Versus channel will be NBC Sports Network

[TVTom51]

On January 4th, 2012 Versus Network is going to become the NBC Sports Network.

I was never a fan of watching hunting on TV with Versus, but I am excited to see programming changes with Universal Sports Network and more football and baseball. Last night my local news affiliate talked about the switch and how NBC Sports Network is going to compete with ESPN. Which will be nice if true.

 

[Cutthecable]

On January 4th, 2012 Versus Network is going to become the Universal Sports Network.

I was never a fan of watching hunting on TV with Versus, but I am excited to see programming changes with Universal Sports Network and more football and baseball. Last night my local news affiliate talked about the switch and how Universal Sports Network is going to compete with ESPN. Which will be nice if true.

But NBC is pulling the Universal Sports channel (this weekend 1/1/12) from their NBC OTA affiliates and making it a "pay channel"....please contact your cable provider to continue to receive what you currently get for free.

 

[Cutthecable]

Hot off the press Versus channel now to be replaced by NBC Universal Sports now to be called NBC Sports Network

 

[Orrymain]

So what happens with Indy Car? I am not a big fan, but I usually watch a few races per season. They were on Versus which is the only time I ever watched the channel.

 

[Fringe Reception]

I currently receive Universal Sports Channel free on my NBC affilliate's subchannel. Are you saying Versus will replace it?

I think it's a great plan for Universal sports to become a pay channel because it fits with the paint drying channel, the grass growing channel and is almost par with the basket weaving channel.

I am astonished that anyone would give up their hard earned money to have the opportunity to watch bicycle riders huff and puff and drink water from sports bottles.

Jim

 

[Orrymain]

I've been hearing about this for a while, but I still am not sure what will be on the subchannel, but it won't be Universal Sports as I understand it.

 

[MrPogi]

KSL 5 in Salt Lake City was to drop NBC-US today, and start broadcasting the LiveWell network in SD on its 5.2 subchannel.

Instead, I have dead air on 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 from both Franklin county and Cache county translators. (Strong signals, but "No Services")

 

[Fringe Reception]

As of today, the NBC Station KING-5 (48) in Seattle has a different Network showing on their sub-channel 5.2. My TVGOS still reports it as US (Universal Sports) but entirely new programming is listed thru Monday evening.

As near as I can tell it will be a cooking channel and run many paid programs. When I looked, it was so boring I couldn't make myself wait until the top of the hour to see how it is identified and currently the screen is not bugged with a network logo. This is supposed to be an improvement?

Jim

 

[Tim58hsv]

Today WXIX dropped ThisTV from 19.2 and replaced it with Bounce TV. Also today WKRP out of Cincinnati replaced Universal Sports with ThisTV. ThisTV is far more popular than Universal Sports so this is a big win for WKRP.

 

[dkreichen1968]

KTVD Denver replaced NBC-US with MeTV.

Though I haven't found any evidence to to completely confirm it, I don't believe that Universal Sports is becoming NBC Sports Channel and replacing Versus, but that Versus is becoming NBC Sports Channel, and Universal Sports is becoming (with its emphasis on Olympic sports) a cable channel. Not the same channel, but two seperate cable channels.

 

[Orrymain]

Mmm ... maybe I should go turn on my OTA TV. I have to admit it's not in the convenient location. Since getting the new TV, I haven't really used the OTA one. The two channels I really wanted to watch were incorporated into the Comcast lineup. If I got the Antenna channels I should, I'd watch it more, but as I've said in the past, my antenna has rusted or something and I only get the basics, so there's nothing to really make me want to watch it much.

 

[Fringe Reception]

Orry,

I didn't know you were paying for compost. So rich.

Jim

 

[Orrymain]

Oh I've had Comcast for ages, but while I used to have it all, I have cropped it down to the bare minimum that gives me what I want to watch. I've come very close to having to junk it. Finances are tough, and I have seriously been a dial away from canceling it, but they've always given me deals so I could hang on. If they hadn't, it would be gone. I watch a ton of TV; I would be so depressed without the cable since my antenna doesn't work as it should.

 

[MrPogi]

Here's KSL 5 Salt lake City's announcement about NBC-US:

NBC cuts Universal Sports availability | ksl.com

Comments indicate a lot of viewers are "OTA only". Locally, NBC-US was dropped from Comcast, too. That seems kind of strange since Comcast owns NBC-US now.

Check NBC-US FAQ for their poor attempt at explaining why it's now a pay channel. Frequently Asked Questions | Universal Sports The only thing they say that makes sense is that they can now do HD. I agree, NBC-US was always bandwidth-starved on my local 1080i channel.

And, for what it's worth, if you really want to watch it, you can pay to stream it. And you will pay, a lot. And PER EVENT. And you'll need IE or Firefox with Silverlight 3.0+.

I don't know how they can justify the prices they are asking.

 

[Orrymain]

Well for the heck of it I turned on the OTA and there's no change, but then I don't get but a few channels there anyway.

 

[Chips]

Here's KSL 5 Salt lake City's announcement about NBC-US:

NBC cuts Universal Sports availability | ksl.com

Comments indicate a lot of viewers are "OTA only". Locally, NBC-US was dropped from Comcast, too. That seems kind of strange since Comcast owns NBC-US now.

Here is an article that quotes the CEO of Universal Sports.
Universal Sports Transitions From Multicast Distribution, Inking Deals with Six Providers - 2012-01-03 21:18:09 | Multichannel News
Here is the part I found interesting.

He declined to comment on where things stood with Comcast, saying he preferred not to discuss individual distributors. Comcast's NBC Sports Group owns a minority stake in Universal Sports, the joint venture with Leo Hindery's InterMedia Partners.

Looks like Comcast, may have nothing to do with the move Universal Sports made.

 

[agatethompson]

On January 4th, 2012 Versus Network is going to become the NBC Sports Network.

I was never a fan of watching hunting on TV with Versus, but I am excited to see programming changes with Universal Sports Network and more football and baseball. Last night my local news affiliate talked about the switch and how NBC Sports Network is going to compete with ESPN. Which will be nice if true.

Yes, I am agree with you that will be nice.