Speed adds more weekday shows

Speed plans to roll out its largest slate of new weekday, original programs in more than four years by launching 20 new shows in 2011.

The ambitious effort is designed to boost Speed’s weekday, prime-time viewership in order to attract new advertisers and promote the network’s core, weekend programming around NASCAR and other live motorsports events.

“This is what’s crucial to us,” said Speed President Hunter Nickell. “We saw that we’ve had solid results with (original) content at certain times on our schedule and we want to continue to grow those results.”

Speed has averaged 250,000 viewers in prime time during week days for the last three years. That number slipped slightly this year, according to the network.

The slate of new programs kicks off on Thanksgiving with a two-hour special called “Hollywood’s Hottest Car Chases.” The show will kick off a promotional event, “Speed Dream Ride 2,” a national consumer sweepstakes that offers five winners the chance to spend three days at Infineon Raceway in California riding shotgun with drivers such as Mario Andretti and Kyle Petty. Speed plans to use the promotion to push its new original programs that begin in February.

Five new shows will launch after the Daytona 500 in late February. The lead show will be “Wheel Wars,” a reality show on car builders modeled after “Iron Chef” that pits established car builders against small-time garage mechanics from across the country. Other shows include “Speed Makers” and “American Trucker.”

No sponsors have signed on to support the new shows, but advertisers Prestone, Zales, Progressive Insurance and Lexus have signed on as sponsors of the “Speed Dream Ride 2” promotion.

“The response so far [from advertisers] has been terrific to the sponsorship and integration opportunities,” Nickell said.