[LM24] Speed TV coverage of Le Mans

[prototype]

I have just checked the guide on Speed's website. It looks like they are only only showing from 8:30 AM (eastern) till noon, then they are breaking away for 9 hours to show Nascar and Craftsmen trucks.

Is this a mistake on the website, or are we really missing an entire third of the race?

[Truckosaurus]

The onscreen graphic during last night's ALMS race mentioned those times too.

You'll have to find a hooky internet feed of the european coverage....

[mattcat]

As usual SPEED will be ignoring the fact that the most important auto race in the world will be taking place. Does anyone recall when they had the "Grand Slam of Endurance Racing"? They would show the whole race, and go up to an hour at a time without commercial interruption. 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Petit Le Mans. Oh, but wait, then they were bought by FOX... Let's take a moment to see what fine programming, what essential motor racing events will be pre-empting the Le Mans coverage:

NASCAR practice...
MORE NASCAR practice...
NASCAR Trucks...
Tradin' Paint (People talking about NASCAR)...
NASCAR performance...
Lexus Test Drive (Tommy Kendall spending 30 minutes rhapsodising about the newest Lexus vehicle)...
Motorcycle Ice Racing...
Stars of Karting (Ex-Champ Car drivers race karts)...

Now who the hell would want to watch Le Mans? I think it's fairly obvious that SPEED has made the correct choice, because I don't think I could go through the day without knowing what Tony Stewart had for breakfast that morning...

[broadrun96]

Damn, thats worse than the last few years. At least when it was US GP weekend as well they had quali in the middle of the LM show and then one NASCAR event but 9 hours is excessive. Especially given the amount of work they are doing online and in the weeks before the race. Can't they just bite the bullet and lose some money if they have to for one weekend of the year and move NASCAR over to FX, or just NOT COVER practice every time they are on track. And we don't even get RLM overnight anymore, much better sound through the digital cable than the computer connection.

Anybody know if SPEED is picking up an HD feed for LM? Don't have SPEED HD yet with Comcast but I keep requesting about every week or so.

[mattcat]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Anybody know if SPEED is picking up an HD feed for LM? Don't have SPEED HD yet with Comcast but I keep requesting about every week or so.

According to the schedule on SPEED's site, it will be in HD. I'm in the same boat with Comcast...hoping that will change by LM because man would I like to see the Peugeots in HD!

[prototype]

Please feel free to tell Speed what you think about thier coverage.

http://www.speedtv.com/feedback

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by prototype

Please feel free to tell Speed what you think about thier coverage.

http://www.speedtv.com/feedback

done

[Dyson20]

Originally Posted by prototype

Please feel free to tell Speed what you think about thier coverage.

http://www.speedtv.com/feedback

I gave them a piece of my mind.

[prototype]

Originally Posted by prototype

Please feel free to tell Speed what you think about thier coverage.

http://www.speedtv.com/feedback

Actually I think it may be more effective to send our greviences to programming@speedtv.com.

Sorry for complicating the matter. Please send them your thoughts on showing Nascar practice and Tradin' Paint instead of a real race with right turns.

[supermario21]

I'm sure the SPEED execs will listen to a degree. In 2004 or 2005 I believe they added 3 or 4 extra hours of coverage. SPEED does a great job with the last half of the race always uninterrupted but a 9 hour gap really is inexcusable. The race changes alot in that time. It would be nice if the could show a half hour instead of NCTS setup, an update during Cup Practice, and cut all the taped shows such as Tradin Paint, Lexus Test Drive, etc. I'm sure Le Mans draws better than those shows. At least there is video coverage, RLM, and live timing, though. Right now we have 15 hours of racing and with those additions we could be up to what, 18 or 19?

[mattcat]

Originally Posted by prototype

Actually I think it may be more effective to send our greviences to programming@speedtv.com.

Sorry for complicating the matter. Please send them your thoughts on showing Nascar practice and Tradin' Paint instead of a real race with right turns.

Thanks prototype, I let them have my opinion. Maybe if enough of us write and make it known that there are fans of endurance sports car racing in America, they will reconsider their position.

[broadrun96]

Nevermind, proto beat me to it. wasnt sure if i could post the link but I send that an email once a week

[Holt]

I'm a fan of NASCAR, but why are they breaking away for 2.5 hours of daytime racing of the biggest sports car race to show 2 sessions of NASCAR practice?

Then 1 hour of Craftsman truck series pre race shows, then the Truck race which I can understand, but back again to lucas oil on the edge for one hour. Who watches that for one hour?

And then from 8 - 9 pm est there is an unscheduled show.

I can understand an hour of final Cup practice and a 2 hour truck race, but the rest of the lineup should in no way be there, Speed should cut back to Le Mans instead of showing prerace shows etc.

Oh my, a 2 minute horse race gets 10 hours of prerace shows on another network but we can only see 2/3 of the greatest sports car race

will there be a live motorsTV feed on the internet?

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Holt

will there be a live motorsTV feed on the internet?

Motors has lost the rights, but I think Eurosport are streaming it at Eurosport.com.

...and I wonder whether Speedtv.com might do something similar.

[supermario21]

Eurosport will have full online streaming of everything, complete with commentary, so dont worry at all. This is awful though, I mean this is shaping up to be one of the finest races since 1999 and to miss a 9 hour chunk is pretty bad. Maybe it will be in HD, though. If it is, Directv might be a neccessity. Anyways though, were all complaining about this coverage, and rightly so, but think about it in the 1980s, when ESPN showed what, a half hour on each end. I was watching a youtube video of the 1989 24 hours of le mans and ESPN had some Le Mans hotline where you had to pay to get hourly updates, lol. But yeah, Lexus Test Drive, NCTS Setup, and Nascar Performance and Tradin Paint are inexcusable reasons to miss a race that as Bob Varsha said in 1989 "can only be compared to the Indy 500."

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by supermario21

Eurosport will have full online streaming of everything, complete with commentary, so dont worry at all. This is awful though, I mean this is shaping up to be one of the finest races since 1999 and to miss a 9 hour chunk is pretty bad. Maybe it will be in HD, though. If it is, Directv might be a neccessity. Anyways though, were all complaining about this coverage, and rightly so, but think about it in the 1980s, when ESPN showed what, a half hour on each end. I was watching a youtube video of the 1989 24 hours of le mans and ESPN had some Le Mans hotline where you had to pay to get hourly updates, lol. But yeah, Lexus Test Drive, NCTS Setup, and Nascar Performance and Tradin Paint are inexcusable reasons to miss a race that as Bob Varsha said in 1989 "can only be compared to the Indy 500."

Mario that's all nice and everything and yes coverage used to be next to nothing and on top of that weeks after the finish!

But this is the 21st Century where we are only 9 months away from total switch over to digital tv, where internet tv will play a vital roll in On Demand Video as well as live streaming of events not carried by traditional cable and sat providers.

No excuse for this and clearly Speed has taken up FOX's mantra of "Fair and Balance" while feeding you a steady diet of BULL.

I am positive only 40% of NASCAR Nation wants to know what Kyle Bush is going in his off-time. But they aren't covering that. They are manufacturing stories to tell about the series, talking to drivers that will never win a race, ever and other unimportant shhh nobody outside of die hard fans are even interested in.

All we ASK for is ONE weekend EVERY SUMMER that we get OUR day in the Sun.

Its one race, one 24 hour period, even if you covered all the stuff in between its around 30 hours of coverage.

America and Canada can DO WITHOUT Cup Racing for ONE STINKING Weekend of wall to wall coverage.

I think THAT is the point we are trying to make as ALL of us pay a premium to even get Speed.

[prototype]

I hope someone will be nice enough to post the live streams. Everytime I try to get a live stream by click through eurosport, it says I am outside of their region.

[supermario21]

check the MMS link. someone has always posted it for the LMS races. Then use the VLC media player. Going through Eurosport itself will get you a region restriction unless you use a proxy server based in Europe.

[mattcat]

Ok, I know that this is going to sound like a stupid question (and it probably is), but where can one find the mms link?

[supermario21]

someone usually posts it but id think you can right click the video and highlight properties or something like that. however for all three LMS races someone has posted the MMS on here.

[Ultimo]

Originally Posted by supermario21

check the MMS link. someone has always posted it for the LMS races. Then use the VLC media player. Going through Eurosport itself will get you a region restriction unless you use a proxy server based in Europe.

What's an MMS link and VLC media player?

[supermario21]

Im not the big tech junky but MMS is just like http: for instance. VLC media player just google it and you will find it. It plays these MMS links very easily. Don't worry about it though, because for the LMS Races so far someone has posted the MMS link where all you need to do is copy the link and paste it in the open network stream section of the VLC media player.

[Aysedasi]

Not too big I hope, remember, charity begins at home.........

[kbeech]

Lasts years coverage was in the 17-19 hour range on SpeedTV, which was pretty good.

sigh This NASCAR garbage gets on my nerves. Practice?? practice! Sheesh!

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by kbeech

Lasts years coverage was in the 17-19 hour range on SpeedTV, which was pretty good.

sigh This NASCAR garbage gets on my nerves. Practice?? practice! Sheesh!

Well, we need to be careful not to offend our NASCAR fans here....

I remember when I first went to Le Mans - particularly in 1988 when the Jaguar win barely rated moments on the TV - some things don't change.

I turned the tele on at the weekend and was greeted with the Moto GP from Le Mans. I threw things at the screen every time I saw them round the right hander after the Dunlop Bridge............