Long road lies ahead for new NBC Sports Network

Attention sports fans! A new 24/7 sports network is debuting this afternoon. The NBC Sports Network, which was formerly known as Versus, is set to launch today. The network was set to launch at 3 p.m. following the NHL Winter Classic hockey match between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers on NBC, but that match has been pushed back two hours due to weather conditions. There is no word on whether or not the network will launch at 3 p.m. as expected or wait until following the game. The network was supposed to begin with a recap show of the Winter Classic. 

The start of a new 24/7 sports network is really quite a big deal as ESPN, which started in 1979 with one network and has expanded to many since then, has basically owned the landscape. There are other successful sports programming networks like the NFL Network and MLB Network, but they’re dedicated to one specific sport as their names imply. NBC Sports Network knows that it’s a long road ahead and for the time being there really is no way to compete with ESPN, but they hope to be strict competitors in the future. NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus says that the NBC Sport Network is on a five-year plan to start out slowly and gain viewers by hopefully attracting big time sports leagues.

ESPN launched in 1979, most of which you can learn about indepthly through James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales’ great 2010 book “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN,” and didn’t have any big time sports at the time, but grew slowly, but surely over the years. Now over 32 years later, ESPN is the king of televised sports and there doesn’t seem to be anything that can compete with it. 

This is where NBC Sports Network really has a tough task ahead of it. In 1979 there wasn’t any competition to deal with as far as sports cable programming so ESPN could take its time to build. That opportunity might not exist in 2012, especially with most sports viewers opting for the behemoth ESPN for their sports news. 

The fact that the NBC Sports Network doesn’t have any big time sports upon its launch, and doesn’t look like they will for the first couple to few years is also a big negative in its corner. The network doesn’t have live game coverage of the NFL, NBA or MLB or even other popular sports like NASCAR. ESPN has all of those, as well as a few other networks. The biggest attraction that the NBC Sports Network has is the NHL. Other sports that the network will carry in its first year include college football, basketball and hockey (though many of the college football and basketball games aren’t noteworthy), Major League Soccer (a clear fringe sport), the IndyCar Series (struggling in ratings and will only get worse now that Danica Patrick has left for NASCAR), the Tour de France (good luck) and the Olympics (possibly the network’s saving grace in 2012). 

Hockey via the NHL is going to be the network’s biggest draw throughout its first year and probably further into its run. In 2012 alone the network will air 90 regular season games and a whopping 50 playoff games. This week alone the network will air four games, including the San Jose Sharks at the Vancouver Canucks tonight on its first night of programming. The one thing really going for this startup network is that for the first few years it’ll probably be a hockey fan’s dream, as the sport has been almost completely neglected by other networks.

Other programming that will be spread throughout the network’s debut week includes original shows like “NFL Turning Point,” “NHL 36,” “NHL Overtime” and “SportsBiz: Game On,” as well as coverage of the motorsport Dakar Rally, snowboarding, skiing and assorted fishing programming. The network will also debut new original documentaries like “Cold War on Ice: Summit Series ‘72” and “NBC Sports: A Storied Journey.” 

The biggest original debut for the network will come at 5 p.m. on Monday (if it’s not affected by the time change of the Winter Classic) when it debuts its “NBC SportsTalk” Monday through Friday weekday show that will basically be the network’s answer to ESPN’s “SportsCenter”(note the lack of space between both titles). “NBC SportsTalk” (it’s already evident they should shorten it to just ‘SportsTalk’) is supposedly going to be more conversational than “SportsCenter.” It should be interesting to see how the show compares and does against “SportsCenter” as it airs at the same time as the early evening “SportsCenter” telecast.  

Hockey and the other fringe sports might keep the network afloat, but they certainly won’t bring in big ratings. The network will have to be a big player in the negotiating rights for the NFL, MLB, NBA or even NASCAR when those packages become available in the next few years. The NBC Sports Network might have actually hurt itself somewhat from the get go as they plan on cutting back on some of the old Versus fare like bullriding and MMA. The cutting of MMA is one that might especially hurt, as it’s a sport that’s clearly growing in popularity in the country. 

The biggest break for the NBC Sports Network is that it’s launching in a year in which NBC’s broadcasting the London Summer Olympics. The network will likely carry much of NBC’s Olympics slate, as in the past the network has spread its programming over its other networks like USA, which don’t typically show sports programming. The London Olympics should really boost the network’s ratings in its first year on the air. 

As for the on-air talent the network is adding mostly new faces to the forefront, but will also make use of some of its already well-known commentators like Bob Costas and Dan Patrick. The fresh faces look might be a risky start for the network, as bigger names headlining the programming could have lead to a bigger viewership right from the start. 

More sports programming on television is something that’s always going to be a plus for sports fans and it wouldn’t hurt for ESPN to have some competition, but the NBC Sports Network will definitely have a long haul ahead of them without a big sports league and their competition being so huge. However, if they get off to a decent start, in a few years they might be a pretty big player in sports television. Though, that’s a pretty good-sized if.