2018 Olympic Figure Skating in the Morning

[noskates]

What irks me about the Rio coverage and every other Olympics coverage in memory is the way they string you along. You get a little bit of figure skating early in the evening and then have to wait until the very last bit of programming to see the rest. So they have you captured for the entire 3 or 4 hours or whatever. You can't even tape it because you never know when it's going to come on. Makes me furious - and very tired the next day. And I still refuse to pay for Ice Network and try to watch a grainy, \jerky version on a computer screen.

 

[TGee]

A side issue I'm really upset about is that NBC has American TV broadcast rights through 2032, so ABC/ESPN could not have a stab at broadcasting the Olympic Games again until then if they were smart enough to buy the rights .... and seeing if they could provide more coverage on TV as they did in the "good old days". Growing up and watching the Olympics on ABC and Wide World of Sports and when CBS had broadcast rights briefly... I feel the actual broadcast of figure skating wasn't as edited as much as NBC's coverage nowadays. Everything has changed, and there are DVRs and livestreaming.... I have memories of seeing completely unknown skaters in the early rounds of the men's or ladies' competitions on ABC. Networks around the globe can't please everyone. And unfortunately NBC will have the American TV broadcast rights for the next 16 years, so we'll never see another network's take on it until 2032 or if the IOC decides to fire NBC...which I don't think is likely.

As we get both NBC and CBC (and TSN and SN as they share coverage) I can attest that for most sports Americans are getting less coverage.....unless they get Canadian TV on cable or satellite near the border.

Used to be that I would check in on the US broadcast but now I don't even set up the PVR to catch it as backup.

But the biggest issue is that NBC doesn't provide the livestream CBC does online. It's raw and unedited with not only no commentary, but whatever background sound the pool camera picks up. But every event gets its own stream. On the big track and field night in Rio they had a separate stream for the races, and the field events even had separate streams for different groups in the qualifiers. This I would really write in to complain about in your place....

 

[Skye]

Of course NBC will get their way cause money talks, but I'm concerned for the skaters - especially the pairs with such dangerous elements - who will have to get up at 3-4 am to be on practice ice at 5-6 am. No matter how early you wake up and prepare yourself in advance, your internal body clock cannot be tricked into feeling "warmed-up" before sunrise. Having competed in swimming through my teens (though not at Olympic level) I can verify that record-shattering performances do not come from morning events.

 

[Mango]

Maybe the organizers have thought of the risks of having sleep deprived athletes and have created areas for them to relax, lounge around, and take naps. Have we heard anything about the venue? Or do we have to wait until February 2017?

 

[reneerose]

But the biggest issue is that NBC doesn't provide the livestream CBC does online. It's raw and unedited with not only no commentary, but whatever background sound the pool camera picks up. But every event gets its own stream. On the big track and field night in Rio they had a separate stream for the races, and the field events even had separate streams for different groups in the qualifiers. This I would really write in to complain about in your place....

If it was actually a live event in Rio...eg a Michael Phelps swim race, I recall that the NBC livestream had commentators, but I think they may have been sometimes using another country's broadcast/livestream feed? I don't exactly know. I recalled hearing two Australian commentators on the livestream of swimming and diving, I didn't watch the other sports, but the replay for gymnastics had American gymnasts commentary....some of the other sports had no commentary at all.... I wish I could see the CBC livestream, but I'm of course geo-blocked from that. I recall that each event from Rio on demand replay, mind you, had its own stream, but not live....? But my memory is fuzzy on that....

Going back to figure skating being shifted to the morning... I don't like the idea of figure skating being shifted to the morning just so it can fit a primetime broadcast. Do it for some other Olympic sport, but NOT figure skating. I don't think there are any precedents for 10am competition start times in any of the GPF or skating events overall, right? I hate the idea of a skater :noshake: being set back with not as good a result if they are forced to prep unreasonably early as already mentioned upthread....

 

[karne]

This is true, but I also remember skaters saying it affected their performances at both events - in Japan the traffic and distance between the rink and hotel meant that skaters were up super early and then had to try to nap at the rink between practice & event because there wasn't the time to go back & forth.

IIRC, at the Worlds in Saitama the had a special no-noise corridor and several "bedrooms" set up at the rink with nice comfy beds and everything so skaters could even sleep between practice/competition.

 

[gravy]

As we get both NBC and CBC (and TSN and SN as they share coverage) I can attest that for most sports Americans are getting less coverage.....unless they get Canadian TV on cable or satellite near the border.

Used to be that I would check in on the US broadcast but now I don't even set up the PVR to catch it as backup.

But the biggest issue is that NBC doesn't provide the livestream CBC does online. It's raw and unedited with not only no commentary, but whatever background sound the pool camera picks up. But every event gets its own stream. On the big track and field night in Rio they had a separate stream for the races, and the field events even had separate streams for different groups in the qualifiers. This I would really write in to complain about in your place....

They did for Rio and Sochi. For both you could watch the stream for any event live in the morning (and replay as well) and then watch the recaps in primetime.

 

[skatesofgold]

As we get both NBC and CBC (and TSN and SN as they share coverage) I can attest that for most sports Americans are getting less coverage.....unless they get Canadian TV on cable or satellite near the border.

Used to be that I would check in on the US broadcast but now I don't even set up the PVR to catch it as backup.

But the biggest issue is that NBC doesn't provide the livestream CBC does online. It's raw and unedited with not only no commentary, but whatever background sound the pool camera picks up. But every event gets its own stream. On the big track and field night in Rio they had a separate stream for the races, and the field events even had separate streams for different groups in the qualifiers. This I would really write in to complain about in your place....

Yes, NBC does. It's just not free. You have to have a cable package. During Rio, I was able to follow the apparatuses for gymnastics I wanted to watch online.

 

[noskates]

Speaking of Rio and irritations - I got SOOOOO tired of watching every freaking swim race. Swimming was on for HOURS and HOURS every night. Sorry - that's OT but....

And I will readily agree that the Canadian broadcasts are longer and more inclusive than anything we get in the US. I have two good friends in the Vancouver area and we discuss this frequently during competitions. The US might see the top ten - maybe if an American is in the top 10 - and generally only the top 5 skaters. This has been discussed ad nauseum and it just comes down to the interest in the US isn't what it used to be and the networks know that. Last week a whole evening of skating was left out because a NASCAR race had been rained out and continued later on in the day. So racing cars bumped figure skating.

 

[snowflake]

I’m sure skaters and some fans are already planning how to do Peyongchang, but...

...right now I’m figuring out how to watch Cup of China Grand Prix this weekend

you will get other events live though if you enjoy other sports... figure skating, gymnastics, swimming and track and field are well known to be in "american time"... but other sports will be offered all day long... so I am sure you will be able to enjoy some of the games live.

Yes, we do, I think ski sports will be in good o'clock European times.

 

[TGee]

Yes, NBC does. It's just not free. You have to have a cable package. During Rio, I was able to follow the apparatuses for gymnastics I wanted to watch online.

Thanks for the clarification....

We have something similar when CTV and TSN (Bell Media) have the rights for Skate Canada International. To watch those on live stream I had to log in through our cable or satellite provider.

But while CBC is more and more dependent on advertising revenue despite being a crown corporation (government owned), making sure that everyone can access Olympic coverage seems to be obligatory. I think this is the kind of access issue that can generate a lot of complaints to our federal commission that regulates broadcasters. And there are lots of ads on the stream that generate revenue so that I suspect that the CBC does well by making it openly available ....

I find it interesting that the IOC doesn't oblige NBC to make full coverage available as part of its agreement though. But we see the same thing with the ISU....buying he rights for a country doesn't seem to create an obligation to provide full and universal coverage....

 

[Yatagarasu]

But while CBC is more and more dependent on advertising revenue despite being a crown corporation (government owned), making sure that everyone can access Olympic coverage seems to be obligatory.

BBC has an obligation to air 100hr of free program for the winter Olympics and double that for the summer ones so it's probably something of the sort.

Of course things in the UK got really complicated considering the new deal Discovery communications made for some 1.3 billion dollars (so no, NBC is not the only one to pay), starting from 2018 in Europe, except the UK that will follow four years later, until 2024 I think (it's Eurosport that'll be airing the events). The BBC then made a deal and paid to have the free hours for 2018 and 2020, not just monetarily, I forgot the number now, around 100 million I think plus it gave over the rights for pay to view over to Eurosport, for the 2018 and 20 which it still had. They were in a fierce battle with Sky over that, so this is how it ended. Not sure what'll happen post 2020 and Tokyo. Eurosport plans to open a channel entirely for the Olympics (what NBC planned at the time they shelled out 7.75 billion dollars in 2014 for rights up to 2032 in an uncontested, closed bid btw).

 

[TGee]

Speaking of Rio and irritations - I got SOOOOO tired of watching every freaking swim race. Swimming was on for HOURS and HOURS every night. Sorry - that's OT but....

And I will readily agree that the Canadian broadcasts are longer and more inclusive than anything we get in the US. I have two good friends in the Vancouver area and we discuss this frequently during competitions. The US might see the top ten - maybe if an American is in the top 10 - and generally only the top 5 skaters. This has been discussed ad nauseum and it just comes down to the interest in the US isn't what it used to be and the networks know that. Last week a whole evening of skating was left out because a NASCAR race had been rained out and continued later on in the day. So racing cars bumped figure skating.

Uhm, have to be honest here. The CBC sometimes does this kind of thing.

Figure Skating now gets rolled into a bigger format labeled "Road to the Olympic Games" that typically runs Saturday afternoons. Any and all Olympic sports get covered year round under this umbrella, which is mostly for the good as I don't mind catching up on highlights of other sports during the floods, but sometimes it leads to really bad calls about priorities.

During Skate America they felt the need to cut away for an update on breaking World Cup bobsled results right in the middle of the final ladies flight......I guess the producer didn't think that Mariah Bell would make the podium, so they went away during her skate. I was really stunned and thought they would just delay the broadcast a few minutes, but all we got was her highlights......(Had to catch her full FS later on the internet...)

 

[karne]

Last week a whole evening of skating was left out because a NASCAR race had been rained out and continued later on in the day. So racing cars bumped figure skating.

Whoaaaaa, back up. The racing was live. And it in itself had already been bumped by football. So if you want to blame anyone, blame either the rain, or the football.

 

[NanaPat]

I went to the pre-olympic Canadian Nationals in Vancouver (2008? 2009?) and I recall the ladies free skates being quote early on Sunday morning. Not sure exactly what time, but if I recall correctly my daughter and I went later (maybe for the last flight or just for the gala, which followed the ladies) because WE didn't want to get up so early.

In the Golden Skate interview of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, they talk about not doing well in a free dance because it was in the evening, and they're not used to skating that late in the day! Their reactions was to start training / doing run throughs at various times of the day so they will be prepared for any schedule.

So yes, competition scheduling can be a problem, but those problems are not unique to any one competition or schedule.

 

[noskates]

Whoaaaaa, back up. The racing was live. And it in itself had already been bumped by football. So if you want to blame anyone, blame either the rain, or the football.

Well, I don't really care that NASCAR was "live" - I wanted to see the figure skating. I'm sure they would have bumped "live" figure skating for a taped NASCAR race if they chose to and if Max had been skating you would be irritated, too.

 

[karne]

Well, I don't really care that NASCAR was "live" - I wanted to see the figure skating. I'm sure they would have bumped "live" figure skating for a taped NASCAR race if they chose to and if Max had been skating you would be irritated, too.

Well, one, no, I wouldn't have been irritated, because I'm sure Weir just had an absolute field day with Max's skates at CoR. I can live without Weir's petty catty bitter commentary in my life.

Second, they would not have bumped live figure skating for a taped NASCAR race because they would not schedule it that way. Your argument does not work. It's not like the NASCAR could help what happened. It rained. They couldn't do anything about that!

 

[noskates]

Well you know - some people like to argue just for the sake of arguing - and I have other things to do. NASCAR is on for hours and hours and HOURS every weekend. I don't think it's too much to ask for 90 minutes of figure skating....regardless of who is skating/

And where did Johnny Weir come into this discussion about Olympic skates in the morning? And who broadcasts what and when? Surprising as it may be, not everything in the skating world revolves around Max.

 

[waterblades]

Uhm, have to be honest here. The CBC sometimes does this kind of thing.

Figure Skating now gets rolled into a bigger format labeled "Road to the Olympic Games" that typically runs Saturday afternoons. Any and all Olympic sports get covered year round under this umbrella, which is mostly for the good as I don't mind catching up on highlights of other sports during the floods, but sometimes it leads to really bad calls about priorities.

During Skate America they felt the need to cut away for an update on breaking World Cup bobsled results right in the middle of the final ladies flight......I guess the producer didn't think that Mariah Bell would make the podium, so they went away during her skate. I was really stunned and thought they would just delay the broadcast a few minutes, but all we got was her highlights......(Had to catch her full FS later on the internet...)

The worse part was that this wasn't live they actually choose not to show her only highlights. I complained to the cbc and heard nothing from them. I did get a tweet from one of the commintators tell me I can always live stream. Really your telling me not to watch you on cable but stream it with no commintary. Not a good response at all.. how about they do three hours and actually show the skating and then the other sports too.

 

[karne]

Well you know - some people like to argue just for the sake of arguing - and I have other things to do. NASCAR is on for hours and hours and HOURS every weekend. I don't think it's too much to ask for 90 minutes of figure skating....regardless of who is skating

Yes, because a NASCAR race takes hours and hours to complete. They didn't plan to go that late into the night. It just happened. They were bumped because of football to the channel the skating should have been on. I think it's a lot to ask to bump a LIVE sporting event into nothingness - and an extremely popular live sporting event, at that - for tape-delayed highlights.

And where did Johnny Weir come into this discussion about Olympic skates in the morning? And who broadcasts what and when? Surprising as it may be, not everything in the skating world revolves around Max.

No you don't. You don't get to try and turn this one back on me. Weir comes into the discussion because we're talking about NBC, for whom he is (unfortunately) a commentator. And YOU were the one who brought up Max, not me.