Bye, bye, OLN

There are two ways to look at OLN's decision to rebrand itself as "Versus," starting this week.

1. The channel was called Outdoor Life Network, a plainly absurd name for a channel that carries bull riding and, as I write this, "championship darts," which are indoor (")sports(").  OLN's name recognition is low, and with U.S. cycling gone from hot to cold faster than you can say Lance Armstrong, no one really cares if it changes its name right now anyway. The head of the network said Versus "is immediate shorthand for competition and has a range that can suit everything from stick and ball sports, to bull riding, to field sports." (Previous case studies: WE, Hallmark, Spike.)

2. It hasn't been called Outdoor Life for years. The channel rebranded as OLN long ago and at least it is recognizable. "Versus" -- what the hell's that? It's a dropped shoe waiting for the other shoe to drop. Comcast would have been better off just keeping the letters instead of starting back at zero. (Previous case studies: ESPN, GSN, TLC.)