Universal Sports Network has elevated Scott Brown to president with responsibilities for overall leadership of the Olympic and endurance sports network.
Brown, who joined Universal Sports as senior vice president and general manager in August 2011, will have oversight of all aspects of the network’s operations, while retaining responsibility for its legal matters from the company’s corporate headquarters in Woodland Hills, Calif.
He assumes the leadership position from David Sternberg, the company’s former CEO, who recently left Universal Sports, a joint venture of NBC Universal and Leo Hindery’s InterMedia Partners, LP., after three years to pursue another opportunity.
Universal Sports counts national providers DirecTV and Dish on its affiliate roster. It also has agreements with Cascade Communications and BendBroadband in Oregon; Wave Broadband in California, Oregon and Washington; GCI in Alaska, Hiawatha Broadband Communications in Minnesota; MTC Cable in New York; Waitsfield Cable in Vermont; Hawaiian Telcom; and IPTV distributors SkyAngel and Century Link
Before joining Universal Sports, Brown spent nine years with Fox Cable Networks, where he served as vice president of business and legal affairs and advised on legal and business aspects related to programming acquisitions, content distribution, new media and general corporate matters. Prior to Fox, Brown worked for five years as corporate counsel for Amgen, and also served as an associate for Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.
“Scott’s background in the cable and sports industries is the right blend of experience as we grow the network’s distribution footprint,” said Peter Kern, managing partner, InterMedia Partners, LP. “I am happy to have him lead the network forward.”
Brown will be introduced tonight at an event at Universal Sports’ new production facility at the Comcast Media Center in Centennial, Colo., where he officially will unveil Countdown to Sochi, the network’s original studio news show scheduled to premiere Oct. 30, 100 days before the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Russia. The 14-week show, hosted by Craig Hummer, will showcase athlete profiles, features and coverage of the winter sports competitions, leading up to the 2014 Sochi Games.
Brown and other Universal Sports executives will meet with members of the U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Figure Skating and U.S. Cycling, among others, at the event.
