NBC Sports Group boss Mark Lazarus is failing to score with his ambitious plan to overhaul NBC Sports Network.
In the first three months of the year, ratings plunged 22 percent — the biggest drop in eight years — after Lazarus announced the cable channel was jettisoning the Versus moniker and changing its name to NBC Sports Network.
According to Nielsen, NBCSN averaged 64,000 total daily viewers in the three months ended March 25, down from 82,000 viewers in the same period a year ago.
That means it would be the least-watched since the second quarter of 2004, when OLN averaged just 51,000 viewers.
In fact, Versus put up better ratings in 2004, when it was still known as the Outdoor Life Network and focused on hunting and fishing shows. Under Comcast’s ownership, the network morphed into Versus in 2006. The latest rebrand on Jan. 2, which follows Comcast’s takeover of NBCUniversal, gave it the NBC name along with the Peacock logo.
The overhaul was more than just a name and new logo, however. The goal was to catapult the network, which has been anchored by National Hockey League games, into a different league by pursuing more traditional sports programming, ranging from college football to car racing.
NBCSN has replaced 40 percent of its programming and — despite the ratings fall-off — boasts “higher quality” sports content as well as exclusive NHL coverage, a source close to the network said.
The network should benefit from the NHL playoffs in the second quarter, as well as from the Olympic Games in the summer, the source said, adding that revenue is also up. An NBCSN spokesman declined to comment.
In the meantime, the network is struggling to convert viewers who tuned in to the hunting and fishing shows that aired on Versus.
An even bigger issue appears to be the loss of Mixed Martial Arts, which was acquired by News Corp.’s Fox. (News Corp. also owns The Post.)
NBC Sports Network is the focus of much attention at Comcast’s NBCUniversal as CEO Steve Burke is making sports programming a pillar of his overhaul of the entire media outfit.
The company won the rights to the Olympic Games through 2020, after paying some $4.4 billion, and also added Major League Soccer, mostly to boost NBCSN. It is also building a new studio in Stamford, Conn., where all the NBC Sports staff will eventually be located.
Even a slick marketing campaign and cross promotion across NBCU’s sister networks has done little to lift the sports channel.
“It is very disappointing, but I wouldn’t overreact,” said Frank Vuono, partner at 16 W Marketing. “The NBC Sports audience has to find this channel and know it’s around. It’s a different viewer.”
Other ratings experts suggest NBCSN’s ratings woes were compounded by the NBA lockout in the fall, which created pent-up interest in the first quarter for basketball games on rival networks.