NBC to shut down NBCSN

By the end of the year NBCSN (NBC Sports Network) will be no more. Some of their live sports like the NHL and Nascar will move to USA Network with other programmihg to their streaming Peacock service.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/media/nbc-sports-network-shut-down/index.html

Evolution of sports value of live events in the market place as media changes with watch when you want and wherever you want changes the landscape of media .

The article :

Cable companies have been under strain as consumers "cut the cord," choosing instead to pay for streaming services like Netflix rather than paying a cable bill.

The new streaming service is the focal point of NBCUniversal's future business strategy, so having more live sports on the service provides consumers more incentives to sign up. Peacock already airs many Premier League soccer games.

I believe the NHL television contract with NBC expires after this season

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Not surprised, more and more people are streaming.
Sportsnet began their streaming service a couple years ago, TSN just started last year. Streaming is the future.

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It does expire after this season. Without NBCSN, is it feasible for them to have the exclusive national rights anymore?

Might be too much content even moving them to USA or maybe Peacock .

I could still see the rights split with another network, perhaps Fox and I wouldn’t rule out ESPN wanting a small package.

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It’s devolution though understandable on a business front and though I feel the pandemic has hastened this decision.

What a great media hack who wrote that article like all do to cover for each other that incestuous and arrogant Manhattan media set. I bet his NBC friends are buying him lunch for such an obvious Peacock plug. You wanna see how much Peacock is liked? Notice their FB page no longer has any sports content on it, for the viewers sure weighed in with no uncertain unprofessional comments in September when they were trying to push PL games onto that as they aired car auctions! :roll_eyes:

NBCSN is better than both ESPN and FS1 down here. It’s those two that should be shuttered by May. It’s all our loss now.

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And they are running their coverage into the ground by mailing it in too. It shows and their coverage sucked before this announcement as if all the staff knew already.

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Too much content? Come again now! All NBCSN has had that is worth a crap are the Premier League and NHL in that order, and those have been massive and okay respectively though with the pandemic the NHL market down here is on the wane unlike there for sake of media rights and television viewing.

They’ll move some content over to USA just fine, but they also push more onto Peacock.

I get the service free with cable, but here’s the rub. The DVR capability is not the same as for a regular channel.

And of course this phase out of NBCSN this year does come into play in my negotiation in March with my cable company. They better have something else to make it up because I will tell them I don’t want more of their ESPN and FS1 crap and certainly am not going to give anything free of those any value.

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Pretty good analysis here of the reasons for this move even though NBCSN does well. It is mostly about boosting the streaming service Peacock and to give a bump to USA Network. Plus a proactive move to not be left behind in the trend of streaming being the future.

And a move like this will lead to more cutting the cord..

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/22/sports/nbcsn-shutting-down.html

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Here what I and many others down here think of this matter.

Give a boost to USA Network? What the heck is on there that people watch that is not re-runs or much older films replayed endless times?

They are shutting down the wrong channel, and the economic impact of the pandemic hastened the decision by perhaps 2 years. And they are already clearly mailing it in with the coverage except for Premier League.

Oh well.

Other the the Premier League action they don't push onto Peacock with no rhyme or reason for some games, I'm not sure what they are doing already other than mailing it in these no-good louts at NBC:

  1. NHL games seem to be only the Original Six teams and any opponents with the biggest market game on NBC proper where they do cash in
  2. Rugby - after many efforts for a decade, no one has cared for televised rugby for a very long time. As a former player, it's a fun sport to play but to watch it it can be boring plus on TV it is dreadful.
  3. Documentaries about whatever that is not about the play or a player
  4. Sports news that we generally don't need to see on TV assuming we even care to watch it

Oh I think the pattern is obvious. They are about cutting the cost of content to the bare bones as they rake in whatever sums they are getting for advertising. Of course we who have a subscription to cable or satellite already were paying for more as we had for years.

Whatever NBC does next, now I cheer against them, as much as ESPN since 2005, but and that leaves us with nothing for sake of a good sports network any more.

There has to be a major industry player who might step into this void being left by three awful cable sports interests that are ESPN, FS1, and now NBCSN who had a great thing going and should have been the one to remain on air unlike the other two blowhard networks that are all about agendas and not sports.

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Could say that about Sportsnet, unlike when it started as CTV Sportsnet in October 1998.

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So I read in the following that NBCSN made this decision without even consulting the executives of its most valuable property, the Barclays Premier League, yet still wishes to bid on the new media rights package that begins in 2022.

HA! Good luck with that the PL are not picking you when snubbed like that lest you come up with major magic money. Let's note this is beyond unprofessional, in any business down to the one-person shop, as well when you don't offer some information or consultation with a top customer or partner. Your name stays on it whether your doors are open or shut, and snub somebody and they certainly will never forget it.

Apparently the executives at the PL have not been thrilled and are not interested in more content going onto Peacock or streaming as well.

Not all PL games merit enough interest such that they need be shown on a cable channel rather than streamed, but it's telling how NBCSN has botched massively the scheduling so as to put often the matches of lesser prominence on NBCSN though occasionally getting top matches onto NBC.

There is no way the BPL finds NBCSN fit for greater responsibility. Other bidders lurk and are circling.

I will cheer the day, and certainly add my comments on Peacock's stupid Facebook page, when NBC gets the boot. May the BPL get a great running start when they deliver the boot NBC have asked for with their folly too.

And you know what? NBCSN's lead weekend PL talent in the studio are excellent, so I want them to be lured away too because very few are complaining about them at all.

So with no PL and with the NHL up and likely leaving NBC too, what in the world will NBC have for sports other than their flagship NFL game on Sunday nights (with terrible announcing thanks to Collinsworth)? Maybe that's all they want plus some bargain basement content like rugby for Peacock and the like.

NBC Sports might as well be on Reddit with all the other heavy niche content if they are going to go with a heavy streaming strategy.

And I'm not going be professional about this at all when I cheer "down with you NBC Sports!"

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If the NHL leaves NBC Sports then the NHL Network will be shuttered as well.

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Likely feeling the heat from both viewers and the Barclays Premier League and cable at last and about 6 months late, NBCSN in these three days through Monday is putting on no less than 7 of the 10 matches of PL instead of the usual 5.

We'll see what NBCSN continues to do knowing now full well they are likely to be given the boot by the PL due to their recent apathy, folly, and unprofessionalism towards their most valuable media property in the US.

The NHL is valuable as well but not as much now during the pandemic and when it's already far more likely that NBCSN will be given the boot or only have perhaps a token remaining piece of the future action.

And they'll probably try to blame the pandemic later for their recent folly too, but no, they were told in advance and had legions of people at home during a cold winter as a captive audience yet still blew it. No pass and all the woe to the executives at NBC Universal for their wilful negligence.

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Radio reports today that NHL has reached agreement with NBC and ESPN to share a 7-yr TV contract

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About time the NHL gets back on ESPN.

Wishing for the old Hockey Night in Canada on CBC

and TSN to come back.

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AGREED on ESPN … I am wishing for a date with < insert name of sexiest female celebrity you can think of > … think our chances are about the same … :wink:

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I don’t expect ESPN’s coverage of the NHL to improve from last time. It will be the red-headed stepchild of ESPN coverage. look for the league to get stuck on ESPN+, ESPNnews, the Deuce, etc.

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Apparently the deal will include steaming on ESPN+, so no separate package there

NBC will likely get the other half so games can go there where ESPN doesn’t have room.

Value is expected between 2 and 2.25 billion so about 300 million per year. If NBC is in the same ballpark about 550-600 mil/year or 25-27 million per team.

Decent increase but won’t be enough to help the Arizonas of the world.

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