Universal Sports Brings Skating, Cycling, Olympic and International Human-Powered and Gravity Sports to Free Over-the-Air TV

It looks like those multiple extra over-the-air 24-hour weather channels may get some other use on free over the air digital television...long track speed skating, short track speed skating, cycling, ice hockey, marathons, track and field, even curling.

I've been yapping about UniversalSports.com and noticing that commentary was added to some of their raw internet feeds later, so that was a sign that the Universal Sports television channel was starting to roll out. I got an email today from Universal Sports, addressed to WCSN@... so I know the transferred me over when NBC bought out WCSN. We're just internet slaves and "serfs." 

So the big announcement today was that folk in Raleigh can now catch the television broadcasts (usually same day, delayed after the raw feed...I assume the delay is for the commentators to add their voice-over, production to generate graphics, highlights, transitions and insert commercials, all that). 

In Raleigh, you might try digital over-the-air 17.2 or Time Warner 218 (I'll be up adjusting the antenna if I can get this channel!).

We need to support this, and we need to get Inline Speed Skating (indoor and outdoor, especially marathon and ultra-marathon) and Inline Hockey into those lists of sports. How do we do that?

I think cycling has a good chance as the participants grow into being more like the audience for golf in terms of age and affluence (and as the cost of their gear goes upward enough to make advertising and sponsorship worthwhile).We'll see.

This will get ruined I'm sure, like every other specialty channel, but for now, let's enjoy some sports we love and don't even know much about. How great to have a human-powered, gravity sports international competitions channel! Later on it will be reality show crap, game show crap, and nothing like the original concept, so I refuse to get too excited. Maybe they'll add indoor cow-powered sports like the "outdoor life" channed (now versus, as in man versus bull, man versus fish, man versus hills on a bike now and then). 

But maybe, just maybe, there's enough money in sports gear now to make this work? Probably not. So get it while it's good.

Regardless, the universalsports.com website is really great, and there is a ton of speed skating up there to watch, along with video from other sports competitions too. Check it out sometime. 

They just added the on-demand packages for Tour of the Basque Country (Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco) Stages 4 and 5. Here's the videos page, and we're talking hour and a half videos in some cases, plus shorter highlight packages, like speed skating record breaking or medal winning performances...

The Videos section of UniversalSports.com...
http://www.universalsports.com/club/std/ViewCategory.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=

Check markets covered here...and see below...
http://www.universalsports.tv/Universal_Sports_on_TV.html

See television events scheduled here (includes NBC and some not quite olympic sports, like poker; I edited out NBC from my list below)...here's a sampling of the tv schedule (not the same as the online schedule, which is usually a raw feed first, then sometimes a commented presentation later, after the tv broadcast).

http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&atclid=3690455&CFID=7310230&CFTOKEN=46245975&jsessionid=4e309c43deec4d386060

UNIVERSAL SPORTS
FRIDAY, APRIL 10
12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
TOUR BASQUE COUNTRY (same day)
Site: Basque, Spain
4 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
IIHF WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – QUALIFYING ROUND GAME 18 (same day)
Site: Hameenlinna, Finland
 
UNIVERSAL SPORTS
SATURDAY, APRIL 11
12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
TOUR BASQUE COUNTRY (same day)
Site: Basque, Spain
 
UNIVERSAL SPORTS
SUNDAY, APRIL 12
9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
IIHF WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – PLAY-OFF BRONZE MEDAL GAME  (same day)
Site: Hameenlinna, Finland
12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
IIHF WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – PLAY-OFF GOLD MEDAL GAME (live)
Site: Hameenlinna, Finland
7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
WCF WORLD MEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS – SEMI-FINAL/BRONZE MEDAL (same day)
Site: Moncton, Canada
11:30 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
WCF WORLD MEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS – GOLD MEDAL FINAL & MEDAL CEREMONY (same day)
Site: Moncton, Canada
 
UNIVERSAL SPORTS
THURSDAY, APRIL 16
10 p.m. – 12 a.m.
ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP SHOW JUMPING FINAL #1 (live)
Site: Las Vegas, Nevada
 
UNIVERSAL SPORTS
FRIDAY, APRIL 17
10 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.
ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP DRESSAGE FINAL #2 (live)
Site: Las Vegas, Nevada
 
UNIVERSAL SPORTS
SATURDAY, APRIL 18
10 p.m. – 1 a.m.
ROLEX FEI WORD CUP DRESSAGE FINAL (live)
Site: Las Vegas, Nevada
 
UNIVERSAL SPORTS
SUNDAY, APRIL 19
3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP SHOW JUMPING FINAL #3 (live)
Site: Las Vegas, Nevada
5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
ROLEX FEI WORLD CUP SHOW JUMPING FINAL #3/ROUND #2 (live)
Site: Las Vegas, Nevada
 
UNIVERSAL SPORTS
MONDAY, APRIL 20
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
BOSTON MARATHON (live)
Site: Boston, Massachusetts
 
UNIVERSAL SPORTS
SUNDAY, APRIL 26
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
LONDON MARATHON (same day)
Site: London, Great Britain
2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
ROLEX EQUESTRIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (live)
Site: Lexington, Kentucky

________________________________________________

UNIVERSAL SPORTS MARKETS AS OF APRIL 8, 2009

ALASKA
Anchorage
Over-the-air 5.3

CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles
Charter 305
Cox  805
Time Warner 226
Verizon FIOS 464
NBC over-the-air 4.4

Monterey
Comcase 187

San Diego
Cox 117
Time Warner 136
NBC over-the-air 39.3

San Francisco | Oakland | San Jose
Comcast 187
NBC over-the-air 11.3

COLORADO
Denver
Comcast 250
NBC over-the-air 9.3

CONNECTICUT
Greenwich | Stamford
Cablevision 119
Verizon Fios 464

Hartford | New Haven
Cablevision 249 and 261
Charter 756
Comcast 249
Cox 803
NBC over-the-air 30.3

DELAWARE
Wilmington
Comcast 249
NBC over-the-air 10.3

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Greater Washington Area
Comcast 207
Cox 807
RCN 29
Verizon FIOS 464
NBC over-the-air 4.3

FLORIDA
Miami
NBC over-the-air 6.3

IDAHO
Idaho Falls | Pocatello | Jackson
CableOne 466
NBC-over-the-air 7.2

ILLINOIS
Chicago
Comcast 251
RCN 51
WOW! 196
NBC over-the-air 5.3

INDIANA
Indianapolis
Comcast 248
NBC over-the-air 13.2

KANSAS
Wichita
Over-the-air 49.2

MARYLAND
Baltimore
Verizon FIOS 464

MICHIGAN
Marquette
Charter Communications 306
NBC over-the-air 35.2

MINNESOTA
Duluth | Superior
Charter 306
Over-the-air 21.3

MISSOURI
Columbia | Jefferson City
Mediacom 247
NBC over-the-air 8.2

NEBRASKA
Omaha
Cox 120
NBC over-the-air 6.2

NEVADA
Las Vegas
Cox Communications 127
NBC over-the-air 3.3

Reno | Lake Tahoe
Charter Comm. 228
ABC over-the-air 8.2

NEW YORK
Albany
Over-the-air 39.2

New York City
Time Warner 162
Comcast 249
Cablevision 110
RCN 190 / 29
Verizon Fios 464
NBC over-the-air 4.4

NEW JERSEY
Comcast 249
Cablevision 110
Verizon Fios 464
NBC over-the-air 4.4

NORTH CAROLINA
Raleigh
Time Warner 218
Over-the-air 17.2

OREGON
Portland
Over-the-air 33.2

PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
Comcast 249
Verizon FIOS 464
NBC over-the-air 10.3

SOUTH DAKOTA
Sioux Falls
Over-the-air 46.2
Midcontinent 606
Knology 132
Beresford Cablevision 46.11
Milford 102.4

TEXAS
Dallas | Fort Worth
Charter 104
Grande 131
Greenville Utilities 151
Time Warner 366
Verizon FIOS 465
NBC over-the-air 5.3

Houston
Over-the-air 39.2

WASHINGTON
Seattle | Tacoma
Comcast 115
Click! Network 171
Hood Canal Communications 52
Rainier Connect 115
Wave Broadband 82
NBC over-the-air 5.2
Fios 460

Spokane
Comcast 116
NBC over-the-air 6.3

Yakima | Tri-cities
Charter 286
NBC over-the-air 25.2 and 23.3

WISCONSIN
Rhinelander | Wausau
Comcast 250

UTAH
Salt Lake City
Comcast 113
NBC over-the-air 5.2