Michelle Kwan to cover Sochi Olympics for Fox Sports

[ice coverage]

Kwan to cover Olympics for FOX (ETA: Fox Sports)

Updated Aug 5, 2013
5:32 AM ET
(AP)
http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/michelle-kwan-to-cover-sochi-olympics-fox-sports-1-080513​

Hmmmm ... will be fascinating to see whether Kwan's State Department role will affect her reporting on the Olympics.
Will her journalistic portfolio include the political issues affecting the Games, such as the Russian edict on gays -- or will she recuse herself on those topics??

ETA:

N.B.: Kwan will be working for Fox Sports, not Fox News. Very important distinction. But I think that it would be hard for NBC Sports, Fox Sports, etc. to ignore the elephants in the room -- meaning the political footballs associated with the Sochi Olympics.​

ETA, a less important thought re Kwan and Fox:

Only my speculation, but I wonder whether NBC had heard rumblings re Kwan joining Fox. Maybe that is why NBC (as it has acknowledged) had spoken to Kerrigan about possibly hiring her for on-air work in Sochi. And maybe that carrot dangling in front of Kerrigan is why she agreed to give NBC the interview on the topic of Harding.
​

 

[lavender]

Love, love Michelle but even I can see commenting isn’t really her thing but I hope she does well.

I also don't like Fox news but everyone is different and refuse to talk politics.

 

[jenaj]

Love, love Michelle but even I can see commenting isn’t really her thing but I hope she does well.

I also don't like Fox news but everyone is different and refuse to talk politics.

She will be working with Fox Sports, not Fox News.

 

[ice coverage]

Attn: Mathman or any mod

Sorry, I should have specified "Fox Sports" and not just "Fox" in the thread title.
Will you please change it for me? Thx.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Will her journalistic portfolio include the political issues affecting the Games, such as the Russian edict on gays -- or will she recuse herself on those topics??

I think she will stick to the skating. Honestly, I have no idea what her political positions are but I think she is aware that taking a stand on some of the issues could make her less popular among some of her fans. She should have plenty to talk about if she sticks to skating, given her vast experience competing at the highest levels of the sport.

 

[jenaj]

I think she will stick to the skating. Honestly, I have no idea what her political positions are but I think she is aware that taking a stand on some of the issues could make her less popular among some of her fans. She should have plenty to talk about if she sticks to skating, given her vast experience competing at the highest levels of the sport.

She would have no reason to talk about politics on a sports channel. According to the article, she is going to cover other Olympic sports in addition to skating.

 

[aftertherain]

Speaking as an MK fan, I don't know how I feel about this. Not necessarily about the channel, but about her speaking abilities as an analyst. Her brief commentating role at the ladies' competition at 2009 Worlds seemed a bit unnatural to me. Dick Button seemed to love her though.

 

[Mathman]

Fox Sports does not have broadcast rights for the Olympics, so I suppose Michelle will be doing interviews and background fluff.

Michelle does not have a natural gift of gab. The people who are really good at this are those who can chatter on and on about nothing at the drop of a hat (like the ladies on The View, for instance). Michelle will make up for this by being outrageously well-prepared (like her skating career).

Michelle at the Super Bowl?

Kwan, a two-time Olympic medalist (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002) says she has been encouraged by the network to report on sports outside the Olympics, as well, and is hoping to be involved in Fox's Super Bowl coverage just before the Sochi Games.

 

[Olympia]

Fox Sports does not have broadcast rights for the Olympics, so I suppose Michelle will be doing interviews and background fluff.

Michelle does not have a natural gift of gab. The people who are really good at this are those who can chatter on and on about nothing at the drop of a hat (like the ladies on The View, for instance). Michelle will make up for this by being outrageously well-prepared (like her skating career).

Michelle at the Super Bowl?

Yes, I read the article and don't understand exactly what Fox Sports will be doing in terms of what they televise, since they can't actually broadcast the Olympics itself. So no coverage of the actual competition, the facial expressions of the skaters as they circle the rink waiting for their predecessors' scores, and so on. Will it be like Entertainment Tonight--a bunch of sit-down interviews and microphones in the faces of competitors as they leave the arenas after a session? Hard to envision.

I agree that Michelle doesn't seem naturally cogent when speaking off the cuff. Some celebrities stand out as people who are always interesting and articulate, such as Michael J. Fox and (one of the best ever impromptu speakers) Judy Garland. In sports, both Weir and Lysacek can hold a spotlight. Kristi Yamaguchi was always way too guarded to come across as comfortable talking extemporaneously, but she got better at it through the years. By the time she was on Dancing with the Stars, she was pretty good. I bet Katarina Witt is good at this, in at least two languages. In fact, I'd love to have her commentating for American TV for Sochi. My fingers are crossed that Michelle will get the hang of things very rapidly and will come to excel at this as she has at everything else.

 

[sky_fly20]

Fox !!!?
does it have huge viewership in the us like NBC ?

 

[Mathman]

Fox !!!?
does it have huge viewership in the us like NBC ?

Yes. Fox is one of the big four television networks. In viewership last year it was ahead of NBC and somewhat behind CBS and ABC.

However. all of the major networks are losing viewership to cable and internet outlets. The days are long gone when everyone in the country sits down to watch whatever the major networks show. This is killing them in terms of advertising, because even the biggest hits do not draw the audiences anymore, plus everyone is fast-forwarding through the ads anyway. Now that I think about it, maybe it is not so bad after all that figure sating coverage has moved off the prime time networks into niche spots and the Internet. This is the future.

By the way, the article on Michelle mentions that this announcement is timed with the launch of the new Fox Sports cable network, Fox Sports 1. Maybe Michelle will have her own show!

 

[sky_fly20]

Yes. Fox is one of the big four television networks. In viewership last year it was ahead of NBC and somewhat behind CBS and ABC.

However. all of the major networks are losing viewership to cable and internet outlets. The days are long gone when everyone in the country sits down to watch whatever the major networks show. This is killing them in terms of advertising, because even the biggest hits do not draw the audiences anymore, plus everyone is fast-forwarding through the ads anyway. Now that I think about it, maybe it is not so bad after all that figure sating coverage has moved off the prime time networks into niche spots and the Internet. This is the future.

By the way, the article on Michelle mentions that this announcement is timed with the launch of the new Fox Sports cable network, Fox Sports 1. Maybe Michelle will have her own show!

everything is hit by copyright nowadays not even internet can save that *cough youtube
thanks for the info

thats why I am oblivious to any tv rankings or top ratings
never tuned in any tv show for years now

 

[tommy]

I think Michelle Kwan is the quintessential definition of being a true champion of her figure skating career. She is absolutely spectacular in every way. One question... FOX...? She's going to comment for FOX? Fox News/Channel (or Fox No News as I like to call it) is a horrible network full of far right ideals without facts to substantiate anything they do. Look at the people they've hired and fired in the past. Every single network on this planet should be crawling to Michelle and begging for her to work for them. One thing is for sure... she will bring the highest level of class to Fox--which they have never seen before. Can't wait to hear her excellent commentary. Congrats, Michelle!

 

[Ruffles78]

I think Michelle Kwan is the quintessential definition of being a true champion of her figure skating career. She is absolutely spectacular in every way. One question... FOX...? She's going to comment for FOX? Fox News/Channel (or Fox No News as I like to call it) is a horrible network full of far right ideals without facts to substantiate anything they do. Look at the people they've hired and fired in the past. Every single network on this planet should be crawling to Michelle and begging for her to work for them. One thing is for sure... she will bring the highest level of class to Fox--which they have never seen before. Can't wait to hear her excellent commentary. Congrats, Michelle!

Fox Sports! Not Fox News! Ugh.

 

[heyang]

It seems like Michelle won't be expected to do a lot of extemporaneous speaking as it seems like mostly fluff and features pieces on various sports - I kinda imagine that might play like her Royal Caribbean commercials where she might try out the apparatus, etc. I think a lot will depend on how they tape and what kind of rapport she establishes. Will she skate circles around some hockey players? Will she try curling? These types of scenarios will allow Michelle to relax into the moment and play.

She might also do some post skating analysis - so , she wouldn't be commenting live and will have time to think about what she wants to say.

 

[aftertherain]

Because of this news, MK is #2 on trending topics on Yahoo!

Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/V19Lt1X.png

 

[Mathman]

Welcome, Tommy! Thanks for joining us. Post often, post long!

 

[Olympia]

Because of this news, MK is #2 on trending topics on Yahoo!

Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/V19Lt1X.png

How nice!

 

[kwanatic]

Because of this news, MK is #2 on trending topics on Yahoo!

Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/V19Lt1X.png

Sweet!

I do think she'll mostly be doing fluff and sit down interviews where she will have time to prepare. I agree she's not the best at the actual commentating but I do think she'd be good at conducting interviews, talking with athletes, trying out different sports, going behind the scenes and stuff like that. I'm excited to see what she'll be able to do. I'm not a fan of Fox either but I don't believe Fox Sports will have anything to do with politics so I'm not worried about it.

Michelle has her ticket to Sochi! I knew she would make it there one way or another!

 

[lcd]

Will be great to see Michelle. I will say my first thought was to wonder whether she had engaged in discussions with NBC. Considering they are the primary network and news service covering the event officially. I would imagine her marquee value would be attractive.

It seems wise for her to take on such opportunities in a more flexible context I suppose. NBC likely has their "formulas" for "how the story of the Olympics gets and will be told" and as she cites specifically, she can have a very meaningful impact on how her "stories" are shaped and presented. Will be revealing of her perspective I suspect, so I look forward to her "presentations"