“Better late than never” has long been the rallying cry for Comcast’s technicians and installers. Now the country’s largest cable operator appears to have adopted the slogan for its TV ventures too.

Frank Fitzpatrick, The Philadelphia Inquirer 1/4/12
 
“Better late than never” has long been the rallying cry for Comcast’s technicians and installers. Now the country’s largest cable operator appears to have adopted the slogan for its TV ventures too.
 
A mere 32 years after ESPN launched its groundbreaking national sports network, the Philadelphia-based cable giant that controls NBC Universal has decided to create one of its own.

The cleverly named NBC Sports Network is actually a repackaged Versus. You might - but probably don’t - recall Versus, a little-known and little-viewed network that had a near-exclusive menu of hockey and hunting, and ratings to reflect that.
 
But a round-the-clock NBC Sports Network is going to need more than goons and guns to fill its schedule. How, when there are no games to televise, will that be accomplished?
 
Perhaps NBC-SN can turn to ESPN for guidance. There, decades of telecasting sports and sports-related shows have yielded a truly diverse programming day.
 
Here, for example, is a sample of the wide range of uniquely entertaining ESPN shows that NBC Sports might be wise to emulate:
 
Pardon the Interruption: Two ex-sportswriters argue about sports.
 
First Take: Two ex-sportswriters