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NBC Sports Network

F

Frank Ferreri

VS will become NBC Sports Network. Have to give kudos to VS/NBC for their hockey coverage. Really like the "color" guy being behind the glass between the two benches instead of in the booth with the play by play guy. Maybe other major sports could go this route. Yes, NFL games feature "sideline" people, however, they bring nothing but fluff. The VS broadcasts bring real information from the color guy at ice level. Also, with the change to NBC 24 hour sports a good guess would be that the network will move Sunday night football to VS to bring attention and viewers.
 
Impossible - VS won't be around for it to be considered to carry future NFL games...

Seriously, though, we shouldn't rule out the possibility of a schedule of additional Thursday night games airing on what will be known as NBC Sports Network. And think of the synergy: every year, NBC (the broadcast network) airs the "kickoff" game which happens to be on a Thursday night.

Or NBC can bid on NFL Network's current Thursday night game package. Time will tell.

By the way, the rebranding of the cable network officially goes into effect on January 2.
 
The practice of having the color guy down between the benches has been going on
with regional telecasts on RSN's for several years now. Bob Errey will spend maybe one
game out of every 4 down there for Pittsburgh Penguin telecasts.

Also, Fox will often have Tony Siragusa down on the field for NFL telecasts.
Being a former player he brings a lot more to the table than your typical sideline reporter.

I am guessing this started initially because just after he retired Siragusa would
have had a hard time fitting in the booth! He has slimmed down substantially since then.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
The practice of having the color guy down between the benches has been going on
with regional telecasts on RSN's for several years now. Bob Errey will spend maybe one
game out of every 4 down there for Pittsburgh Penguin telecasts.

Also, Fox will often have Tony Siragusa down on the field for NFL telecasts.
Being a former player he brings a lot more to the table than your typical sideline reporter.

Funny, however, probably true regarding Siragusa. Yes, Tony is the only sideline reporter that says anything worthwhile.

MLB does some of that with Ken Rosenthal down near the dugouts. It is really cool on the VS broadcasts to hear what the "color" guy has over-heard from the players or the bench. Gets us a bit closer.

I am guessing this started initially because just after he retired Siragusa would
have had a hard time fitting in the booth! He has slimmed down substantially since then.
Click to expand...
 
Frank Ferreri said:
VS will become NBC Sports Network. Have to give kudos to VS/NBC for their hockey coverage. Really like the "color" guy being behind the glass between the two benches instead of in the booth with the play by play guy. Maybe other major sports could go this route. Yes, NFL games feature "sideline" people, however, they bring nothing but fluff. The VS broadcasts bring real information from the color guy at ice level. Also, with the change to NBC 24 hour sports a good guess would be that the network will move Sunday night football to VS to bring attention and viewers.
Click to expand...

Oh gosh... where to start... this name change was announced months ago. NBC would not move the NFL games to cable. That would be suicide for the broadcast network. I could see them buying the late season Thursday/Saturday games away from the NFL Network for this cable station, but even that is iffy since NFL Network is owned by the league.

I wouldn't look for anything terribly earth-shattering from this sports channel. They'll have a lot of the Olympics next year I'm sure.
 
I recently seen a couple of ads done to promote the new brand. There's one that has Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals lacing up his skates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgh8MPtLftE

Also, NBC Sports is going to consolidate most of its operations and move its headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut. They'll build a new studio for the NHL Network, among other things.

http://westfaironline.com/2011/17026-stamford-scores-nbc-sports-move/

Finally, I just read that they've hired Arlo White, who is going to do play-by-play announcement during MLS games, starting next March.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...groups-major-league-soccer-broadcasts/112232/
 
http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/nbc-sports-network-plans-a-long-game-espn/231447/"]NBC Sports Network Plans a Long Game Against ESPN[/URL]

NBC Sports Group as a whole already has the rights to Sunday Night Football, the NHL, the Olympics, Major League Soccer, boxing and some other properties. But its portfolio pales in comparison to ESPN's broad and deep collection of major sports.

And NBC's quest for more rights will be held up by the recent trend toward longer deals. Major League Baseball's current contract with Turner's TBS runs through 2013, and the NBA's deals with ESPN, ABC and Turner's TNT run through 2016.
Click to expand...

This is just to give guys a heads-up on what's coming ahead. It's simply the beginning of what promises to be major changes in the sports TV landscape.
 
stationless listener said:
Finally, I just read that they've hired Arlo White, who is going to do play-by-play announcement during MLS games, starting next March.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...groups-major-league-soccer-broadcasts/112232/
Click to expand...

I've heard and read that as well.

By the way, Arlo White was most recently the radio and television play by play announcer(the team uses a radio and TV simulcast for all games not on ESPN, etc.) for the MLS's Seattle Sounders FC.

I live in the Seattle area so i've gotten to hear and see Arlo's play by play quite a bit during Sounders games the past couple of years, and I really think this a great hire for NBC Sports.

All the Sounders fans here in the Seattle area really enjoyed his style of play by play, and I think all the MLS fans nationally are going to enjoy him doing games on NBC Sports and the NBC Sports Network.

If you've never heard or seen him do play by play before, check out Youtube and search for any Sounders FC highlights, because most likely it will be him doing the play by play of the game.
 
Frank Ferreri said:
VS will become NBC Sports Network. Have to give kudos to VS/NBC for their hockey coverage. Really like the "color" guy being behind the glass between the two benches instead of in the booth with the play by play guy. Maybe other major sports could go this route. Yes, NFL games feature "sideline" people, however, they bring nothing but fluff. The VS broadcasts bring real information from the color guy at ice level. Also, with the change to NBC 24 hour sports a good guess would be that the network will move Sunday night football to VS to bring attention and viewers.
Click to expand...
Tony Siragusa being the exception to the rule of course ;)

Cheers & 73 :)
 
First of all, it took ESPN three owners (the last with very deep pockets) and three decades to get where it is today. NBCSportsChannel will not dethrone them in our generation. They will, however, be a presence and have already blown the doors off CBSSportsNetwork, who picked up the bones of the old College Sports Television. They will eventually overtake the wreckage of FSN, who for some reason had every major market under its wing, yet could never bring the regions together having to sell off much of its Liberty/Rainbow acquistions in New Engliand, Chicago, San Fransisco, Pittsburgh and Northwest, to name a few.

I laugh out loud when I look back at all our local pundits in Tampa Bay (mostly newspaper, of course) who condemned the NHL for airing its games on the "Outdoor Life Network". Because its not Bright House or Verizon, they couldnt see past their laptops that OLN was owned by what would become Comcast, who had a long range plan for regional cable domination, regional sports channels and (gasp) the eventual acquistion of an over the air broadcast network...which in this case was The Peacock.

I'm not a huge fan of corporations, but Comcast is on a roll with NBCSportsNetwork.
 
Studio20 said:
First of all, it took ESPN three owners (the last with very deep pockets) and three decades to get where it is today. NBCSportsChannel will not dethrone them in our generation.
Click to expand...

"Fox News Channel."

You should 'never say never' when it comes to figuring out a determined competitor. Remember, Comcast owns NBCUniversal largely because a Disney takeover didn't work.

Also, note that NBC Sports Network operates in a different reality than which the ESPNs were founded--channels dedicated to the NFL, NBA, MLB, or even a college sports conference weren't even on the map of being real. The cable companies themselves had to 'play ball', paying the bucks to keep ESPN and ESPN2 on basic cable AND somehow find slots for ESPN's niche outlets (ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Classic) into expanded digital lineups.

Comcast would be a player if NBCSN started nipping at the heels of ESPN2 on basic cable and keeping main channel ESPN 'honest' as a contender for general sports coverage, both in content and in carriage price. Long term, it might be harder to justify paying for ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, or ESPNU.
 
Nate Wesley said:
Long term, it might be harder to justify paying for ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, or ESPNU.
Click to expand...
ESPN Classic maybe but no one else has a 24/7 channel dedicated to just sportscasts so I'd take ESPNNEWS off the list.

I'd also take ESPNU off the list as well because remember Nate, not every conference (Especially down at the FCS level) has its own network like the Big 10 & Mountain West Conferences do at the FBS level. This spills over into College Basketball as well (Just with different schools in some cases). It doesn't however translate the same way to other college sports like hockey & baseball because their conference infrastructure is much different than it is for basketball & football

JMO.....

Cheers & 73 :)
 
Pat Cook said:
ESPN Classic maybe but no one else has a 24/7 channel dedicated to just sportscasts so I'd take ESPNNEWS off the list.
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I thought I had read that ESPN Classic was going away, or being rebranded?
 
Pac10 has it's own channel.
Know you want NBC to start NBCSPORTSNEWS,NBCU meaning NBC College Sports and so on? How about incroprate Comcast Sports Nets into NBC name?
 
Some very interesting excerpts in the name change, from the article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_41ee89f6-6e6a-5be8-9c8d-c994b888786e.html

NBC Sports Network plans to continue to add programming, both live game coverage as well as ancillary shows, as the year goes on and will de-emphasize the outdoor fare in favor of sports that have more widespread interest.
"We came to it with a real strategy and vision," Jon Miller, NBC Sports' president of programming, said in a recent interview.
He added that the plan is "to try to create a sports network that we could all be proud of but would be representative of what the NBC Sports brand has come to represent — which is high-quality production, really good story telling and a real respect for the viewer as well as the property we are in business with. We made some initial changes when we got the keys, eliminated programs we thought were off brand and off target."
Click to expand...

To that end, look for NBC Sports Network to lack some of the smugness the self-proclaimed "worldwide leader in sports" often exudes. In the interview Miller talked multiple times about respecting the viewer and sports.
Click to expand...

The transition from Versus also includes reducing, but not eliminating, fishing-hunting shows (which Miller terms "field sports") and bull riding.
"You'll see us change over time, they aren't going to occupy as much space as they have in the past and over time we'll be very selective and strategic about how we showcase the 'field sports' programming," he said. "They'll still have a home on the network for a while, and that portion of our programming will be rebranded as 'NBC Sports Outdoors.' We won't have as much of it, but there still will be a place for it on our air.''
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I'm not sure if you've seen the ad announcing what's coming on the first day of the NBCSN but you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr1cLR5Cdhs

Nicely done, I think.
 
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