Looking to upgrade from multicast positioning to fee-based carriage by year’s end, Universal Sports is launching an ad campaign aimed at raising awareness and getting consumers to call their TV providers.

The “I Want Universal Sports” consumer and trade campaign will begin this week, with promo spots featuring on-air talent on the network’s air and website, as well as ads in local print and digital outlets in priority markets. Messaging will feature the above tagline and a toll-free number, 1-800-55-GET-US, aimed at connecting them to TV providers.

A joint venture of Leo Hindery’s InterMedia Partners and Comcast’s NBC Sports Group, Universal Sports is currently available in some 55 million homes in all of the top 10 DMAs and 20 of the top 25 via multicast carriage and its first affiliate deal with DirecTV. The nation’s top DBS provider made Universal Sports available to all of its customers via a freeview in July and now offers it on a sports package. License fee terms were not disclosed.

David Sternberg, CEO of Universal Sports, said the network launched via multicast on broadcast stations in 2008 and after monitoring that approach determined that transitioning the service to a fee-based cable network was “the best way going forward.” He noted that contracts with the stations expire by year-end and are “synced up in a way to facilitate” this migration.

Sternberg said the network has engaged in such talks with cable, satellite and telco distributors since he joined the company in 2010, with an eye toward increasing distribution for the service, which presents an array of Olympic- and endurance-style sports, competitions and championships.

He noted that Universal Sports is in “advanced discussions with a number of MVPDs. We expect to have some announcements very soon and throughout the fourth quarter. “

The campaign is slated to run through the balance of the year with tactics changing as new distribution partners and carriage in markets are secured. Tent-pole network programming will be used to inform viewers of the switch, including promos running on its coverage of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup, Kona Ironman, the Gymnastics Worlds, New York City Marathon, alpine skiing, figure skating and its countdown to London Olympics fare.

Sternberg said the network will also ply on-site grass-roots marketing initiatives at a number of events, including the NYC Marathon and Skate America in Los Angeles.

Part of Universal Sports’ pitch for carriage centers on primary and secondary research indicating that its affluent, highly-educated and gender-balanced audience has affinity for these types of sports throughout the year. The network also over-indexes against premium channel, high-speed data and high-definition subscribership.

Speaking of HD, Sternberg said Universal Sports will launch an enhanced signal in January, an offering that was previously hamstrung by multicasting bandwidth constraints.

Since Universal Sports holds the rights to its myriad sports properties, it can also present video-on-demand and “TV Everywhere” services. Sternberg said DirecTV will launch an authenticated product with Universal Sports in the fourth quarter.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Two young entrepreneurs are adding some horsepower to the city’s bayfront. Christina White, 22, and Jamar McCracken, 21, in July began operating the White Horse & Carriage Co., a two-carriage operation led by a pair of 1,200-pound Percheron draft horses named Lacy and Joy.

White, a recent graduate of the University of Texas-San Antonio, said she and McCracken are experienced carriage drivers from San Antonio who met while working for the Lone Star Carriage Co.

She and McCracken, a part-owner in the company, decided to go out on their own last year.

After paying cash for Lacy and Joy and their carriages, White said she and McCracken found themselves standing around a little too much for their financial comfort.

“In San Antonio there are about 25 carriages out every weekend and on the holidays,” she said. “There aren’t enough customers to go around.”

When the city of San Antonio stopped issuing permits for carriage operators because of the glut, White and McCracken looked to Corpus Christi.

Since obtaining their certificate to operate vehicles for hire — a horse-drawn carriage is treated the same as a taxi — White said they are averaging between two and four rides per night, per carriage.

“People are pretty excited — they wave, take pictures and come up to talk to us all the time,” she said. “A lot of people haven’t seen a horse or petted one in real life.”

She said they plan to expand the business.

“We’d like to have five carriages on the street during the busy season, traditionally the summer, spring break and Christmas holidays,” she said.

A soft-spoken person, White leaves the customer solicitation to McCracken, whose amiable voice carries well in the South Texas winds whipping along seawall.

The carriages stand at the Peoples Street T-Head.

Customers may choose from three rides: 20 minutes for $15 per passenger; 30 minutes for $20 per passenger and 60 minutes for $25 per passenger. Children under 10 are free with each adult.

McCracken said the most popular choice by far is the 20-minute, 1-mile route that heads north along Shoreline Boulevard before making back-to-back left hand turns onto Starr and Water streets.

From there, the ride ambles along Water Street — past such downtown hot spots at Vietnam, 500 Bistro, Water Street Seafood Co. and Dos Comales — where the sound of metal-shod hooves on pavement often freeze patrons in their tracks.

Longer rides carry passengers farther north on Shoreline and through a circuitous route along Chaparral Street, White said.

Lately, however, they’ve been skipping the morning rides, starting instead around 8 p.m.

“The city ordinance doesn’t allow working horses on the road until the temperature dips below 85,” White said.

After a recent Saturday night ride with her family, Sabrina Ponce, 10, showed no fear when she raised both hands, stepped forward and gently stroked Lacy’s nose.

Her younger sister, Savannah Ponce, 9, and baby sister, Sianna Ponce, 3, all were ecstatic when their parents, Samson and Sylvia, agreed to let them take their first-ever carriage ride.

“It was awesome,” Sabrina said while Savannah nodded her agreement.

Sylvia Ponce said the family lives in Schwertz — a tiny hamlet outside San Antonio, and were in Corpus Christi visiting Samson, a Halliburton employee temporarily assigned to a job here.

She chuckled at the irony of the situation.

“All those years in San Antonio and we have our first carriage ride in Corpus Christi,” she said.