Universal Sports Network Relocating to Denver-Based Comcast Media Center

Universal Sports Network announced that it will relocate the network’s production and broadcast operations from Southern California to Denver, CO, in the new year. The Los Angeles-based company has selected Comcast Media Center (CMC) as its local partner in Colorado to provide studio production facilities, linear master control origination and distribution services.  Universal Sports, the premier multi-platform media destination for Olympic and endurance sports programming, will be fully operational at the CMC on January 1, 2013.

The move to Denver, which will create 44 new jobs, will allow Universal Sports to tap into the expertise CMC has acquired through the technical innovations it has developed and implemented for other national and regional sports networks, including NHL Network, iN DEMAND, and PAC-12 Networks. CMC specializes in live sports origination, managing more than 20,000 HD, SD, and 3D live and recorded events a year.

In addition, Universal Sports has been awarded a grant by the State of Colorado’s Economic Development Commission as part of the Colorado Film Incentive program, which is designed to attract content creation and packaging in the state. Once established in Denver, Universal Sports will enjoy enhanced access to the snow sports industry, whose elite competitions feature prominently in the network’s programming schedule, and the many Colorado-based national governing bodies for Olympic sports with which the channel has programming and marketing partnerships.

“Moving our production and broadcast operations to Colorado will create exciting new opportunities for our network,” said David Sternberg, CEO of Universal Sports. “CMC’s advanced technological capabilities, combined with the incentive program offered by the State of Colorado, helped to make our relocation decision an easy one. The proximity of CMC’s facility to many of our distribution partners, advertisers and Olympic sports programming suppliers makes it an ideal location for our production and operations team, and will enable us to continue delivering world-class sports programming to our viewers across the country.”

“We are excited to welcome Universal Sports Network to Colorado,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper. “USN makes a diverse array of sports programming accessible to people across the country. Colorado is home to the United States Olympic Training Center, world-class athletes and venues for all types of sports. We are certain that USN will have plenty of success here.”

“Universal Sports Network is a fantastic addition to the Colorado business community and we’re proud to have been selected to provide many of the video production and network origination services they will require,” said Richard Buchanan, Vice President & General Manger, Content Solutions, for Comcast Media Center.  “We were also very pleased to play a role in Universal Sports’ decision to move its operations to Colorado by offering a highly robust set of video content solutions, demonstrating our market can compete with other service providers based on the coasts and elsewhere in the U.S.”