NBC Group gets U.S. rights deal to broadcast F1

[jacksmar]

NBC Sports Group signed a four-year deal with Formula One for the exclusive U.S. media rights to the world's most popular global motorsports series.


The deal, which begins next season, will provide over 100 hours of programming across NBC and cable channel NBC Sports Network.


Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network, told The Associated Press on Sunday night it gives the network content to grow its motorsports presence. NBC Sports Network owns the rights to the bulk of the IndyCar Series schedule.



"This is an opportunity for us to get further engaged in open wheel racing and really acquire some great live first run content," Miller told The Associated Press on Sunday night.


"This gives us quality events to put on our air, and this is a sport with a huge following around the world that we feel we can grow in this country."



Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/2012...#ixzz2A7tRxmgu

[jacksmar]

As along time F1 fan I thought that SPEED was doing a great airing the F1 product from GP2 to Debrief to the WDC. I know that the product was not growing and sometimes that takes a change. I wouldn't change Bob Varsha and Steve Matchett while switching to NBC. I hope Bernie and NBC keeps the on air continuity because they really don't pander to the lowest common denominator. They recognize the F1 fan is pretty well informed.

The ICS may get some ads running during the F1 races. Most won't get how F1 and the ICS differ.

I heard that FOX were in the process of dropping the majority of motorsports programming. I think this because FOX stands with NASCAR. FOX Sports are rebranding SPEED into a general purpose channel and they probably didn't fight much to retain the F1 rights.

NBC has been known to mess up with their sports programming so this is a wait and see deal for me.

Maybe the 30 Rock audience will catch the F1 fever.

[Nickdfresh]

I doubt anyone is catching F1 fever in the U.S., I do like it better than anything NASCAR or IRL offers though. Part of the issue SPEED had was to keep the integrity they had to air the races live early on weekend mornings in North America. There was a time I would wake up still drunk or hungover on the Sunday morn to watch at 7:00am. It's a good product and a more sophisticated motor sport, but the scheduling is difficult to overcome because no fan really wants to watch time delayed races. We'll see what Versus, er, NBC Sports does with it. I suspect the prospect of no NHL season is a factor in this...

[Unchainme]

I doubt anyone is catching F1 fever in the U.S., I do like it better than anything NASCAR or IRL offers though.

It goes by the ICS now.

Have you considered giving that a chance again?

The last two Indianapolis 500's have been fantastic, with some really amazing finishes, and the racing outside of that has been quite good as well.

They now finally have an American Face to the series, as Ryan Hunter Reay just won the Championship this year,

[BITEYOASS]

Well since this means less money for that dipshit Rupert Murdoch, I'm all for it!

[POJO_Risin]

I don't see NBC doing shit for F1...except putting out shit...

[Unchainme]

I don't see NBC doing shit for F1...except putting out shit...

They've done a great for IndyCar thus far. Will be interesting to see how they handle Bernie and his series.

[Nickdfresh]

By Corrie MacLaggan | Reuters

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov 12 (Reuters) - As the Texas capital prepares to host the first Grand Prix in the United States in five years, some in laid-back Austin say this weekend's glamorous race clashes with the city's soul.

In this environmentally-conscious college town of 800,000, where the bumper stickers say "Keep Austin Weird" and there are no professional sports teams, there is widespread opposition to the Formula One race.

Some skeptics have come around, embracing the race and the sleek parties that come with it, while others are still shaking their heads over fears of clogged streets, noisy helicopter traffic and a negative impact on the environment, all for a ritzy event they say is simply un-Austin.

"Many opponents said that this is kind of the wrong image - frivolous emissions, carbon and other pollutants into the air just for amusement purposes - for a city that wants to be seen as the most sustainable city in the United States," said Tom Smith, director of the Texas office of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.

Officials at Circuit of the Americas, which owns the new racetrack, say they're working to minimize the environmental impact of the event and point out that F1 innovations lead to more efficient passenger cars.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs touts the economic impact of the event, which she says will generate some $220 million for the state.

And many Austinites are thrilled about the race at the 3.4-mile (5.5 kilometre), $400 million track facility southeast of town, as well as a downtown fan festival and concerts by Aerosmith and Enrique Iglesias.

"It's just another thing that makes Austin weird," said Julie Loignon, a spokeswoman for Circuit of the Americas, adding that F1 was too shiny, too chic for Austin, more of a Dallas-type thing.

"Austin is very European, with its politics, its progressive thinking. People are going to come here, buy their boots, let their hair down, and they're going to have a lovely time."

F1 has not raced in the U.S. since 2007, when the Grand Prix was held at Indianapolis, and teams are eager to return to a country that is a key market for sponsors and car manufacturers but one that the sport has found hard to crack over the years.

A second Grand Prix was planned for New Jersey in 2013 but has been postponed until 2014.

F1 is expected to race for a decade at the 20-turn Austin track featuring a steep climb to a hairpin Combs has called "that extraordinary drive up into the heavens."

The fact that the race is in Austin is due in large part to Tavo Hellmund, an Austin-born former race car driver who has a close relationship with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

After working to bring the race to his hometown, Hellmund eventually parted ways with Circuit of the Americas, and there were such serious struggles among race organizers that in late 2011, construction on the track was halted prompting speculation the race may not happen.

"For a lot of us longtime Austinites, Formula One is hard to swallow," City Council Member Chris Riley wrote in the Austin American-Statesman last year. "We're not that big on fast cars; we're more into hybrids, electric vehicles, bikes and public transit."

Since then, Riley has warmed to the idea, mostly because the city and Circuit of the Americas signed an environmental agreement that calls for purchasing carbon offsets, limiting traffic, providing access for cyclists, planting trees, recycling and composting, and allowing electric vehicle research at the track.

The City Council's support of the project was needed to qualify the event for $25 million in state subsidies that race officials can seek after it happens.

"If this were just another race car venue, well then, that would detract from our character," Riley, who plans to bike to the race, told Reuters recently.

"On the other hand, if this site becomes known as being the most sustainable racetrack in the world and that's here in Austin, Texas, that's a lot closer to the character of the city that we love."

Edgar Farrera was brought on at Circuit of the Americas in January as what he believes is the first circuit sustainability director in the history of Grand Prix.

"We're not trying to tell people, 'If you want to do something to save the planet, go drive your car very fast,'" Farrera told Reuters.

Rather, he said, he's constantly thinking about how to minimize the impact of crowds, whose traffic and waste will have a bigger environmental impact than the two dozen F1 cars, each of which races on a single tank of gas.

And he delicately pointed out that it doesn't much matter to the environment whether crowds arrive for a sporting event or a music festival.

Austin, which calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World, proudly hosts the Austin City Limits Music Festival and the South by Southwest music, film and interactive conferences.

Smith of Public Citizen said the track's environmental initiatives don't go far enough.

"This is a heavily greenwashed race," Smith said. He added: "As you can tell, I'm not real happy."

State Senator Kirk Watson, a Democrat who is a former Austin mayor, said F1 is just another way the city brings different people together.

"In the old days, it might have been rednecks sitting next to hippies," Watson told Reuters at an opening ceremony for the track.

"In this day and age, though, it's people from all over the world coming to enjoy the spirit of the town." (Editing by Julian Linden)

[Nitro Express]

I was searching You Tube on Formula One Racing and found this. Enjoy the tirade!