Universal Sports Channel

[whh40818]

Why is the Universal Sports Chanel not an ATT uverse channel option - It is on Time Warner in NC. What gives?

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

Universal Sports is carried as a subchannel on some local NBC affiliates.  U-verse does not carry any subchannels.

You can make a channel request using the link below.

http://uversechannels.att.com/

[CostaMesaCAGuy]

Or be like me and invest in an outdoor roof antenna. 

[burbanite]

I have hounded ATT to add Universal Sports, particularly because they hold the US broadcast rights the Rugby World Cup that starts in three weeks. If you want to watch the USA in what is considered the third most watched sporting event in the world after the soccer world cup and the summer Olympics then you cannot do it on AT@T U-Verse.

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

Fortunately, U-verse is only available in the USA where the Ruby World Cup is not the third most watched sporting event.

By the way, I use an OTA antenna to pick up the local broadcast of Universal Sports on a subchannel of the local NBC affiliate.

[burbanite]

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texasguy37 wrote:

Fortunately, U-verse is only available in the USA where the Ruby World Cup is not the third most watched sporting event.

By the way, I use an OTA antenna to pick up the local broadcast of Universal Sports on a subchannel of the local NBC affiliate.

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You mean un - fortunately right? The world is bigger than the US and there is a tremendous following for the sport in this country. I have been working with the CEO of USARugby and the VP Marketing of Universal Sport to have this channel made available to more viewers, unfortunately it is too late for the World Cup and dependent on many other things.

Rugby will be an Olympic Sport again soon and a little known fact is that the USA are the current gold medal holders in the sport. It has grown exponentially over the last few years and if it continues at this rate it the US will be a viable contender on the world stage before too long.

Your suggestion about OTA is valid but not the best answer. I was an earlier adopter of HD back in the '90's and an antenna was the only option so I am familiar with the concept. Most people however, do not want to go to the extra effort, they want to turn on the television and select the appropriate channel.

I will continue to work on AT&T and keep up the dialogue with the Rugby Union and with Universal Sports.

[siouxmoux]

I would not be surprise knowing how Cheap NBC is. That they may one day in the future, merge Universal Sports with NBC Sports Network or with Universal HD

[kryptonite]

Universal HD is more of a non-sports channel. Merging it with NBC Sports Network, in order to get it on lower tiers would make more sense.

[burbanite]

NBC aquired Versus, their intention is to roll that and Universal Sports into one big sports channel to compete with ESPN. If I were AT&T U-Verse I would want to add the channel now while it was still cheap and do a long term deal. I would also do it now before it airs a major world sporting event.

[oufanindallas]

It may be the 3rd most watched sport in the world, but it's probably somewhere behind the world series of poker and the badmiton league in popularity on US TV.

[kryptonite]

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oufanindallas wrote:

It may be the 3rd most watched sport in the world, but it's probably somewhere behind the world series of poker and the badmiton league in popularity on US TV.

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Notice the decrease of televised poker recently? You can thank/blame the recent anti-gambling campaign for that.

[oufanindallas]

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kryptonite wrote:

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oufanindallas wrote:

It may be the 3rd most watched sport in the world, but it's probably somewhere behind the world series of poker and the badmiton league in popularity on US TV.

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Notice the decrease of televised poker recently? You can thank/blame the recent anti-gambling campaign for that.

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That and the fact that one of the major sponsor sites was shut down due to illegal activity.

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Expert]

As far as the poker, I think it's simpler than that. It's kind of passe now. People have simply gotten bored. It's the same guys, the same tournaments, the same game (Texas Hold 'Em), we've seen the money dumped out onto the table and the huge stacks of chips, and all that. Been going on for 8 years, and it's "been there, done that".

[sdmlove]

The Vuelta a Espana is on Universal Sports. For those of us who are interested in cycling, not having Universal Sports is a problem. I really don't want to switch back to DirecTv. I don't really understand the problem with du channels. Because Uverse doesn't carry them, I can't get all the broadcasting my local PBS station offers either.

[burbanite]

Whilst Rugby may be have relatively minor viewership numbers compared to poker that will change. It is soon to become an Olympic sport once again and with the population of the US it is only a matter of time before they become a force in the game.

I have seen it grow exponentially at the school level which will directly translate into club level and then to International representation by those very players. A shot at a real, (not baseball, basketball or football) world title is a goal that is attainable and couple that with the chance to retain the gold medal at the Olympics, who wouldn't want that opportunity, the US are the current Olympic gold holders in case you didn't know.

Rugby is on the rise and it needs to be seen and appreciated for what it is, a hooligans game played by gentlemen as opposed to soccer which is gentleman's game played by hooligans

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

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burbanite wrote:

I have seen it grow exponentially at the school level which will directly translate into club level and then to International representation by those very players. A shot at a real, (not baseball, basketball or football) world title is a goal that is attainable and couple that with the chance to retain the gold medal at the Olympics, who wouldn't want that opportunity, the US are the current Olympic gold holders in case you didn't know.

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Gold medalist from 1924 when Rugby was last an Olympic sport!  

[burbanite]

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texasguy37 wrote:

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burbanite wrote:

I have seen it grow exponentially at the school level which will directly translate into club level and then to International representation by those very players. A shot at a real, (not baseball, basketball or football) world title is a goal that is attainable and couple that with the chance to retain the gold medal at the Olympics, who wouldn't want that opportunity, the US are the current Olympic gold holders in case you didn't know.

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Gold medalist from 1924 when Rugby was last an Olympic sport!  

Google is your friend...maybe. Yes, there it is, the link to the fact that Rugby (the game that American football is derived from) has a storied history in this country. The US beat the established nations before and can do it again but it looks like AT&T has missed the boat this time around, I think they should have looked a little harder at where the future of the game in this country is heading.

I work in professional sport and I see television at work and I understand how the deals are done, I know that AT&T could do this if they so desired. Regardless, I came to this small forum because it is specific to AT&T to gauge whether or not people are successful in their efforts to effect change, I have also been involved with sport specific forums where the traffic is massive. On that side of things the desire is there, not so much on this side of the coin.

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[That Don Guy]

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burbanite wrote:

Whilst Rugby may be have relatively minor viewership numbers compared to poker that will change. It is soon to become an Olympic sport once again and with the population of the US it is only a matter of time before they become a force in the game.

I have seen it grow exponentially at the school level which will directly translate into club level and then to International representation by those very players. A shot at a real, (not baseball, basketball or football) world title is a goal that is attainable and couple that with the chance to retain the gold medal at the Olympics, who wouldn't want that opportunity, the US are the current Olympic gold holders in case you didn't know.

Rugby is on the rise and it needs to be seen and appreciated for what it is, a hooligans game played by gentlemen as opposed to soccer which is gentleman's game played by hooligans

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Two notes:

First, note that the World Cup is for 15-a-side, while the Olympic tournament is for seven-a-side.

Second, there is a "real" world championship in basketball - the USA won the most recent tournament.  In fact, there has been a world championship tournament since the 1950s; it got little notice before 1994 because, like the Olympics at the time, it was limited to amateurs, and NBA owners did not want their new players getting hurt in a "meaningless" tournament, so the best college seniors would not play, and USA titles were few and far-between.  (The only reason the 1986 tournament was even on TV was because it was at the same time as the first Goodwill Games, so both sides agreed that those Games would not have men's basketball and TBS aired the tournament as part of its Games coverage.)

(Did you see the "live" coverage of the first World Cup final in 1987?  I put "live" in quotes because whoever was airing it (SportsChannel?  Prime Ticket?) started airing it live, but when they cut away for a commercial, they picked up from the point where they broke away, so by the end of the match, they were 20 minutes behind - and they actually didn't air the end of the match as they wanted to air the trophy presentation live.)

[burbanite]

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That Don Guy wrote:

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burbanite wrote:

Whilst Rugby may be have relatively minor viewership numbers compared to poker that will change. It is soon to become an Olympic sport once again and with the population of the US it is only a matter of time before they become a force in the game.

I have seen it grow exponentially at the school level which will directly translate into club level and then to International representation by those very players. A shot at a real, (not baseball, basketball or football) world title is a goal that is attainable and couple that with the chance to retain the gold medal at the Olympics, who wouldn't want that opportunity, the US are the current Olympic gold holders in case you didn't know.

Rugby is on the rise and it needs to be seen and appreciated for what it is, a hooligans game played by gentlemen as opposed to soccer which is gentleman's game played by hooligans

---

Two notes:

First, note that the World Cup is for 15-a-side, while the Olympic tournament is for seven-a-side.

Second, there is a "real" world championship in basketball - the USA won the most recent tournament.  In fact, there has been a world championship tournament since the 1950s; it got little notice before 1994 because, like the Olympics at the time, it was limited to amateurs, and NBA owners did not want their new players getting hurt in a "meaningless" tournament, so the best college seniors would not play, and USA titles were few and far-between.  (The only reason the 1986 tournament was even on TV was because it was at the same time as the first Goodwill Games, so both sides agreed that those Games would not have men's basketball and TBS aired the tournament as part of its Games coverage.)

(Did you see the "live" coverage of the first World Cup final in 1987?  I put "live" in quotes because whoever was airing it (SportsChannel?  Prime Ticket?) started airing it live, but when they cut away for a commercial, they picked up from the point where they broke away, so by the end of the match, they were 20 minutes behind - and they actually didn't air the end of the match as they wanted to air the trophy presentation live.)

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I saw it live from England, I was living there at the time, no commercials just live television coverage. The fact that the US provider decided to add commercial breaks and not show the end is their dismal failure as a re-broadcaster.

And yes, I fully understand the 7's game and it's inclusion. That was done for many reasons, not the least being that it is extremely difficult for the top players to include the Olympics in their schedule, particularly if you play in the Southern Hemisphere where it is virtually year round these days. Seven-a-side teams are mostly independent of the representative 15's with entirely separate players, staff and schedules therefore it was easier to use that format in that respect. Another thing is television, the matches are very, very short and can be shown easily without blocking off a two hour window in an already crowded broadcast environment.

I continue to have dialogue with Universal Sports and USARugby management in order to help expand the amount of Rugby content available to US viewers. 

[annboyd55]

I am new at this - you can get sub channels just by putting a regular tv antenna on top of your roof? Where do you get those. Thanks

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

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annboyd55 wrote:

I am new at this - you can get sub channels just by putting a regular tv antenna on top of your roof? Where do you get those. Thanks

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Where do you get a TV antenna?

[annboyd55]

Good idea!

[burbanite]

Yes you can. You need to match your antenna to the stations you wish to receive, http://antennaweb.org/aw/Welcome.aspx is the place to go, just input your details and it will tell you what you need and how to set it up.

This place http://ww1.titantv.com/  provides you with a television guide based on where you are and will give you the programming details of al the channels you can receive.

You can buy antennas at Radio Shack, Lowes, Home Depot or a multitude of online stores. I use mine on a regular basis, it is easy and free after the cost of your antenna. Depending on which television set you have you may need a receiver capable of receiving OTA signals. Don't forget, this is how it was done for years, there is no magic.

[annboyd55]

Thanks for the info!

[deknutson]

Excellent idea.  Hope they do it.

I had Universal Sports on Comcast/X-Finity, and now miss it.  Much unique Endurance Sport related programming, not available elsewhere.

[deknutson]

Appreciate your efforts.  I have been requesting Universal Sports from AT&T ever since I switched from Comcast/X-Finity.  While I am not (yet) a Rugby Fan, I miss all the unique Endurance Sport related programming on Universal Sports.

[RemyM]

Just so you all know, Universal Sports will no longer be offered as an OTA sub channel at the end of this year. They will convert to a cable channel and start broadcasting in HD. All carriers will need to strike a deal with NBC Sports Group to carry it.

[burbanite]

Yes, it is all about to change so we will have to see if it is for the better or not. Universal Sports is going to be part of the same groupings that include the other "pay" sports channels and will differ depending on who your provider is and whether or not they can negotiate a favorable deal with NBC.

[markwmsn]

My wife has been watching skating programs recorded off a Comcast box we're still phasing out. There was a crawl stating that Universal Sports would be a DirectTV exclusive as of the first of the year.

[kryptonite]

Could it possibly be that DirecTV is the only one so far with an agreement?