"It's not on until I can tell you what channel it's on," said Norman Bellingham, chief operating officer of USOC. "The likelihood it would be launched before Beijing, it would be extraordinarily difficult for that to happen."
The cable channel, which is set to be similar to NBA TV and the NFL Network, plans to feature news updates, archival footage and live coverage of events such as national championships, world championships and Olympic trials.
For the US Olympic Network to become a reality, however, 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, which 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.”
The channel will probably be part of a sports package for subscribers of Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network or Time Warner Cable.
Printer-friendly version