Groundbreaking. Launched at the 2007 Daytona 500, NASCAR HotPass™ is a multi channel service offered by DirecTV that allows viewers to watch their favorite drivers on individual channels. Originally offering five channels in SD, since 2008 HotPass™ has included four channels in HD, all with custom graphics and dedicated audio for each driver. With the 2009 season, DirecTV moved the HotPass™ production from the remote track locations to their LABC facility in Los Angeles. Reality Check Systems creates each HotPass™ channel with “Uppercut”, our video switching, data parsing and graphics triggering system.
Starting with the 2009 season, RCS consolidated the production so that a single operator using “Uppercut” is responsible for the output of all four HD channels, including graphics call up. Controlling video, audio mixing, commercial insertion and graphics from a single user interface, all four HD channels are produced locally from DirecTV in Los Angeles. The network telecast, in-car cameras, team communications and data are fed from site to LABC for use in multi-video window layouts, the basis for HotPass broadcasts from 2010 to present. Additionally in 2010 RCS upgraded the “Uppercut” system to handle all video and audio processing without the use of the master control switcher, instead everything is handled within the graphics computer.