SPEED Channel now FOX Sports Racing; Available on Rogers

[Bryce Turner]

By: Bryce Turner

For Rogers customers who have missed out on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, practice and qualifying sessions for NASCAR's top three series, the TUDOR United Sportscar Series, and more motorsports this past year, SPEED is back; but with a new name. SPEED Channel International re-branded to FOX Sports Racing and returned to Rogers cable in an out-of-nowhere move Thursday night. On Friday, NASCAR practice and qualifying, as well as the Truck Series season opener at Daytona and NASCAR Race Hub were available to more Canadian households. NASCAR Raceday and Victory Lane can be seen before and after the Daytona 500 (which will air on FOX and TSN) tomorrow.

The renewed channel is available on Rogers channel 409 and, for now, is available on Shaw, which is scheduled to drop the channel in April. There is no word if Shaw will now keep the channel with the re-branding. Bell and Cogeco, who dropped SPEED last year, have yet to pick up the new channel. For the latest info on FOX Sports Racing, including TV listings, visit www.foxsportsracing.com.

[meteorite]

Nice to see, I guess, that Rogers at least has decided that motor racing is enough of an audience generator to be worth picking up, and with the truck series race being run at Mosport (CTRP) will be welcomed by Canadian viewers, at least those willing to pay the extra bucks for the channel.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out - what sort of a sports bundle it gets packed into, and what happens as the CRTC begins to get its way and force pick and pay pricing on the carriers. It would be kind of nice to have an all-motorsport bundle at an enticing price, wouldn't it?