DirecTV's "Hot Pass" Cancelled For 2009?

We are going to be leaving this story open for your comments. New updates will be posted at the bottom of this column. Hot Pass being cancelled is now confirmed for next season.

The email is flying around the Internet, but as of Tuesday evening we are being told that DirecTV has cancelled NASCAR Hot Pass for 2009. Official word should come sometime on Wednesday. That is the Hot Pass TV production trailer pictured above. Click on the picture to see it full-size.

This service, which provided four "mini-networks" to subscribers, featured two announcers calling the race from the perspective of each driver. Fans got to hear all the in-car radio traffic, see the various in-car cameras and switch between the four feeds anytime during the race.

DirecTV had also added-in some special features like additional driver audio channels and a super-channel that let viewers switch quickly over to the network TV feed of the race itself. Any way you looked at it, this was a bold TV experiment.

Unfortunately, instead of being available to the 90 million cable TV households across America, Hot Pass was only available to the 15 million homes that subscribe to DirecTV. That was a big problem.

This idea was brought about by Fox Sports Chairman David Hill when he was actively involved in the DirecTV operations. Now, Hill has returned to his Fox Sports duties and the Hot Pass experiment is supposedly over.

In the past, we had been told that between 250 and 300 thousand DirecTV users had to subscribe to Hot Pass to make it break even. With the economy tight and times getting tougher, it seems that DirecTV has seen the writing on the wall and will not attempt to distribute the Hot Pass service in 2009.

Many of the top announcers in NASCAR worked on Hot Pass. Wendy Venturini was given the opportunity to handle play-by-play duties and veterans like Phil Parsons and Randy Pemberton could be heard on almost every telecast. The line-up of on-air talent was one of the most impressive parts of the service.

Former SPEED VP Chris Long was handling the Hot Pass service as a part of his DirecTV duties. We have an email into him and will update this post when he responds. Perhaps, he can fill us in a little better on the specifics.

Hardcore NASCAR fans loved the idea of Hot Pass, but many were confined to cable TV service through "bundled" deals with MSO's (Multi-System Operators) like Comcast and Time Warner.

Cable TV operators offer a package that includes TV, phone and Internet service for a discounted cost. That was tough for DirecTV to sell against, especially in urban areas where dish placement was not practical.

This major change in the way NASCAR race video will be distributed for 2009 puts the ball squarely in the laps of the Turner Interactive Group in Atlanta, GA. This company operates the NASCAR.com website and offers all the online audio, video and stats features for fans as the races are in-progress.

Internet users saw the future when they enjoyed the online RaceBuddy feature during the six TNT summer races. Now, with Hot Pass ending there may be an opportunity for some innovative thinking from the Turner Group that can result in additional video and audio choices for the NASCAR fans.

This column will be updated on Wednesday morning with the latest information. While we have still not seen an official media release from DirecTV, the word is that the company has decided to cancel the entire Hot Pass service for next season.

Update #1 - As of 8AM Eastern Time on Wednesday, still no comment from either DirecTV or Hot Pass Executive Producer Chris Long.

Update #2 - Confirmed: Thanks to our friend Ray Dunlap for this link (click here) to his personal website that contains his tribute to Hot Pass and confirmation that it has been cancelled.

Update #3 - Click here for the Wednesday story from Jim Utter at thatsracin.com comfirming the cancellation.

Update #4 - Chris Long from DirecTV was kind enough to offer that NASCAR and DirecTV are working on a solution for some additional race video and audio to be made available to DirecTV subscribers free of charge for the upcoming season. What form that would take and what would be offered will be disclosed in a couple of weeks. No doubt this has been a tough time for all concerned.

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Put Marty Reid's Name In The ESPN Rumor Mill

This season, it has been veteran ESPN announcer Marty Reid who has stepped-in to handle the substitute NASCAR play-by-play role. When the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series are racing at different tracks, it has been Reid and Randy LaJoie who have provided the commentary with good success.

Allen Bestwick has also filled this role for ESPN since Reid has been assigned to the IRL TV package for the last several seasons. In order to move Reid over to the IRL, ESPN removed him from its very popular NHRA coverage and replaced him with Paul Page.

As television motorsports contracts continue to shift, the latest victim of the ESPN space squeeze is Tony George and the IRL. After a long relationship, ESPN told the IRL that it wanted the Indy 500 for ABC and only a few other races for ESPN. Take it or leave it was the offer.

In an ironic twist, George needed to keep the ABC coverage of Indy as the anchor of his entire IRL franchise. So, he took the ESPN offer. The entire remaining IRL schedule wound-up moving to the Versus TV Network. Owned by Comcast, it used to be called the Outdoor Life Network.

What this essentially did was free up Marty Reid from his 2009 TV commitments. This left the door open to include Reid in the upcoming NASCAR efforts on ESPN and ABC.

Before the 2008 season, ESPN VP of Motorsports Rich Feinberg made a series of bold moves. Almost all of them paid-off in spades. Moving Dale Jarrett into the announce booth as the Lead Analyst proved to be just what ESPN needed to stabilize that position.

Rather than release Rusty Wallace, Feinberg shrewdly put him downstairs in the Infield Pit Center. In order to give Wallace the type of professional TV support and structure that he needs, Feinberg brought-in Allen Bestwick as the full-time infield host.

The results were great as Bestwick used Wallace and Brad Daugherty all season long to handle everything from the pre-race show to red flags and rain delays. Having this element handy changed the tone of the coverage.

Now, Feinberg is going to have to handle the one change he did not make before last season. That is addressing the play-by-play assignment for both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series coverage. This one is going to be tough to tackle because unlike the other changes, this one has an odd man out.

Should Marty Reid step-in for Dr. Jerry Punch, it would mean removing a long-time friend of NASCAR and a future NASCAR Hall of Fame broadcaster. The problem is that Punch is primarily a reporter and struggled with the lap-by-lap call of the races.

What ESPN desperately needs is a versatile play-by-play announcer who can breath life into the live races. It appears that may well be Marty Reid.

What role Punch would fill leads us into a very interesting discussion. ESPN produces the final seventeen Sprint Cup races, including all ten Chase races for ABC. The high-profile Sprint Cup Series events certainly demand an Infield Pit Studio and a Tech Center. The question is, does the Nationwide Series need the same level of TV production?

Word is that ESPN is trying to cut NASCAR production costs for next season to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars per event. While the NASCAR Media Group controls the TV compound at the races, the TV networks bring-in their own TV trucks and specialized equipment like the Tech Center and Infield Pit Studio.

When Feinberg looks over at SPEED's coverage of the Truck Series, he sees only five announcers with no TV toys. SPEED has no Tech Center, cutaway car or infield studio. The pre-race host stands alone with one camera to set-up the race.

It should be interesting to see what changes Feinberg makes for next season. As TV logistics go, those changes are actually being made right now. Contracts, schedules, travel, crewing and other duties have to be buttoned-up before the new year.

While Fox and TNT produce their slice of the Sprint Cup pie and then leave town, it is really ESPN that bears the deepest production costs in terms of producing the entire Nationwide Series and the final seventeen Sprint Cup races.

When February rolls around, TV viewers may see some new faces and less of the bells-and-whistles that have come to define the ESPN coverage over the last two seasons. TDP will keep you posted if and when any on-air changes become official.

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Truck Series Banquet Closes A Strong Season For SPEED (Updated)

Rick Allen and Krista Voda set a classy tone for the Truck Series banquet on SPEED Monday night. These two are veteran hosts of this event and that was apparent in their easy banter with the crowd despite the formal attire.

After introducing the head table that included champion Johnny Benson's two children, comedian Tom Papa tried a little something new. He augmented his routine with footage and interviews shot at a Truck Series race. It was a nice idea, but a little bit of a tough sell right at the top of the show.

Just like the Nationwide Series event, this edited banquet TV show was fast-paced. It was a bittersweet moment for Johnny Benson as he accepted the Most Popular Driver award. Fans know all too well that Benson will probably not return to NASCAR in 2009 and this was a strong final testament to his appeal to the fans.

Colin Braun was next to pick-up his Rookie Of The Year award and he did so with good humor and a polished presence for a youngster. It was a scripted speech, but it was clear that fans would be seeing a lot more of this driver in the future.

The TV program shifted gears over to the "talk show" setting for the Top Ten driver awards as it has in the past. Voda and Allen both asked questions of each driver and it was clear they were well-prepared. Allen Bestwick and Shannon Spake were also successful with this format during the Nationwide Series banquet.

Once again, the folks at the NASCAR Media Group put together great highlights for each driver as they were introduced. The fact that this show was edited and post-produced allowed things to be tightened-up and the program to keep a quick pace.

While this TV format is shorter, it certainly is better than the scripted monotony of the Sprint Cup Series function. During that evening, even the Master of Ceremonies reads the Teleprompter all night long. Letting the owners and sponsors be mentioned during the highlights is a great idea.

The debate is always going to rage whether to include the comedy and musical acts in the TV show or allow the drivers more time to talk. During John McLaughlin's musical performance the non-points awards were highlighted in brief snippets. It seems the editors and producer tried to strike the best balance possible within the timeslot.

The video tribute to Craftsman was well-produced. The parade of drivers speaking about what Craftsman has meant to them was impressive. NASCAR President Mike Helton appeared at the end to present Craftsman's top executive with an award of thanks. It was a classy move.

As the driver interviews moved to the Top Five, host Rick Allen was strangely eating dessert at his desk while Krista Voda spoke with driver Matt Crafton. Update: Rick was eating it courtesy of Crafton, who was following-up on a joke from the 2007 banquet. Thanks to the SPEED gang for the update. Some drivers answered questions that had nothing to do with racing and focused on life away from the track. It was an interesting mix.

As the introductions started of the championship team, it was back to the Teleprompter for crew chief Trip Bruce. While he said all the right things, it would have been nice to have some conversation to go with the scripted remarks.

Needless to say, when Bill Davis stood to accept his award as the winning owner it was a memorable moment. He also read his remarks, but they were well-written and heartfelt. It certainly is a shame that his racing future is in jeopardy.

Mike Helton did the honors of speaking on behalf of NASCAR. He handled the rings given to both Benson and his wife with dignified words under the circumstances. Benson moved to the podium and delivered exactly what fans expected.

Benson's words were outstanding and reflected the personality that race fans have come to enjoy. Humble and thankful, Benson made his way through his list of thank you's and walked away as the series champion.

SPEED is not going to please all the fans with this abbreviated banquet coverage, but NASCAR seems to have hit on a TV format for the Truck and Nationwide Series. This was a fast-paced ninety minutes that was well-edited and accomplished the goal of allowing the series to present itself in a professional manner and close the season with an emotional speech from Benson.

Fans who would like to see Johhny Benson's championship image above full-size to save as a wallpaper can just click directly on the picture and let it load full-screen. Then, right click to save in the location of your choice. Thanks to the NASCAR PR group for this official image.

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