Universal Sports

Universal Sports Network
Launched	2006 (as World Championship Sports Network); June 16, 2008 (as Universal Sports)
Network	NBC Sports
Owned by	InterMedia Partners (majority) and NBCUniversal (minority)
Picture format	480i (SDTV); 1080i (HDTV)
Slogan	Where Champions are Made.
Country	United States
Language	English
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	Westlake Village, California
Formerly called	World Championship Sports Network (WCSN)
Sister channel(s)	NBC Sports; NBC Sports Network
Website	UniversalSports.com; NBCSports.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV (US)	Channel 625
Dish Network (US)	Channel 402
Cable
Check with local provider	Check your local listings

Universal Sports is an American cable television channel that airs various sports, primarily those contested in the Olympic Games, including swimming, gymnastics, cycling, track and field, figure skating, skiing, bobsledding and triathlon. The network does not televise the live Olympic Games; however, the network did re-air the 2012 Olympics.^[1]

Programming [edit]

Universal Sports Network televises more than 1,200 hours of premiere programming each year.^[when?]^[2] It covers over 30 sports, including World Championships, World Cups and Grand Prix Events.^[2] The range of these events include:^[2]

The channel has long-term broadcasting agreements^[2] with the:

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)
International Cycling Union (UCI)
International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG)
International Rowing Federation (FISA)
International Ski Federation (FIS)
International Swimming Federation (FINA)
International Rugby Board (IRB)

The channel features American Olympic stars including Apolo Ohno, Nastia Liukin, Michael Phelps and Lindsey Vonn.

It carried the 2008 Summer Paralympics from Beijing, China, from October 8 to November 19, 2008. On September 9, 2008, it also began the "Olympic Replay", rebroadcasting selected competitions from the 2008 Summer Olympics, also from Beijing. The channel played a large role in NBC Universal's coverage of the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.^{[citation needed]}

The channel provides year-round coverage of events that generally receive attention every few years. Through the television and internet streaming, a fan can see how Olympic athletes compete between the games. It promotes itself as "the athlete's network",^[2] and extends its coverage through blogs and interviews outside of competition.

On 17 June 2010 Universal Sports along with the IRB announced that the channel would bring "unprecedented national television and digital media coverage of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup tournaments." This statement was issued jointly by Universal Sports CEO David Sternberg and the Secretary General of the IRB Mike Miller.^[3]

As reported by Olympic news outlet Around the Rings, Universal Sports and Infront Sports and Media announced an exclusive media rights agreement for the International Ski Federation World Cup events in 2011-2012.

Besides the sports coverage, the channel broadcast the three hours of FCC-required educational and informational programming weekly during its run on broadcast television; this is expected to end when it goes cable-only.

History [edit]

The channel, originally called World Championship Sports Network (WCSN), was co-founded in 2006 by Claude Ruibal, its chairman and chief executive officer, and Tom Hipkins, a member of the channel's board of directors, with the help of Carlos Silva, its president and chief operating officer,^[2] One of its first events was coverage of the United States Track and Field Championships via streaming video.^{[citation needed]}^{[clarification needed]}

In 2007, InterMedia Partners gained a majority share of the network. On June 16, 2008, NBC Universal joined with InterMedia in a partnership that gave NBC a minority share and rebranded the network as Universal Sports including a new logo with the NBC peacock.^[4]