Saturday evening at 6PM, the franchise is back for SPEED. Over the last season, the Daly Planet has called this program "SPEED-a-palooza" and the "Super WalMart of NASCAR." There were lots of good reasons why.
RaceDay is one of the most-watched programs on SPEED, and was used in 2007 by the network in one of the most controversial scheduling decisions ever made in NASCAR TV history.
After airing in the timeslot just before the NASCAR on Fox team took to the air, RaceDay suddenly changed course when the NEXTEL Cup coverage moved to TNT and then ESPN/ABC. This two hour live show was moved to go head-to-head with the pre-race shows of those two networks.
For the first time, NASCAR fans were forced to choose TV networks as two live pre-race shows were on-the-air at the same time from the same track. Ultimately, between the personality struggles of TNT and the credibility struggles of ESPN, SPEED came out on top. Later this season, that competition is going to be interesting to watch.
As the program returns to the air, John Roberts again steps into the host role and is joined by Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace. This trio has a fascinating dynamic simply because of the completely different personalities involved. The bottom line is that it works for the viewers.
Wendy Venturini continues to re-define the role of pit reporter, and her ability to interact effectively with the wide range of personalities in the sport assures viewers that SPEED is always in the news mix in the garage area. She is again joined by Bob Dillner, who had a good pre-season with his testing coverage and continues to be a consistent performer.
Hermie Sadler and Randy Pemberton continue to be utility players for this series, with Hermie's on-track features a solid addition to the program. Pemberton is in the middle of a professional comeback, and his knowledge of the key players in the sport served him well last season.
Rutledge Wood is a wild card, and with this program taking on an even higher profile in 2008, it will be interesting to see if SPEED includes him regularly in this show. Riki Rachtman will not be a regular part of the show, and will not participate in the weekly winner picks. He remains an anchor for NASCAR.com's internetTV coverage.
The debut edition of the program should be interesting, with good storylines for the Bud Shootout, Daytona 500 pole qualifying, and the ARCA race that directly precedes the live show. Remember, lots of the top NEXTEL Cup cars are now in the ARCA field as NASCAR has adopted the COT full time.
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15 comments:
Wendy's Real Deal is with Joe Gibbs today. Can't wait!
I have Dish Network. Why do they not carry the HD programming? Is there a deal in the works or am I just screwed? All I have is channel # 150 in SD.
If Speed HD is a separate channel (I'm pretty sure it is) Comcast in my area doesn't have it either
DirecTV is the only TV provider that has SPEED in HD. Other TV providers may not get the HD feed of SPEED until march at the earliest.
SPEED says they are talking to the companies that do not carry SPEED in HD, but when I talked to COX, they said they have not heard anything about SPEED HD. I guess the people who don't have DirecTV will just have to wait a few months.
Speed HD has been a black screen for the past hour :( Second time this has happened to me today. First was during cup practice. Don't know if its a directv or speed problem. It better be fixed before the shootout. Is anyone else having the same trouble?
Dustin said...
It better be fixed before the shootout.
February 9, 2008 6:18 PM
I don't think you have to worry about that. The shootout is on FOX, not on SPEED.
Dustin - hit the red reset button on your Directv receiver box. That fixed the problem for me earlier today.
pbump... Thanks. That fixed it :)
Dish will have it before long. Regular Speed is much beter than my ocal channels including Fox.
CBS is really bad. Take a normal feed and place onion skin paper and you have my CBS feed.
I am very happy with the Speed coverage. Yes, they can improve on the lighting, audio, personalities, etc., but AT LEAST they have minimal 'horse pucky' into and out of commercials.
I have sat here (I ran 3-miles on the treadmill) all day and have watched their coverage non-stop since 10:00 am.
Lovin' It!
Jeff
Lucky you with treadmill at home. My Y down the street does not have SPEED so I timed my treadmill walk right before the ARCA race. :-)
It's been terrific having NASCAR stuff on ALL DAY, for sure.
The cars will look gorgeous under the lights and Daytona is a great track.
Wish Talladega had lights...love the cars in wide shots on the long stretches under the lights.
Heck I LOVED practice last night. Hello, seemed like a race, LOL.
Hey Guys,
The SPEED execs have told me that they will update us on the status of SPEED-HD this week.
As they said earlier, other than DirecTV, the network has no control over when big cable companies (MSO's for multi-system operators) add this service.
When I get the update, I will publish it in column form. Hopefully, that will update everybody before the big Truck Series race on Friday.
Thanks!
JD
Good Real Deal and Kyle Busch can obviously be well spoken when he wants. guess the kid is growing up
Too much JGR for me on race day. Can they cover other teams?
It's good to have the "boys" back in town, what a fun show. And yes there did seem to be some small problem with Speed HD but the reset trick clears it right up.
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