Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600 to air in USA
US network SPEED will brings its own commentary and production teams to Australia for the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600.
- Published by David Knox
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US network SPEED will beam images of the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600 throughout North America.
The sports will be broadcast live and in prime time on the SPEED network, available in almost 84 million homes across North America.
They will also be broadcast live across Australia on Seven and live in full high definition on 7mate.
SPEED will brings its own commentary and production teams to Australia, to share the resources of V8 Supercars Television which produces the live pictures for the Seven Network.
V8 Supercars will provide SPEED with a purpose built set in pit lane for both events. It will also convert all of its race graphics and information specifically, for example converting kilometres into miles and litres into gallons.
The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is one of the world’s most famous sporting events, sitting alongside the likes of the great Monaco F1 Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Le Mans 24 hour.
The Armor All Gold Coast 600 is quickly rising to a similar stature with 28 international drivers joining the field as co-pilots, including the likes of Sebastien Bourdais, Helio Castroneves, Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan and Aussies Will Power and Ryan Briscoe who are household names in the US.
Both live telecasts will be promoted extensively not only on SPEED but also on its parent FOX network through News Corporation’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets.
It follows the announcement in June that V8 Supercars will race at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas from 2013, a first for any Australian sport to hold a Championship or points scoring event on American soil.
“This is a fantastic announcement for Australian sport and a tremendous endorsement of V8 Supercars,” V8 Supercars Chairman Tony Cochrane said.
“Our sport is acting locally and growing globally every single month. We are on the march internationally and being recognised as such.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at FOX Sports and SPEED in America, especially David Hill and Patti Wheeler. – North American motorsport fans are in for a real treat with our prestigious races from Bathurst and the fabulous Gold Coast live into their homes in prime time.”
“This is a great opportunity to share one of the signature events in all of motor sports with the SPEED audience,” said Wheeler, EVP of Programming and Production for the network.
“Some special arrangements already are in the works as we put together our on-air team and broadcast plans.”
“It is significant news for V8 Supercar sponsors, teams and drivers to get such massive exposure in the US through the SPEED/Fox platforms, as well as New South Wales and Queensland who host these two prestigious races.
Queensland Sport Minister – Phil Reeves – said this is an exciting announcement not only for the event, but for state tourism.
“What superb news that North America’s largest broadcaster – in the Fox Network through its’ Speed Network – will carry spectacular pictures of the Gold Coast live into prime time across North America,” Minister Reeves said.
“These pictures alone, money can’t buy and will give millions of Americans a bird’s eye view of one of the world’s greatest tourist destinations, showcasing Queensland as the champion state and the events state.”
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- Tagged with Bathurst 1000, Gold Coast 600, V8 Supercars
13 Responses
It’s full HD, the press release says so why don’t others believe? Why would Seven be making a big deal about it if it was just the same as last year?
Now I’m not saying every camera is 1080 HD but I’m betting the track side and studio cameras will be. The in-car cameras might not be and some of the embedded cameras in the track.
It’s being done for the US market so maybe that is where the have found the money to upgrade equipment for the 2 rounds. My question it why not for the rest of the year, then for all rounds in 2012?
Not a Seven Press Release.
@Peter A , i doubt it mate, probably upscaled at best , if there wasnt the law that they have to show a certain number of HD programs a year , they wouldnt ever bother about it at all , would all be SD regardless.Lets hope i am wrong.
Finally. About time we see the V8’s in HD. My only question is, is it true HD? Knowing channel 7, I doubt it. This may finally bring the V8’s into this century. What a shame it takes the US networks to come in to get the broadcast in HD.
I think Motors TV show it in the UK.
I don’t care what the reason is, if we are really getting it in full HD, that’ll be brilliant.
And Bathurst must be live, altho’ I’m less fussed about the GC600. There will need to be ads, so if we miss some action while one is on, just replay it. If there aren’t many safety car periods, don’t artificially extend the coverage to fit in all the scheduled ads, just suck it up. Maybe sell advertising spots in the 30 minutes either side of the six-and-a-half hour mark in pairs at a cost of 1.5 spots. If the race is short, advertisers might dip out if people turn off, but if it’s long, they have a win.
If we can have these two races in HD on 7mate, why can’t it be the same for all races in 2012? You’re going to have trouble finding room on the main channel with your greater AFL commitments anyway.
Anyone know what channel this tends to be shown on in the UK?
So we won’t get it live (last year certainly bloody wasn’t) and we miss 40+% of the tape delayed race for adverts.
Sounds great :/
Wait, if Seven can show car racing in high definition on 7mate, why can’t they show the football in high definition on 7mate?
While the cynic in me notes that America will get this race live where as we might not if Seven repeats their poor form from last year (Hopefully they’ve learnt their lesson), I’m still grinning from ear-to-ear at this news. Cochrane can talk up the category all he wants, and a minister can sign off on a street race, but when Fox puts its money where its mouth is, you know that this is a tremendous endorsement of V8 Supercars, and a great opportunity to really build a presence in a massive sporting market. Cool news about HD simulcast on 7Mate, too – even if it doesn’t matter to me because I’ll be there.
PS If the graphics are being converted for Speed, do they call it the Bathurst 620.something miler now? 😉
Thanks David! I’ll tell my brother in New York.
So is the only reason we’re getting them in full HD is the US market?
I’m not knocking it but surely it’s time for the full series to go HD and for it to be shown on 7MATE, simulcast on the main channel.
I personally am not a motorsport fan, but am excited that more of Australian sport is being viewed internationally. First it was AFL and NRL (on in the U.S. on Fox Soccer Channel and SPIKE, in the U.K. on Sky Sports and Premier Sports, not to mention the finals and State of Origin being shown in many other countries via Australia Network (Asia-Pacific), Eurosport (EU), Setanta (Middle East), etc.), then A-League (the U.S. Fox Soccer Channel), and now motorsports. Australia is fastly becoming one of the main sporting nations (with the others being the U.S. and Europe). I hope this sends messages to Premier Media Group and ESPN Aust./N.Z. that this country is largely sport oriented and more sports channels are required – such as launching another FOX Sports channel (e.g. Fox Soccer Channel) to make room for more international sport (e.g. NHL, Asian sports, etc.) as well as ESPN to launch ESPNews to move their panel programming to increase their sport content (e.g. increasing NFL, NBA and college sports, beginning to show NHL and MLL, etc.).