NBC Shuttering Olympic-Focused Channel

(ATR) NBCUniversal will announce plans regarding the company's acquisition of Universal Sport’s media rights in November, an NBCU spokesperson tells Around the Rings.

On Thursday, NBC executives told employees of Universal Sports the channel would be shutting down operations. NBC held an eight-percent stake in Universal Sports before the announcement.

A spokesperson for NBC declined to provide more information about what lead to the closing of Universal Sports, but said that NBC will work out a deal to get the channel's media rights.

"We are thrilled to be finalizing an agreement with Universal Sports that will provide NBCUniversal and NBC Sports with an impressive collection of media rights to some of the world’s most prestigious sporting events.

"We will have more information regarding our plans when the transaction closes in November."

Universal Sports will shut down on Nov. 16, according to media reports,

The Universal Sports television channel has covered Olympic sports including athletics, swimming, cycling and wrestling for the past nine years.

The channel most recently had exclusive broadcasting rights in the United States for the athletics and road cycling world championships.

NBCU will take over the rights to events such as these, broadcasting Olympic sports outside of the two weeks of Olympic Games. NBCU also has the exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympics in the U.S. through 2032, a deal worth and estimated $7.65 billion dollars.

Written by KevinNutley

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