The NBC Sports Network Struggles Profiled in Sports Business Journal

In news that frankly shouldn't surprise anybody the NBC Sports Network through its first month as a channel, after it took over from the previously named "Versus Network," is struggling so far to tread through the musty television network waters. According to the Sports Business Journal, through January 2012 the NBC Sports Network averaged a mere 62,000 viewers, ranking 8th among sports networks (ESPN, to no surprise, finished first with 1.365 million and ESPN2 occupied the second slot with 325K) . 

To put into perspective how poor that is for a network that went through rebranding to try and haul in more viewers, the previously named Versus Network averaged 20.5% more viewers in the month of January 2011 than the NBC Sports Network did in January 2012. For a network that was supposed to be  by many amongst sports pundits, a competitor against the media monstrosity of the WWL, ESPN, they are getting their butts handed to them by just about everybody.

Now going forward obviously the NBC Sports Network's lofty goals of challenging ESPN, or at least the lofty goals of viewers tired of the WWL, are too high for a network that has gone through 3 different sessions of rebranding in the last 5 years. They don't have an identity besides being the network that broadcasts the National Hockey League, has a couple of solid programs like NFL Turning Point, and outdoor shows which is what they were trying to phase out from (sadly for them, of the Top 5, 3 "outdoor" shows were featured). Frankly if that's their identity, that's fine and assimilating those shows may turn them into a less obnoxious form of ESPN which while it sounds good in theory, is a bit hypocritical at the same time.

The poor rights deals that they have right now (with most sports leagues' rights contracts coming off the books in a minimum of 5 years or so from now) and programming that isn't quite clear and the lack of identity can be blamed for the rough start. As well as a lack of expansion amongst households too. Hopefully for the sake of sports fans and sports programming, they get their act together. Otherwise, they may be a forgotten network on par with the CBS Sports Network and other disenchanted ventures.