Not Bad For A Dead Series

[DaveL]

I'm sure most of y'all have heard the news that CBS will be broadcasting 10 races next year. Suddenly Forrest Bond's job of writing his annual "CART won't be around next year" column has become much harder.

It's not about how many times you get knocked down. It's about how many times you get back up.

I truely believe that the worst is over and not having the Fifth Column around has a lot to do with that.

[nrc]

Stay tuned for Forrest Bond's "no way they've got the money to pay for that" update.

Another interesting thing is that evidently SPEED isn't out of the mix for the cable coverage.
Q. Where will the other nine races be?

CHRIS POOK: I would suspect we will continue our relationship with SPEED Channel. They've been with us. We haven't entered those discussions yet. We thought it was important to get the network programming in place first with CBS, then we'll open up those discussions and see how we move forward. SPEED Channel has been very good to us, have been with us for the last year and a half. They've been very, very supportive partners and do an outstanding job for us.

Q. Is there a chance that you won’t be on SPEED next year?

CHRIS POOK: I suppose anything's a possibility in this world today. The first place that discussions would start would be at SPEED.So was the "no SPEED races" story nonsense or has CART had some informal contact with the Viacom cable networks that they will use as leverage, or perhaps just a fallback position, in their talks with SPEED.

[JoeBob]

Pook's words were interesting. I'm sure the critics will jump on "maximum of 10 races on CBS." There could be fewer. Also, he said that up to 8 of those races would be live - meaning that at least two will be tape delayed. (Presumably the European swing, but who knows.)

He said that he anticipated that CART's relationship with SPEED would continue. He didn't really say what form that would be in. CART could continue to have qualifying shows on SPEED, and races elsewhere. He also could be keeping his options open because a bidding war is never a bad thing.

Or, they could keep the deal exactly as is - but with more races on CBS. In any case, it is reassuring to know that the TV deal won't get worse.

[nrc]

One thing they didn't mention is whether they'll still have 2.5 hours for each race. It could be that they're giving up that extra half hour to pay for the extra three races. :( I suppose more races on network is the priority right now, but the extra half hour has certainly improved the quality of the coverage.

[JLMannin]

Originally posted by JoeBob
Pook's words were interesting. I'm sure the critics will jump on "maximum of 10 races on CBS." There could be fewer. <snip>

Wow, you pulled that thought right out of Bond's head!!!

:D :D