VERSUS TV

So back in 1995 there was a channel called Outdoor Life Network (OLN) on TV. Many people probably passed over it without any notice. Featured on this channel was mainly cycling, fishing, and hunting shows. Categorized as non violent and rated pg. I remember being able to watch hours and hours of cycling on world events anytime of the day; it turned into the reason I love triathlons today. Then all of a sudden around 2006 OLN turned into VERSUS. On this new versus was the old hunting, fishing, and cycling but also new shows with  MMA fighting, lacrosse, bull riding, rugby, soccer. They added about 7 new sports that for the most part saw blood or violence in some way or another. Fast forward to as of 2010 versus has everything from UFC cage fighting to football, Nascar, Indy Car, and in general very manly sports. Now hunting and fishing from the beginning can be deemed a sport mostly occupied by men, however that was 1995 and in the 21st century the image of being a man has changed to being very physical. Most of Versus these days is NHL or some form of fighting show and even the X-Games. I look back and see what inspired me and see it lost. Cycling is only on during the Tour de France (late July) and during the Ironman Championships in November. It saddens me that one of the toughest sports in the world is basically being told "you aren't manly enough for our television time slot because you aren't beating up anyone." What is going on with television? Has the image of what is manly forever changed on TV? Will the image ever be coming back around again? I hope so.

Compare the video for a commercial of OLN in the 1990's to that of the commercial running in 2010 for VERSUS. (both taken from youtube)