mnkywrch
03-17-03, 08:55 AM
From motorsportstv.com:
Canada's TSN Returns to ITV F1 Feed
Starting with next week's Malaysian Grand Prix, TSN will abandon the brief experiment with the U.S.-based Speed Channel feed and revert to the British ITV crew it has carried for most of past decade.
``We were not satisfied with the quality of the Speed Channel broadcast (of last Saturday's Australian Grand Prix)," said Phil King, TSN's senior vice-president of programming. ``If we disagreed with the viewers, we wouldn't have changed, but in this case we did."
TSN and Speed worked out a cost-sharing deal a few years back. That deal ended blackouts of the American channel and saved both a few dollars. ``Formula One is a very expensive property," says King. ``We felt this was a good way to cut those costs."
The problem is that Speed's F1 audiences aren't big enough to justify sending a crew to the other side of the world, which is what upset the fans. Speed Channel's crew called the Australian race from a studio on North Carolina, leaving a little to be desired. In addition to actually being at the races and having reporters in the pits, the British crew has one other advantage. ``The quality is better," says King. ``Our viewers told us that and we agree."
Canada's TSN Returns to ITV F1 Feed
Starting with next week's Malaysian Grand Prix, TSN will abandon the brief experiment with the U.S.-based Speed Channel feed and revert to the British ITV crew it has carried for most of past decade.
``We were not satisfied with the quality of the Speed Channel broadcast (of last Saturday's Australian Grand Prix)," said Phil King, TSN's senior vice-president of programming. ``If we disagreed with the viewers, we wouldn't have changed, but in this case we did."
TSN and Speed worked out a cost-sharing deal a few years back. That deal ended blackouts of the American channel and saved both a few dollars. ``Formula One is a very expensive property," says King. ``We felt this was a good way to cut those costs."
The problem is that Speed's F1 audiences aren't big enough to justify sending a crew to the other side of the world, which is what upset the fans. Speed Channel's crew called the Australian race from a studio on North Carolina, leaving a little to be desired. In addition to actually being at the races and having reporters in the pits, the British crew has one other advantage. ``The quality is better," says King. ``Our viewers told us that and we agree."