Comments on how to improve NBC's coverage.

[heyang]

I think most people will complain about commentators. As much as some have expressed a dislike for Tara and Johnny, I can recall just as many disliking Dick and Peggy.

I think Terry cites Tara's OMG because some people might not remember her OGM. If you ask some people, Kwan won in 98 (as in they really think she won the OGM vs thinking she deserved the OGM). Given their youth and relative newness to broadcast TV, Terry's just reminding everyone why Tara is an 'expert'. I also believe Johnny was hired because he can be outrageous and outspoken - someone who is willing to stir the pot. Commentating 'live' is hard work - people are going to say something and not have it come out as intended 100% of the time.

 

[NAOTMAA]

I think most people will complain about commentators. As much as some have expressed a dislike for Tara and Johnny, I can recall just as many disliking Dick and Peggy.

Not to mention Scott and Sandra. Now suddenly I'm seeing multiple posters write about wanting Scott back after trashing him for years Although I have yet to see anyone write it about Sandra

 

[Bonnie F]

Well, I'm just going to give my opinion, unpopular as it may be I agreed completely with everything Tara and Johnny said about judging of the men's event and found it refreshing that they actually had the gumption to talk about it instead of trying to convince fans that nothing unexpected had occurred in terms of the scoring. I also fully believe that their commentary had an effect on the decision to leave Jason Brown off the world team. They stated what I think a lot of fans found quite apparent, that USFSA heavily plays favorites and does not value the same things that are currently being valued internationally. I don't think they were whining at all, I think they were stating the obvious and saying what needed to be said. I love their honesty and I find I they provide more insight into the technical aspects of figure skating than I ever learned from any other American commentators. I agree with others who say they could dress more professionally and that Terry could stop his frequent references to Tara's OGM which seems awkward for Tara and for Johnny. I also think IceNetwork should be allowed to stream groups which will not been seen live on NBC. Other than that I though NBC did a great job, they showed 8+ hours of coverage with more to come next weekend, they showed the top 10-12 men and ladies live. The technical scoring was great, although the yellow light was hard to distinguish. I think NBC did a good job.

 

[Mrs. P]

Well, I'm just give my opinion, unpopular as it may be I agreed completely with everything Tara and Johnny said about judging of the men's event and found it refreshing that they actually had the gumption to talk about it instead of trying to convince fans that nothing unexpected had occurred in terms of the scoring. I also fully believe that their commentary had an effect of the decision to leave Jason Brown off the world team.

I really didn't think they would grant Jason's petition, even before all that stuff happened and I believe all the social media outrage was over speculation not any concrete proof, honestly. It was one of those cases of "If you say it loud enough it's suppose to be true" type things.

The fact they made their decision in less than hour tells me they weren't even considering anything other than top 3.

The only similar precedent was Denney and Coughlin and that wasn't even comparable since the pairs field at the time wasn't that deep. It was them or a the then-new team of Scimeca/Knerim, who did well, but didn't do four quads.

 

[NAOTMAA]

To be honest I almost feel Terry constantly mentions Tara's OGM because truthfully many people probably forgot who she is. So Terry is reminding people who she is and why she's eligible to be a commentator. Despite her enormous accomplishments she came and went so fast and barely left a mark if any at all. If you ask someone on the street who won the Olympics that year they would probably say Michelle Kwan.

 

[Culturevulture73]

To be fair to Terry, if you watch him call other sports and he's not the analyst (which is anything but basketball), he'll bring up what you did to get to be the analyst. He asked both Tara and Johnny about competing and, frankly, if your field of competitors is all fifteen year old girls and you have the youngest fu next to you, what else are you gonna say? It would be like sitting next to Terry at the Final Four and not asking him what it was like to be there. (Hell, they ask him about basketball during golf).

I loved them discussing what to do after the men's competition and then going it over it again with Scott. That's what the sport needs on television- discussion about it as a sport. I got a kick out of them just going crazy over Nathan Chen's four quads - without screaming at me. I like Scott as an analyst emeritus.

Then again, I like all the Instagram videos too and Johnny's crazy clothes. If it gets people to tune in, great.

 

[Bonnie F]

I really didn't think they would grant Jason's petition, even before all that stuff happened and I believe all the social media outrage was over speculation not any concrete proof, honestly. It was one of those cases of "If you say it loud enough it's suppose to be true" type things.

The fact they made their decision in less than hour tells me they weren't even considering anything other than top 3.

The only similar precedent was Denney and Coughlin and that wasn't even comparable since the pairs field at the time wasn't that deep. It was them or a the then-new team of Scimeca/Knerim, who did well, but didn't do four quads.

I didn't think they would approve Brown's petition either until I watched the competition and saw how undervalued the programs with successful quads seemed to be. I think our federation more highly values artistry over quads which is fine but unfortunately men's figure skating has evolved to the point that quads are necessary. I will fully admit to preferring the drama created by a 2 or 4 quad program of Aaron and Chen to the lovely artistic number performed by Rippon. I was happy to hear Tara and Johnny suggest what I have been frustrated with for while, the seeming stubborn resistance of the USFSA to value skaters who excel at the technical aspects of men's figure skating. Like Tara and Johnny, I believe for the US to put a man on the podium of major international events, the federation needs to get behind our "jumpers" not just our "artists." Hopefully by supporting these younger athletes our jumpers (ie Chen) can gain experience and learn to compete while they learn to be artistic, just as our "artists" (ie Brown) have been allowed to gain experience and learn to compete at this highest level while developing their more difficult jumps. If Brown can come back from injury and become consistent with a quad and if Chen can develop artistically they would provide a 1-2 combination for the US to contend for medals at the highest levels and could together likely secure 3 position for the Olympics in the future. I like Jason Brown, I don't want to seem as though I am not a fan of his, I am so hoping he will recover and progress to competing a quad but this was not his year.

 

[slider11]

Bravo to NBC! I thought their coverage was the best in a long time. Tara and Johnny were great with with the ladies and men. Good insights on the moves and fair criticism and accolades. I really like Scott Hamilton at the end balancing their comments of send the quad throwing youngsters! Adam did work the system and his performance and strong triples let him win. Max was very good but a little flat in the performance. Nathan got PCS gifts, imo, but is a phenomenal jumper. The funny part is that I cannot remember who commentated the pairs and ice dance in the afternoon. I loved watching it but can't remember who called the event. I did enjoy the Icenetwork squad with pairs (John Coughlin) and ice dance (Charlie White). Michael Weiss was ok with men but I would have liked to have heard more from Ryan Bradley. He has an engaging style. But who called ice dance and pairs on NBC on Sat afternoon????

 

[centerpt1]

Really? I thought Ryan was over-acting and fake in his delivery. Mike Weiss was OK. Please, no more Ryan Bradley!

 

[CCC]

That's Ryan! I thought he did great!

 

[Mrs. P]

I didn't think they would approve Brown's petition either until I watched the competition and saw how undervalued the programs with successful quads seemed to be. I think our federation more highly values artistry over quads which is fine but unfortunately men's figure skating has evolved to the point that quads are necessary. I will fully admit to preferring the drama created by a 2 or 4 quad program of Aaron and Chen to the lovely artistic number performed by Rippon. I was happy to hear Tara and Johnny suggest what I have been frustrated with for while, the seeming stubborn resistance of the USFSA to value skaters who excel at the technical aspects of men's figure skating. Like Tara and Johnny, I believe for the US to put a man on the podium of major international events, the federation needs to get behind our "jumpers" not just our "artists." Hopefully by supporting these younger athletes our jumpers (ie Chen) can gain experience and learn to compete while they learn to be artistic, just as our "artists" (ie Brown) have been allowed to gain experience and learn to compete at this highest level while developing their more difficult jumps. If Brown can come back from injury and become consistent with a quad and if Chen can develop artistically they would provide a 1-2 combination for the US to contend for medals at the highest levels and could together likely secure 3 position for the Olympics in the future. I like Jason Brown, I don't want to seem as though I am not a fan of his, I am so hoping he will recover and progress to competing a quad but this was not his year.

I'm not sure if the judging and Jason's petition was related. That's my point. I think people made the association when the judging went crazy. I think if it was a matter of them suddenly deciding to go with Nathan, there would have been a more extensive discussion.

Either way, I wasn't really evaluating your view of Jason, just wanted to express my two cents on the influence of commentary on the committee's decision.

 

[GF2445]

I really liked Tanith's insights. If they gave more time- e.g. Showed the top short dances or had aother ice dance groups, she wouldnt have to cram so much information in a short space of time.

 

[GF2445]

An example this hesr of how commentary can enhance a viewer's experience is tsn's commentary to Alaine Chartrand's Free Skate (especially the ending)- its almost like Tracy Wilson and Rod Black knew what to say and when. That comes down to experience.

 

[russianbratz]

They can improve by not covering it anymore, and allowing icenetwork to broadcast the whole competition.

 

[Matilda]

NBC seemed to do ok, and looks like Johnny and Tara are bringing in some younger viewers--still not huge numbers, but at least some improvement

"NBC Sports’ primetime coverage of the “U.S. Figure Skating Championships” (0.6/2 in 18-49, 3.7 million viewers overall from 8-11 p.m. ET) increased by +20% or 0.1 of a point versus the year-ago coverage in 18-49 (0.6 vs. 0.5) and was up +11% in total viewers (3.701 million vs. 3.334 million). These are the top “U.S. Figure Skating Championship” primetime ratings in a non-Winter Olympic year since 2012 (0.6/2 in 18-49, 3.711 million viewers overall). In 18-49, the 0.6 equals the event’s highest rating in a non-Olympic year since 2009 (0.8/2)." (https://www.nbcumv.com/news/nbc-results-primetime-ratings-week-jan-18-24)

 

[sc8]

I really appreciate the running scores and list of elements scored. The European and Asian media were ahead of NBC on this front, so this was a nice improvement. But, I cringed when Tara and Johnny criticized the judging, especially when Johnny said the judges were taking long because they were adjusting scores to place the skaters where they wanted them. Such criticism, without evidence, undermines skating and turns off viewers. They could have showed the judges scores for Max and Adam side by side to help the viewer see how Adam's technical score was higher...they missed an opportunity to educate. It's not like it was the first time someone won gold without a clean quad and someone scored second with two clean quads, so they could have helped people understand how spins and steps can make a difference.

I will say that Adam is slow live and Max is really fast, so there should be more between them on the component score of skating skills, but Adam is much better in terms of choreography, interpretation and program execution, so those could be explained.

 

[MaxSwagg]

I really appreciate the running scores and list of elements scored. The European and Asian media were ahead of NBC on this front, so this was a nice improvement. But, I cringed when Tara and Johnny criticized the judging, especially when Johnny said the judges were taking long because they were adjusting scores to place the skaters where they wanted them. Such criticism, without evidence, undermines skating and turns off viewers. They could have showed the judges scores for Max and Adam side by side to help the viewer see how Adam's technical score was higher...they missed an opportunity to educate. It's not like it was the first time someone won gold without a clean quad and someone scored second with two clean quads, so they could have helped people understand how spins and steps can make a difference.

I will say that Adam is slow live and Max is really fast, so there should be more between them on the component score of skating skills, but Adam is much better in terms of choreography, interpretation and program execution, so those could be explained.

Well, Max doesn't really generate speed from the edge so not that high in skating skills.

 

[Culturevulture73]

They can improve by not covering it anymore, and allowing icenetwork to broadcast the whole competition.

Really? You want to pay to see it on a computer screen? (Unless ice has a Roku app) Because I know I don't. I enjoyed the coverage immensely, especially the live parts where you got a sense of the competition. I won't pay for Ice Network.

I do hope Terry or someone told Tanith not to step on the good stuff because while I like her, she talked over the best part of the Shibs free dance.

I wish we'd gotten some on Universal HD.

 

[mrrice]

Really? You want to pay to see it on a computer screen? (Unless ice has a Roku app) Because I know I don't. I enjoyed the coverage immensely, especially the live parts where you got a sense of the competition. I won't pay for Ice Network.

I do hope Terry or someone told Tanith not to step on the good stuff because while I like her, she talked over the best part of the Shibs free dance.

I wish we'd gotten some on Universal HD.

Nobody beats Tara for ruining the mood of a program. I swear if I hear "What she needs is a clean skate" one more time........Ugh. I was like..."Wow Tara Thanks For The Insight" Of course, if they were trained by Scott Hamilton, it's no wonder they never stop talking. Remember him. Triple toe, Triple....Aghhhhh TOE!!

There must be training for commentators. I'm sure they have a studio where they play past programs and the commentators practice their comments. Someone should tell them that they can actually wreck the mood of a program or lessen the "Thrill Factor" by telling me that Gracie NEEDS this Triple,Triple that I didn't know was coming. I'd rather hear her say "That was a beautiful triple triple and she needed it to catch Polina" I hope that made sense.

 

[Raomina]

Someone should tell them that they can actually wreck the mood of a program or lessen the "Thrill Factor" by telling me that Gracie NEEDS this Triple,Triple that I didn't know was coming. I'd rather hear her say "That was a beautiful triple triple and she needed it to catch Polina" I hope that made sense.

I agree with this sentiment. I end up noticing the telegraphing so much more when they tell me a jump is coming rather than just commenting on it after it's done and that takes away from the overall performance for me.