Comments on how to improve NBC's coverage.

[Mathman]

I liked everything about the six hour coverage on Saturday and the men's coverage today. Johnny and Tara are getting their groove on, Terry was professional as always, good old Scott was good old Scott. Tanith is certainly the bright spot on the team.

I think they were helped by the quality of the skating throughout and by the drama which occured in the final few skates of all four disciplines. This was the first time I paid attention to pairs for a long time. The winning skate was a gem. The broadcasting team did a great job on the Shibs overtaking Chock and Bates. The ladies and then the men didn't really need anything from the announcers and commentators to rivet our attention.

I didn't really pay any attention to the little score box. But I was glad that it was small enough that it didn't block the view of the skaters. I greatly enjoyed the lower flights, falls and all. Quite a few of them had something special (Hannah Miller, Sean Rabbitt). Plus seeing the second flights helped the viewer to appreciate just how hard this sport is, and just how good the top flight is.

I give the broadcast four stars out of four.

 

[NAOTMAA]

I run very hot and cold with Johnny and Tara, especially Johnny.

There are many times when they say something that I completely agree with and then other times when they go and say something that reminds me why I disliked them during their competing days in the first place. Every competition they come close to winning me over and then say something to blow it

 

[MoonlightSkater]

Fortunately, I was able to watch broadcast in the evening. If I was a casual viewer, I probably would've change channels during the 2nd hour of the broadcast. The ladies in positions 7-12 did not skate very well and there was no way any of them were going to land on the podium. (Note: this is nothing against these ladies. Even during the height of ice skating's popularity in the US, I can recall friends commenting on the falls that typically occur in this group and the lack of 'something' that made this less interesting for the casual viewer.)


I think NBC should've rebroadcast the long programs of the top 2 pairs and the free dance of the top 3 dance teams during the 2nd hour. Many of them were wonderful and it would've been a way to promote the 2 disciplines, especially dance.

Honestly, I think they should take the first 20 minutes or so of each broadcast and show the best short programs for the discipline being featured. Yes, this means they won't mix ladies into coverage for pairs and ice dance, for instance, but it also means that they can start the broadcast off with really good skating, show a few of the programs that casual fans would like but probably missed, and overcome the problem of starting with a weaker program all at once. Yes, us IN fans will still have to deal with a gap in coverage, but at least it will be with a purpose. OR maybe USFSA could schedule a 20 minute pause between the first two groups and the final two groups during which NBC shows the shorts from the best few skaters/teams, and then we don't have to wait several days to see the mid-level skaters' programs. Everyone wins.

 

[sowcow]

...OR maybe USFSA could schedule a 20 minute pause between the first two groups and the final two groups during which NBC shows the shorts from the best few skaters/teams, and then we don't have to wait several days to see the mid-level skaters' programs. Everyone wins.

Doesn't it take ~20 minutes for the ice to be resurfaced?

And, don't they normally flood/resurface the ice at Senior events after the completion of the 2nd group of competitors [or, put another way, the warm-up for the 3rd group of skaters/couples only goes on after the completion of a ~20 minute ice resurfacing]?

If the above is true, it would be easy for a broadcaster to implement your suggestion; since there's already a 'mandatory'(?) ~20 minute 'pause' worked into the competition schedule!

 

[apons575]

I thought NBC did alright....but they need to stop talking so much when programs are going well. Terry, I don't need Gracie's statistics at the 2:00 mark...and Tanith really ruined the ShibSibs free dance for me, I couldn't even enjoy their twizzles and big step sequence because Tanith was talking so much. Take a note from Scott and Sandra (can't believe I'm saying that), if a program is going well....just don't say anything else unless a mistake happens.

 

[sgsmozart]

One thing I would really like is when a skater is having a particularly great skate and it is obvious to all, that the announcers ease off talking or even be quiet for awhile and just let us enjoy. I had to turn the sound off a couple of times because I found Tara's voice distracting at times and of course that then turned off ALL the sound; not a good thing.

I completely agree. The announcers are annoying and distracting. By interjecting their comments, they destroy the theatricality of the event. Could you imagine someone talking non-stop during a performance of a ballet?

 

[JMJ2015]

I thought NBC did alright....but they need to stop talking so much when programs are going well. Terry, I don't need Gracie's statistics at the 2:00 mark...and Tanith really ruined the ShibSibs free dance for me, I couldn't even enjoy their twizzles and big step sequence because Tanith was talking so much. Take a note from Scott and Sandra (can't believe I'm saying that), if a program is going well....just don't say anything else unless a mistake happens.

I think sometimes when Tanith is friends with the people she's watching she gets excited and says too much. I know there are some programs with Meryl and Charlie where she was sharing information she had because she had an insider's view and it was interesting but would have been more interesting during the re-cap.

I thought Charlie if anything said too little. He was also very quiet and kind of hard to hear, at least on the youtube videos I've seen. Like he didn't want to disturb the skaters by talking too loudly?

 

[GF2445]

I really appreciate the commentary. For me, when i watch a sport, i find it unusual when there is none or little.
also,mwhen the causal viewer comes and watches, the commentators want to help people get back up to speed or provide information.

 

[skylark]

I completely agree. The announcers are annoying and distracting. By interjecting their comments, they destroy the theatricality of the event. Could you imagine someone talking non-stop during a performance of a ballet?

That's it, exactly. Especially because they start in with the "filling in" comments during the quieter parts of the program, which are important to appreciate the artistry, the musical interpretation by the skater, and the effectiveness of the mood changes.

 

[andyjo24]

My suggestions for improving NBC coverage: replace Johnny and Tara.

 

[daphenaxa]

less commercial breaks tbh. So we can see the slow-mo replays of who under-rotates and is not called on it. I think Johnny and Tara are fine.

 

[jenaj]

I couldn't read the little box in the upper left corner. Maybe you need HDTV?? It's a good idea but make it bigger. Tara is annoying but tolerable as long as she doesn't talk too much. Johnny and Terry are OK. During the Grand Prix, I thought Terry and Tracy Wilson were the best commentators but I understand why NBC doesn't want to use them for the big events.

 

[NicolettaL]

That was my first time with NBC event. I'm full of appreciation for you americans because in your tv there is a commercial brake in every 5 minutes and it's so annoying. Our Eurosport usually shows 2 last groups and I think it works fine. Score window should be a little bit biger, and tottaly agree about the colour because on my computer stream I couldn't see the proper dots colour. So sorry but commentators were beyond annoying and they could ruin every moment of the competition. I would love to hear more about tech side, and what I actually see on the ice in this particular moment, without digressions to Tara's skating live in every performance. Also they could really start to point out the jumps, because all I hear about them is - perfectly fine, and I finaly worked out how to recognize jumps in a proper way. So I see wrong edges and so on. If they do digression it could be connected to the skater on the ice. Cutting out Carly in the middle of her FP pissed me of a bit, and organizing EX this same day after the end of the competition? Come on people! It can be dangerous to the skaters at it was... I tottaly also agree about reminding top tree SP. It would be good, because there are some people that couldn't have IN broadcast.

 

[sc8]

I was really pleased to see the base score posted and the running totals on the screen. Eurosport,Russian TV, Italian TV all give running totals, so seeing these in the US media is a huge improvement for me. I think the should post the base value for each element too so that viewers can see the way a skater improved on the base score through GOE.

I don't like hearing Johnny Weir or Tara question the judges scores because that makes the viewer think something fishy is up. They had different camera angles so they arrived at some different decisions, so perhaps the judges replay camera angle should be used in these cases instead of the tv feed so that viewers can be more confident in the decisions made by judges/technical caller because that's what we would see in slow-mo too! Johnny and Tara are still doing well as far as I'm concerned, but I also agree with their sentiment to send the top three from the competition. Tara said something ageist when she said that giving Chen an opportunity at worlds would be important to his future Olympic gold prospects. It is hear where I think the best skaters of the season (and the US still should make this process more concrete - e.g., 100% of us nationals placement, 75% placement at Grand Prix events, 50% prior year worlds and nationals -- this is completely hypothetical, but you get the idea - a formal scoring process that translates to a ranking of skaters and teams in US. The top 3 go on...which would have eliminated the issues in selecting the women's Olympic team,for example)

And, as much as I love Jason Brown, the decision to leave him off worlds was the right decision considering his injury and less than stellar Grand Prix season. I just hope US men continue to earn a three-man world team. I'm more confident in the US women securing their three,but it would say so much for our men if two of our top men are out (brown and Farris) yet we're still able to secure three spots.

I think it possible we could get three pairs teams - a sixth and seventh place is not out of reach - a very very long shot, but a wonderful possibility with two very good teams I'll be cheering for!

A great nationals with good skates from our world team (except Scimeca and Kneirim, who skated poorly for them). I'm thrilled for the Shib sibs that the won right-out, not because of a fall from Chock-Bates. I think the Shibs deserved to win the short too, but so delighted the won a first national title...they deserved it completely. I wish we could send four teams to worlds (as I imagine the Russians wish they could send four -or more- ladies....

 

[NAOTMAA]

Even though I agreed with them I do agree that Johnny and Tara went a little overboard after the men's event.

If someone doesn't tell them to tone it down then we are heading towards another Scott and Sandra "I'm so ashamed of our sport" meltdown from you know what Figure skating in the US does NOT need another one of those :disagree:

 

[Matilda]

My suggestion would be to send Johnny and Tara to the actual competitions not just for the Nationals (and this year to Boston for the Worlds, I presume), but to all the GPs, GPF, EC, 4CCC, and the Worlds. I like them as commentators anyway, but they were clearly a lot more excited about the competition when they were actually on site in St. Paul, and that translated into a more enthusiastic and lively commentary, imo. It must be hard to be enthusiastic when you already know the results of the competition that you're commenting on. Let them do the broadcast live, even if it airs later.

 

[NAOTMAA]

My suggestion would be to send Johnny and Tara to the actual competitions not just for the Nationals (and this year to Boston for the Worlds, I presume), but to all the GPs, GPF, EC, 4CCC, and the Worlds. I like them as commentators anyway, but they were clearly a lot more excited about the competition when they were actually on site in St. Paul, and that translated into a more enthusiastic and lively commentary, imo. It must be hard to be enthusiastic when you already know the results of the competition that you're commenting on. Let them do the broadcast live, even if it airs later.

Its an excellent idea and your right but kind of impossible considering NBC's piss poor coverage of skating in general outside of nationals and world. Not to mention they apparently have different private schedules and can't do all competitions together apparently

 

[concorde]

When I first tuned in, I did not understand the dots. My 10-year old skater also had to explain to me what the dots meant but once I understood, I really liked them. But I also agree that they were hard to see even on our BIG HDTV.

I think NBC is really trying to educate the public on how skating is scored. The "dots" are a step in the right directions since it makes people better understand that just because a person attempts a jump, they do not get full credit unless the jump has full rotation; same issue with the spins and get the right number of rotations / levels.

And I also liked the comments from Tara and Johnny. I thought they were very educational for both me the general viewer. But I know they also gave an aspiring skaters a lot of insight on how the sport really works.

 

[Chemistry66]

I wish they would allow USFS to post individual programs on youtube along the lines of what USAG does for gymnastics - they can't post the full broadcast or commentary until after the event, but they can post individual routines.

 

[Matilda]

I wish they would allow USFS to post individual programs on youtube along the lines of what USAG does for gymnastics - they can't post the full broadcast or commentary until after the event, but they can post individual routines.

Even better: livestream the competitions with the broadcast team and then re-broadcast an shorter, edited version for the network TV.