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NBC Sports Network

Last night NBC Sports Network was showing college hockey during primetime on a Friday night. If they want to be taken seriously they'll need to do better than that.
 
Give it time Mr. Microwave, nothing happens right off the bat in starting a new sports network. ESPN's first live event was Mens' Slowpitch Softball....Friday nights are traditionally the "weak" night of the 'week' nights for sports programming as many high schools have sporting events and people generally are away from the television.

I've posted ad nauseum shooting down the smart alecky hockey writers who screamed bloody murder when the NHL went to Outdoor Life Network (OLN), run by a spunky little company called Comcast.

OLN morphed into Versus and now the NBC Sports Network with Comcast's tenticles into as many regional Sports Networks as FOX (actually some of the old Liberty/Cablevision Sports Nets are now CSN run).

The NHLs home in the United States is the NBC Sports Network. Don't forget about those little events every few years called The Olympics.

Here's hoping they give FSN and ESPN a run for their money.
 
Did anyone notice NBCSN debuted a new show live from the site of the Super Bowl, "Costas Tonight"? I read that it had very execrable ratings in its first airing.
 
So far, the ratings for the network have not been spectacular, to say the least.

http://www.sportsgrid.com/media/the...ratings-are-in-and-theyre-not-looking-so-hot/
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/02/20/Media/NBC-Sports-Net.aspx

It's still early days. They should do a little better as they get closer to the hockey playoffs and more live events going into the spring and summer.

Speaking of more live events: http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2012/2/21/2815488/nbc-mls-promo-all-rise

:)
 
stationless listener said:
So far, the ratings for the network have not been spectacular, to say the least.
Click to expand...

Too much hockey. Simple as that. Hockey is the least watched sport in the US. I'm a big sports fan, but couldn't care less about hockey.
 
ansky212 said:
Last night NBC Sports Network was showing college hockey during primetime on a Friday night. If they want to be taken seriously they'll need to do better than that.
Click to expand...

College Hockey is a great game, at least when you have top-rated schools involved.
This week's matchup between North Dakota and U. of Denver should be pretty good.
 
ansky212 said:
stationless listener said:
So far, the ratings for the network have not been spectacular, to say the least.
Click to expand...
Too much hockey. Simple as that. Hockey is the least watched sport in the US. I'm a big sports fan, but couldn't care less about hockey.
Click to expand...

Ratings for "live" events are up versus (smile) last year. The rest of the lineup is dragging them down. I don't think the re-branding was done very well. I noticed a thread on a comcast forum that folks were upset/irate that Versus was gone from their programming tier.

The London Summer Olympics will be the true "launch".
 
stationless listener said:
So far, the ratings for the network have not been spectacular, to say the least.

http://www.sportsgrid.com/media/the...ratings-are-in-and-theyre-not-looking-so-hot/
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/02/20/Media/NBC-Sports-Net.aspx

It's still early days. They should do a little better as they get closer to the hockey playoffs and more live events going into the spring and summer.

Speaking of more live events: http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2012/2/21/2815488/nbc-mls-promo-all-rise

:)
Click to expand...

I've seen promos on NBC where their traditional "championship summer" is being primed for the true launch of the network, then of course, the Olympics will bring it so many "most viewed" nights. It'll be good that NBC doesn't have to depend on the premium Universal HD for much content this time, and hopefully they won't have to do what they did in '08 and air gametime-only Olympic soccer and basketball channels separately (it was nice to have a commercial-free feed for those, but it's not the best arrangement by far).

At this point, it's all about working out the kinks in formats and telling the hangers on hoping that Whacked Out Sports and Sports Soup will return one day to buzz off. Most of the viewers of the downmarket shows were likely the kind who weren't buying what Versus's advertisers (at that time, wayyy too many DTR ads) were selling, along with their bizarre programming choices (like airing Bloodsport nearly weekly). I'm just glad to have a guaranteed place for HD MLS action this year.

Also, it's good to start by stating up front you're going to be there for the hockey fan and you aren't pulling an ESPN in 2004.
 
I think once NBC Sports Network secures better carriage deals (channel positioning and being a programming tier alongside ESPN, MLB Network, etc.), the ratings should improve. The tell-tale sign will certainly come this summer when the Olympic Games start up.
 
ShawnHill1 said:
I think once NBC Sports Network secures better carriage deals (channel positioning and being a programming tier alongside ESPN, MLB Network, etc.), the ratings should improve. The tell-tale sign will certainly come this summer when the Olympic Games start up.
Click to expand...
It really only has the dial position problem with cable companies in SD. On FiOS, DirecTv, and even HD cable, it is grouped in with all the sports channels. On FiOS, it is channels 90/590. ESPN is 70/570. The sports channels are grouped 70 to 99 in SD and 570-599 in HD. On Xfinity in HD, it is 848 and ESPN is 850.
 
Bill_W said:
ShawnHill1 said:
I think once NBC Sports Network secures better carriage deals (channel positioning and being a programming tier alongside ESPN, MLB Network, etc.), the ratings should improve. The tell-tale sign will certainly come this summer when the Olympic Games start up.
Click to expand...
It really only has the dial position problem with cable companies in SD. On FiOS, DirecTv, and even HD cable, it is grouped in with all the sports channels. On FiOS, it is channels 90/590. ESPN is 70/570. The sports channels are grouped 70 to 99 in SD and 570-599 in HD. On Xfinity in HD, it is 848 and ESPN is 850.
Click to expand...

I have DirecTV, where it's on channel 603; I'll admit sometimes that I would often forget where it is on my lineup, but it's not all that hard to find either. I understand mainly because of some contractual issues, but I do wish that DirecTV would group all of the sports networks together in one area of the lineup.

The local Time Warner Cable system does, however, group the sports networks together in a certain section of the channel lineup...the ESPNs, the Fox Sports networks (including Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket, Soccer, Soocer+, Fuel, Speed, Fox College Sports), the league-owned networks, the NBC sports networks (NBC SN, Golf, etc.)
 
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