Editing Speed (TV network) (section)

===Fox acquisition and NASCAR push===
In the summer of 2001, the [[Fox Entertainment Group]] (then a subsidiary of [[News Corporation]]) purchased a 30% ownership interest in Speedvision. In August of that year, Fox negotiated a deal to acquire the stakes held by Cox and [[Comcast]], thus giving them majority control of the network. Since [[Fox Sports (United States)|Fox Sports]] had recently acquired [[NASCAR on Fox|broadcast rights]] to the first half of the [[NASCAR]] [[NASCAR Nationwide Series|Busch]] and [[NASCAR Sprint Cup Series|Winston Cup Series]] in a six-year deal, Fox planned to leverage Speedvision as an outlet for supplemental NASCAR programming.<ref name=sbj-finaldays/> To coincide with that year's running of the [[2002 Daytona 500|Daytona 500]], Speedvision was relaunched as '''Speed Channel''' on February 11, 2002; the network's operations were also relocated from [[Stamford, Connecticut|Stamford]], [[Connecticut]] to [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], [[North Carolina]] (where NASCAR and the majority of its teams are based).

In the following years, additional NASCAR-related programs were slowly brought on to the schedule, ranging from news programs (such as ''[[Totally NASCAR]]'', rerun from [[Fox Sports Networks|Fox Sports Net]], and ''[[NASCAR Race Hub]]''), pre-race programs ''[[NASCAR Trackside|Trackside]]'' and ''[[NASCAR RaceDay]]'', and the post-race ''[[NASCAR Victory Lane]]''. Speed Channel also added a weekly call-in show in 2003, ''[[WindTunnel with Dave Despain]]'', which featured interviews and discussions relating to news and events in auto racing.

[[File:US Navy 070504-N-5345W-055 NASCAR Busch Series driver Shane Huffman, driver of the U.S. Navy ^88 Chevy Monte Carlo, answers questions from Speed Channel's Dick Berggren after qualifying a career-high 3rd for the Circuit City 25.jpg|thumb|175px|right|NASCAR Busch (now Xfinity) Series driver [[Shane Huffman]] answers questions from Speed Channel's [[Dick Berggren]].]]
Starting in 2003, Speed began to carry NASCAR's [[NASCAR Truck Series|Truck Series]], after buying out the remainder of [[ESPN2]]'s contract for the events. The channel also offered coverage of practices and qualifying races in NASCAR's main national series, the [[Gatorade Duels]] qualifying races, and the [[NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race|Sprint All-Star Race]]. In 2005, the channel's name was shortened to simply '''Speed'''.

In 2006, the conclusion of Daytona 500 qualifying coverage was moved to Speed due to NBC's coverage of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The coverage still had NBC graphics and commentary. It would be the only time that the NBC/TNT broadcast combo (which aired the Daytona 500 in even-numbered years and the summer race in the odd-numbered months) would air its NASCAR coverage on SPEED.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/UH_LYczi6Uk Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210203022030/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH_LYczi6Uk Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH_LYczi6Uk| title = 2006 02 12 Daytona 500 Qualifying | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Until late 2007, Speed also aired coverage of [[International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation]] events over the winter months&nbsp;– including [[bobsledding]], [[luge]] and [[skeleton (sport)|skeleton]]. Its winter sports coverage also included an annual charity bobsledding event organized by NASCAR driver and bobsled builder [[Geoff Bodine]], which featured participation by various NASCAR drivers. [[Universal Sports]] acquired the rights to FIBT events beginning in the 2007–08 season.

Speed continued to maintain coverage of other professional racing series, such as the [[Rolex Sports Car Series]] (including the [[24 Hours of Daytona]]), the [[American Le Mans Series]] (along with the [[24 Hours of Le Mans]]), the newly renamed ''Speed World Challenge'' until 2010, and the [[Formula One World Championship]]. By the mid 2000s, these came along with an increasing number of [[Reality television|reality]] series (such as the [[street racing]]-inspired ''[[Pinks (TV series)|Pinks]]'', ''[[Unique Whips]]'', ''[[Chop Cut Rebuild]]'', the [[drag racing]] [[game show]] ''Pass Time'', ''[[American Trucker]]'', and ''Hard Parts: South Bronx'', along with reruns of the [[MTV]] series ''[[Pimp My Ride]]''). By 2008, Speed was carried in over 73 million households.<ref name=sbj-finaldays/>

In 2010, Fox launched Speed 2, a [[TV Everywhere]] video streaming service which featured coverage of additional racing series not broadcast by Speed, along with [[video on demand]] access to archived Speed programs. The service was shut down in 2014.<ref name=speed2-mcn>{{cite web|title=Time Warner Cable Revs Up Speed 2 Broadband Launch|url=http://www.multichannel.com/content/time-warner-cable-revs-speed-2-broadband-launch|work=Multichannel News|access-date=August 21, 2013}}</ref>

In 2011, Speed began carrying Australia's [[V8 Supercars]] series; it also aired live coverage of the [[Gold Coast 600]] (where major international drivers competed in teams alongside Australian drivers) and the [[Bathurst 1000]] featuring [[Darrell Waltrip]], [[Mike Joy]], [[Leigh Diffey]], and Calvin Fish on-location. The move was met with praise from series organizers, who felt that the series could benefit from the additional exposure it would receive from American coverage—the series would also add a U.S. event at [[Austin, Texas|Austin]]'s [[Circuit of the Americas]] for the 2013 season.<ref name=crashnet-speedv8>{{cite web|title=Waltrip joins US TV coverage of Bathurst 1000|date=September 14, 2011|url=http://www.crash.net/v8+supercars/news/173044/1/waltrip_joins_us_tv_coverage_of_bathurst_1000.html|publisher=Crash.net|access-date=October 12, 2012}}</ref>

On October 12, 2012, Fox Sports announced that it would not renew its contract to air Formula One racing on Speed after the conclusion of the 2012 season. Two days later, [[NBC Sports]] announced that it had reached a new four-year deal to broadcast F1 races beginning in the 2013 season, with the majority of its coverage to be carried by [[NBCSN|NBC Sports Network]].<ref name=speed-nof1>{{cite web|title=SPEED coverage of Formula One comes to an end in 2012|url=http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/speed-coverage-of-formula-one-comes-to-an-end-in-2012/|publisher=Motorsport.com|access-date=October 13, 2012}}</ref><ref name=nbc-f1>{{cite web|title=Formula 1 lands four-year deal with NBC|url=http://www.racer.com/formula-1-lands-four-year-deal-with-nbc/article/263645/|publisher=Racer|access-date=October 16, 2012}}</ref> Three days later, Fox Sports reached an agreement with NASCAR to extend the network's broadcasting contract through the 2022 season (maintaining its rights to the first half of the Cup Series and the full NASCAR Truck Series), along with the addition of online streaming rights beginning in 2013.<ref name=fox-nascarextend>{{cite web|title=NASCAR rides hot rights market to increase with Fox|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/10/15/Media/NASCAR-TV.aspx|work=Sports Business Journal|date=October 15, 2012 |access-date=October 17, 2012}}</ref>