USFSA signs TV deal with NBC

[NoVa Sk8r]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-070420figureskatinghersh,1,3113830.story?coll=chi-sportstop-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
At least skating will still be broadcast, but I hate the NBC commentators.

But Terry, Peggy, and Dick will still do the ESPN braodcasts, I guess.

[Nicki]

I'm not a member of the Chicago Tribune website, so I wasn't able to view the article. What events will NBC air? Will they do Nationals, and ESPN do everything else? I am no fan of Al Trautwig, so I am hoping he is not involved with this in any way.

[Debbie S]

Thanks for posting the news, NoVa. I wonder what will happen to Worlds and the GP after next season. Since ABC/ESPN declined their right of first refusal for USFSA broadcasts, they obviously aren't going to be interested in renewing the ISU deal. I wonder if NBC will pick that up. And then after 2010, it's anybody's guess as to whether we'll be watching skating entirely on the Internet.

And then there's the matter of L.A. Worlds in 2009 and the host country TV broadcast signal guarantee issue - then again, the USFSA did say that they would provide it whether the ISU had a U.S. TV contract or not - sheesh, this could get tricky. Speedy would probably relish the chance to pull Worlds from the U.S. (after he was booed in DC - lol) and give it to one of his 'friendly' countries. :twisted:

And I guess this means no more cheesefest events, since the article only mentions Nats and SA. I was never a fan of the cheesefest concept, but I did enjoy the chance to see the skaters' new programs in the early fall event, and I thought the spring showcase events of the past 2 years were a nice way to wrap up the season, and fun to watch. I was hoping that at least that event would stick around, but I guess not.

ETA:
I'm not a member of the Chicago Tribune website, so I wasn't able to view the article. What events will NBC air? Will they do Nationals, and ESPN do everything else? I am no fan of Al Trautwig, so I am hoping he is not involved with this in any way.NBC has the USFSA contract, which means Nats and Skate America (as I said above, no mention of the 3 cheesefests per year that were part of the ABC deal). ESPN still has the ISU contract, for one more season, which means Worlds and the Grand Prix events other than Skate America. The USFSA and ISU contracts are negotiated separately, since they are 2 different organizations, hence the different expiration dates.

I'm no fan of Al Trautwig, either - lol - and I don't think he was part of the skating broadcast team for the Olys last year, was he? I remember Tom Hammond, Sandra Bezic, Tracy Wilson, and Scott Hamilton and Dick Button were "on loan" from the networks they usually work for. And Mary Carillo and Sale/Pelletier did that Olympic Ice show on USA, but that of course was a special Olympic thing. I think Kurt Browning did commentary for NBC at one point, but now of course, he's part of the ABC team - maybe NBC will hire him back? Just don't get Peter Carruthers, please!

[Nicki]

Debbie, thanks for the clarification on the article.

[Isk8NYC]

I like Peter Carruthers! I didn't care for Mary Carillo during the Olympics, but I loved "Olympic Ice" and "Push Dick's Button." PDB has been a great addition to the regular season broadcasting. It allows Dick to give his opinions and insight without talking over the skating music. He really does know a lot about skating.

I'd like to see them bring in guest coaches to explain and disparage rules and regs. Ron Luddington is very outspoken and not shy about stating his opinion.

A different Chicago Tribune link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-070420figureskatinghersh,1,3113830.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

Here's a similar article from the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-skating21apr21,1,1423349.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

[loveskating]

Well, this is interesting, anyway...and I guess the NBC coverage could go either way...but at least this is an opportunity for change.

I don't buy this anti-ISU stuff -- and I think the rules are BETTER, not worse and the judging is better, though not perfect. I wonder if the ISU or ESPN will now try to get out of their contract? You can legally withdraw from a contract if both sides are willing although there has to be some legal process, much like a no-fault divorce.

[NoVa Sk8r]

Broadcast USFSA News item:
http://usfsa.org/event_story.asp?id=38462

[manleywoman]

Michelle Kwan is of interest to NBC:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-070423hersh,1,4238892.column?

[Isk8NYC]

8O :bow: 8O Live broadcasts of events???8O :bow: 8O
Sounds good to me! I'm going to dust off my "Please use the Second Alternate Programming (SAP) audio channel for JUST the skater's music" *begging*" letter right away.

[MusicSkateFan]

NBC is also going to broadcast Skate America with some live action as well. Maybe this will spur on ESPN to ditch the one and two week broadcast delay of the GP events and cover these events live!(One can dream!)

Sounds like they are going to make some schedule changes to Nats too to get all the finals on the weekend......this is interesting.......I hope NBC finds someone other than Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic to commentary! Will Dick and Peggy Jump Ship??

[Debbie S]

Will Dick and Peggy Jump Ship??From what I read in the Chicago Trib article, it sounds like Dick Button may end up on NBC. Nothing so far mentioned about Peggy, however, on the USFSA board (I saw this mentioned on another board) someone posted that they saw Terry Gannon at the gym and he said Dick was negotiating with NBC but he and Peggy weren't. Although who know if that's a reliable source. :??

I think Michelle Kwan doing commentary would be cool, but only if she's willing to say things that might offend people (in other words, not play it safe and generic). At the very least, it would get more people to watch skating broadcasts and help keep skating on network TV.

[Isk8NYC]

I know Dick Button's contract was up for renewal this season. Were Peggy and Terry's contracts also due for renewal?

Here's a version of the story from the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-skating22apr22,1,1664853.story?track=rss
Interesting impact on the Finals at competitions:

The changes likely will include having two disciplines -- dance and women, for example -- on the same program. That would mean only the top eight going into the free skate of each discipline would skate during the live telecasts, with the others relegated to an earlier session. That would create a better program not only for TV but the stadium audience at the finals.

[icedancer2]

Well, that's weird. I wonder why they think this would be a better deal for the "stadium audiences" - would the get to see the top 8 dancers and the top eight ladies in one evening, for instance? I know a lot of people who travel to comps who would not want that - there are dedicated "dance" people and dedicated "ladies" people, for instance, who are not theslightest bit interested in the other discipline... where would that leave them?

Hopefully this statement is just some rambling of one journalist who lumps all skating together or something, as it reallly does not make sense.

Or am I just reading this wrong?

[flippet]

And I guess this means no more cheesefest events, since the article only mentions Nats and SA. I was never a fan of the cheesefest concept, but I did enjoy the chance to see the skaters' new programs in the early fall event, and I thought the spring showcase events of the past 2 years were a nice way to wrap up the season, and fun to watch.


I haven't read the article yet, but the 'no more cheesefests' is kind of a double-edged sword. I mean, I enjoyed (mostly!) seeing more of my favorite skaters, so they were good in that regard.

However--if the cheesefests have been axed, perhaps this is a good thing for skating overall--treat it more like a sport worthy of actual coverage, instead of like butt-wiggling fluff. I think that both the networks and casual viewers were lumping all skating into the same basket--the one labeled 'fluff-not-worthy-of-our-broadcast-or-viewing-time'.

I mean, if they can treat bowling, billiards, and poker as "sports", surely they can start treating skating as one as well.

[Debbie S]

Hopefully this statement is just some rambling of one journalist who lumps all skating together or something, as it reallly does not make sense.In the article on the USFSA website (the link NoVa posted), it gives a little more detail. According to that (and of course, things could change between now and Nats), the only comp that would be broken up into 2 parts would be the ladies event. Currently, the plan is to show the pairs final (probably the last 2 groups) live on Sat aftn and the dance and ladies final live on Sat night in a 3-hour block (8 to 11 EST, I assume). It sounds like the final group of dancers will be shown and then the final 2 groups of ladies, so the ladies in the earlier groups would skate earlier in the day. And the men's final (I assume the last 2 groups) would be live on Sun aftn. Which means the exhibition is on Sun evening.

You know, given the state of U.S. pairs vs the state of U.S. dance, I think it would make more sense to show more dance teams than pairs teams, but that's JMHO. :halo:

I agree, it's still a ticketing nightmare for the ladies final - for those with single-event tix, they'll basically have to clear the arena (likely inconveniencing the all-event tix holders who will likely have to clear as well to get checked back in again for the dance event), and then the process would be repeated after the dance final is over. And stretching out Nats through Sun will be a problem for spectators who use Sun as a travel day and have to be at work Monday morning - depending on how far away they live and flight schedules and such, a lot more fans will need to stay over on Sunday night and take an extra day off work, or else miss the men's final, not to mention the exhibition. As if attending Nats isn't expensive enough as it is. :twisted:

[icedancer2]

I agree, it's still a ticketing nightmare for the ladies final - for those with single-event tix, they'll basically have to clear the arena (likely inconveniencing the all-event tix holders who will likely have to clear as well to get checked back in again for the dance event), and then the process would be repeated after the dance final is over. And stretching out Nats through Sun will be a problem for spectators who use Sun as a travel day and have to be at work Monday morning - depending on how far away they live and flight schedules and such, a lot more fans will need to stay over on Sunday night and take an extra day off work, or else miss the men's final, not to mention the exhibition. As if attending Nats isn't expensive enough as it is. :twisted:

:roll: Yeah, methinks they are going to have to think this one through... if they think the fans are crazed now with all of the scheduling, etc., for Nats, they haven't seen anything yet!

Oh well, change is good, change is good, change is good (my forever mantra)...:halo:

[Sk8pdx]

NBC is also going to broadcast Skate America with some live action as well. Maybe this will spur on ESPN to ditch the one and two week broadcast delay of the GP events and cover these events live!(One can dream!)

Sounds like they are going to make some schedule changes to Nats too to get all the finals on the weekend......this is interesting.......I hope NBC finds someone other than Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic to commentary! Will Dick and Peggy Jump Ship??

I also wonder about Paul Wylie...I know he has been a recent commentator as well...:??