NBCUniversal closes its NBCSN sports cable channel at the end of the year and migrates much of its programming to its general source entertainment network in the United States, the company said.
The premium properties on NBCSN are the National Hockey League and Nascar car racing, both starting to move to the US this year. Some content will remain on both channels until NBCSN officially turns off the lights. NBCUniversal briefed staff on the plan on Friday afternoon in a company note.
“We are absolutely more committed than ever to live sports as a company and to have such a huge platform as the USA Network, which broadcasts some of our key sports content, is great for our partners, distributors, viewers, as well as for advertisers, ”said NBC Sports Group President Pete Bevacqua.
By placing high quality sports on the US network, NBCUniversal – a unit of Comcast Corp. – hopes to solve two problems with a single move: get rid of a poorly performing asset and stimulate an already strong one. Premier Soccer League will also have matches in the USA.
NBCSN has struggled to compete with bigger rivals, such as ESPN at Walt Disney Co. and Fox Corp.’s Fox Sports cable network. Although it has a large national coverage, its ratings are pale compared to its competition. Fox Corp. and the Wall Street Journal, Father News Corp., are jointly owned.