NBC’s sports broadcast model has undergone significant change over the last several months, and more could be coming soon as the network aims to modernize its offerings.
NBCUniversal will soon unveil a direct-to-consumer option for its regional sports networks, the company said Monday in announcing Valari Dobson Staab as the first chairperson of NBC Local, a new division encompassing the regional sports networks, as well as NBC and Telemundo owned-and-operated stations.
The tidbit was first noticed by The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin. Attempts to reach an NBC Sports regional spokesperson were not returned Monday afternoon.
The Warriors, Sharks, A’s, Giants, Earthquakes and Sacramento Kings all play on NBC regional networks in Northern California — NBC Sports Bay Area or NBC Sports California. Many other NBA, NHL and MLB teams also air their games on the regional NBC channels.
There’s no indication that Bay Area fans would be blacked out from games like Dodgers fans in Los Angeles were for years, or like Nuggets and Avalanche fans in Denver are now. It seems unlikely the regional sports networks would be taken off TV providers in the Bay Area — and especially not from Comcast, which is NBCUniversal’s parent company. But just last year, the RSNs were abruptly removed from Sling streaming just before the MLB season began due to a dispute between NBCU and Sling.
NBC Sports Bay Area is available on most other streaming platforms, including Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV.
Earlier this month, NBCU added 24/7 news streams from several local NBC stations to Peacock, but KNTV (NBC Bay Area) is not among them. Though details are scant on the plan with RSNs, Peacock seems like a logical location for these regional sports networks, too, as NBCU attempts to grow its streaming subscriber base.
The company also killed its national cable sports channel, NBC Sports Network, at the turn of the year in favor of airing national sports coverage on broadcast NBC, USA Network and CNBC.
The announcement included no timetable for the direct-to-consumer unveiling, so stay tuned.
