How important are wins to popularity of US skating?

[anyanka]

lol what, you severely overestimate the clout of dancing with stars

can you name who won last year?

exactly

Well played.

Although I admit I never watched it before, but I do now! (mind you I just fast-play everyone and get to Marlie)

The real test is whether or not the networks actually show the GP tournaments same weekend or even live, or if they package them and show them weeks later. And of course, the advertisers. I read somewhere that the tournaments being relegated to weekend afternoons, which are dead zones for viewing, have absolutely anemic viewing numbers.

 

[TMC]

I (unfortunately) don't disagree with your statement. However, I think she lacks the artistry and ease of movement necessary to excite casual fans. Also, I don't think she pays attention to her looks and costuming enough. That bun on her head makes her look like a grandmother, and her costumes are not elegant enough if she is trying to become America's sweetheart. Yuna, Mao, Caro and Sasha would be good examples for her to look at as far as costuming that effectively enhances the performance.

Wouldn't her racist tendencies also be brought up if she won something?

 

[Ryan O]

What stinks is that of course the viewership numbers are going to be down when you show an event like 2 weeks after it airs. Casual fans are going to flip on the TV, see it on and when they find out the event is 2 weeks old are going to turn off the TV and go to Youtube and watch the skaters they like.

True. I would be really mad if I were an American figure skating viewer. By the time the Worlds finally airs you either have heard all the results/spoilers a couple weeks earlier, and it loses the immediacy of the moment as well.

I'm glad for Canadian viewers that the rumour about CBC not giving much coverage to Worlds turned out to be false and that they gave it extensive same-day coverage every day, as well as live online.

 

[TMC]

men : the Japanese guy (see? I can't even be bothered to remember his name) is kind of odd and has some potential but... meh, Brown has real potential but it's not clear if he's more than a one program skater.

Check out Jason's 10-11 FS, 11-12 SP compared to Prince & Riverdance - fairly good examples of the versatility he has & had even then. The kid's a chameleon.

 

[karne]

If USFS has a brain in their collective heads (which they probably don't), they will market the heck outta Jason B., I don't care if he ever medals anywhere, anyplace. Do you how many comments are on the internet, "I could care less about skating, but I love watching this kid"? The general public could care less about the quad or the 3A. You can teach technique. You can't teach personality.

I was saying this last season too: the USFSA seem to insist that only a woman can be a superstar, but meanwhile they have three young men who they should be preparing to market like crazy - good looking, talented, sweet, adorable, humble, down-to-earth, and hard-working - the perfect recipe. Of course, Max's "lack of results" this season pull back on the marketing a touch, and Josh seems to be perpetually invisible at the moment, but with over 4million hits on Youtube, Jason's superstardom is ripe for the marketing. And yet...

Weir was a natural star but too swishy and so they sunk all their promotion in Lysacek who despite some good qualities is ultimately kind of blah.

Weir was never star material. Why? No-one wants to market a guy who has little to no work ethic, lies about illness and injury to throw temper tantrums, and is basically an immature child.

Brown has real potential but it's not clear if he's more than a one program skater.

Those are the words of someone who's never paid attention to Jason before this season.

(Liebestraume is still my favourite FS of his and Grand Guignol is still my favourite SP.)

 

[TMC]

(Liebestraume is still my favourite FS of his and Grand Guignol is still my favourite SP.)

Same here re: Grand Guignol...what I wouldn't give to see him skate that program now that he's all grown up

 

[trouble77]

And in other countries too? In Canada, do World medals by W/P and D/R legitimately spur on more interest in the sport (in individual disciplines, even).

In Italy the only sport that matters is football.

 

[karne]

Same here re: Grand Guignol...what I wouldn't give to see him skate that program now that he's all grown up

Oh, me too. Actually, that costume is also still my favourite of all his costumes.

 

[pointyourtoe]

I am a BIG Jason fan and freaked out when his video went viral, but let's not overestimate based on the fervor (and comments) for that one video. The thing with America is it has a very short attention span. Viral videos come and go all the time, and in the history of viral videos 4 million views is pretty darn minor. For a lot of these people who never watch skating, those 4 minutes of skating may have been the most they have seen in 10+ years, and most of them will just move on to the next thing.

With that said, Jason's video going viral at all proves that the artistry/performance factor (and the illusion of a perfectly skated, ideal performance with rapturous applause at the end) is so important for drawing viewers in.

 

[Panpie]

I am a BIG Jason fan and freaked out when his video went viral, but let's not overestimate based on the fervor (and comments) for that one video. The thing with America is it has a very short attention span. Viral videos come and go all the time, and in the history of viral videos 4 million views is pretty darn minor. For a lot of these people who never watch skating, those 4 minutes of skating may have been the most they have seen in 10+ years, and most of them will just move on to the next thing.

With that said, Jason's video going viral at all proves that the artistry/performance factor (and the illusion of a perfectly skated, ideal performance with rapturous applause at the end) is so important for drawing viewers in.

Agreed. It's wonderful for Jason, but viral videos in themselves are not going to do much to promote figure skating in the United States. I think the 1990s were a unique circumstance in the sport that is unlikely to be repeated.

 

[el henry]

Agreed. It's wonderful for Jason, but viral videos in themselves are not going to do much to promote figure skating in the United States. I think the 1990s were a unique circumstance in the sport that is unlikely to be repeated.

I don't think that viral videos are going to do much in and of themselves; I *do* think that they are a good indicator of where marketing muscle should be applied. when I first started watching figure skating, Janet Lynn and Toller Cranston were way popular before their medals, not after. And their appearances were promoted, because folks liked their artistry, not because of a medal count. It is 40 years (more, yikes) later, but plus ca change...

 

[moviechick]

FS is a niche sport. Nothing will really change that, imo. There may be some bursts of popularity when something crazy happens or with a great star, but it won't create anything long lasting.

It also doesn't help that it's one of the most expensive and inaccessible sports out there for kids to seriously participate in. It helps a lot for a sport when a kid can watch it and then decide to join a baseball team or run track.

 

[hyperinflation]

FS is a niche sport. Nothing will really change that, imo. There may be some bursts of popularity when something crazy happens or with a great star, but it won't create anything long lasting.

It also doesn't help that it's one of the most expensive and inaccessible sports out there for kids to seriously participate in. It helps a lot for a sport when a kid can watch it and then decide to join a baseball team or run track.

i mean, to be fair, they don't really show a whole lot of track events either...

 

[moviechick]

i mean, to be fair, they don't really show a whole lot of track events either...

That's true but every Olympics, there's usually a T&F superstar in the U.S. and they somehow can maintain that level of star power even when the Olympics pass. People sure as hell remember Usain Bolt's name whether or not they watch every race he runs.

 

[hyperinflation]

That's true but every Olympics, there's usually a T&F superstar in the U.S. and they somehow can maintain that level of star power even when the Olympics pass. People sure as hell remember Usain Bolt's name whether or not they watch every race he runs.

usain bolt isn't american though

 

[moviechick]

usain bolt isn't american though

An athlete doesn't have to be America to be extremely popular here. Almost all our popular hockey players are foreigners, some of our basketball and baseball players. Foreign tennis players are huge.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

An athlete doesn't have to be America to be extremely popular here. Almost all our popular hockey players are foreigners, some of our basketball and baseball players. Foreign tennis players are huge.

Pavel Datsyuk!!!!!

 

[hyperinflation]

An athlete doesn't have to be America to be extremely popular here. Almost all our popular hockey players are foreigners, some of our basketball and baseball players. Foreign tennis players are huge.

oh i thought you meant an american track star

i think also, while figure skating is a competition, it suffers from the competitors not actively competing AGAINST each other. in most other popular sports, it features competitors going directly head to head which brings the suspense and the drama, whereas figure skating has a lot of sitting around and waiting around for scores

 

[moviechick]

I don't think FS is lacking in drama (lol) per say. But audiences generally think of it only at Olympics and don't care about other competitions. Which again, is fine, for a lot of other sports like swimming and T&F but in those sports, the big star athletes like Phelps and Bolt compete in multiple Olympics and win a bunch of medals. In FS, usually people win one gold medal and retire.

 

[hyperinflation]

I don't think FS is lacking in drama (lol) per say.

it's not good drama though. it's not the american team coming from behind to beat the french in the 4x100 relay in beijing, or sid scoring the winning goal in vancouver. that's good drama the benefits the sport and makes more people watch. figure skating drama is 99% judging scandals which just cheapens the whole thing and makes people less inclined to watch