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Versus Undergoes Name Change to NBC Sports Network

Aug 1

Posted by Eddie in News | No Comments

NBC Sports Group, the parent company of Versus has announced today the rebranding of the cable network effective January 2, 2012. The new network will be called NBC Sports Network and is the home of the NHL, Indycar Racing, Professional Bull Riding, and the Tour de France among others.

The decision is part of a move to unify all four tiers of NBC Sports Group’s assets into one consistent umbrella of branding. Those include the broadcast network, two national cable networks (Versus and Universal Sports), a digital network and 11 regional sports networks (Under Comcast SportsNet name). A redesigned NBC Sports logo is shown to the left.

The NBC Sports Network will feature many enhancements including documentaries, storytelling features and increased programming dedicated to horse racing and Notre Dame football. Versus already carries Mountain West Conference college football and basketball. The network began as Outdoor Life Network before being rebranded as Versus in 2006 when it acquired the cable rights to the NHL after the lockout.

January 2, 2012 was chosen as the rebranding date for several reasons including several sporting events with a large viewing audience within a short time frame that can be used to market and bring awareness to the new network. Those events include Notre Dame football, Sunday Night NFL football and the NHL Winter Classic that will be played the same day. Other cross-promotion opportunities the network will have the first week will be the end of the NFL regular season Jan. 1, and the NFL Wild Card doubleheader which NBC will broadcast two playoff games Jan. 7. On February 5, 2012, NBC will broadcast Super Bowl XLVI from Indianapolis, which will give it significant cross-promotion between the two networks.

Comcast, which owns NBC,  also reported that Versus’s primetime viewership had doubled since the merger with NBC in February 2011. In April, NBCSports.com absorbed Versus.com to create a single online destination for fans.

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Hallelujah! Versus and DirecTV Reach Agreement

Mar 16

Posted by Eddie in Media, News | No Comments

Hockey fans, MMA fans, College Football fans, Indy Racing fans, and yes, Tour de France fans who subscribe to DirecTV can rejoice as both sides reached an agreement to resume normal broadcasting as it was in August 2009.

As reported in August 2009, the two sides were fighting over carriage fees. And it looks like a give-and-take compromise between the sides won.  It was reported that it was the zero hour for both sides as MMA cage fighting is to make its debut on Versus this weekend. Racing fans like myself already missed the first Indy Racing League race of the 2010 season, which took place in Brazil Sunday afternoon.

A statement from Versus reads as follows:

“DIRECTV and Comcast have reached an agreement to return VERSUS to the DIRECTV programming lineup today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

VERSUS will return to the same DIRECTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.

“We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers,” said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV.

“We’re excited that we were able to come to a fair agreement that puts VERSUS back in millions of homes with DIRECTV in time for our busy spring programming schedule,” said Jamie Davis, president of VERSUS.  “We look forward to super-serving these fans with NHL regular-season and playoff coverage, our first live UFC event and much more.”"

Versus can be found on Directv channel 603.

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DirecTV Could Shutout Versus

Aug 23

Posted by Eddie in Media, News | 2 Comments

DirecTV refuses to give an increase to a network that has poor ratings

DirecTV refuses to give an increase to a network that has poor ratings.

If cable network Versus and satellite subscriber DirecTV don’t resolve their dispute in the next week, hockey fans who have DirecTV won’t be able to watch nationally televised games unless they have NHL Center Ice.

The current contract that DirecTV has with Versus expires August 31. The main issue is the difference each side has in carriage fees. From it’s cable operators in 2009, Versus has been about 18 cents per subscriber per month. Versus wants an increase in it’s carriage fees, with it’s reasoning being that they have become “the fastest-growing sports network in the country” in a statement released Friday.

Additional facts on Versus’ side is that they are averaging 3,000 more viewers at any given time (according to Nielsen ratings numbers) since changing it’s name from the Outdoor Life Network in 2006-07 when they acquired the NHL cable rights. This isn’t just a NHL issue as Versus also broadcast sports such as college football, IAAF Track and Field, IRL auto racing, WEC cage fighting, and the Tour de France. Versus is now seen in 75 Million homes across the country.

Versus could be gone from DirecTV if both sides don't come to an agreement before September 1.

Versus could be gone from DirecTV if both sides don't come to an agreement before September 1.

DirecTV’s case is that the ratings Versus gets doesn’t equate the rate increase they desire. In a story about the dispute that appeared in the L.A. Times, DirecTV said that “Versus’ overall ratings are poor and have not increased nearly enough to justify what we’re paying them, let alone the significant increase they’re asking for”. What also helps DirecTV in stating their case is that Versus is ranked 61st among the 74 English-advertising supported networks.

This could be a problem for fans of Detroit, Pittsburgh, Washington and Philadelphia as a lot of their nationally-televised games appear on Versus.

Another factor that has DirecTV’s hands tied, is that Versus is owned by Comcast. Comcast is a major competitor of DirecTV in the cable-satellite wars.

A graph comparing the ratings between NBC and Versus during the first three rounds of the 2009 Playoffs.

A graph comparing the ratings between NBC and Versus during the first three rounds of the 2009 Playoffs.

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