Is there more Skate America coverage on American TV this year?

[sk8lvr]

just wondering. Looking at the Heather Winfield's schedule
( http://heatherw.com/mk/sch.htm ) it looks like we get 6 hours this year. Unfortunately we don't get to see the ladies SP or the dance OD.
Does anyone remember last year's schedule?

They are devoting a whole hour to pairs. I wonder how many pairs they can show amid the fluff. Quite a few I hope.

I am really excited for the Grand Prix to start. Can you tell? :D :D

[purplecat]

It's the same as last year. I wish we could see the ladies SP, but then again the years prior to last year we didn't get any SP's or OD's, so I guess it's better than nothing. I too am hoping for not too much fluff and more skating, but I'm not holding my breath!

[haribobo]

I believe there were only 4 hours last year. It looks like this year there are 6 hours. 1 hour more for pairs and dance free programs, and 1 hour more for mens and pairs short programs. WHEEE! :) Sounds good to me!

[legjumper]

Last year ABC showed the ladies' LP and pairs LP together and the men's LP and FD together, while ESPN showed the OD and men's SP. This year we get the same amount of time for coverage, but ESPN is carrying different things. Since I really want to see the ODs, I'm pretty cheesed off. :-P

[Aaron W]

Originally posted by legjumper
Last year ABC showed the ladies' LP and pairs LP together and the men's LP and FD together, while ESPN showed the OD and men's SP. This year we get the same amount of time for coverage, but ESPN is carrying different things. Since I really want to see the ODs, I'm pretty cheesed off. :-P

I too am not happy. I'd much rather see the ODs than the pairs short program. *sigh*

Oh well. :(

[purplecat]

Oh, you guys are right. I didn't notice that it's pairs' sp we get this year with the men's sp instead of the original dance. Actually, I'm happy to see the pairs because I hope they show Orscher and Lucash since I haven't seen them yet. The Men's sp is the sp that I'm least interested in and we got that both years! LOL!

[FallingLeaves]

It just doesn't make sense that in America, we get less coverage of Skate America than any other GP event, hmm?

[Scott]

I am happy that they are showing the pairs long and short but I can't understand why not the ladies short and certainly I would like to see the dance OD. I hope that we do get to see Orscher & Lucash and Roth & McPherson so that we can see just how these two teams are doing. I think seeing the short is important because it illiustrates the basic tenants of skating. This will be very exciting to see this competition on the air. i can't wait. I also want to see what Scott & Dulebohn have up their sleves for this year!!

[kara]

I'm glad to have more coverage, but I agree about the sp's. Does anyone know why abc consistently *ignores* the SA ladies sp? Really, is there a reason?

This discipline is the most popular in the US, they generally push the ladies event in other competitions, we have three ladies entered, they all are potential World Team members, and one is the reigning Olympic Champion. *Why* why why would they chose to ignore this in favor of pairs sp?

Let's be realistic: the pairs field is extremely weak this year, in this country, and in this event. I don't mean to be put down any of these people, but the level has simply gone down since the last few seasons. These skaters are unrecognizable to the average fan...s/he will not sit through it, but would watch ladies to see Sarah and wouldn't turn the channel if Jenny and AP were on...they're pretty skaters and people like that stuff.

I'd like to see men's short, but would rather see the ladies, and after that, certainly the OD, then men's sp, then pairs. And yes, why do we see less of SA than any other event?

Would contacting abc help? Is that too far-fetched to bother with?

[Ellyn]

I think the reasoning is this:

Ladies at Skate America is the most popular event GP event/discipline for US audiences, so therefore they will show it as soon as possible after it actually occurs. They need some time for production and to fit it into an appropriate slot on the ABC schedule, so that means not live, but Sunday afternoon. But they still think it's showing the ladies' event the most respect by showing it as soon as possible, while it's still hot news, compared to waiting people wait a week to see how the men's event came out.

They'll also show one of the other disciplines (pairs or dance, in this case dance, since men's singles is the next-most-popular discipline and therefore strong enough to pull in viewers for a later broadcast) riding on the ladies' coattails in the same broadcast. Because they only have time to show, approximately, one warmup group of free programs for each discipline in the Sunday afternoon broadcast, that means that they don't have time air enough SPs to show the SP competition as a competition during the same broadcast. Friday night or Saturday, before the LP broadcast, is not a good time to fit figure skating into the ABC or ESPN schedule, andthey don't see any point in airing the SPs/ODs even over on ESPN after they've already aired the free programs and their viewers already know the final results.

On the other hand, since they're saving the men and pairs LP broadcasts for a whole week, they can show the SPs on Monday and still keep everyone in suspense. (Everyone who gets all their skating news from ABC and affiliates, that is.)

Because they do have a day for postproduction, they will have the opportunity to decide exactly how many ladies' long programs and how many free dances to show.

Chances are the American dance teams will not medal, so they'll probably show the top one or two American teams and the medalists. They might even leave out the bronze medal free dance if it's a relatively unknown team and relatively uninteresting to the ABC team. If one of the American teams does manage to get on the podium, that'll kill two birds with one stone and we may get only 4 free dances: the medalists, and the second-ranked US team.

If that happens, they'll have more time to show more ladies -- at least the whole final group for the LPs, or some SPs. As Olympic champion, Sarah Hughes is newsworthy even to casual viewers, so if she wins the SP they'll probably show it even if they don't show any others. There will probably the requisite fluff piece as well. But if time allows (e.g., if the US ladies all end up in the top 4 so they only need to show 4 LPs because the rest were splatfests), they might show more SPs to fill the time and show better performances if the SPs are cleaner than the LPs.

But to protect the almost-live excitement of the scheduled next-day LP broadcast, they won't bother with the anticlimax of showing the SPs a day after that.

Now, I don't say I agree with all this reasoning, but I think that's what the network types are thinking.

[kara]

Thanks, Ellyn. Unfortunately, that does sound like the way they think!

[donnamarie]

Every year, we get less coverage of Skate America than the other Grand Prix events, even though it takes place in America ... one of life's little mysteries.

And I still don't see any good reason for not showing the women's short program. Sorry, but there's no reason that makes sense to me. ABC should just show the darn thing, before or after the LP, we (the audience) really don't care. Show it later on ESPN, but just show it. (Likewise, it seems that LIFETIME shows all the GP events except Skate America.) Whatever ABC's reasoning is, it is convoluted thinking.