NBC Sports & World Championship Sports Network form Universal Sports

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NBC Universal’s NBC Sports and World Championship Sports Network have joined forces to create Universal Sports.  It’ll combine NBCU’s programming, production and promotional power with WCSN’s leading online destination for Olympic sports plus its television network to create a multiplatform destination for Olympic sports programming.  Universal Sports will include both a television network and online platform UniversalSports.com.


As part of the transaction, NBCU will become a significant shareholder in WCSN and will jointly control WCSN with InterMedia Partners.  The WCSN management team, including Chairman and CEO Claude Ruibal and President Carlos Silva, will continue to manage the company. 

In the first step of this new partnership, on 6/19 gymnastics fans and Friday, June 20 diving fans can now see live early-round coverage of the Olympic Trials on Universal Sports.  Previously, these early-round competitions have not had a platform on which to be viewed.

WCSN will rebrand itself as Universal Sports prior to the 2008 Beijing Summer Games and will offer coverage of the U.S. Olympic Trials.  NBCU will use its Olympic coverage to drive Universal Sports’ online and TV reach.  In addition to serving Olympic fans, Universal Sports provides a year-round destination for the elite and everyday athletes who compete, hope to compete and admire those who compete.