TORONTO – Comcast Corp., owners of sports channel OLN, announced Monday that it is changing the name of the former Outdoor Life Network to Versus and looks to become a full fledged sports channel.
In Canada, CTV Specialty owns OLN and is bound by its license to stay away from the sports that its American counterpart carries, such as live hockey games. With its carriage of NHL hockey and other organized sports (Comcast owns the Philadelphia Flyers, too), OLN U.S. has moved completely away from the channel’s original incarnation, as an outdoor lifestyle channel.
In its Canadian license, OLN’s nature of service is as such: "OLN’s current nature of service requirement stipulates that the service’s ‘programs will deal exclusively with outdoor recreation, conservation, wilderness and adventure.’ The original licensing decision also describes OLN’s programming as consisting of eight key themes: 1) outdoor exploration and adventure; 2) marine recreation; 3) winter recreation; 4) conservation; 5) nature enthusiasts; 6) anglers; 7) outdoor cooking and 8) hunting."
An OLN spokesperson confirmed to cartt.ca on Monday that the Canadian channel "currently has no plans to change its name."
