NBC TO SHUT DOWN ITS SPORTS BRAND BY THE END OF 2021

NBCUniversal announced its decision to shut down its NBC Sports network by the end of the year, informing its distributors and select sports leagues that it plans to shut down its NBCSN sports channel by the end of the year. "We're all aware of how quickly the media landscape is evolving, and our company is taking thoughtful steps to stay ahead of these trends wherever possible and, in many instances, help set them," stated the conglomerate's memo.

The move correlates with the current media trend of consolidating cable channels. NBC’s most recent affiliate deals with Charter and Dish Network do not include carriage for NBCSN beyond this year, while sports leagues that have deals with NBC were being told of the changes this week.

NBC's ultimate goal is to strengthen its Peacock streaming service as the changes can lead to Peacock housing many of the titles. It will also bolster USA Network as an option against channels like Warner’s TNT/TBS. The streaming service currently has soccer offerings. NBCU's Golf Channel and Olympic channel will continue to broadcast.

NHL games and NASCAR races will shift to the USA Network channel instead, and they plan to dual-broadcast some of those before the channel going dark. Smaller properties, like car shows, dog shows, and some motorsports, will have to find new linear TV outlets. The NHL requested to divide its rights between at least two TV outlets. NBC has told the NHL that it would carve out regular windows on its broadcast channel and USA Network, which is in 86.2 million homes, including Peacock. "It makes the remaining channels and brands stronger, from NBC to Peacock," Patrick Crakes, former Fox Sports Executive, Media Consultant, noted to CNN.  "Call it reverse segmentation."