The stars at night are big and bright...

The stars at night are big and bright...
The stars at night are big and bright...

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Next Discovery


Get ready for another new network from Discovery. Velocity is going to be the first network targeting the upscale men's market according to Discovery President David Zaslav. The network will feature cars, motorsports and adventure programming.

The Daly Planet reports former Speedvision founder Bob Scanlon will be at the helm. This is very interesting. Bob Scanlon was responsible for Inside Winston Cup Racing, the best weekly show about NASCAR in the history of ever. It was a quirkly little show shot live on tape from a not so soundproof studio near the dumpster in a Charlotte industrial park every Monday night on Speedvision that featured panelists Kenny Shrader, Johnny Benson, Michael Waltrip and host Allen Bestwick. It was a cool show that got swallowed up in the FOX buyout of Speedvision and is the benchmark for any NASCAR discussion program. There was very little script but it always ended on Bestwick's disclaimer "We'll be back next week, network executives permitting".

Here's hoping network executive Scanlon can put together more programs with the soul IWCR had. 

Discovery HD Theater will become Velocity later this year.

(edit) Nobody is jazzed about this? I'm envisioning a US version of Top Gear (subnote: A&E holds the US franchise for Top Gear) in a broader network format. While it won't carry the TG brand name, it certainly will embrace the spirit. SPEED suddenly has some serious competition.

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