SOON after Fox Sports won the contract to broadcast NASCAR races, a troop of the network's executives flew to Atlanta for a week of events.

As they talked strategy in the bleachers, Fox Sports Chairman and Chief Executive David Hill snuck away from the stands, through a secure area and onto the grassy infield. When security officers spotted him, he was lying flat on his stomach in the grass near one of Atlanta Motor Speedway's hairpin tunas with a camcorder, scouting camera angles. Moments after he was grabbed by guards, three cars collided and slammed into the area where Hill had been filming.

"A few minutes later and the next day's headlines would have been, 'Fox Sports exec killed surveying NASCAR,'" said Dick Glover, NASCAR's vice president of broadcasting. "But that's David, he's always out there trying to figure out what's the best way to bring these events to people at home."

The story typifies Hill's now-legendary attention to even the smallest of details. In the 11 years since News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch plucked him from British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC to start Fox Sports, Hill has built the division into a powerhouse.

Today Fox dominates sports coverage through its network and regional cable channels--so much so that Hill placed first in the Business Journal's list of 25 most powerful sports executives in Southern California, as compiled by the consulting firm Sports Business Group.

And now it's onto the satellite television business.

Last month, Murdoch chose the Australian-born Hill to head a new entertainment division at DirecTV Group Inc., which is majority-owned by News Corp. The selection is being watched closely, given Hill's experience in launching sports satellite services and Murdoch's interest in using DirecTV as a launching pad for Fox programming.

Hill will retain his title of Fox Sports chairman, but spend his time at DirecTV's El Segundo headquarters, overseeing programming, marketing and promotion, and technology.

"It's quite ironic that you should be interviewing me about a sports position when I'm about to, for all intents and purposes, vacate it," said Hill, who was ranked second on the list last year.

High stakes

In a recent interview, Hill did not detail his plans for DirecTV, but acknowledged that sports will play an important role. Last week he was in London visiting old friends at BSkyB, also majority-owned by News Corp., to find out what has worked and what hasn't.