Comcast's NBCUniversal will shut down its sports cable channel, NBCSN, at the end of the year and move some of its premium programming, including NHL playoff games and NASCAR races, to its USA Network, Axios confirmed Friday.
Driving the news: The company is "hoping to solve two problems with one move: Get rid of an underperforming asset and boost an already powerful one," noted the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.
10 months ago, the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. Now, less than six months ahead of their new start date, the dreaded word is being murmured: "canceled."
Driving the news: The Japanese government has privately concluded that the Games will have to be called off, The Times reports (subscription), citing an unnamed senior government source.
The Biden administration is unlikely to leverage sports as a culture war in the same way that President Trump's did.
The big picture: The longstanding tradition of champions visiting the White House — dating back to the 1860s but becoming a more regular practice in the past half century — changed significantly in the past four years.
