there's no excuse for that. It wouldn't be a big deal if they had a half-dozen potential overflow channels like ESPN has but FS2 is all FOX has in a situation like last night and three or four (at most) out of ten people actually get that channel.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Yep, there's no excuse for that. It wouldn't be a big deal if they had a half-dozen potential overflow channels like ESPN has but FS2 is all FOX has in a situation like last night and three or four (at most) out of ten people actually get that channel.
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I'm betting it happens more and more next year until people pressure the cable companies to pay Fox to carry FS2 as basic.

It's exactly what I predicted when Brian announced the big increase for lower ratings.
 
I don't know why NASCAR hadn't made their own channel by now.
 
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