As Comcast, which previously owned VERSUS and now owns NBC, continues to properly align its assets and interests, a strong NBC presence will be coming to VERSUS. Soon. As in next week.
Debuting on Thursday, September 8, before the Saints-Packers season opener on NBC will be NBC SportsTalk. The weeknight show, which fills the one-hour window between 6:00 p.m. ET and 7:00 p.m. ET and will be hosted by former Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic anchor Russ Thaler, will focus on a variety of topics.
“NBC SportsTalk is the type of nightly, relevant programming that viewers can expect to see as we continue the re-branding process from VERSUS to the NBC Sports Network,” said Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports and VERSUS, which will become NBC Sports Network on January 2. “The live nightly shows also give us the opportunity to tap into our stable of top talent across all of our platforms to provide a unique perspective for sports fans.”
Mondays and Fridays will be devoted to football. On Mondays during the NFL season, I’ll be in the VERSUS studio with Russ for the full hour. (The show shrinks to 30 minutes once the hockey season begins in October.) On Fridays, Peter King and I will join Russ, along with a fantasy segment from Rosenthal, who’ll have to head back to the boys section at Kmart to purchase another sport coat or two.
Rosenthal or I will be popping up on other occasions throughout the week. On Fridays, Peter, Russ, and I will hand the baton to CNBC Sports Biz: Game On, which will be hosted by Darren Rovell at 7:00 p.m. ET.
I’ll be heading up to Stamford next week for the Thursday and Friday night shows, and then capping Week One with the first Monday night show.
Through it all, we’ll keep doing PFT Live.
Yeah, we always find a way to work in a pitch for PFT Live.
