The news: NBCUniversal is exploring a dedicated sports cable network that would feature content—including NBA games—shown on its Peacock streaming service, per a Wall Street Journal report.

• The network could launch as early as this fall, per those familiar with the matter, and would be offered as speciality packages for cable and satellite distributors.
• While Comcast is combining most of its NBCU cable TV networks into a new company called Versant, executives are considering a sports cable channel that would not cannibalize Peacock, but rather serve “people who are stubborn about leaving the [cable] bundle,” sports media consultant Patrick Crakes told WSJ.