Champ Car World Series 2008 TV Schedule
1) Champ Car will be more fully integrated into the ESPN global network of properties, not just television broadcasts but also digital media, radio, mobile, magazines, events and the like.
2) Some of the races will be shown in prime-time, so although they are tape delayed, they may actually yield higher TV ratings than in the past
3) There are no early Sunday morning broadcasts on ESPN Classic, which very few people were able to watch in 2007.
It would have been good if Champ Car could have done high-definition this year, but it would have taken a major financial investment and that wasn't in the cards for this year, but may be for 2009.
01/16/08 According to AutoRacing1.com sources, below is the soon to be announced Champ Car domestic TV schedule for 2008. If true this is the worst TV schedule in series history with all the ABC telecasts just 1-hour highlights and the majority of races tape delayed. Even the opening two races of the year are tape delayed and on ESPN2, which delivers near-zero ratings.
Why is it so bad you ask? 1) To save money since the series has few sponsors who buy TV ad time, and 2) They procrastinated so long on doing the schedule and the deal that all the available inventory for live races was gone. How many years in a row are they going to make this mistake before they get it right?
With that said, if all the races were going to be in high-definition, like the competition, then the fans might accept the tape delays, but according to our sources, as of a month ago, that was not going to be the case.
EVENT DATES NAME, LOCATION, VENUE
April 20 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Long Beach, California
5:00 – 7:30 p.m. – ESPN2 – Same-day tape
April 27 Grand Prix of Houston at JAGFlo Speedway, Houston, Texas
10:00 p.m. – Midnight – ESPN2 – Same-day tape
May 18 Champ Car Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. – ESPN – LIVE
June 1 Champ Car World Series Belgium at Circuit Zolder, Zolder, Belgium
3:00 – 4:00 p.m. – ABC – Same-day tape (Just 1 hour of highlights)
June 8 Champ Car World Series Spain at Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez, Spain
4:00 – 5:00 p.m. – ABC – Same-day tape (Just 1 hour of highlights)
June 22 Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
3:30 – 4:30 p.m. – ABC – Same-day tape (Just 1 hour of highlights)
June 29 Champ Car Mont-Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
1:00 – 3:00 p.m. – ESPN – LIVE
July 6 Champ Car Grand Prix of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. – ESPN – LIVE
July 20 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
3:00 – 5:00 p.m. – ESPN – LIVE
July 27 Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland, Portland, Oregon
10:00 p.m. – Midnight – ESPN2 – Same-day tape
August 10 Champ Car Grand Prix at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. – ABC – Same-day tape (Just 1 hour of highlights)
September 14 Champ Car World Series Holland at the TT Circuit Assen, Assen, Holland
10:00 p.m. – Midnight – ESPN2 – Same-day tape
October 26 Gold Coast Indy 300, Surfers Paradise, Australia
11:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. – ESPN2 – Same-day tape
November 9 Gran Premio de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
3:00 – 5:00 p.m. ESPN2 – LIVE
* All times eastern