One piece caught up in the recent merger between NBC Universal and Comcast is Versus, the little sports network that couldn’t.
Versus Continuing Their Best ESPN Impression
↵Speculation has been rampant about how Comcast plans to use the resources of NBC Sports to turn Versus and Comcast’s regional sports channels into a broadcasting power house that could rival ESPN, the little sports network that could. On Monday, we learned step one of that plan.
↵↵Versus will launch a daily news and entertainment show in the second quarter that company executives call a cross between a morning news show and a late-night talk show.
↵The hourlong show will occupy the 6-7 p.m. ET time slot Monday through Friday, which now consists of programming ranging from original series to sports events. Versus has not settled on a name or hosts for the show, which will be shot in New York.
↵“The same way a good morning show gets you ready for the day, we want this show to get viewers ready for the sporting night ahead,” said Versus President Jamie Davis.
↵The planned show will feature guests, call-in segments and digital applications, like online chats.
↵↵Morning show meets late night? Mike and Mike meets SportsNation? Or maybe this is where Conan O’Brien ends up. Oh, right: the NBC connection. Well, we’ll always have Al Roker and Jay Leno ... or something.
↵Also funny, and of note: Versus PR calls re-runs of Whacked Out Sports an ‘original series.’
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