Universal Sports

Universal Sports
Launched	2006 (as World Championship Sports Network) June 16, 2008 (as Universal Sports)
Network	Universal Sports
Owned by	NBCUniversal and InterMedia Partners
Picture format	480i
Slogan	The Athletes' Network
Country	United States
Language	English
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	Westlake Village Studios 2 Dole Drive, Westlake Village, CA 91362
Formerly called	World Championship Sports Network (WCSN)
Sister channel(s)	NBC Sports NBC Sports Network
Website	http://www.universalsports.com/
Availability
Terrestrial
	See affiliate list
Satellite
DirecTV (US)	Channel 625

Universal Sports is an American television network that airs various sports, primarily those contested in the Olympic Games, including swimming, gymnastics, cycling, track and field, figure skating, skiing, bobsledding and triathlon.

Programming

Universal Sports Network televises more than 1,200 hours of premiere programming each year.^[when?][1] It covers over 30 sports, including World Championships, World Cups and Grand Prix Events.^[1] The range of these events include:^[1]

cycling curling gymnastics ice hockey

karate marathons skiing

speed skating swimming track & field table tennis

triathlons volleyball Rugby union

The channel has long-term broadcasting agreements^[1] with the:

• International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)
• International Cycling Union (UCI)
• International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG)
• International Rowing Federation (FISA)
• International Ski Federation (FIS)
• International Swimming Federation (FINA)
• International Rugby Board (IRB)
• Major League Lacrosse (MLL)

The channel features American Olympic stars including Apolo Ohno, Nastia Liukin, Michael Phelps and Lindsey Vonn.

It carried the 2008 Summer Paralympics from Beijing, China, from October 8 to November 19, 2008. On September 9, 2008, it also began the "Olympic Replay", rebroadcasting selected competitions from the 2008 Summer Olympics, also from Beijing. The channel played a large role in NBC Universal's coverage of the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.^{[citation needed]}

The channel provides year-round coverage of events that generally receive attention every few years. Through the television and internet streaming, a fan can see how Olympic athletes compete between the games. It promotes itself as "the athlete's network",^[1] and extends its coverage through blogs and interviews outside of competition.

On 17 June 2010 Universal Sports along with the IRB announced that the channel would bring "unprecedented national television and digital media coverage of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup tournaments.".^[2] This statement was issued jointly by Universal Sports CEO David Sternberg and the Secretary General of the IRB Mike Miller^{[disambiguation needed ]}.^[3]

As reported by Olympic news outlet Around the Rings, Universal Sports and Infront Sports and Media announced an exclusive media rights agreement for the International Ski Federation World Cup events in 2011-2012.

Besides the sports coverage, the channel broadcasts educational and informational programming.

History

The channel, originally called World Championship Sports Network (WCSN), was co-founded in 2006 by Claude Ruibal, its chairman and chief executive officer, and Tom Hipkins, a member of the channel's board of directors, with the help of Carlos Silva, its president and chief operating officer,^[1] One of its first events was coverage of the United States Track and Field Championships via streaming video.^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}

On June 16, 2008, NBC Universal joined with InterMedia Partners in a partnership, and the channel was renamed Universal Sports, and branded with the NBC peacock logo.^[4]

On several stations, the rebranded channel took over the digital subchannel formerly used by NBC Weather Plus, which was discontinued December 31, 2008, not long after NBC Universal purchased The Weather Channel.^{[citation needed]}

Availability

Until early 2012, Universal Sports is distributed by:

• over-the-air broadcast (OTA) on a digital subchannel on all NBC-owned and -operated stations along with many affiliated and independent stations (see below)
• digital cable systems (re-transmitted from the OTA affiliates)
• an online streaming video service
• satellite via DirecTV^[5]

On September 12, 2011, it was announced that Universal Sports would convert to being exclusively distributed to cable and satellite providers, and would no longer operate as an over-the-air digital multicast network beginning in early 2012,^[6] not long after NBC Universal was bought by Comcast and took over operations of Versus. On the month before the announcement happened, in August 2011, DirecTV became the first provider to carry Universal Sports as a basic network.

Affiliates

DMA	Media market	Station	Primary affiliation	Owner	Channel
1	New York, New York	WNBC	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	4.4
2	Los Angeles, California	KNBC	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	4.4
3	Chicago, Illinois	WMAQ-TV	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	5.3
4	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	WCAU	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	10.3
5	Dallas, Texas	KXAS	NBC O&O	NBC Universal / LIN TV	5.3
6	San Francisco, California	KNTV-TV	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	11.3
7	Boston, Massachusetts	WBIN-TV	Independent	Carlisle One Media, Inc.	50.2
8	Washington, D.C.	WRC-TV	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	4.3
9	Atlanta, Georgia	WXIA-TV	NBC	Gannett	11.3 & 36.3 (WATL)
10	Houston, Texas	KIAH-TV	The CW	Tribune Company	39.3
13	Seattle, Washington	KING-TV	NBC	Belo	5.2
16	Denver, Colorado	KTVD-TV	My Network TV	Gannett	20.2
17	Miami, Florida	WTVJ	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	6.3
19	Orlando, Florida	WHDO-CA			38
21	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	WBGN-LD	Independent	Bruno-Goodworth Network	59.4
22	Portland, Oregon	KRCW-TV	The CW	Tribune Company	32.3
25	Indianapolis, Indiana	WTHR	NBC	Dispatch Broadcast Group	13.3
26	Raleigh, North Carolina	WNCN-TV	NBC	Media General	17.2
28	San Diego, California	KNSD-TV	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	39.3
30	Hartford, Connecticut	WVIT	NBC O&O	NBC Universal	30.3
31	Salt Lake City, Utah	KSL-TV	NBC	Bonneville International	5.2
33	Cincinnati, Ohio	WOTH-LD	Independent	Elliott B. Block	25.2
34	Columbus, Ohio	WDEM-CD	Independent	Triplett & Associates	17.1
42	Las Vegas, Nevada	KSNV-DT	NBC	Sunbelt Communications Company	3.3
43	Norfolk, Virginia	WSKY-TV	Independent	Sky Television, LLC	4.2
47	Jacksonville, Florida	WTLV	NBC	Gannett	12.2
52	Buffalo, New York	WGRZ	NBC	Gannett	2.2
55	Fresno, California	KJEO-LD		Cocola Broadcasting	32.1
57	Albany, New York	WCWN	The CW	Freedom Communications	45.2
75	Spokane, Washington	KSKN	The CW	Belo	22.2
97	Charleston, South Carolina	WHDC-LD	Independent	Local HDTV, LLC	12.2
98	Savannah, Georgia-Hilton Head Island, South Carolina	WGSA	The CW	Southern TV Corporation	34.3
108	Reno, Nevada	KOLO-TV	ABC	Gray Television, Inc.	8.2
108	Elko, Nevada	KENV-DT	NBC		10.2
112	Boise, Idaho	KKJB	Daystar	Cocola Broadcasting	39.2
113	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	KDLT/KDLV	NBC	Red River Broadcasting	46.2/5.2
150	Anchorage, Alaska	KYES-TV	MyNetworkTV	Fireweed Communications Corporation	5.3
162	Idaho Falls-Pocatello, Idaho	KPVI-TV	NBC	Sunbelt Communications Company	6.2
164	Yuma, Arizona - El Centro, California	KSWT-TV	CBS	Pappas Telecasting Companies	13.2
	Puerto Rico	WAPA-TV	Independent	InterMedia Partners	4.2

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} About Universal Sports Retrieved October 28, 2008
2. ^ Universal Sports, Universal Sports, NBC to broadcast Rugby World Cup , [1]
3. ^ IRB, Rugby World Cup to make US network TV debut
4. ^ NBC Universal, World Championship Sports Network Join Forces on Olympic Games Site Retrieved September 1, 2008
5. ^ Cable Show 2011: Universal Sports Scores Multiyear Distribution Pact With DirecTV Multichannel News June 15, 2011
6. ^ Universal Sports Dropping Multicast Outlets, TVNewsCheck, September 12, 2011.

External links

• Official website
• Corporate website