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View Full Version : TV Coverage - TSN reverts to UK F1 feed



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."