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OLN (formerly known as the '''Outdoor Life Network''' until July 2005) is a Cable Television channel owned by Comcast . Starting in September 2006, it will change its name to Versus , promoting a more competitive edge in coverage. Its programming is an unusual mix of Extreme Sports , more sedate fare like Hunting , and, most notably, coverage of professional Cycling and Ice Hockey . OLN currently owns the American rights to show live coverage of the Tour De France —rights which are particularly valuable right now due to the popularity of Lance Armstrong , and also recently acquired the cable rights for National Hockey League games as NHL On OLN . OLN has also recently picked up U.S. rights to air the new A1 Grand Prix series. __NOTOC__ COVERAGE Extreme sports In July 2005, OLN revamped its image, focusing on more extreme outdoor sportingevents. As noted by an OLN press release, its programming is "designed to be real, bold and awe-inspiring and supports our mission to bring to life the thrills, challenges and competition in the outdoors that our audience craves." In conjunction with the revamp, OLN's Logo and website (in the USA) were completely redesigned as well. As part of the revamp, OLN acquired the rights from NBC Universal of the X Games -type Gravity Games as well as the rebroadcast rights to the CBS Reality Series '' Survivor '', and began airing the series from the beginning of Season One on July 24 , 2005. Cycling In 2004, OLN capitalized on this popularity during the Tour, showing virtually nothing but Tour-related coverage for over three weeks, including their live coverage, hosted by Phil Liggett , Paul Sherwen , Al Trautwig , and Bob Roll , as well as reality programming such as '' The Lance Chronicles '', a show focusing on Armstrong's training for the Tour, and '' The Roadside Tour '', following the Cutters, a particularly devoted group of Armstrong fans. This coverage was grouped under the title "The Cyclysm," which was meant to refer to Armstrong's effort to win a record sixth Tour de France. OLN marketed this with the line, "Someday, someone may ask you, 'Where were you during the Cyclysm?'" A year later, ''Le Tour'' on the network was promoted as "Cyclysm II" as Armstrong went for his seventh consecutive — and final — '' Maillot Jaune '', which he won. Although OLN covers several important cycling events outside the Tour de France, the coverage is generally poorly received by serious cycling audiences, who complain it consists mostly of 1-hour, heavily edited summaries, rather than the several hours of daily live coverage given to the Tour. Also noisome to many American cycling fans was a perceived overwhelming focus on Lance Armstrong and the TdF to the exclusion of all other riders and races; this programming attitude has given the channel such nicknames as "Only Lance News" and "Our Lousy Network" in cycling circles. As of 2005, OLN was still offering live coverage of the Giro D'Italia and Tour De France , but, due to poor ratings, all other events were relegated to compressed, tape-delay coverage, including the Vuelta A España , despite its status as a three-week long Grand Tour on par with the Tour and Giro. Mainstream sports On games away from ESPN, but ESPN managed to work out a new deal. ESPN's other package, which includes a Thursday game and games on holidays, expires after the 2006 season and has not been renewed, leaving an opening for OLN. On February 17, 2006, OLN reached an agreement with the Arena Football League to broadcast some games during the AFL's 20th Anniversary season. OLN will televise one regular-season game in each of the next 11 weeks as well as a wild card playoff game. {Link without Title} OLN has also secured coverage for the 2007 America's Cup , which was also a staple on ESPN and ESPN2 for years. It will begin to show qualifying regattas in late 2005, the Louis Vuitton Cup for challengers in 2007, and the America's Cup match between the Louis Vuitton winner and current champions, '' Alinghi '' of Switzerland in Valencia, Spain . In 2006 , it picked up American broadcast rights (in conjunction with The Tennis Channel ) of Davis Cup events. It was also announced that OLN will enter the boxing arena this year with a series of fight programs promoted by Bob Arum 's Top Rank group. DISTRIBUTION In October 2005, OLN elected not to provide its NHL coverage to a number of distributors, including EchoStar ( Dish Network ) and Cablevision , which both refused Comcast's request to place OLN on a much higher-penetration package. While Cablevision eventually came to an agreement, EchoStar retaliated by pulling OLN from its service; it was Dish Network's stance that few of its' customers would be willing to have the channel if it meant raising rates. On April 24, 2006 Dish Network and OLN reached a long term agreement to restore the channel. FUTURE NAME It was announced in April 2006 that the network name will become known as Versus in September {Link without Title} . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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