Richard Sandomir of the NY Times talks about the potential acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast – America’s largest television provider (cable or satellite).
Comcast’s impending acquisition of NBC Universal will certainly set off an effort to turn Versus into a viable alternative, if not a full-fledged competitor, to ESPN. Under Comcast’s ownership, Versus has transformed from the Outdoor Life Network to OLN, then, in 2006, into its current incarnation.
But Versus is a second-tier network whose highest-profile sports, the N.H.L. and the Tour de France, aren’t blockbusters. It lacks a studio show that would give it identity, like ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” or an announcer who is its defining personality.
Versus (and its sister network, the Golf Channel) will be turned over to NBC for an overhaul, assuming regulators approve the deal, a process that could take 12 to 18 months. Versus will probably be renamed something like NBC Sports Cable to reflect a more defined sports brand. On-air and production talent would migrate from NBC, to a certain extent, although Bob Costas would not be hosting IndyCar races.
Versus and Golf would certainly be overseen by Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports, who has never had a sports cable network to tinker with (the expanding Universal Sports channel is distributed through NBC stations and affiliates); he would no doubt quickly strip Versus of its current crop of late-night infomercials.
But beefing up Versus’ quality and appearance is a small part of getting part of ESPN’s business. Comcast would have to decide to spend what is necessary to lure viewers from ESPN and ESPN2 by acquiring bigger events, like the Olympics, Major League Baseball, the N.F.L., Nascar and the N.B.A. — properties on a tier above its current rights to IndyCar, the Professional Bull Riders, Mountain West Conference football and mixed martial arts.
Versus needs big acquisitions to become something more than a default network for sports that ESPN doesn’t want (although it doesn’t need the huge bulk of hundreds upon hundreds of college games).
Payout Perspective:
The UFC could be an attractive sports property for Comcast-NBCU to leverage in a relaunch of its new sports media entity. The UFC would bring with it that coveted 18-34 year-old demographic, and a slew of media attention. Moreover, from a branding perspective the UFC would provide a means of differentiation – this isn’t your father’s sports network.
Comcast-NBCU might also be in a better position to compromise on some of the issues that have been known to be sticking points for ESPN:
- Brand fit
- Rights fees
- Production control
- Program scheduling
ESPN should still be the UFC’s first choice, because they have so many well-developed touchpoints with the consumer, and it would take time for Comcast-NBC to develop a comparable combination of television, internet, and radio content. However, the entrance of a Comcast-NBCU network at the very least provides the UFC with another option, and reduces the negotiating leverage of ESPN.
Lets hope the regulators block this merger. If it happened, the consumers can see a rise in prices with less channels. God knows how many channels NBC owns and Comcast can start blocking channels to start charging for them or blocking competition all together. That would mean that Comcast could block ESPN, and force all the people who watched ESPN to watch Versus(or a new NBC sports channel) without any competition. Who really knows??
I don’t see any benefits of this merger, lets hope I’m wrong.