DirecTV Slashes "Hot Pass" Prices

Normally, when email starts coming to The Daly Planet in clumps, it is clear right away what is going on. Over the past year, we have seen many issues which aroused the ire of the NASCAR fans and sent them directly to their computer keyboards.

This time, however, things are a bit different. Our friends at DirecTV have just finished a major campaign to have existing users of their NASCAR "Hot Pass" service sign-up for the 2008 NASCAR season.

Fans noticed that the service had shrunk from five driver channels to four. They also noticed that the number of races featuring "Hot Pass" has declined from the previous season. What has not changed was the price, which was around the ninety dollar mark for a season-long subscription.

Many fans wrote to say DirecTV renewed them automatically at the pre-set rate for 2008, regardless of their personal preferences and without contacting them by email.

It was back in December of 2006 that the always colorful Aussie David Hill created "Hot Pass" during a rather "inspired" moment at a bar in Charlotte, NC. Hill, who is chairman of the Fox Sports TV Group and President of DirectTV, had been watching NASCAR racing live earlier in the day, and marveled at how the fans in the stands could hear their favorite driver's team radio channel, listen to the PRN radio broadcast of the race, and watch the action all at the same time.

Needless to say, "Hot Pass" is an attempt to duplicate that ability for the fans watching at home. While cable TV is a bit more limited in technology, Hill had all the tools (and channels) already in place at DirecTV to get the project accomplished.

In 2007, "Hot Pass" had critical success with a wide variety of NASCAR announcers including Ray Dunlap, Wendy Venturini, Rick Allen and Michael Waltrip offering commentary on a specific driver's channel. Fans liked the ability to move around, switch the audio streams, and even to keep the race going while the network was in commercial break.

Back in 2006, Hill estimated that he would need about 250 thousand subscribers paying the full annual fee to break even on the service. DirecTV must pay a fee to the TV broadcaster originating the race, and then NASCAR and all the on-site production folks also need to get paid. Any way you cut it, "Hot Pass" is an expensive project.

A quick tour around the Internet will tell you the pros and cons of the package. At first, it is a thrill. Then, since the drivers are chosen in advance, viewers can have the not-so-thrilling experience of motoring around in twenty-fifth place for three hours with one team. Even the Earnhardt Jr. team radio is not a lot of fun during those races.

This week, following the renewal campaign for existing subscribers, DirecTV posted a note on its website and began running a new campaign. Now, even before the 2008 season begins, a full subscription to "Hot Pass" is only $40.

The offer reads "Add NASCAR Hot Pass to your DirecTV base package order and get the entire season for just eight payments of $5. Offer ends April 16th."

The NASCAR fans who called about the lower price then discovered the catch. "Base package order" means that only new DirecTV subscribers are eligible for this offer. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the many NASCAR fans who were already DirecTV subscribers and considering adding "Hot Pass" to their existing service for 2008.

After the network TV struggles of last season, "Hot Pass" enjoyed a solid amount of new subscribers during the year as the racing was in-progress. They responded by "pro-rating" the package depending on when the new user signed-up. Ultimately, they ended the year on a high note with the switch to all HD coming for 2008.

So, new DirecTV customers get "Hot Pass" for $40. Existing DirecTV customers who want to add this service pay the full price, and those of you who renewed from last season also saw the full price on your DirecTV bill.

Competing with "Hot Pass" for alternative ways to view Sprint Cup races is "Raceview" from NASCAR.com. This Turner Interactive offering has three camera angles, all the race radio channels, and real time scoring lap-by-lap. The season subscription price for this service is $80.

Before the season begins, maybe we could get your thoughts on the "Hot Pass" experience, and what the DirecTV crew could do to make it more enjoyable, affordable, or user-friendly for 2008. To add your comments, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. Thanks again for stopping by.

In-Progress At Daytona: The Rolex 24 (Fox Local TV Station Problems)

Update: With the first portion of the Fox Sports telecast complete, SPEED now resumes the regular cable TV coverage of the Rolex 24.

Many local Fox TV stations chose not to air the early coverage. Some stations indicated it would air on a tape delay, actually while the live SPEED telecast was in-progress. Other stations had the race listed on their program schedule, but chose to show local programming.

The TV markets affected by this lack of coverage included Los Angeles, San Diego,
Honolulu, Seattle, Denver and San Francisco. We will keep working on this story, and bring updates when more information becomes available.

This year lots of NASCAR stars are going to spend the weekend on the road course at Daytona. The Rolex 24 is a sports car race featuring lots of different classes of cars and a whole lot of traffic. 24 hours of racing is a lot of laps at Daytona.

The race kicks off on Saturday at 1PM on Fox Sports, and then transitions over to SPEED for extended coverage both Saturday and Sunday. SPEED and Fox will be using a bevy of announcers for this one, both in the booth and on pit road.

Since the NASCAR presence at this event has increased significantly, I thought it would be a good idea to post a story that could serve to host your comments as you watched parts of this multi-hour telecast.

Please focus your opinions on the TV part of this event, and what you like and do not like about the coverage. SPEED has done an excellent job with this live race in the past, and sometimes the drama of the final hours is worth the wait. Anyone who watched Tony Stewart try to limp his car home a while back will attest to that.

Have a great time with this first live race of the season, we look forward to your thoughts as live action from Daytona returns to TV.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. There is nothing to join, and we do not require your email address. Thanks again for stopping by.

Richard Petty Speaks His Mind On SPEED

As the "new and improved" Pre-Season Thunder programs continue on SPEED, the network found itself right in the middle of the Media Tour without a whole lot going-on.

Then, someone came along to to change all that. His name is Richard Petty.

The Thursday version of this thirty minute series was again hosted by Steve Byrnes, but even Byrnes had to do a whole lot of talking to keep this show interesting.

There were bunches of drivers, a lot of owners, and a whole lot of everyone saying what they were supposed to say. That would be the Media Tour.

Folks like me wondered how the Media Tour would translate into a same-day TV show, when it was basically set-up to supply print, radio and local TV crews with taped material that they could use to prepare stories about the upcoming season for their own companies.

As several readers have mentioned, the Wednesday show was disjointed because everyone was in different locations. The host, the two reporters and the two analysts all seemed to be out-of-sync.

On Thursday, reporter Randy Pemberton was not even seen on-camera, and Wendy Venturini filed several reports that essentially featured more drivers saying what they were supposed to say.

SPEED put the big stories of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his teammates on hold until Friday, although in real life the Media Tour ended Thursday. On this day there was no Jeff Gordon and no Jimmie Johnson to be found. This shifted the focus back to the best story of the program, and that was Petty Racing.

After Kyle Petty put the recent move of Petty Racing into historical context, SPEED then aired some very frank and candid comments from Richard Petty that seemed both interesting and in many ways...sad.

Even Kyle in his opening remarks said that Richard Petty's move from Level Cross to Mooresville, NC was basically to "go down swinging" as a NASCAR team owner. It was to project that Petty Racing was "doing something" to get better.

The King himself began by saying he was trying to "get into the mainstream instead of being on the outskirts" of NASCAR. He admitted he had been "eat-up by the competition."

Squarely in Petty's sites were the "super teams" in the sport. Petty quietly admitted he once led in the sport, then he just wanted to stay with the crowd. Now, in his most candid admission, he flatly stated he was "just holding onto the back" of the sport. With the recent changes at Yates Racing and the departure of Morgan McClure, his words really carried a lot of meaning for veteran fans.

I had hoped that SPEED would venture beyond the basics of the Media Tour, and use some of the familiar journalists for comments on exactly the type of story that Kyle and Richard Petty presented on this program. There were plenty of NASCAR media folks right there on-scene who have a long and storied history with the Pettys. It seemed a shame not to use them.

You have to give credit to SPEED, this is a first-time project that will hopefully continue to grow in future years. Deciding whether or not to include the journalists on the tour as on-camera subjects is absolutely their call. It is just so rare to have them all together without a race in-progress and deadlines to meet.

Steve Byrnes does a nice job directing traffic, an assignment he has done for SPEED now for many years both in the studio and on the road. His testing wrap-up shows with Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond in the studio were more interesting. Thursday, Byrnes basically had only pre-recorded "packages" to introduce, and not a whole lot else to work with.

One guest on the set to react to the Petty situation, and add other tidbits into the drivers and owners comments might be a touch to consider for the future. Making a commitment to get all the teams who participated in the Media Tour on these three days of programming might also be something to re-consider.

SPEED viewers want the inside scoop, not the Public Relations and sponsor messages. That lack of behind-the-scenes reporting left this show a little bit on the light side, even with The King and his very honest interview. Perhaps, Wendy Venturini will bookmark Petty for a follow-up on her Real Deal segment for RaceDay.

Hopefully, SPEED will close out their Media Tour shows on Friday in style. The network takes a break for the Rolex 24 from Daytona, and then the key pre-season tests at Las Vegas and Fontana close out the testing action. As several drivers have said on this series, the Las Vegas test may be the most important of the season for many teams to see how their COT program stacks-up against the competition.

Veteran fans will want to watch or record these testing programs next week that air at 7Pm Eastern Time. This will truly be brand-new first-time TV in the making.

Update: There will be follow-up columns about the pilot episode of The Humpy Show and also the information about the "new and revised" program that will be filling the timeslot formerly occupied by Inside NEXTEL Cup Racing. Stay tuned.

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