• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 17, 2006

My early morning Tour de France live viewing barely gets out of my dreamworld--I kept seeing Marg Helgenberger and William Peterson on carbon fiber bikes.

It is then I ask the question--who are you, and what are you doing in my dream?

OLN is the cable network that has been airing the live Tour de France since 2002. With the retirement of Lance Armstrong, the network needed to spin its marketing in a different direction.

That means some new contenders, such as focusing on former Armstrong teammates like George Hincapie and Floyd Landis. This ties in nicely to the network's plan, as well as its viewers who are tangential to the sport, who no doubt ask one question--who are these guys? OLN offers up mini-promo profiles of these cyclists.

There is only one hard-driving rock song that fits the bill to help OLN marketing efforts--The Who's 1978 song, "Who are you?"

Sitting through CBS' part of the Television Critics Tour meeting in Pasadena, I was reminded that OLN isn't the only network using the song to promote a TV show. It is also the theme of CBS' high-rated "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."  (The two other "CSI" shows also use songs by The Who).

At the same time OLN spins its marketing effort for the Tour de France, the network is actively marketing its new name, Versus, or Vs. for short, which will take effect in the fall.

On-air promos show overhead views of cyclists riding on roads covered with the name Versus or Vs.  This resembles the real-life markings on roads that are made by cycling fans celebrating the names of their favorite cyclists. These writing regularly appear on major mountain passes--such as the famed L'Alpe d'Huez--where the always-present helicopters offer up overhead views of the action.

All of this leads me to mull over a question as OLN transforms into Versus--especially with divergent list of sports and other programming such as bull riding, sailing, ice hockey, and road cycling, as well as the reality TV show "Survivor" (from CBS, coincidently), stuff that doesn't seem to always have a common thread: Who are you?