(2009 TV DEAL) FORMULA DRIFT Schedule with VERSUS

[SSmith]

Never heard of Versus channel. Heard of ESPN and Speed but Versus? Is it on basic cable?
Seems like the popularity of drifting is sliding downhill faster than we thought. It's like back in the day when FD was on G4. Drivers are getting less and less exposure to help them earn a living from driving. Even if a driver wins first place, the prize money is not enough to cover the cost to maintain their car, especially privateers who pour out their savings to pursue their dreams.

[Formula D]

Never heard of Versus channel. Heard of ESPN and Speed but Versus? Can we get it on basic cable?
Seems like the popularity of drifting is sliding downhill faster than we thought. It's like back in the day when FD was on G4. Drivers are getting less and less exposure to help them earn a living from driving. Even if a driver wins first place, the prize money is not enough to cover the cost to maintain their car, especially privateers who pour out their savings to pursue their dreams.

Versus is the fastest growing sporting network in America and currently is beating the growth of all the majors like ESPN, ESPN 2, Speed in the demo we want: 18-35M. Versus is in more homes than Speed. This deal affords thirteen episodes which is about double that of all our other deals and thus more time and exposure for more teams. The schedule airs Sunday prime which is another key element. This schedule airs before SEMA which is new and important for teams. Speed, ESPN did not. Versus bought Indy Car programming, has WEC (UFC sister series), NHL and College football amongst others and for that a Versus executive just received a highly prestigious award for their development of this network and the great things and growth they have done in a very short time. He's under 40 years old. We had a chance to go to to any network within the previous channels, but we chose Versus. This is a deal we didn't have to take. This is a deal we chose to take. This is an aggressive, forward thinking network and one we see inline with our series and I say that with all due respect for the other netoworks we have been on. Go grab yourself a copy of Sport Business Journal and you can see for yourself. This is the best deal we have ever had. Don't believe me, go ask any driver in the series what they think.

[SSmith]

Just checked my cable, i have ESPN, ESPN2, Speed, even G4. Not Versus. I guess a $40/mo upgrade to premium cable would do.

[Formula D]

I hear ya. Where I moved from we had Versus not Speed so it depends on how your provider packages certain channels within tiers. Bottom line is total number of homes. Versus 75M-80M, Speed 70-72M. ESPN 2 has 90M homes, but ironically we rated better on a smaller network like Speed and even G4. At the end of the day, it's about ratings though, not viewership and we can't debate that until they come out. To get the best ratings programming like ours needs to have consistency in airings and at times when the most likely people are watching.