 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United States Australia Brazil Canada Caribbean Puerto Rico Latin America |
| Headquarters | Charlotte,North Carolina |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English Spanish Portuguese |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV/16:9letterbox) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | 21st Century Fox |
| History | |
| Launched | December 31, 1995 (1995-12-31) |
| Closed | August 17, 2013 (2013-8-17) |
| Replaced by | Fox Sports 1 (United States) Fox Sports Racing (Canada / Caribbean) Fox Sports 3 (Latin America) Fox Sports (Brazil) Fox Sports 5 (Australia) |
| Former names | Speedvision (1995–2002) Speed Channel (2002–05) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
Speed was an Americansports-orientedcable andsatellitetelevision network that was owned by theFox Sports Media Group division of21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated tomotorsports programming, includingauto racing, as well as automotive-focused programs.
Although the channel was based in theUnited States (itsheadquarters were located atUniversity Research Park inCharlotte,North Carolina), Speed ceased being available to most American viewers as a standalone network with its own original programming on August 17, 2013, when it was replaced by the general-interest sports networkFox Sports 1.[1][2][3] An "international" version of the network, now known asFox Sports Racing, concurrently launched inCanada, theCaribbean and the U.S. territory ofPuerto Rico to replace the domestic feed, airing archived Speed programming and livesimulcasts of motorsports events carried by Fox Sports 1 andFox Sports 2 in the United States that would be otherwise unavailable to international viewers.[4]
When it originally launched in 1995 asSpeedvision, the network carried a lineup featuring programs profiling the automobile and motorsports industries (including individual companies, vehicles and teams), how-to series, and coverage of various domestic and international racing series (such as theFormula One World Championship,Rolex Sports Car Series, and theAmerican Le Mans Series). After it was acquired byNews Corporation in 2001 and relaunched asSpeed Channel, the network's programming became increasinglyNASCAR-oriented; prior to its shutdown in the U.S., Speed's lineup consisted mostly of automotive-themedreality shows, NASCAR-related programs (including coverage of practice and qualifying sessions, and full coverage of theTruck Series and NASCAR-ownedRolex Sports Car Series), along with news programs focusing on motorsports. Most of Speed's live event programming was carried over to Fox Sports 1 (or sister network Fox Sports 2), and was simulcasted on the Speed network that remained available outside the U.S.
Due to contractual changes associated with the relaunch, Fox was expected to temporarily distribute a version of Speed (separate from the international version) to fulfill contracts with providers that had not yet signed deals to carry Fox Sports 1, airing a loop of the network's past reality programming.[5] Many of the programs once found on Speed can now be found in the United States onCBS Sports Network,MAVTV andVelocity (such asGearz,My Classic Car,Chop Cut Rebuild, andDream Car Garage as well as live coverage of racing events), others not such asSpeed Center.
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The network originally launched asSpeedvision on December 31, 1995. The network was one of two (the other being theOutdoor Life Network) formed out of a partnership ofCox Cable andTimes Mirror which had combined their cable systems operations in 1994. In July 1995, Times Mirror decided to reassess its media holdings and reduced its stake in the two planned networks to 10%.Comcast andContinental Cablevision were brought on as new partners.[6]
Speedvision was planned by formerESPN executiveRoger L. Werner, E. Roger Williams and Robert Scanlon. The network offered a mix of automotive, boating, and aviation programming.[7]
Speedvision's initial lineup featured various automotive programs, including variousdocumentary-style series focusing on prolific vehicles, manufacturers, and racing teams (such asVictory by Design andLegends of Motorsport), series focusing on classic automobiles (such asDream Car Garage, coverage ofBarrett-Jackson's auctions, andMy Classic Car, which moved to the network fromTNN), anAutoWeek-branded television series, along withMotorWeek andAutoline Detroit – two programs respectively syndicated fromPBSmember stations inMaryland andDetroit. Speedvision also carried coverage of various minor and professional auto racing series, including theSports Car Club of America'sWorld Challenge series (of which it also acquiredtitle sponsorship of in 1999, becoming theSpeedvision World Challenge).
In the summer of 2001, theFox Entertainment Group (then a subsidiary ofNews Corporation) purchased a 30% ownership interest in Speedvision. In August of that year, Fox negotiated a deal to acquire the stakes held by Cox andComcast, thus giving them majority control of the network. SinceFox Sports had recently acquiredbroadcast rights to the first half of theNASCARBusch andWinston Cup Series in a six-year deal, Fox planned to leverage Speedvision as an outlet for supplemental NASCAR programming.[7] To coincide with that year's running of theDaytona 500, Speedvision was relaunched asSpeed Channel on February 11, 2002; the network's operations were also relocated fromStamford,Connecticut toCharlotte,North Carolina (where NASCAR and the majority of its teams are based).
In the following years, additional NASCAR-related programs were slowly brought on to the schedule, ranging from news programs (such asTotally NASCAR, rerun fromFox Sports Net, andNASCAR Race Hub), pre-race programsTrackside andNASCAR RaceDay, and the post-raceNASCAR Victory Lane. Speed Channel also added a weekly call-in show in 2003,WindTunnel with Dave Despain, which featured interviews and discussions relating to news and events in auto racing.
Starting in 2003, Speed began to carry NASCAR'sTruck Series, after buying out the remainder ofESPN2's contract for the events. The channel also offered coverage of practices and qualifying races in NASCAR's main national series, theGatorade Duels qualifying races, and theSprint All-Star Race. In 2005, the channel's name was shortened to simplySpeed.
In 2006, the conclusion of Daytona 500 qualifying coverage was moved to Speed due to NBC's coverage of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The coverage still had NBC graphics and commentary. It would be the only time that the NBC/TNT broadcast combo (which aired the Daytona 500 in even-numbered years and the summer race in the odd-numbered months) would air its NASCAR coverage on SPEED.[8]
Until late 2007, Speed also aired coverage ofInternational Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation events over the winter months – includingbobsledding,luge andskeleton. Its winter sports coverage also included an annual charity bobsledding event organized by NASCAR driver and bobsled builderGeoff Bodine, which featured participation by various NASCAR drivers.Universal Sports acquired the rights to FIBT events beginning in the 2007–08 season.
Speed continued to maintain coverage of other professional racing series, such as theRolex Sports Car Series (including the24 Hours of Daytona), theAmerican Le Mans Series (along with the24 Hours of Le Mans), the newly renamedSpeed World Challenge until 2010, and theFormula One World Championship. By the mid 2000s, these came along with an increasing number ofreality series (such as thestreet racing-inspiredPinks,Unique Whips,Chop Cut Rebuild, thedrag racinggame showPass Time,American Trucker, andHard Parts: South Bronx, along with reruns of theMTV seriesPimp My Ride). By 2008, Speed was carried in over 73 million households.[7]
In 2010, Fox launched Speed 2, aTV Everywhere video streaming service which featured coverage of additional racing series not broadcast by Speed, along withvideo on demand access to archived Speed programs. The service was shut down in 2014.[9]
In 2011, Speed began carrying Australia'sV8 Supercars series; it also aired live coverage of theGold Coast 600 (where major international drivers competed in teams alongside Australian drivers) and theBathurst 1000 featuringDarrell Waltrip,Mike Joy,Leigh Diffey, and Calvin Fish on-location. The move was met with praise from series organizers, who felt that the series could benefit from the additional exposure it would receive from American coverage—the series would also add a U.S. event atAustin'sCircuit of the Americas for the 2013 season.[10]
On October 12, 2012, Fox Sports announced that it would not renew its contract to air Formula One racing on Speed after the conclusion of the 2012 season. Two days later,NBC Sports announced that it had reached a new four-year deal to broadcast F1 races beginning in the 2013 season, with the majority of its coverage to be carried byNBC Sports Network.[11][12] Three days later, Fox Sports reached an agreement with NASCAR to extend the network's broadcasting contract through the 2022 season (maintaining its rights to the first half of the Cup Series and the full NASCAR Truck Series), along with the addition of online streaming rights beginning in 2013.[13]
Speed became available inCanada shortly after its U.S. launch. As Speedvision, Speed was approved by theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to be added to its list of foreign cable networks approved for carriage on Canadian cable and satellite providers in 1997.[14] As such, Speed was carried by most Canadian television service providers. Prior to August 2013, Canadian viewers saw a largely identical schedule as the U.S. channel, although some programming, particularly live Formula 1 events, wereblacked out to protectTSN, which holds domestic broadcast rights to F1 events (under CRTC rules, foreign services must own Canadian broadcast rights to the content they air).[15] However, this point became moot when NBC Sports Network obtained rights to F1 events beginning with the 2013 season, as that network is not available in Canada.
The Latin American version of Speed was launched on November 5, 2005 with a Brazilian version following in July 2006, carrying live coverage of the NASCAR Cup, Nationwide Series, and Truck Series,Rolex Sports Car Series, American Le Mans Series (including 24 Hours of Le Mans), and theDeutsche Tourenwagen Masters. It also aired delayed coverage of theWorld Series by Renault andNASCAR Mexico. Other programming included highlights shows includingBritish Formula Three Championship, the ArgentineTC 2000 andTurismo Carretera, and the Colombian T.C. 2000 and delayed highlights of Australia's V8 Supercars,FIA GT (airing on a few months delay),AMA Supercross andMonster Jam, as well as non-motorsport programs such asGrand Prix on Track,Grand Prix Story,Unique Whips,Tuner Mania andPinks.
Speed launched in Australia on November 1, 2010 onFoxtel in bothstandard andhigh definition.[16] After months of negotiations and controversy, on March 25, 2011, Speed and Speed HD launched on subscription television providerAustar.[17] Among other racing events, the Australian network aired NASCAR Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series, V8 Supercars and Superbike World Championship with the network also having its own version ofSpeed News. Unlike the U.S. version, it was owned byFox Sports Pty Limited, a subsidiary ofNews Corp Australia – which no longer was directly connected to 21st Century Fox due to its inclusion in thesplit of News Corporation.
On February 5, 2012, the Latin American channel was replaced inBrazil by a domestic version ofFox Sports. Beginning in 2012, the network broadcastFormula 1 free practices and live and delayed qualifying events and races, as well as live races from the GP2 Series and GP3 Series. On November 5, 2012, Speed Latin America was relaunched asFox Sports 3, whose programming remained focused on motorsports the following years.
On November 2, 2014, the Australian version of Speed closed and was replaced byFox Sports 5.[18][19]
On March 5, 2013, Fox Sports announced that Speed would be shut down and replaced by a new mainstream sports channel known asFox Sports 1; the network was to inherit Speed's NASCAR coverage (which would be expanded under a new television deal in 2015 to add coverage of selectedSprint Cup Series andNationwide Series events), but joined by new or recently acquired sports rights, includingcollege basketball andfootball,Major League Soccer,UFC, and new studio programming. Sister channel Fuel TV was also being re-launched as a companion,Fox Sports 2.[20][21][22][23]
The last program to be broadcast by Speed in the United States was a replay of qualifying for that weekend's Sprint Cup event, thePure Michigan 400, which was soon followed by a statement from Fox NASCAR play-by-play announcerMike Joy marking the end of Speed's operations in the United States:
For 18 years, it's been our honor and privilege to present motorsports and automotive-related programming to you on the network that began as Speedvision, became Speed Channel, and is now known as Speed. From the visionaries who started this network, from maintenance to management, from the talent to the truck drivers, we've shared your passion for motorsports over lo these many years. We love that you care as much about your cars as family, God and country, and so do we. But now, it's time to switch off the ignition and turn in the keys. This is the end of Speed in America. We hope you'll follow us on our new journey to Fox Sports 1 because all your favorite live NASCAR programming and much more is coming along with us. So now, it's goodnight and farewell to America's motorsports authority, Speed.
Although Fox marketed the transition to Fox Sports 1 as a re-launch of Speed, Fox was required to re-negotiate carriage deals with providers for Fox Sports 1 due to the change of its nature of service. There was uncertainty over whether Fox Sports 1 would have sufficient carriage at launch, as it had not yet reached deals with three of the four largest pay television providers in the United States (these beingDirecTV,Dish Network andTime Warner Cable) with only a month before its launch. However, all three finally agreed to terms to carry Fox Sports 1 three days before the scheduled launch.[25] For any remaining television providers that did not reach a deal, Fox offered a "watered-down" version of Speed (which consisted of a loop of the network's reality programming and no live events) to fulfill existing carriage contracts until they reached a deal to carry Fox Sports 1. In international markets such as Canada, a Speed-branded service was maintained running an automated loop of Speed's previous non-event programming, and simulcasts of motorsports programming carried by Fox Sports 1 or2.[4][5][26]
Despite the channel’s shutdown, the Speed brand would be briefly used on Fox Sports’ social media platforms for coverage ofAMA Supercross, theNHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, theARCA Racing Series,IMSA, and other non-NASCAR motorsports. Some of these Speed-branded accounts were later converted forIndyCar Series on Fox use.
In Canada, as well as theCaribbean andPuerto Rico, Speed was not converted to Fox Sports 1 with the exact reasons for this not being confirmed, although in the case of Canada, it was not clear whether Fox would have had the ability to make such a change given that Speed's Canadian authorization was based on it being a motorsports-based network with that version of Speed still being available in these areas despite its U.S. shutdown. It would continue to carry various NASCAR and other motorsports events, as well as related studio programming, mostly simulcast with their U.S. broadcasts on Fox Sports 1 or Fox Sports 2, but did not otherwise originate any new programming of its own. During hours when the network was not simulcasting FS1 or FS2 coverage, it carried repeats of past events and Speed's previous reality and documentary programming without carrying commercial advertising: commercial breaks consist solely of promos for its programming, with no outside advertising aside frompublic service announcements and promotions inserted by local providers.[4]
In early 2014, major Canadian service providers includingRogers Cable andBell Satellite TV began to drop the service upon the expiration of their carriage contracts.Cogeco dropped the Speed Channel on July 15, 2014.[27]Shaw later announced they would drop Speed on April 1, 2015 within their cable and satellite system (a.k.a. Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct).[28] Reports indicate that Fox had attempted to raise the channel's carriage fees significantly, despite the major reductions in original programming for international viewers,[29] and Rogers suggests Fox was unwilling to allow Speed to be moved to a more specialized package in light of the programming and cost changes.[30]
On February 19, 2015, Fox announced that the international feed of Speed would be re-branded asFox Sports Racing, and announced that Rogers had reached a deal to add the rebranded network back to its lineup.[31]
On October 12, 2022, it was announced that Speed co-founder Robert Scanlon was collaborating withRick Hendrick,Bill Goldberg and advertising industry sales executive Joe Abruzzese to revive the Speedvision brand as a linear channel on FAST (freead-supportedtelevision) services.[32] The new channel was launched on November 17, 2022[33] and features original and archival automotive programming on its daily schedule.
Speed on Fox was the name given for any motorsports events shown onFox which would normally be broadcast by Speed Channel. The events included races from theNASCAR Truck Series (usingNASCAR on Fox branding and graphics when aired),Formula One, andRolex Sports Car Series. The name was first used in February 2007. Formula One was broadcast on Fox for six years and the Truck Series for eight years.
Authorization for the services on this list is subject to the following: Providers of these foreign services must have obtained and must remain in possession of all necessary rights for the distribution of their programming in Canada. [...]
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