NBC teams up with Olympic committees to launch U.S. TV channel

The parties said the new channel, named the "Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA," would be launched in the second half of 2017 and stream Olympic sports and related content all year round. http://bit.ly/2hAH1Kz

The channel would also create content focussed on the achievements and inspiring stories of Olympic athletes.

The Rio Olympics has always been a big deal to NBC Universal. Comcast said in October that the company benefited from its NBC Universal unit's broadcast of the Rio Olympics, which boosted its overall revenue.

Comcast has been expanding its internet business and investing in media assets as it looks to add more customers amid stiff competition, specially from streaming video services.

Along with the channel, the partnership also includes additional coverage of Olympic sports programs that will appear exclusively on other NBCU platforms – including NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Digital outlets, the parties said.

The first such coverage will begin this Saturday, with the Team USA Winter Champions Series.

(Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)