British and Irish Figure skating 2022-2023

[WednesdayMarch]

Summer amazing skating already. Can't wait for the FD today.

And Ashlie and Atl have been invited to skate in the gala, so I'm going to see my costumes in the ice right in front of me. Heaven.

 

[Weetos]

Summer amazing skating already. Can't wait for the FD today.

And Ashlie and Atl have been invited to skate in the gala, so I'm going to see my costumes in the ice right in front of me. Heaven.

Oh my gosh really? That's wonderful! I loved watching them in the JGP

Absolutely loved being in the audience so far but I actually have a rash on my hands from clapping so much lmao

 

[Ruthypegs]

Summer amazing skating already. Can't wait for the FD today.

And Ashlie and Atl have been invited to skate in the gala, so I'm going to see my costumes in the ice right in front of me. Heaven.

The Sheffield Gala? If so, that's an unexpected bonus - look forward to seeing them later.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Oh my gosh really? That's wonderful! I loved watching them in the JGP

Absolutely loved being in the audience so far but I actually have a rash on my hands from clapping so much lmao

I would be exactly the same if I had both hands to clap with! Having one in plaster is definitely cramping my style...

 

[WednesdayMarch]

The Sheffield Gala? If so, that's an unexpected bonus - look forward to seeing them later.

Oh yes.

And if anybody spots me (lots of hair, hand in plaster, purple bag with silver Roaring Mouse logo), come and say hello!

 

[La Rhumba]

Wow! What a fun event that was! And still the Gala to come. UK should get a GP more often. But make the tickets cheaper so it sells out.

As a viewer I'm sorry to say the coverage could've been better technically. Also Mark talks too much, even during the warm ups, and too much during performances. We don't need to know an element was timed with the phrasing of the music, we can see and hear it ourselves. He became rather repetitive, telling us the same thing about competitors 3 times or more, eg Mai's health problems.
He praised "the Sheffield crowd" rightly, but assumed they were all "Yorkshire folk". Did it not occur fans travelled far and wide to be there?

Anyway take a bow audience, you were fabulous, and that was the most stuffies I've seen since Yuzu's Pooh bears. You made this event great!

 

[La Rhumba]

P.S. Eric Hampton, the US Judge who usually scores LilahandLewis low, had them 4th in the Free Dance. Guess who he had 2nd? You guessed it - Carreira & Ponomarenko. Nothing unusual either.

 

[La Rhumba]

How exciting to see that Alexa Severn is planning a Triple + Triple combo in her Short Program at her next competition! She gave a lovely performance in the Gala, as did Ash & Atl.
Thankfully I checked the timings and watched on YouTube. Had I been waiting to watch on Eurosport Player, their coverage didn't start till Graham Newberry was midway through his Gala performance. With Mark's commentary. So I thought what am I paying for this for? I'll Cancel now incase I forget later and it automatically renews again and my bank rings to ask if it's a Kosher transaction I authorised? Blimey! It was almost as bad as cancelling Amazon Prime! Was I sure? I'll be missing out on fantastic sport. Did I want to change my mind? Eventually they let me cancel with no message saying "you can continue watching till your subscription runs out" as Eurosport used to do. Not sorry as its not the same anymore. Eurosport Skating coverage was once the best. It hasn't been for a while, and it's sad.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

How exciting to see that Alexa Severn is planning a Triple + Triple combo in her Short Program at her next competition! She gave a lovely performance in the Gala, as did Ash & Atl.

I was just amazed that Alexa was appearing in Sheffield at all. She was in Graz competing in the Ice Challenge on Wednesday and Thursday!

I look forward to when I do eventually get to watch it.

Thankfully I checked the timings and watched on YouTube. Had I been waiting to watch on Eurosport Player, their coverage didn't start till Graham Newberry was midway through his Gala performance. With Mark's commentary.

Although I wasn't watching the Gala (as I hadn't seen any of the competitions), I too was getting very angry about Eurosport Player not starting their coverage of the Gala until late. I was watching the Formula 1 feature race, and had run over to the computer to post my reminder post at the time the YouTube coverage started. And then had to keep running back to check if Eurosport had come on air earlier than they said they would be. But, they didn't.

As you say, they don't seem to care any more. And they haven't for a long time. Remember the time when they would have the commentators rinkside. I know Nicky has fallen out of favour for obvious reasons, but during 2011 Europeans he filmed a video showing him and Chris in their commentary seats and describing how things are done:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7KGOFo-0HQ

On the same YouTube channel, he has other videos showing features filmed at the same event (including an interview with Jeanette Altwegg that you would probably enjoy). And a video of full-blown studio presentation for the Free Dance at 2005 Worlds, when he was discussing things with Joanne Conway (gaaahhh!!!). They also had e-mails from viewers (I dread to imagine what the feedback would be nowadays!), and even a competition to win blades and a signed photo of Jenna or the Kerrs.

They don't go to that much effort any more! Now they just piggy back on the World Feed coverage, and only employ commentators if there is going to be some coverage of the event shown on their linear channels. And they don't even worry about bothering to bring in specialist commentators! (Although, that said, Richard Vaughan does actually appear in that studio video from 2005. He is the voice on the idents that were put in to separate the clips!)

Although I doubt if I will be subscribing to it, I hope Viaplay put in more effort when they take over the coverage next season.

So I thought what am I paying for this for? I'll Cancel now incase I forget later and it automatically renews again and my bank rings to ask if it's a Kosher transaction I authorised? Blimey! It was almost as bad as cancelling Amazon Prime! Was I sure? I'll be missing out on fantastic sport. Did I want to change my mind? Eventually they let me cancel with no message saying "you can continue watching till your subscription runs out" as Eurosport used to do. Not sorry as its not the same anymore. Eurosport Skating coverage was once the best. It hasn't been for a while, and it's sad.

Anyway, glad you got sorted out with cancelling Eurosport Player. They were determined to talk you out of cancelling, but that is understandable. At least you get to continue using it until your contract actually runs out. That is useful to know for when my contract comes up for renewal towards the end of February. (Hopefully by then Discovery+ will have finally been added to the BT Sport package as promised, and I will have no need for Eurosport Player any more).

And I know it is a nuisance, but at least the bank is taking security seriously. My Mum got a call from them one time querying an order she had made on e-Bay. And it turned out that they had become suspicious because the box to make a donation to some random charity had been clicked without her noticing.

Bearing in mind that it was half past six in the morning, when I first read that part of your comment, I was amazed that the bank cared whether you will be missing out on some fantastic sport! And I thought "More like they care about missing out on their cut of the direct debit!" Then I re-read it, and realised that you had gone back to talking about the cancellation process.

I think it's time I went and had my breakfast!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[fzztsimmons]

P.S. Eric Hampton, the US Judge who usually scores LilahandLewis low, had them 4th in the Free Dance. Guess who he had 2nd? You guessed it - Carreira & Ponomarenko. Nothing unusual either.

The free dance judging really showed the politicking for this season - the USA, Italian and French judge marking down the Brits and pushing the Canadians (LaLa are french canadian so I wonder if that had something to play for the French judge). I am honestly surprised that there wasn’t huge home inflation for Lilah and Lewis like we saw in other competitions - hint hint skate canada.

The gasp from the crowd when Lewis stumbled/fell was mad - I think maybe he got a bit carried away but recovered well. They threw away a good few points there so would have been much closer to the Italians had they gone clean.

All in all it was a fantastic event, as an attendee I think it was really well organised and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Lots of skaters hanging around in the stands and up for chatting with fans - I was on the other side to where most were sitting but I did get a photo and chat with Gabby Daleman I really hope the positive feedback is taken on board and GB gets more opportunities to host competitions BEFORE euros - and I hope this has inspired skaters around GB too!

 

[La Rhumba]

All in all it was a fantastic event, as an attendee I think it was really well organised and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Lots of skaters hanging around in the stands and up for chatting with fans - I was on the other side to where most were sitting but I did get a photo and chat with Gabby Daleman I really hope the positive feedback is taken on board and GB gets more opportunities to host competitions BEFORE euros - and I hope this has inspired skaters around GB too!

I really hope so too.! My only quibble would be that I thought all the flags raised on the flagpoles needed a good iron! But easily sorted for next time.

ISU Grand Prix: GB's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson take silver in Sheffield

British ice dancers Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson take a crowd-pleasing silver in Sheffield as the prestigious Grand Prix series comes to the UK for the first time.

www.bbc.co.uk

Natasha McKay quotes in this one.

Silver Grand Prix medal for Scottish ice dancers as they pave way for spot in Italy final

Scottish ice dancer Lewis Gibson and partner Lilah Fear won a silver medal and a likely place in the Grand Prix series final in the first event of the series ever to be held in the UK.

www.scotsman.com

 

[La Rhumba]

I was just amazed that Alexa was appearing in Sheffield at all. She was in Graz competing in the Ice Challenge on Wednesday and Thursday!

I look forward to when I do eventually get to watch it.



Although I wasn't watching the Gala (as I hadn't seen any of the competitions), I too was getting very angry about Eurosport Player not starting their coverage of the Gala until late. I was watching the Formula 1 feature race, and had run over to the computer to post my reminder post at the time the YouTube coverage started. And then had to keep running back to check if Eurosport had come on air earlier than they said they would be. But, they didn't.

As you say, they don't seem to care any more. And they haven't for a long time. Remember the time when they would have the commentators rinkside. I know Nicky has fallen out of favour for obvious reasons, but during 2011 Europeans he filmed a video showing him and Chris in their commentary seats and describing how things are done:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7KGOFo-0HQ

On the same YouTube channel, he has other videos showing features filmed at the same event (including an interview with Jeanette Altwegg that you would probably enjoy). And a video of full-blown studio presentation for the Free Dance at 2005 Worlds, when he was discussing things with Joanne Conway (gaaahhh!!!). They also had e-mails from viewers (I dread to imagine what the feedback would be nowadays!), and even a competition to win blades and a signed photo of Jenna or the Kerrs.

They don't go to that much effort any more! Now they just piggy back on the World Feed coverage, and only employ commentators if there is going to be some coverage of the event shown on their linear channels. And they don't even worry about bothering to bring in specialist commentators! (Although, that said, Richard Vaughan does actually appear in that studio video from 2005. He is the voice on the idents that were put in to separate the clips!)

Although I doubt if I will be subscribing to it, I hope Viaplay put in more effort when they take over the coverage next season.



Anyway, glad you got sorted out with cancelling Eurosport Player. They were determined to talk you out of cancelling, but that is understandable. At least you get to continue using it until your contract actually runs out. That is useful to know for when my contract comes up for renewal towards the end of February. (Hopefully by then Discovery+ will have finally been added to the BT Sport package as promised, and I will have no need for Eurosport Player any more).

And I know it is a nuisance, but at least the bank is taking security seriously. My Mum got a call from them one time querying an order she had made on e-Bay. And it turned out that they had become suspicious because the box to make a donation to some random charity had been clicked without her noticing.

Bearing in mind that it was half past six in the morning, when I first read that part of your comment, I was amazed that the bank cared whether you will be missing out on some fantastic sport! And I thought "More like they care about missing out on their cut of the direct debit!" Then I re-read it, and realised that you had gone back to talking about the cancellation process.

I think it's time I went and had my breakfast!

CaroLiza_fan

Thank you so much for those wonderful clips! Great to see. I never could watch the studio skating shows as they were only on British Eurosport and I was watching Eurosport International via the Astra satellite (those were the days!) Lovely Sandra Stevenson sent me a signed copy of her BBC Book of Skating, so I loved seeing her (sadly no longer with us). I did used to love Nicky Slater's Commentary in the early days, especially for icedance, when he was still in touch with the sport and talked to skaters and coaches. But even in his 2011 video from Berne he jokes about not keeping up to date with the rules "even though I'm supposed to know", and his value as a Commentator really deteriorated. It culminated in his dismissing LilahandLewis Disco Freedance - both he and Chris Howarth did - at Europeans in 2019. Neither had a clue about the waves they were creating that season, and these were British Commentators talking down the GBR skaters. They sounded like 2 out of touch bores then onwards, I'm afraid. Simon not doing any homework, research or catching up when he commentated just emphasised the lack of current knowledge and also an arrogance that was unpleasant.

 

[PaulE]

Thank you so much for those wonderful clips! Great to see. I never could watch the studio skating shows as they were only on British Eurosport and I was watching Eurosport International via the Astra satellite (those were the days!) Lovely Sandra Stevenson sent me a signed copy of her BBC Book of Skating, so I loved seeing her (sadly no longer with us). I did used to love Nicky Slater's Commentary in the early days, especially for icedance, when he was still in touch with the sport and talked to skaters and coaches. But even in his 2011 video from Berne he jokes about not keeping up to date with the rules "even though I'm supposed to know", and his value as a Commentator really deteriorated. It culminated in his dismissing LilahandLewis Disco Freedance - both he and Chris Howarth did - at Europeans in 2019. Neither had a clue about the waves they were creating that season, and these were British Commentators talking down the GBR skaters. They sounded like 2 out of touch bores then onwards, I'm afraid. Simon not doing any homework, research or catching up when he commentated just emphasised the lack of current knowledge and also an arrogance that was unpleasant.

I am so sorry to hear about Sandra not being with us. She is one of the first people my wife and I met when we started going to Junior competitions in 2007. I still remember waving to her as she passed on the bus to the airport when we were walking around Gdansk after the JGP Final in December 2007. She was a very sweet lady—Rest in Peace Sandra.

 

[Weetos]

Really enjoyed my first time watching so much. I could write pages about it. My hands are slowly healing haha. I dragged my mum along with me (no knowledge but quite enjoys watching) and she really enjoyed it too. By the end she was getting opinionated about scores!

I am really not good at judging ice dance scores so I ignore the sometimes nasty commentary about it, I will just say that after watching several serious/slow/downright dreary free dances the absolute RELIEF of Lilah and Lewis really putting on a show was much appreciated by me and everyone else there!!

I really hope UK can get more high level events, maybe getting a JGP again, that would be great. I'm even toying with the idea of taking myself off to watch a bit of nationals.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Really enjoyed my first time watching so much. I could write pages about it. My hands are slowly healing haha. I dragged my mum along with me (no knowledge but quite enjoys watching) and she really enjoyed it too. By the end she was getting opinionated about scores!

I am really not good at judging ice dance scores so I ignore the sometimes nasty commentary about it, I will just say that after watching several serious/slow/downright dreary free dances the absolute RELIEF of Lilah and Lewis really putting on a show was much appreciated by me and everyone else there!!

I really hope UK can get more high level events, maybe getting a JGP again, that would be great. I'm even toying with the idea of taking myself off to watch a bit of nationals.

You can criticise the technical, but nobody can deny that they are one of the most entertaining dance teams to watch from an audience perspective - and for me, one of the teams I can emotionally get behind.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Thank you so much for those wonderful clips! Great to see. I never could watch the studio skating shows as they were only on British Eurosport and I was watching Eurosport International via the Astra satellite (those were the days!) Lovely Sandra Stevenson sent me a signed copy of her BBC Book of Skating, so I loved seeing her (sadly no longer with us). I did used to love Nicky Slater's Commentary in the early days, especially for icedance, when he was still in touch with the sport and talked to skaters and coaches. But even in his 2011 video from Berne he jokes about not keeping up to date with the rules "even though I'm supposed to know", and his value as a Commentator really deteriorated. It culminated in his dismissing LilahandLewis Disco Freedance - both he and Chris Howarth did - at Europeans in 2019. Neither had a clue about the waves they were creating that season, and these were British Commentators talking down the GBR skaters. They sounded like 2 out of touch bores then onwards, I'm afraid. Simon not doing any homework, research or catching up when he commentated just emphasised the lack of current knowledge and also an arrogance that was unpleasant.

Funnily enough, although we had already got Sky Digital and could get British Eurosport, we continued to watch Eurosport International on 19.2E analogue until it finally closed down. I didn't like the way British Eurosport preferred to have studio discussions rather than show us the live pictures. I really got the impression that they had the attitude that "we have our own studio, so we are going to take every opportunity to use it!"

The difference of the coverage of the World Superbike races was the worst. ESP Intl would show the World Feed pictures of the riders on the grid, with the Eurosport's English language commentary. British Eurosport, meanwhile, would show us people sitting in a studio talking right up until the Warm-Up lap. And it was so frustrating not seeing what was happening at the track. Or hearing the craic between Jack Burnicle and Jamie Whitham in commentary (oh, the chemistry between them was brilliant! Just like Simon and Chris were before they started going downhill).

To be fair, the World Superbike coverage is still pretty much like that, except they now have Charlie Hiscott doing a grid walk. Oh, how I wish that the version of Eurosport that is FTA on 19.2E digital still had multiple language soundtracks like it did in the analogue days. But, alas, it just has the German soundtrack. Or that they made the full World Feed picturse available on Eurosport Player / Discovery+ with the Eurosport commentary.

Which brings me to my next point. You leaving Eurosport Player the other day must have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Because they have now finally set a date for the closure of Eurosport Player.

Eurosport Player will close in the British Isles on Friday 13th January 2023. So, 12 days before the first day of action from the European Championships.

They sent through an e-mail last night explaining what will happen. Basically, it is similar to what I described as happening in Slovakia when Eurosport Player closed there. Existing subscribers to Eurosport Player can continue to access the videos on the main Eurosport website.

If anybody wants to read it, here is what the e-mail said:

Eurosport Player is retiring - find out more

Hi,

Eurosport Player is coming to an end so we can focus on improving Eurosport.com and the Eurosport app — your complete hub for live sport, on-demand content and latest news.

Find out how to continue watching the Eurosport content you love below.

Changes to how you access the Eurosport service

From 13 January 2023 Eurosportplayer.com and the Eurosport Player apps will no longer be available.

Your subscription and the same premium content you love will not be affected.

You can continue watching all your favourite sports on all your devices, by signing in at Eurosport.com or via the Eurosport app.

Eurosport has a slightly different look and feel from Eurosport Player. You can also explore the different ways to browse and discover new sport content.

How to continue watching on your devices

On an Apple or Google mobile phone or tablet:

1. Delete the Eurosport Player app.

2. Download the Eurosport app from the Google or Apple app store if you haven’t already.

3. Sign in using your current username and password.

If you watch on an Xbox, Playstation 4, Samsung TV, Android TV or Fire TV, sign in and watch as normal.

Sign in now to start streaming!

For information on how to access Eurosport content via discovery+ on Apple TV devices see here.

Questions and support

To manage your subscription, visit your account.

To learn more, see our FAQs or visit our Help Centre.

Sincerely, the Eurosport Team

Unfortunately, the content being on the main Eurosport website is not a way for new subscribers getting around paying £20 extra a year for Discovery+. If you click on "subscribe now" on eurosport.co.uk, it takes you to the Discovey+ sign-up page.

There's still no word yet on when Discovery+ will become available to BT Sport subscribers. I would like to think that it won't be too long now. If it happens around the time that Eurosport Player closes, it would be perfect timing!

My Eurosport Player subscription runs out in February, on the first day of the opening round of the 2023 World Superbike season. So, what I think I'll do is cancel my subscription a day or so before Eurosport Player closes, so that I am doing it on a site I am familiar with. If I haven't got access to Discovery+ via BT by 13th January, I'll start watching things via the main Eurosport website until my contract runs out. And if I still don't have access by the time my Eurosport Player subscription ends, well, so be it. I can just make do with what is on the linear channels. For anything not shown on the TV, knowing that the content gets archived means I can deal with having a gap if it is relatively short.

As for the reminder posts on here, I'll continue including Eurosport Player links for the rest of the Senior GP Series. When Eurosort Player closes, I'll start providing links to videos on the main Eurosport website instead. And, if it is not too hard to find the videos, I will go back and replace the Eurosport Player links with Eurosport website links for the Senior GP Series. As you may have noticed, Discovery+ links have already become a part of the reminder posts for this season.

But, as we all know, the figure skating rights move to a different broadcaster next season. And since on demand services were not a big thing the last time something I watched changed broadcaster (MotoGP, which moved from British Eurosport to BT Sport in 2014), I don't know how this will work with the on demand videos from this season:

• Will they stay on Eurosport until they were due to expire (I think it is 12 months)?
• Will they stay on Eurosport until the start of next year's Senior GP Series, and then be taken down?
• Will they be taken down when this season officially ends at the start of July?

And, for that matter, will events from this season be available on demand on Viaplay next season?

There is a lot of uncertainty hanging over all these changes. And I don't like uncertainty. So, I hope things become clearer soon.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[La Rhumba]

I am so sorry to hear about Sandra not being us. She is one of the first people my wife and I met when we started going to Junior competitions in 2007. I still remember waving to her as she passed on the bus to the airport when we were walking around Gdansk after the JGP Final in December 2007. She was a very sweet lady—Rest in Peace Sandra.

Lovely to hear memories of Sandra, she was indeed a wonderful lady. ❤
She died 4 years ago, and had a Memorial Service in Lake Placid.
I've copied an Obituary from the Telegrah (one of the National newspapers she wrote for) as it's subscription to view.

Telegraph Obituaries
22 JULY 2018 •

Sandra Stevenson, who has died aged 76, was the doyenne of ice skating writers, covering every major event from 1968 until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She chronicled Britain’s glory years, when John Curry, Robin Cousins, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were in their pomp, and spent many years as the Daily Telegraph’s ice skating correspondent.

In Innsbruck in 1976 she saw John Curry become Britain’s first men’s Olympic figure skating champion. “He gave a superb showing, possibly the most graceful any male skater has ever given in a skating event,” she wrote. “Each finger tip was in the correct position to match each note of the Don Quixote ballet music. Even the final move in which he progressed from a double axel jump to a kneeling position was accomplished without the slightest tremor or gasp for breath.”

Sandra Ann Catherine Stevenson was born on July 27 1941 at Greenock in Scotland. Her father, a naval officer, was stationed there, and after the war the family settled in Coventry, though her mother died when Sandra was young.

When she was 14 she took a Saturday job which gave her the funds to pursue her hobby of ice skating at Solihull Ice Rink. She attended St Andrew’s University, and while there she began writing for the DC Thomson titles, particularly the new magazine for girls, Bunty.

Her full-time writing career did not get underway immediately, however, and after graduating, she secured jobs in the chorus lines of ice shows, culminating in a spell with the corps de ballet in the 1962 season of Gerald Palmer’s Carnival on Ice.

Realising that she was a better writer than skater, however, she decided to forge a career reporting on the sport she loved. First, she needed to make some money and she worked as a secretary in London until a visitor to her office offered her a job as an air stewardess, which gave her an opportunity to indulge her love of travel.

She moved with the job to Los Angeles, which she hated, but when she was required to move again, to New York, she fell in love with the city and stayed there for the rest of her life.

She combined life in the air with reporting on skating, and in 1968 she covered her first World Championships, in Geneva, and the Olympic Games in Grenoble. Three years later she was taken on as the Guardian’s ice skating correspondent, and she later joined The Daily Telegraph. She also wrote skating obituaries for The Independent.

She wrote for skating magazines, often as Alexandra Stevenson or Sonja Springs, and in 1984 she wrote The BBC Book of Skating. The following year she ghostwrote Spice on Ice, the joint autobiography of the former British ice dance champions, Karen Barber and Nicky Slater.

With her effervescent personality, and her habit of asking quirky questions at press conferences, Stevenson was a popular figure on the skating circuit – “people liked to be around her,” said one former colleague.

Given the subjective nature of judging ice skating, there has always been opposition in certain quarters to its inclusion in the Olympics, but Sandra Stevenson fought its corner eloquently. It hogged the TV ratings, she pointed out, while “such sports as biathlon and luge simply benefit as tag-along events.” And in any case, she pointed out, “Why would you deny such harmless, pleasant entertainment to a world in need of beauty?”

She suffered from arthritis in later years, but carried on working until 2014. Sandra Stevenson was unmarried and had no children.

Sandra Stevenson, born July 27 1941, died July 7 2018

Originally published here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2018/07/22/sandra-stevenson-ice-skating-writer-obituary/

 

[La Rhumba]

Which brings me to my next point. You leaving Eurosport Player the other day must have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Because they have now finally set a date for the closure of Eurosport Player.

Eurosport Player will close in the British Isles on Friday 13th January 2023. So, 12 days before the first day of action from the European Championships.

They sent through an e-mail last night explaining what will happen. Basically, it is similar to what I described as happening in Slovakia when Eurosport Player closed there. Existing subscribers to Eurosport Player can continue to access the videos on the main Eurosport website.

Got the same email, and thought the same!
I wish InfrontSports (which own Viaplay?) Would explain on what basis they copyright YouTube videos of the GPs? I asked last year and got no reply. Brau Avita has RaiSport coverage of the British GP up after 3 days. Yet my Eurosport & Canadian Web coverage videos of Skate Canada were instantly blocked. There's no rhyme nor reason to what gets blocked except I seem to be targeted.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Got the same email, and thought the same!
I wish InfrontSports (which own Viaplay?) Would explain on what basis they copyright YouTube videos of the GPs? I asked last year and got no reply. Brau Avita has RaiSport coverage of the British GP up after 3 days. Yet my Eurosport & Canadian Web coverage videos of Skate Canada were instantly blocked. There's no rhyme nor reason to what gets blocked except I seem to be targeted.

Viaplay is owned by Viaplay Group, who used to be NENT Group.

InfrontSports are actually the company that the ISU employed to promote the ISU events and sell the broadcasting rights, so that they don't have to dirty their hands with things like that. Infront have been doing the same things with ski sports for the FIS for donkey's years.

I don't know when the current RAI contract was signed, but it may well have been when the ISU were still doing the deals themselves. The current Eurosport and CBC contracts were definitely signed after Infront took over the promoting of the events. This may be the reason for the different treatment of coverage being uploaded to YouTube, but I don't know for sure.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[PaulE]

Lovely to hear memories of Sandra, she was indeed a wonderful lady. ❤
She died 4 years ago, and had a Memorial Service in Lake Placid.
I've copied an Obituary from the Telegrah (one of the National newspapers she wrote for) as it's subscription to view.

La Rhumba, thank you very much for posting the obituary. I believe I was introduced to Alexandra Stevenson, but later she was always called Sandra.