200+ hours of skating on NBC channels!

moonvine said:

My roommate is really not going to like moving up another tier. But it's cheaper than 39.99. HULU is probably a good deal if you don't have cable. And if I moved up another tier I'd get Nebraska gymnastics, which I follow because of Chris Brooks, and UCLA gymnastics, which I follow because i love their dance. We already get the SEC Network. I'm just trying to think up a good argument.

Click to expand...

Call your cable provider & get an exact quote. If you have to pay extra to add SEC to your current tier (as I had to do with Big 10 conference), it's possible that you can replace it all with a tier that includes both Olympic and SEC at the same cost as you're paying now. That's what happened to me.

Since I already did the research for this problem for myself and see that many others have similar questions or cost concerns, I thought my experience might be of some help.

For those in this thread whose cable providers do not offer the Olympic Channel, I would suggest testing or considering switching providers to one of the robust alternative streaming TV options. Helpfully, all are contract free and available for testing with free 7 day trials if you want to see what they're all about, or are just desperate to watch live skating. I've tested all the major providers over the last three years and have seen most of them become viable, quality alternatives to traditional cable. In my opinion, the three best to are DirecTV Now, Hulu Live TV, and PlayStation Vue.

As already mentioned, Hulu's platform features the OC. So does Sony's PlayStation Vue. DirecTV now has a separate standalone platform called DirecTV NOW. The top tiers for each of these streaming services are less expensive than many of the traditional cable or satellite packages mentioned in this thread. I dropped the TV portion from a $220/month cable package a few months ago and switched to DirecTV NOW. Before doing that, I previously had to pay for the highest cable tier with my old provider to get various sports packages, including the Tennis Channel. However, the OC was not planned to be added, so I searched for a cost effective alternative.

All the sports packages I wanted are included with DTVN and I've been very happy with it. As a bonus, the monthly fee with DTVN is $25/month cheaper if you are an AT&T phone subscriber, since AT&T owns DTVN. In the end, I now pay $45/month for 'cable' and saved about $100/month overall.

The only device investment/requirement would be to have a Chromecast or other streaming device connected to your TV. Of course you can choose to just watch on mobile or desktop as well.

Other notes:
-Compare and contrast with what you have, channels and cost.
-Focus on your must have channels when choosing a provider.
-Hulu and PS Vue both offer cloud DVR for recording TV.
-DTVN is testing DVR and will add it between the end of 2017 and spring of 2018.
-DVR is far less important now, since virtually all 'missed' TV can be watched on demand with your cable log in in each channel's respective app.
-All streaming providers offer some mix of live local network TV and on demand access to all or most network TV. DTVN is in negotiations with CBS for local stations to be added city by city in the coming months. That would give live coverage for all local network stations.
-No local taxes and device or other random fees added on.
-Cancel, upgrade or downgrade packages at any time.

All in all, I've found the TV landscape is becoming far more flexible and cost effective than it appears on the surface.

***Lastly, ESPN's streaming app usually adds Russian and Japanese Nationals to it's coverage in December. It can be watched on desktop, mobile or streamed to a TV. International Figure Skating usually has a streaming schedule posted leading up to them.

NBC Olympics website today includes links to numerous updates with profiles of skaters, including numerous "What Are" segments and photos from the various Pre-Olympic media summits.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-feed#?sport=FSK

Moxiejan said:

Call your cable provider & get an exact quote. If you have to pay extra to add SEC to your current tier (as I had to do with Big 10 conference), it's possible that you can replace it all with a tier that includes both Olympic and SEC at the same cost as you're paying now. That's what happened to me.

Click to expand...

SEC comes with Tier 1. I was so excited last year to get Tier 2 because it included NBCSN. Now they show (almost) everything on the Olympic Channel which is Tier 3. Blah. Also, does anyone know why the Olympic Channel has full replays of the Ladies and Men's short and long, but no full replays of Pairs or Ice Dance at all? It's quite annoying.

Of course I also have Ice Network, but I actually prefer the commentary.

Links to Cup of China videos on nbcsports.com are below. (No password or log-in required.)

In the first batch, commentary in Chinese can be heard (whether by intention or as the result of audio bleed, I am not sure??).

I imagine that nbcsports.com will be adding a few Cup of China FS/FD videos in the next few days.

---

ETA:

Links to NHK Trophy videos on nbcsports.com are below. (No password or log-in required.)

For the first batch, no commentary.

I imagine that nbcsports.com will be adding several additional NHK Trophy videos in the next few days.

---

ETA:

---

ETA:

So ... NBC Sports just sent me an e-mail with this subject line:


And with this banner headline at the top of the body of the e-mail:


I usually try to be reasonably understanding of typos and such.
But really? This error shows sheer sloppiness.
[And what's with "live coverage in" an event? "Live coverage of" an event, where I come from.]

[The broadcast schedule further down in the e-mail is for GP France, at least.]

And I did not mention it above, but the descriptive blurb for the NBC video of Karen Chen's FS at Skate Canada International says:


The reality was that after her FS, she only temporarily was in third place -- with five ladies left to compete in the FS.

Please, NBC, you gotta be more accurate.

Links to Internationaux de France videos on nbcsports.com are below. (No password or log-in required.)

For posterity, a belated list of links to Skate America videos on nbcsports.com. (No password or log-in required.)

For posterity, the overall link to nbcsports.com videos from 2018 U.S. Nats:


Examples:

---

And catching up re 2017 GPF: