Key Points
- NBCSN will launch on YouTube TV this coming Monday, and will be available on other distribution platforms in the coming weeks.
- The network will offer simulcasts of sports programming once exclusive to Peacock, including the whip-around channel Gold Zone during the Olympics.
- Ratings data from Nielsen, coupled with first-party data from Adobe Analytics, shows most sports fans prefer to watch games on NBC and other linear networks over streaming platforms like Peacock.
Comcast’s NBC Universal will relaunch its national sports channel NBCSN on Monday, nearly four years after the original iteration of the network went off the air.
The new channel will feature live sports from NBC and its streaming platform Peacock, making games once reserved for streaming customers available to those who pay for cable, satellite and streaming cable-like services.
The new flavor of NBCSN will launch on Monday, November 17, with initial distribution on Google-owned YouTube TV, NBC said in a press release. In the coming weeks, it will also be available on Comcast’s Xfinity TV platform, with other distributors to be announced at later dates.
The relaunch of the channel comes as NBC makes aggressive plays for more live sports rights: For years, it has offered live games from the National Football League (NFL) on Sunday evenings and other sports like Premier League soccer, PGA Tour golf and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) shows. Over the past few years, it has expanded its portfolio of live sports to include games from Major League Baseball (MLB), NASCAR races and professional college sports; this year, it began airing games from the National Basketball Association (NBA), returning the sport to NBC for the first time in two decades.
Peacock was positioned as the future of NBC’s sports offerings, but the streaming service has lagged behind NBC’s traditional broadcast network and cable channels: Nielsen ratings reviewed by The Desk proves most people watch NBC’s sports programming on its broadcast and cable networks, with only a fraction streaming games live on Peacock.
Comcast is in the process of spinning out its cable networks into a new business called Versant, which will include CNBC, USA Network and E! — cable channels that have served as spillover networks for NBC’s sports programming, including the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. That, coupled with the fact that most people watch NBC’s live sports on traditional TV over streaming, necessitates a national linear sports network — something NBC executives didn’t shy away from in their statements on Monday.
“NBC Universal delivers the biggest moments in sports, and the new NBC Sports Network gives pay TV customers a seamless way to enjoy the wide range of sports in our portfolio, adding an important pillar in our linear and streaming strategy,” Matt Schnaars, the President of Platform Distribution and Partnerships at the company, said on Thursday.
Schnaars said NBC will offer an “aggregated experience” to fans who prefer to watch live games on traditional TV, and will give advertisers greater reach to sports fans “while also creating a new monetization path for some of our most-premium programming.”
The new NBC Sports Network will include Monday evening NBA games that were previously exclusive to Peacock; NBC’s telecast of NBA playoff games; dozens of MLB regular-season and post-season games; Premier League soccer matches; WNBA regular season and playoff games; college football and basketball; professional cycling; golf tournaments; the Kentucky Derby and simulcasts of certain Olympics sports programming.
The new NBCSN will also include a simulcast of Gold Zone, the whip-around channel hosted by NFL RedZone’s Scott Hanson during the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games.
When live sports isn’t available, NBCSN will offer live and replay broadcasts of shoulder programming like “The Dan Patrick Show,” “The Dan Le Batard Show,” “Fantasy Football Happy Hour” and “PFT Live.”
