Olympic sports network to be launched

[dewey]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-olympicchannel-0708,0,259020.story

Don't know if this will benefit skating fans or not.

 

[museksk8r]

Details about the "U.S. Olympic Network" will be unveiled Wednesday, though a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press the network will go on the air next year after the Vancouver Olympics and that Comcast will be the broadcast partner, with plans to place the network on one of its basic tiers.

Well, that sucks for hopes of extra coverage this season and for everyone who doesn't have access to Comcast cable. Hopefully, all the other cable providers will follow suit and add this network to their channels line-up.

Getting rights to some of the bigger sports -- skating, gymnastics, swimming, track -- could be trickier because those sports negotiate some of their own TV deals, and they are considered lucrative to the major networks.

That doesn't sound very promising for the fans.

 

[R.D.]

Well, last time I checked, the networks were only interested in broadcasting the top competitors- i.e. the final group or two groups at a skating competition. I would imagine the USOC network shouldn't have too much trouble getting some of the smaller events or airing the "less important" segments of a major competition.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I don't really understand why they will launch it the year after a olympic year. What will they play? Just repeats from Vancover? I guess that is better than noting, since we never get to see olympic programs many times. Most are not even on YouTube.

 

[visaliakid]

I predict this is FAR from a done deal... (read these in the order I have listed them and you will get a fuller context to this story).

Olympics Channel Draws a Rebuke From the I.O.C. - by Richard Sandomir, New York Times


The inside stuff: IOC letter on U.S. Olympic Network dispute - by Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune


NBC Reveals Displeasure as U.S.O.C. Unveils Plan - by Richard Sandomir, New York Times

 

[Mathman]

Thanks for posting these interesting articles, Visalia Kid.

My first instinct is, screw the IOC, full steam ahead.

As I envisioned this new network, it would show track meets, swimming events, kayak races (my favorite), ski jumping contests and the like, in between Olympics. Sports that now get practrically no television coverage at all.

It is quite clear that the only thing anyone really cares about is, if there is any money to be made, I want my cut.

However, I think the very last line of the last article tells the story:

...research found that “less than one-tenth of 1 percent” of those surveyed showed any interest in such a channel.

 

[i love to skate]

I don't really understand why they will launch it the year after a olympic year. What will they play? Just repeats from Vancover? I guess that is better than noting, since we never get to see olympic programs many times. Most are not even on YouTube.

I would guess it is being launched the year after Vancouver because the broadcast rights have already been snatched up (for large amounts of money no less) so they wouldn't be able to broadcast anything during the games.