Universal Sports channel gone....

[mpsarge]

yea they added it to a package for 13 a month extra, So you will pay for alot of stuff you dont want to watch

[rsd1]

What happened to Universal Sports and World Cup Ski Racing?

[commanguy]

Universal Sports decieded to become a cable only channel requireing fees to be paid to carry it by all cable companies.

Comcast is in contract negotiations with them for the carriage rights and fees for carriage.

[rsd1]

Do any other Comcast channels carry the World Cup Ski Season currently underway in Europe?

[rog286713]

not that I know of.  You can pay universal sports and watch it on your computer if you like.

http://www.universalsports.com/alpine-skiing/viewers-guide/index.html?__source=GADW&cid=skiing&gclid...

[4CrawlR]

So after not gettting any real answer (see my earlier post) to the status of Universal Sports, I re-sent my question in streamlined form (quoted below, my account info omitted) and now I have been getting multiple "message read"  notifications every day since I sent the e-mail.  Seems like this question is a real hot potato, it keeps getting passed from person to person with nobody wanting to reply.  So much for "exceptional customer service"

"So not having received any answer, I guess I will restate my question into 2 easy to answer ones.

1. Will Universal Sports be available on Comcast cable TV again?  Yes or no.

2. If yes, when?  Days, weeks, months, years???

I would think that a company that advertises they have "exceptional customer service" would be able to answer these simple questions.  All I have seen in my earlier inquiries on this matter are dozens of "message Read" notifications, but no replies aside from one generic reply with no substance"

[commanguy]

4CrawlR

Those "message read" responses to your posting could be a setting that notifies you every time someone reads this thread.

 Go to the top of the page where you will see your username. Go to My Settings, click on that, go to the Subscriptions and Bookmark tags and make sure notificiations are turned off

Also if you look in upper right side of pages here you will notice a Subscriptions and check box. Make sure that is not checked.

If you posted in the forums it was not an email you sent.

[4CrawlR]

---

commanguy wrote:

4CrawlR

Those "message read" responses to your posting could be a setting that notifies you every time someone reads this thread.

 Go to the top of the page where you will see your username. Go to My Settings, click on that, go to the Subscriptions and Bookmark tags and make sure notificiations are turned off

Also if you look in upper right side of pages here you will notice a Subscriptions and check box. Make sure that is not checked.

If you posted in the forums it was not an email you sent.

---

No, I set the "Delivery Status Notification" in my e-mail client on the e-mail I sent to Comcast and these are notifications from that settting, they say, for example:

"Your message was read on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 5:17:15 PM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)"

I also get notifications when this thread is updated and they are different.

And it has now been about a week and not a peep out of the Comcast folks.  My take is if they can't answer a simple yes/no question about whether Universal Sports will come back or not, the answer must be no.  They must figure if they tell customers no more US, they'll leave, but if they leave them in limbo, maybe the customers will linger on hoping it'll be back.  Seems like a poor way to treat valued customers, I have been with Comcast cable for almost 20 year, looks like I'll be going to DIrectTV, more channels I am interested in and costs less to boot.

[SMB70]

I was just watching Universal Sports channel this past fall for the Rugby World Cup.  Now I don't get the channel anymore?  Whats up with that?  It makes no sense - I thought Comcast bought 51% of NBC Universal.  When I went to the Universal Sports page to check my channel listing, it said that Universal Sports is not available through Comcast (even though they own 51% of it)????

[commanguy]

Comcast may own 51% of NBCUniversal but they exercise very little control of the actual channels. Part of the deal they needed to sign to make sure that all NBCUniversal channels would be available fairly to all competitors.

Effectively NBCUniversal is a subsidary company with its own set of directors and Comcast can't say that they get Universal Sports free and all other cable companies don't. Universal Sports wanted to be a fee based carriage channel on cable so every cable company needs to negotiate for the fees/rights.

[SMB70]

I guess I just think it's ridiculous that Comcast cannot figure out a way to negotiate a fair fee based contract with one of its own subsidiaries.  It only magnifies Comcast's poor management!  Obviously from all these posts, US is a popular channel.

[chevyrob]

Please bring back Universal Sports Network. Especially with the Olympics coming.

[chevyrob]

We lost Universal Sports in the 19605 area too! Bad time with the Olympics coming.

[chevyrob]

Where did Universal Sports go? Going to miss a lot of the Olympics and international soccer games. Please bring it back.

[rog286713]

see below

http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Channels-and-Programming/Universal-Sports/m-p/999643#M11861

[chevyrob]

Does anyone cover the US women's soccer games?

[czalga]

Why am I not receiving Universal Sports on my channel line up?  It has been gone since the end of December 2011.  When will this channel be back on your line up?  If it doesn't happen soon I will be forced to cancel your service and go with Direct TV as they are offering this channel.  Do you want to keep my as a customer?   I live in Homer Glen, Illinois.

[andyross]

I put alot of blame on Universal Sports themselves for making this change before getting any agreements set up. 3 months is not enough time.

[commanguy]

Sounds like a bargining ploy on their part. Pull the station, get the customers riled up and put the pressure on cable companies to make a fast deal that may benefit them.

And then another rate increase depending on where the channel goes.

[Baldy_Chutes]

The timing is almost surreal. My wife and I love many of the sports covered by Universal Sports, but especially World Cup skiing. So with Wengen this weekend and Kitzbuhel next weekend, we find out that Universal Sports is gone from the Comcast lineup. We'll be gone soon, too -- back to Directv, where we spent the last four years waiting for Universal Sports to appear on the channel lineup. And Directv really does have great customer service -- by far the best customer service of any large company I have dealt with in the last two decades.

[4CrawlR]

Here is what I got from the on-line chat:

 "Rene: There is no definite date if Universal Sports will be back to Comcast.

Roger: That is the same corporate boiler plate reply I have received many times. Simple question is WHEN. I'll be calling DIrectTV first of the week, since they carry that channel and can offer me better service for less money.

Rene: My apologies, Roger. We don't have any information from both parties if there will be a chance that Universal Sports be back on air."

Sounds pretty wishy-washy to me, seems like Comcast has not even decided if they want to carry Universal.  Funny thing is that I can find no mention of either dropping Universal Sports on the 1st nor any information on comcast.com or comcast.net regarding any plans or no plans for the future status of Universal.  Why is this such a secret?  It would have been nice if Comcast at least advised they customers of the change in service, if I had not heard the commercials by Universal Sports about the upcoming change, I would have not known anything about what was going on.  I guess that is "exceptional customer service"!

And if you have a friend that gets Direct TV, put their account number on your sign up form to take advantage of the Refer a Friend offer they have going on now, saves $100. If anyone needs a "friend referral", drop me a PM and I'll send you an account number to use.

I did switch over to DirecTV in early January and it has been working great.  Much better channel line up and Universal Sports again.  Also comes with a fantastic whole home media center (DVR) with 1TB storage.

[BPreston]

So many of you who are angry that Comcast "dropped" Universal Sports (they didn't, by the way; in most cases your local NBC affiliate did) don't realize that you could have gotten it free over-the-air via an antenna all this time... up until a few weeks ago, that is. Now you can get whatever replaced it in your area (AntennaTV, MeTV, The Cool TV; etc.) free over-the-air.

Not a lot of people understand how digital television works.

As has been stated several times in this thread, Universal Sports was a digital sub-channel carried mostly by NBC affiliates. So, for example, if your NBC station identifies itself as channel 4, it's DTV virtual channel number via an antenna (without cable) is 4.1, and Universal Sports would have been, say, 4.2 or 4.3.

Last year, it was decided that Universal Sports would become a cable network instead of a free, over-the-air sub-channel. So in most cases, what you're seeing on Comcast's former Universal Sports channel number is what your local station replaced it with, and not a replacement furnished by Comcast.

Since Universal HD falls under Comcast's corporate umbrella, you can bet its new cable incarnation will be coming to Comcast systems soon. I wouldn't be surprised if it's part of the sports or "Preferred" package, but at least it will be finally available in HD.

[reggie-fan]

Please add Universal Sports and ESPN U to the Sports Package.  Currently there is no longer any way to get Universal on Comcast.  Currently, I would have to upgrade from Digital Starter to get ESPN U.  But I am already a subscriber to the Sports Package so it should also be available that way.  I refuse to upgrade from Starter as there are way too many channels that are offensive to me and my family at the next tier.  Or please consider a la carte option so we can order an individual channel such as Universal or ESPN U to our Starter package.  I am a huge fan of US Women's Soccer (our national team) and Collegiate women's soccer.  ESPN U broadcasted the College Cup this October and Universal is broadcasting the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (CONCACAF) this weekend.  Neither could be watched by me in my home even though I am paying a huge bill to Comcast every month. 

Thanks for listening.

[umbasel]

I am equally disappointed with Comcast. The sport package just went up by $2.00 and in return Comcast dropped Universal, which is my second favorite sports channel (skiing, cycling) right after the tennis channel. What does it take, Comcast, to reinstate Universal? Who wants to see Sandford and Sun, a show I liked at the time, but it is passé?

[glkochanek]

Please put Universal Sports back on -- I'll trade 100 useless stations you force on me for 1 Universal Sports!

[carabele]

Please bring back Universal Sports!  It was really the one sure means of getting Figure Skating competitions.

[eewdad2]

Someone here did mention that the timing for Universal to "disappear" is funny.  I agree. The Olympics, the Tour of Qater in February for cycling, and so much more.  Very funny timing.

Also, as much as I love Universal Sports, I will not pay extra for it.  I have too many stations that I never watch that I already pay for.  Between foreign lanquage channels, shopping networks and sillys stations that play infomercials all the time, I am about ready to drop Comcast.  I am researching getting a dish.  The price increases that have occured over the past three years and the loss or repackaging of some very good stations is costing me too much.  The value is gone, if it was there at all. 

Comcast has become too large and they do not care about their customers.  This may be the one time I wish the government would step in and start controlling them.

[FIELDWORK]

COMCAST STILL LISTS CHANNEL 207 (MARYLAND US CHANNEL) IN THEIR LINEUP FOR PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS.  NO NOTIFICATION TO CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS OF REDUCTION IN SERVICE, BUT NOTIFICATION OF INCREASE IN RATES YESTERDAY.  SO GLAD WE HAVE OTHER OPTIONS IN MARYLAND

[benchmaster]

Please let me know if comcast carries Universal Sports.

[mjb2010]

Comcast told me today that the negotiations for Universal Sports is ongoing. They said they would not know until mid March whether it would be back or not.

[Maiamaj]

I miss Universal Sports so much - especially now with the skating season in full swing.  They covered so many more winter sports as well as gymnastics, swimming, water polo, etc.  Not looking forward to the Olympics without it.

[Cyclingj]

Where is Universal Sports, it use to be on channel 115?  If it has changed, how can I request it back for the upcoming cycling spring classics?

Thanks

[andyross]

Check other threads. Basically, Universal Sports was a broadcast network. They decided to drop that and go cable only. To do that, they now have to make deals with each company. They haven't made a deal with Comcast yet.

[SFWoods]

What happened to Universal Sports? The channel is gone,without any notification or explanation. One of the reasons I got the sport package was for this station. One of the only stations which shows European Pro Bike races.

[RSCLLR]

I called Comcast and got various answers depending on who I spoke to:

1. Comcast is in negotiations and hopefully Universal sports will come back soon, the operator's husband misses it very much.

2. USN is available in a special sports package but I could not find this at the comcast site.

3. Negotiations are at least 12 months away from knowing what will happen.

I personally mailed a letter to Rick Germao, Senior Vice President, asking about the status. I await a response. I NEED Universal Sports Network (USN) for cycling events, rugby, etc. and if it doesn't come back soon will probably have to switch to anoter carrier.

In my region, Oakland, CA, USN was on CH 187 which was suddenly pulled in early January '12 and Ch 187 is no longer available. As NBC owns both Comcast and USN, this should be a "No-brainer" to have USN back on cable comcast.

[KokomoOgre]

I would be surprised if Universal Sports is not made available before the Olympics start.  I am sure Comcast and several other providers are trying to meet that deadline as long as contract terms are acceptable.

[RSCLLR]

NBS Sports Network and NBC Universal Sports appear to be one and the same. February 2011 Comcast took a majority owenership of NBC Universal (according to wikipedia). I simply do not understand why Comcast cannot just "turn the switch" and allow Comcast subscribers access to NBC Sports.

I am concerned that this is a ploy by Comcast to make Universal Sports part of its Premium Sports package and have it bundled with other channels at significant additional cost. I believe for many of us simply having NBC Universal Sports return to the Cable lineup is all that is needed. In my area, SF/Bay Area, that would be Ch 187.

RS

[KokomoOgre]

They are not one in the same at all.  NBC Sports Network is NBC Universal's answer to ESPN and Universal Sports is more of an Olympic sport channel and covers less mainstream sports along with some big events.

[RSCLLR]

Thank you for the clarification. The Universal Sports Network discontinued in Jan. had rugby, cycling, skiing, etc.

[andyross]

NBC Sports is the new name for Versus, which was Outdoor Life Network (OLN) before that. It was a majority-owned Comcast channel before the NBC Universal takeover.

NBC Universal only has a minority stake in Universal Sports, which was formerly known as World Championship Sports Network.

[gailmarkett]

The World Ice Skating Championships is coming up. With Universal Sports we could see live action as it was happening. Where are you showing the 2012 World Ice Skating beside,  The Canadian Station? Why was Universal Sports dropped? One of my favorite sports station. I am a long time Comcast user. Very disappointed with Comcast.

[boulderjames]

I think it is time for all of us the support sports carried by Universal Sports to band together and put an end to the blackout. I cannot imagine that the sponser are happy with less viewers viewing their commercials. It seems it is time for all of us who enjoy cycling (road and mtn), road running, track and field, rugby, figure skating, gymnastics, skiing (alpine and xc), swimming etc to stand up. It would be one thing if US never existed and I didn't have to opportunity to enjoy the sports I love but to offer it and then take it away is a bit cruel. So far I have missed Lindsay Vonn record season, all of XC skiiing, spring cycling races, and now looks like I will miss this summers Diamond League leading up to the Olympics. Add to the fact that Comcast nor US seems to care one bit as they continue to give the same corporate party line; We are working on it. No your not, your are simply saying that; You need to go away and leave us alone as since we are a monopoly we do not have to concern ourselves with you. (I cannot get Direct TV as my condo faces north).So here we are in 2012 and still having to beg for content, amazing!

[nancysid]

We've been going on about this for months, and the bottom line is: Comcast could care less.

[RSCLLR]

Comcast evidently could care less about is customers and is only looking to extracting more money from us. They own Universal Sporst, just turn the switch. The current sports channel, NBC Sports has a bit of cycling, little rugby and is very inferior to the Universal sports, whether HD or not.

Rick

[KokomoOgre]

Comcast has part ownership, not full ownership, of Universal Sports.  And as redundant as it may sound, they are entirely seperate companies under the same corporate umbrella, so an agreement has to be made just like with any other provider.

[nancysid]

So in the interest of your customers, make an agreement.

[ComcastTeds]

I wanted to provide some background on Universal Sports Network.

Universal Sports Network is negotiating business terms for cable carriage with many video providers, including Comcast. Those negotiations are ongoing and can take some time.

As with any network contract, we want to come to an agreement that offers the best terms for our customers and our company that keeps both our costs and our customer's monthly costs to a minimum.

Comcast did not "cancel" or "remove" the Universal Sports Network. I realize that this is a matter of semantics with some customers as you used to be able to see Universal Sports Network on Comcast and now you can't. The Universal Sports Network was previously provided at no cost over-the-air via the local NBC broadcast station in several areas.

The Universal Sports Network made a business decision that they wanted to get paid for their programming (and there is nothing wrong with that). They then removed their signal from the local NBC station which replaced it with other programming.

The short story is that this network decided that instead of being available for free over the air via some local NBC broadcast stations (and subsequently carried by Comcast as a part of that deal) that the network would like to be paid for their content. Again, nothing wrong with that.

NBCUniversal has a minority, non-controlling ownership in the Universal Sports Network

Some good info here as background:

 http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Channels-and-Programm​ing/Still-no-HD-Universal-Sports/m-p/894497#M9191

 and here:

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20120110_Uni​versal_Sports_Network_now_a_pay-TV_channel.html

Below is excerpted from the above linked Philadelphia Inquirer article (the bolded text is likely the telling answer why it is not yet available on Comcast):

"Universal Sports is owned by the media-investment fund InterMedia Partners L.P. and NBCUniversal, which is jointly owned by Comcast and General Electric Co. NBCUniversal recently rebranded the Versus sports channel as the NBC Sports Network to compete more directly with ESPN.

NBCUniversal says it has a minority, noncontrolling ownership in the Universal Sports Network."

Below from wikipedia

Availability

Until early 2012, Universal Sports is distributed by:

•over-the-air broadcast (OTA) on a digital subchannel on all NBC-owned and -operated stations along with many affiliated and independent stations (see below)

•digital cable systems (re-transmitted from the OTA affiliates)

•an online streaming video service

•satellite via DirecTV

On September 12, 2011, it was announced that Universal Sports would convert to being exclusively distributed to cable and satellite providers, and would no longer operate as an over-the-air digital multicast network beginning in early 2012, not long after NBC Universal was bought by Comcast and took over operations of Versus. On the month before the announcement happened, in August 2011, DirecTV became the first provider to carry Universal Sports as a basic network.

[nancysid]

OK, we understand they want to be paid - that's fine. Comcast is forever changing their lineups, moving various channels around. Why can't Comcast put Universal Sports in one of the premium, non-basic areas so that it is at least available to those who would help defray the costs of another channel that Comcast in fact owns?

[ComcastTeds]

---

nancysid wrote:

OK, we understand they want to be paid - that's fine. Comcast is forever changing their lineups, moving various channels around. Why can't Comcast put Universal Sports in one of the premium, non-basic areas so that it is at least available to those who would help defray the costs of another channel that Comcast in fact owns?

---

That certainly may be an option in the ongoing discussions.

Generally speaking, any cable network would most likely want as much wide distribution (eyeballs) as possible and get as much money per customer as possible. The more customers that can see it, the more money the cable network can receive in both subscriber fees and national advertising dollars..

Placement of a channel in any service level would still require a contract for carriage, which is still being negotiated.

[andyross]

I think I've mentioned it before, but they basically shot themselves in the foot. They only announced in September that they would go pay-only in January. Three months is nowhere near enough time to work out the agreements needed to add a 'new' channel these days. It's tough enough just replacing a channel.