SPEED Goes High-Def, Starting with 100 Hours of NASCAR Coverage from 50th Anniversary of Daytona 500

SPEED will
make its move to High Definition in 2008, beginning Feb. 7 with 100 hours of
NASCAR on SPEED HD from Daytona Speedweeks.

“With the
Gatorade Duel 150’s on SPEED, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, NASCAR
RaceDay and all of the other programming SPEED will deliver surrounding the 50th
Anniversary of the Daytona 500, this is one of our most visible times of the
year for the network and the perfect time to launch our move to HD,” said SPEED
President Hunter Nickell. “SPEED already offers some of the most action-filled
programming on television and the move to HD in 2008 enhances all of it
exponentially.”

Topping
the 70-million

U.S.
household mark and coming off four consecutive years of ratings growth in 2007,
the move to High Definition is the next step in the evolution of a network that
has added more than 30 million homes since being fully acquired by Fox Cable
Networks in 2001.

“SPEED is
now one of the most important and popular of all the national cable sports
networks, so it’s somewhat inevitable that we provide our many partners and
their customers with this HD companion,” said Michael Biard, Senior Vice
President of Affiliate Sales and Marketing for Fox Cable Networks.

In
addition to its season-long, at-track coverage of NASCAR, with programs
including NASCAR RaceDay, Trackside, NASCAR Victory Lane, Tradin’ Paint, NASCAR
Live!, NASCAR Performance and Go or Go Home, SPEED also will explore
opportunities to bring other racing series and special events to viewers in HD
in 2008.

“Over the
course of the 2008 season, SPEED will be transitioning all of its event
programming to HD,” said Rick Miner, SPEED Senior VP of Production and Network
Operations, who is shepherding the project. “We already are in discussions to
design and commission the development of remote HD production facilities that
will be in full use in 2008.”

In
addition to its HD programming surrounding the 50th Anniversary of The Great
American Race from Daytona, SPEED also will be ready to launch new seasons of
its popular automotive and motorcycle lifestyle programming in HD, including PINKS,
PINKS All Out and Super Bikes!

In a move
that began earlier this summer, SPEED programming is now commissioned in true
16:9 HD.

In
addition to the bold moves on the television side, SPEED’s interactive division
will raise the bar as well, with a re-launch of a completely re-tooled
SPEEDtv.com slated for early February. The new site will feature dramatic
across the board improvements in depth and timeliness of motor sports news and
information, delivered through a new wide-screen format that is optimized for
easy navigation, interactivity with mobile and other applications, social
networking and customization. Registered SPEED Insiders (www.insider.speedtv.com)
will get a sneak peek at the new SPEEDtv.com in early in January.

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