Death knell for skating on tv | Golden Skate

Death knell for skating on tv

bems

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Last edited:

Particle Man

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Umm, can you point out where the article says the ISU/Cinquanta is EXTORTING money from networks?

As for the comment page... people think it's futile to message USFSA? Well, corrupt little Cinquanta is about 100 times less likely to listen to criticism.
 

bems

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
7th Paragraph under "Canadian Events come to CBC" indicates brokering a deal with Chinquanta. If he was at all supportive of the Sport he would make it happen.

You seem to know about the way he moves and shakes.

If we give up and give in he wins!
 

bems

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Death knell for skating on tv

Seems many of you want to bury this.

Let it rise for feedback.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think at least for American skating fans, they have to look increasingly to the internet for their skating coverage. Ice Network makes fans pay for their coverage but Universal Sports offered free streaming of the entire Worlds comp. (granted, they had problems during the Ladies FS, but it was still good.)

I think an example like the CBC shows that it's mainly on the ISU's end why we are getting less coverage. The people running the CBC seem to really care about skating and are trying to do what they can to keep it on the air, but it's just not economically feasible for them to do so, at least at the prices the ISU wants. So yes, no wonder none of the American networks were interested (and with skating's rapidly declining TV ratings in the US, it doesn't help). NBC finally decided to air a couple hours but only after being given free rights, essentially. They buried the rest on Oxygen network but fortunately had the insight to also stream it online for those who didn't have Oxygen.

So unless the ISU can come up with a different business deal that works for the TV networks, we'll continue to see coverage disappear. I think Cinquanta FINALLY admitted that the "old" model may no longer work in an article, so we'll have to see. And here in the US, I don't think the ratings can really rebound without an American star. Typically that star has to be a lady, but we do have a male champion now so we'll have to see what kind of hype is generated for the men's comp come Olympics.
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
It's understandable ~ American Figure Skating needs a *star* in the likes of Anna Kournikova for women's singles and G&G for pairs/dance, and for men Apolo Anton Ohno ~ just my humble opinion, as always.

Personally, for me, I've been watching figure skating practically my entire life since the 70's & Dorothy Hamill, and this is the least interested I've been in skating. What keeps me hanging on is ice dance, and making sure to watch US Nationals & Worlds (& of course the Olympics). 99% of the time I couldn't care less about watching any of the Fall events except Skate America. It's been like this for me since Sasha Cohen left in 2006, and I'm not even that big of a fan, but she was compelling, she made me want to watch.

I end with this famous quote ~ if you build it, they will come
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I'm the same way. I never really watched the GP events (other than SA) recently so I wasn't terribly devastated to see them go. I think the Olympic season was the last time I closely followed the GP.

Basically the only events apart from the Olympics I've watched the past 3 or so years are the only events being shown now (how ironic) - SA, US Nationals and Worlds. And even then, I only watch the ladies competition. And of the three, US Nationals is the most exciting. International competition for me has just NOT been the same since Kwan and Cohen left, and Meissner and Hughes were no longer competitive. I mean, I do cheer for our ladies but I have no real vested emotion in the competitions like I once did. The spark is missing. I still watch but I'm not at the edge of my seat like I used to be. I partly blame the NJS for taking most of the drama out of these competitions.
 

Particle Man

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
7th Paragraph under "Canadian Events come to CBC" indicates brokering a deal with Chinquanta. If he was at all supportive of the Sport he would make it happen.

Ummm...

"It was a challenging negotiation, but thanks to the skilled facilitation of our Skate Canada friends and great cooperation from Cinquanta, we were able to secure a two-year agreement"

'Great cooperation' = 'extortion'? :rofl:

I hate speedy and would love to see him gone, but I don't see what you're trying to read into this article. If you want to bring him down, best to stick to hard evidence.
 
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