Race Fan TV (www.racefantv.com)
Race Fan TV is a website providing listings of auto and motorcycle racing for
race fans in the United States and Canada. It is the most comprehensive,
most accurate, and most up-to-date listings service of its kind
available anywhere.
Race Fan TV is presented by George Webster, working from his home base
in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
Race Fan TV is affiliated with the magazine Performance Racing News,
Toronto, Canada.
There are three main pages of listings:
1.
U.S. TV Listings. For race fans in the United States. It includes
listings for all channels available to American race fans via cable or
satellite.
2.
Canadian Listings. For race fans in Canada. It includes listings for all
channels available to Canada race fans via CRTC-approved cable or
satellite sources.
3.
Can-Am Listings. For race fans in Canada who have access to a US-based satellite source such as DirecTV in addition to CRTC-approved
cable or satellite sources. It includes all the listings included in both the
U.S. and Canadian listings combined.
Race Fan TV is a free service, open to all who have access to the
internet.
During the racing season, Race Fan TV receives well in excess of 10000 visits per
week.
George Ryerson’s Legacy
Race Fan TV is a continuation of the television listings service which was offered
on the CompuServe Motor Sports Forum by George Ryerson. He compiled
and posted very comprehensive U.S. listings for several years. At the end of
2001, he retired from his day job and decided to take a well-earned respite
from his self-assigned routine of preparing weekly auto racing television
listings. I had been compiling a parallel “Canadian Television Listings” which
was also posted on the CompuServe Motor Sports Forum.
Coincidently with Ryerson’s decision to stop compiling listings for the
CompuServe Motor Sports Forum, I had decided to establish a website as a
medium for making auto racing listings available to wider audience of race
fans in the United States and Canada. Race Fan TV began at the start of the
racing season in 2002. I acknowledge Ryerson’s influence on this project;
the format of my listings and other aspects of Race Fan TV owes much to his
pioneering work.
Mike Hollander’s Motor Sports Forum continues; today it is a website
(www.motorsportsforum.com) and
Race Fan TV is the television listings
service for the web-based Motor Sports Forum. In addition, several other
race fan websites offer the Race Fan TV listings via links to the relevant page
of the Race Fan TV website. I appreciate the support and cooperation of all
these web partners.
Copyright
The content of Race Fan TV is copyright. If you use the listings information in
your website or publish the content in any other way, please ask permission. I
will normally grant free use to a non-profit effort but I do expect to be given
proper credit.
My Listings Policies
George Ryerson used to include every motorsports or automotive-related
television broadcast in his CompuServe listings. As the number of such programs has
exploded, not the least by the creation of the SPEED Channel, such a
completely comprehensive list would be overwhelming – and the “important”
broadcasts might be lost in the clutter of the mass of listings. I am trying to
find a balance between listing “everything” and a “bare-bones” kind of list.
My general policy to include every original and rerun automobile and
motorcycle race broadcast aired. This includes every “major” series and
many secondary/support series.
I also include racing-related magazine
shows, but I tend to omit multiple reruns and shows that are “timeless” and run over and over
for months or years. In general I do not list a show once it has been rerun
about five times.
I have a bias towards race events held
on paved circuits or tracks. I tend to ignore freak or peripheral motorsports
shows such as monster trucks, ATV, lawn mower or Figure Eight racing,
demolition derbies, racing wrecks compilations, and so on.
Of course, in the end, the decision to list a program or not is a subjective
decision made by the website’s management (i.e. me). The list of events
which I include in the listings has been influenced by audience feedback (e.g.
motocross/supercross).
You are encouraged to use the internet to check other sources of listings as
well as Race Fan TV. Check the broadcaster’s listings, especially the SPEED
Channel (www.speedtv.com). I find the
zap2it website
(www.zap2it.com) a
valuable comprehensive source of listings for U.S. and Canadian television
listings
Normally the listings are rechecked and updated each week on Tuesday or Wednesday. The main pages include listings for the
following two weekends.
Occasionally, if I am unable to follow my normal updating schedule because I
am away on some kind of road trip or some other reason, the listings will be given
for a longer period and will be updated as soon as I return to base.
Who am I?
This website is presented by George Webster. I am a Canadian who lives in
Oakville, Canada, in the Greater Toronto area.
I have been involved in auto racing for over 50 years – as a race fan, a race
official, a race photographer, and a race writer. In addition to my self-assigned duties as publisher of
Race Fan TV, I am a writer for the Toronto-based magazine Performance Racing News.
(http://www.prnmag.com/)
My personal racing interests are the major international and U.S. series such
as NASCAR, Formula One, CART, IRL, Le Mans/American Le Mans. Given my
long personal history in motorsports, I am developing an increased interest in historic
racing such as the Goodwood Festival and Revival (England), Monterey Historics. I support the International Motor
Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen. I also have a collection of models
of Land Speed Record cars.
Feedback helps (send email to
racefantv@yahoo.com)
I invite your feedback. I always appreciate receiving messages especially
those that are complimentary. But I also appreciate constructive criticism. If
you think I have made a mistake in the listings or have omitted something,
please let me know ASAP. I will consider your input seriously. I want to
maintain Race Fan TV's standing as the best listings service available and your input can be
helpful.
If you have a question you think I can help answer, don’t hesitate to ask. I
will answer you and do my best to help you find the answer to your
question.
News Releases
Race Fan TV welcomes news from the automobile and motorcycle racing
industry, especially news related to television broadcasting. Please send your
news releases by email (racefantv@yahoo.com). If you
wish to make contact by
another method, please send me an email and I will respond with the
complete contact information.
George Webster, Race Fan TV, January 2007