The roll-out of SPEED's new HD channel has been a slow process. Monday, that process got a very big boost with the announcement that Comcast has agreed to add the new channel to the Comcast cable homes in the US in 2009.
As most motorsports fans with an HDTV already know, the HD technology makes a very big difference in live racing telecasts. SPEED has already switched-over to include the post-produced programming series currently airing on the network to the HD feed.
SPEED will continue to make two channels available to US cable viewers during this transition period so those without HD will not be affected.
During 2009, the SPEED-HD channel will be added to over nine million HD homes in the US and the goal of the network is to continue to strike carriage deals with other big cable company MSO's (multi-system operators).
17 comments:
About freakin time... Comcast is one of the larger cable companies, I would have thought they would be ahead of the curve on adding all HD stations. I don't have HD in my house, but I am stuck with comcast. Congratulations to all other comcast people who will have the HD in Daytona!
I agree with the about time!!!!!!!
I've been checking it's availability about once a month so far nothing.
The only time I do not use HD is when I am recording a lot of shows/races (like when on vacation for a week) I'll record everything Nascar in SD to save space and watch when I get home if I didn't catch while away.
SPEED has been on DirecTV for months. Glad I dumped Comcast years ago.
I wish Time Warner would get off the dime.
Any word on Time Warner?
I'm out on the road for one of the Cup teams and I can tell you that SPEED is harder to find out here than a fresh piece of tail.
I've been at this job 3 years, criss-crossing the good old USA from left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and swizzles in the middle.
And with each passing year, SPEED is less and less easy to find at the various hotel chains I stay at out on the road.
It's the incredible shrinking TV network. It really is, one of the great unknown secrets of our TVLand.
The funny thing is I can boot up my laptop and find a wireless signal just about anywhere. So my question is, why won't SPEED bit the bullet and set itself up for live streaming 24/7 video online ??
It's very strange...I swore I saw SPEED HD on TWC during Speed Weeks but shortly after that it disappeared :(.
Can you PLEASE check on the Dish Network roll out. I have tried and cannot find info on the anywhere. Dish just updated the HD channels and Speed still is not on there. Thanks. Please feel free to email me if you find out anything.
Anon 5:32PM,
SPEED has been available on most SMATV systems for sometime now.
Older hotels with cable TV may not opt to pay for the digital channels, but the direct satellite hotel packages almost all contain SPEED.
I will check on the numbers for you tomorrow.
JD
Any news on Mediacom getting Speed HD in the midwest?
We are switching to DirecTv in January 2009 anyway. Mediacom is awful.
You can email me at kylejocker@mchsi.com if you have any info.
I just moved to Concord, NC... away from a Comcast market into a Time Warner market. Being that we are one of the main hubs of NASCAR racing, don't you think the demand for Speed HD would be such that this would be one of the first places it would be available? Not yet...I hope it is here soon. I've gotten addicted to HD and rarely watch "normal" TV anymore. I remember the big build up about Speed HD prior to Speedweeks and wondered why I haven't heard much about it since.
Thanks for your great blog, I read it "daily".
steve,
The priority for the cable companies is to add HD channels that are basic first. Unfortunately, in many places SPEED is on an extended tier or clustered in a digital package with a bunch of other channels like Versus and ESPN Classic.
SPEED is using the power of the Fox Cable Network Group to try and negotiate with the big cable system companies. Now that they have broken through on Comcast, I think you will see others follow.
JD
Mediacom is on my basic tier (available to anyone with cable at all.) So I guess that is a good sign. Mediacom is apparently the 8th largest cable company, I think.
Not available in HD in all san francisco markets but I hear thye have it in Pacifica and San Jose. Now if they would just put on MotoGP without commercials or stop cutting away right before the most important passing manuever of the race it would be nice, it's not like it is live. Just watched a race back in England and it was live and commercial free!! I do not care one iota for a bunch of rednecks driving in a circle in some sham of a race.
Still not available in Somerville, MA...ugh. The 24 Hrs of Le Mans is just 2 weeks away! Come on Comcast!
Finally available in Minnesota, But they want $8 am month for it! The reg def channel is still free in my package.
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