Some More Olympic Tv Updates

[mattperiolat]

Well, see, the problem is USA is not going to have as much time as MSNBC will have to broadcast events like soccer et al so they may opt for "safer" events. Basketball is a possibility, MAYBE a soccer game once we get into the semis. But we're all speculating like mad here because we're all excited I'm sure.

Nice coincidence: I'll be watching (and taping!) my first events from Beijing on my fiance's 27th birthday. What makes it especially nice? She is watching with me, the first time in all the years I've been doing this, I won't be alone in sharing the joy with someone.

*sniffs* No joke, it is important to me.

[olympics08]

About the Philippine broadcast:

During the commercial break within a live NBA playoffs game on RPN-9, I suddenly saw a promo for Solar Entertainment's Olympic telecast!

The promo begins with a count down (earlier it said "Beijing Countdown: 92 Days To Go") followed by an Olympic fact which includes the number of sleeps left until August 8. The fact of the day can be found on the home page of the Solar Sports website. It ends with the Beijing 2008 logo (although only the "Beijing 2008" and the Olympic Rings) next to Solar Sports' logo with "The Olympic Channel" underneath, followed by a slide with the logos of the five Solar channels that will broadcast the Beijing Olympics: Solar Sports, Basketball TV (basketball), RPN-9 (events with Filipino athletes participating: archery, athletics, boxing, swimming, taekwondo, diving and shooting; I was also hoping that they would cover the opening and closing ceremonies as well), ETC (similar coverage to the Oxygen channel there, but I'm hoping for more than theirs) and 2nd Avenue (same events as ETC as wells as sports with new events: swimming [open water swim], atheletics [women's 3000m steeplechase], cycling [bMX], fencing [team foil and sabre for women] andtable tennis [team events for men and women].)

Well, see, the problem is USA is not going to have as much time as MSNBC will have to broadcast events like soccer et al so they may opt for "safer" events. Basketball is a possibility, MAYBE a soccer game once we get into the semis. But we're all speculating like mad here because we're all excited I'm sure.

Nice coincidence: I'll be watching (and taping!) my first events from Beijing on my fiance's 27th birthday. What makes it especially nice? She is watching with me, the first time in all the years I've been doing this, I won't be alone in sharing the joy with someone.

*sniffs* No joke, it is important to me.

Wha...? Hey! My little brother's birthday is on August 8 too!

[pacey988]

Congratulations!

[mattperiolat]

Wha...? Hey! My little brother's birthday is on August 8 too!

Actually,I was talking about the soccer matches on Aug. 6.

[Quaker2001]

Normally I don't make a point of trying to record everything from the trials, but this year.. why not! Wish I had discovered this 2 weeks ago so I didn't miss the beginning of their coverage, but there's a total of 46 hours of coverage across 3 networks, so plenty left to be had.

U.S. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS TELEVISION SCHEDULE

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Women’s Marathon

Sunday, April 27 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Women’s Triathlon

Sunday, May 4 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Canoe/Kayak (Slalom)

Sunday, May 11 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Men’s Triathlon

Sunday, May 18 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Weightlifting

Sunday, May 25 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. vs. Argentina Men’s Volleyball Exhibition

Sunday, June 1 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. vs. China Softball Exhibition Game

Sunday, June 8 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC

U.S. vs. Croatia Men’s Water Polo Exhibition

Sunday, June 15 Noon-1:30 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Cycling (BMX)

Sunday, June 15 Noon-1:30 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Diving

Saturday, June 21 3:30-4:30 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Men’s Gymnastics

Saturday, June 21 4:30-6:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Women’s Gymnastics

Saturday, June 21 8:00-10:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Wrestling

Sunday, June 22 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Diving

Sunday, June 22 3:00-6:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Women’s Gymnastics

Sunday, June 22 7:00-9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Friday, June 27 Midnight-1:00 am ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Saturday, June 28 8:00-9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. vs. Brazil Women’s Volleyball Exhibition

Sunday, June 29 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Sunday, June 29 7:00-8:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Sunday, June 29 8:00-9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Monday, June 30 8:00-9:00 pm ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Monday, June 30 11:05 pm-1:00 am ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Tuesday, July 1 8:00-9:00 pm ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Wednesday, July 2 8:00-9:00 pm ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Thursday, July 3 8:00-9:00 pm ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Thursday, July 3 11:00 pm-1:00 am ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Friday, July 4 8:00-9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Friday, July 4 11:00 pm-1:00 am ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Saturday, July 5 5:00 -6:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Saturday, July 5 8:00 -9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Gymnastics

Sunday, July 6 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC^

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming and Track & Field

Sunday, July 6 7:00 -9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. vs. Australia Women’s Water Polo Exhibition

Sunday, July 13 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Boxing

Sunday, July 20 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials Anthology Show

Sunday, July 27 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

[mattperiolat]

NUTS!

Not mad at you, but oh well. And were not the marathon trials on NBC earlier this year anyway? I remember DVDing something...

Anyway... to the tape decks gentlemen... to Beijing and GLORY!!!!

Normally I don't make a point of trying to record everything from the trials, but this year.. why not! Wish I had discovered this 2 weeks ago so I didn't miss the beginning of their coverage, but there's a total of 46 hours of coverage across 3 networks, so plenty left to be had.

U.S. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS TELEVISION SCHEDULE

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Women’s Marathon

Sunday, April 27 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Women’s Triathlon

Sunday, May 4 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Canoe/Kayak (Slalom)

Sunday, May 11 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Men’s Triathlon

Sunday, May 18 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Weightlifting

Sunday, May 25 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. vs. Argentina Men’s Volleyball Exhibition

Sunday, June 1 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. vs. China Softball Exhibition Game

Sunday, June 8 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC

U.S. vs. Croatia Men’s Water Polo Exhibition

Sunday, June 15 Noon-1:30 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Cycling (BMX)

Sunday, June 15 Noon-1:30 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Diving

Saturday, June 21 3:30-4:30 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Men’s Gymnastics

Saturday, June 21 4:30-6:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Women’s Gymnastics

Saturday, June 21 8:00-10:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Wrestling

Sunday, June 22 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Diving

Sunday, June 22 3:00-6:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Women’s Gymnastics

Sunday, June 22 7:00-9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Friday, June 27 Midnight-1:00 am ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Saturday, June 28 8:00-9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. vs. Brazil Women’s Volleyball Exhibition

Sunday, June 29 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Sunday, June 29 7:00-8:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Sunday, June 29 8:00-9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Monday, June 30 8:00-9:00 pm ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Monday, June 30 11:05 pm-1:00 am ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Tuesday, July 1 8:00-9:00 pm ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Wednesday, July 2 8:00-9:00 pm ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Thursday, July 3 8:00-9:00 pm ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Thursday, July 3 11:00 pm-1:00 am ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Friday, July 4 8:00-9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Friday, July 4 11:00 pm-1:00 am ET USA

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Saturday, July 5 5:00 -6:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming

Saturday, July 5 8:00 -9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Gymnastics

Sunday, July 6 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC^

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Swimming and Track & Field

Sunday, July 6 7:00 -9:00 pm ET NBC

U.S. vs. Australia Women’s Water Polo Exhibition

Sunday, July 13 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Boxing

Sunday, July 20 Noon-2:00 pm ET MSNBC*

U.S. Olympic Team Trials Anthology Show

Sunday, July 27 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

[Quaker2001]

NUTS!

Not mad at you, but oh well. And were not the marathon trials on NBC earlier this year anyway? I remember DVDing something...

Anyway... to the tape decks gentlemen... to Beijing and GLORY!!!!

It was actually a part of the running of November's New York City marathon. The main race was that Sunday, as usual, then there was an additional race on Saturday that served as the Olympic Trials (I remember specifically because a friend of mine was in the race). I think NBC did some sort of recap. If memory serves, it might have aired twice in NYC around coverage of Sunday's race.

[Durban Sandshark]

For my part, I have several tapes from Salt Lake City, Torino, and Athens that I got. But I'll mention about my Olympic taping history and where I presently stand now later.

Colombians will get their Beijing 2008 TV fix provided by Caralco TV and RCN.

I'll actually mention SVT and NRK tomorrow.

[mattperiolat]

It was actually a part of the running of November's New York City marathon. The main race was that Sunday, as usual, then there was an additional race on Saturday that served as the Olympic Trials (I remember specifically because a friend of mine was in the race). I think NBC did some sort of recap. If memory serves, it might have aired twice in NYC around coverage of Sunday's race.

That's right, now I remember. They ran an hour recap on TV (which I DVDed) and the entire race was on NBCOlympics.com.

[Maryjane]

Could somebody please tell when would all the Tv promo would be commin out? Only got 3 months left

[mattygs]

TVNZ is also repeating the awesome *Olympic Century* doco series. While made prior to Atlanta, it's an extremely good production.

I think they are up to part 2, scheduled for 2pm on TV One.

[Durban Sandshark]

Sweden's SVT HD will take all 500 hours of what SVT1 and SVT2 will cover for "Peking 2008 OS" with a 72-member staff. SVT HD is available on Canal Digital, Viasat, Com Hem. No word yet on online and hopefully SVT1 and SVT2 won't too be much of the cutting off the events as the coverage switches channels.

SVT HD Beijing 2008 Olympic TV Press Release

Susann Goksor Bjerkrheim Joins NRK's OL 2008 Team As Women's Handball Analyst

Next door neighbor Norway's NRK hasn't announced much of their Olympic TV plans for Beijing 2008 OL. But it did announce yesterday that women's national team star from the 90s, Susann Goksor Bjerkrheim, will join NRK providing analysis to Christian Nilssen's play by play for the Norge handball kvinner's (includes Katja Nyberg, Gro Hammerseth, Katrine Lunde Haraldsen, and Else Marthe Sorlie Lybekk) games.

[Tanaka_Ray]

Hi, is there anybody know who is the TV broadcaster for Indonesia area ? Coz since Athens 2004, Indonesia didn't have any olympic broadcaster, and until now (3 months before the games_ i never see any olympic adv in Indonesian TV, we just can see the Beijing dream in metro TV (Indonesian news channel), so if anybody know which TV will broadcast olympic in Indonesia, please share with me thank you

[Maryjane]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofiakb11nX0

Coverage details on The Games of The XXIX Olympiad by Radio Televisyen Malaysia.

[Durban Sandshark]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofiakb11nX0

Coverage details on The Games of The XXIX Olympiad by Radio Televisyen Malaysia.

That promo, the most detailed about RTM's plans of all three, mentions that RTM1 and RTM2 will cover the Beijing 2008 Olympics out of the RTM channels, and that is the only thing I can get out of it because all it's all in Malay. You'll be sure all Malaysian Olympians will get coverered there.

Here's RTM's second Beijing 2008 Olympic TV promo

"2.2 million TV audience on RTM"

"202 nations"

"One World...One Dream..."

"Stay Tuned For It"

"Best of Sports Only On RTM"

Regional Australian TV channel PRIME (7 in the major Aussie cities) has a promo themselves as the official affiliate broadcaster centering on the beleaguered (to say the least) torch relay, probrably from the relay arm in Canberra, and traditional Chinese music with photo illustrations of China and the Bird's Nest. GWN has the exact same promo save for the GWN logo at the end.

PRIME's Beijing 2008 Promo

TV Azteca in Mexico has a cool Olympic promo featuring the famed ancient Chinese soldier tomb of statues awakening from their centuries of sleep with the Olympics drawing near. Ready to fight for Olympic glory for their nation! Apparently TV Azteca will also broadcast the Olympics with Televisa, but Wiki has yet to acknowledge this.

Televisa, TV Azteca's Mexican Olympic TV partner, has its promo.

Tanaka_Ray, I mentioned in an earlier post here that I project First Media (formerly KabelVision) will once again have the Indonesian TV rights to the Olympics. Judging from what I've noticed from ASTRO and Media Corp/Star Hub from its neighbors in, respectively, Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia would be stupid not to take advantage of the detailed coverage in various media to some degree. But as you say, we don't really know for sure until it is officially announced there.

For the first time apparently there will be both Flemish and French language Olympic TV coverage in Belgium. Previously it was just French. VRT will take care of that for the Flemish audience as RTBF (likely La Deux) will do likewise for the French speakers. Will Beijing fall under the VRT's Sporza label in their coverage? I wonder how many hours of coverage will Belgians get? Generally Belguim's Olympic TV suck. I hope the domestic coverage doesn't suck this around with all due respect to having Eurosport, ARD/ZDF, NOS, France TV, etc.

More details regarding Silverlight's starring role in streaming and powering NBC's Olympic 2008 coverage emerge. NBC, at the end of the article, is working with Schematic to make the graphic user interfaces user-friendly. There's also that "fingerprinting" content issue it is working closely with the IOC to protect NBC's TV rights and broadcast streams (and to warn the likes of YouTube and pirates).

http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-198816.html

[pacey988]

This news has nothing to do with the Olympics, but it does have to do with one of the NBC Universal channels, USA, which is getting out of the sports business after this year. ESPN and The Tennis Channel have made a deal for rights to cable coverage of the US Open tennis tournament, thereby giving ESPN coverage of all four Grand Slam tournaments. The Tennis Channel shares the rights with ESPN for the Australian Open, the French Open, and now the US Open. As for USA, what this means since they say they are getting out of the sports business is that Beijing might be the last Olympics on their network. It's certainly something to think about heading toward 2010, where there is generally less coverage than the Summer Olympics, but an interesting thing to ponder.

[mattygs]

Thanks Mattygs for the TVNZ One promo! One of the better ones out there. Wish there was a brief footage of the Tall Ferns.

It is pretty good, they normally come up with some pretty good promos for sports events like the Olympics.

*11468 Athletes

A Billion Hosts

One Little Upstart

In 2008, 4 million will rise... as one*

Done to the TVNZ promo theme song, *light surrounding you* by Kiwi band Evermore.

The promo in itself is loosely based on that TVNZ ident promo, using the same music, which is awesome imho. Worth a look in itself. Incidentally, featuring NZ Olympian (and Athens 97 World discus champ) Beatric Faumuina

As a side note. Any word on the IOC's anchor doco for the Olympics, I assume they will be having one for Beijing.

NOrmally an hour or so long, focusing on the organisational and prep side of the hosting of the Games.

I remember in the past we have had

- Nagano 98: *Winter Spectacular*

- Sydney 2000: *Dreamtime*

- Salt Lake 2002: *The Spirit of Winter*

- Athens 2004: *An Olympic Oddysee*

[Tanaka_Ray]

That promo, the most detailed about RTM's plans of all three, mentions that RTM1 and RTM2 will cover the Beijing 2008 Olympics out of the RTM channels, and that is the only thing I can get out of it because all it's all in Malay. You'll be sure all Malaysian Olympians will get coverered there.

Here's RTM's second Beijing 2008 Olympic TV promo

"2.2 million TV audience on RTM"

"202 nations"

"One World...One Dream..."

"Stay Tuned For It"

"Best of Sports Only On RTM"

Regional Australian TV channel PRIME (7 in the major Aussie cities) has a promo themselves as the official affiliate broadcaster centering on the beleaguered (to say the least) torch relay, probrably from the relay arm in Canberra, and traditional Chinese music with photo illustrations of China and the Bird's Nest. GWN has the exact same promo save for the GWN logo at the end.

PRIME's Beijing 2008 Promo

TV Azteca in Mexico has a cool Olympic promo featuring the famed ancient Chinese soldier tomb of statues awakening from their centuries of sleep with the Olympics drawing near. Ready to fight for Olympic glory for their nation! Apparently TV Azteca will also broadcast the Olympics with Televisa, but Wiki has yet to acknowledge this.

Televisa, TV Azteca's Mexican Olympic TV partner, has its promo.

Tanaka_Ray, I mentioned in an earlier post here that I project First Media (formerly KabelVision) will once again have the Indonesian TV rights to the Olympics. Judging from what I've noticed from ASTRO and Media Corp/Star Hub from its neighbors in, respectively, Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia would be stupid not to take advantage of the detailed coverage in various media to some degree. But as you say, we don't really know for sure until it is officially announced there.

For the first time apparently there will be both Flemish and French language Olympic TV coverage in Belgium. Previously it was just French. VRT will take care of that for the Flemish audience as RTBF (likely La Deux) will do likewise for the French speakers. Will Beijing fall under the VRT's Sporza label in their coverage? I wonder how many hours of coverage will Belgians get? Generally Belguim's Olympic TV suck. I hope the domestic coverage doesn't suck this around with all due respect to having Eurosport, ARD/ZDF, NOS, France TV, etc.

More details regarding Silverlight's starring role in streaming and powering NBC's Olympic 2008 coverage emerge. NBC, at the end of the article, is working with Schematic to make the graphic user interfaces user-friendly. There's also that "fingerprinting" content issue it is working closely with the IOC to protect NBC's TV rights and broadcast streams (and to warn the likes of YouTube and pirates).

http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-198816.html

Thank you durban, Indonesian are very strange, we can watch EURO 2008 for free, we can watch European Championship League, we can watch top 4 from european soccer league for free, but for Olympic where indonesia tak a part, we must pay for watch it..

[baron-pierreIV]

OK, so by August 7, I'll know which broadcasters will be working which countries. So, what's that going to do for me? I can't get their channels; I don't speak Urdu, Swahili, Euskera or Pashto. I only have 1 TV set; 1 VCR-DVD recorder. So I don't get where all you guys are coming from -- wanting to know who broadcasts where????

R u not going to watch a certain telecast because it's NOT the network you want? Or are all of you working the Int'l Broadcast Centre?

[NY20??]

Baron, we all have are own Olympic fetishes. Whether it is the be bidding, the pageantry of the Ceremonies, the sports, the stadia, the graphics, the media coverage, and everything in between... I can totally understand where they are coming from.

[mattperiolat]

This news has nothing to do with the Olympics, but it does have to do with one of the NBC Universal channels, USA, which is getting out of the sports business after this year. ESPN and The Tennis Channel have made a deal for rights to cable coverage of the US Open tennis tournament, thereby giving ESPN coverage of all four Grand Slam tournaments. The Tennis Channel shares the rights with ESPN for the Australian Open, the French Open, and now the US Open. As for USA, what this means since they say they are getting out of the sports business is that Beijing might be the last Olympics on their network. It's certainly something to think about heading toward 2010, where there is generally less coverage than the Summer Olympics, but an interesting thing to ponder.

I'm honestly surprised as the US Open in tennis has been a USA fixture for as long as I can remember. With USA getting out, sounds like an opportunity for Bravo to fill the void for 2012. I'm pretty sure NBC, MNBC and CNBC will be enough for Vancouver, so more likely something will come up for London.

[Durban Sandshark]

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union just completed their 42nd annual meeting in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia this past week featuring an announcement that ABU will produce over 3500 hours of live and pre-recorded Olympic TV footage during the 17 days of the Beijing Summer Olympics (19 if you count the two days of preliminary soccer prior to the Opening Ceremony) with assistance from Europeans, who were also in attendance at the meetings. 26 nations and territories will get involved in this, the most comprehensive Olympic TV project in the ABU's history.

I was just going over the TVNZ's Olympic message boards where "SarahP" mentions TVNZ's website will broadcast some events along with TVNZ One and TVNZ Sport Extra.

Continuing with the Asian Olympic broadcasting and what Tanaka_Ray speaks about Indonesia's Olympic TV plans, I will propose that government-run national TV network TVRI would take up the domestic, free-to-air TV rights for Indonesia; after all, if Indonesia's neighbors Malaysia's RTM and The Philippines' RTP can broadcast their Olympic portions featuring their own athletes and leave the more comprehensive coverage to the satelitte channels, then TVRI, if not RCTV, SCTV, or TPI, can do likewise with theirs. We'll find out more.

Because of the need to reach an agreement with NBC over the current US broadcast rights of the Olympics like footage and bringing sponsors aboard for ad revenue, that new 24-hour Olympic TV network the USOC is planning to hit the airwaves will not make it in time for the Beijing Olympics in August. I think it's just as well. We get worked up about what we're discussing on Olympic media news developments that the USOC TV could get lost in the shuffle. Better to come in after the flame is doused.

Sport Business: USOC's Olympic TV Channel Won't Debut In Time For Beijing

I too think it's interesting that USA is taking themselves out of the sports business after Beijing for the forseeable future. It's a bit of a surprise when looking at being under the NBC Universal family umbrella for several years now. I can remember, as small as I was back then, when USA would broadcast the NBA, the NHL, and the odd track and field event, later with the WLAF. Apparently with all of the more lucrative pro and college sports events currently locked up at ESPN, Fox Sports Net, CBS College Sports, and Versus, USA probrably felt there wasn't much left for it to claim the rights to.

[Sir Rols]

I'm sure this will be of interest to our US members:

By Brian Gomez

The Gazette

(MCT)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A 24-hour TV channel run by the U.S. Olympic Committee won't debut before the Beijing Games in August.

``It's not on until I can tell you what channel it's on,'' said Norman Bellingham, chief operating officer of the Colorado Springs-based USOC. ``The likelihood it would be launched before Beijing, it would be extraordinarily difficult for that to happen.''

Plans call for the U.S. Olympic Network to feature news updates, archival footage and live coverage of events such as national championships, world championships and Olympic trials.

The cable channel will be similar to NBA TV and the NFL Network. It probably will be part of a sports package for subscribers of Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network or Time Warner Cable.

Aiding the USOC is Steve Greenberg, managing director of New York investment bank Allen & Co. Greenberg co-founded ESPN Classic and served as chairman of CSTV. His father is the late Hank Greenberg, a Hall of Famer who played 13 seasons with the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates.

For the U.S. Olympic Network to become a reality, the USOC must reach an agreement with NBC, which holds broadcast rights through the 2012 London Games. It also needs support from its corporate sponsors, who would be the channel's primary advertisers.

Bellingham said the USOC has struck broadcast partnerships with ``north of two-thirds'' of the 39 national governing bodies of Olympic sports, including many low-profile NGBs whose athletes aren't regularly on TV.

``I anticipate there will be more to come,'' he said. ``The amount of rights we have, the amount of contracts we have, are more than sufficient to get things up and going. They will help us address the un-met needs of Olympic fans that only get to see these sports every four years and have to catch up on the new stars.''

[Durban Sandshark]

I just mentioned about that, but thanks for the additional info.

[mattperiolat]

I'm sure this will be of interest to our US members:

Interesting indeed. Especially with DirecTV in the mix, does that mean exclusive for them, leaving Dish Network customers out in the cold?

Probably too soon to guess. My money is on US Olympic TV not hitting the air until after the current NBC contract concludes, meaning probably not until Sochi in '16.