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NBC is planning to shut down its NBCSN channel by the end of 2021, according to Sports Business Daily. The NBC Sports Network has been home to the NHL, NASCAR, and Premier League for many years in the United States, but now those broadcasts will move elsewhere.
NBC has told distributors and some sports leagues that it plans to shut down its NBCSN sports channel by the end of the year. Story coming in SBD
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) January 22, 2021
According to the report, the move to get rid of NBCSN is a strategic push to grow other channels in the NBC family, but more specifically its new streaming service, Peacock, which has already become home to many Premier League games this season. The NHL, NASCAR, and Premier League will reportedly move to USA Network as well, so now you can expect to catch the tail-end of some random network television show before the big game instead of auto shows that seem to constantly run on NBCSN.
Having said that, it’s safe to expect to see more and more live sports move over to Peacock as the year goes by. As ESPN moved many live sports to ESPN+ not too long ago, another streaming subscription service, it’s no real surprise to see NBC adopt a similar model and attempt to get its own streaming service going. Peacock already has ‘The Office’, so it’s got that going for it.
NBC and NBCSN have carried the NHL for 15 years, but its deal with NBC ends after this season. The league has not been shy about wanting to split rights between at least two TV outlets, so now the pressure really seems to be on to find some sort of deal between the league and the network(s). Golf Channel and the Olympic Channel, two channels that fall under the NBC umbrella as well, will reportedly not be affected.