Good news for figure skating?

[OrioleBeagle]

With the NFL and NBA lockouts, the networks will need programming to fill the the empty time slots. Let's all pray that it means more figure skating on TV!

[Really]

Do you really believe the powers that be are going to let a lockout of the two premier sports for TV continue that long?

[OrioleBeagle]

Do you really believe the powers that be are going to let a lockout of the two premier sports for TV continue that long?

I hope so!

[AndyWarhol]

what are lockouts?

[Satellitegirl]

Do you really believe the powers that be are going to let a lockout of the two premier sports for TV continue that long?

no

[Ziggy]

You do know it means zilch to most of us in the skating world, which isn't located in the US or Canada.

[Jenny]

Because of course advertisers for football and basketball will happily take air time for figure skating instead, because the audience is so similar. Not.

I think we'll simply see more college football and basketball, more racing if they can get it, and maybe - maybe - a bit more coverage for hockey and Canadian football.

[Frau Muller]

More skating on Universal Sports, perhaps. Major networks with big adverti$ement buck$? No way, I'm afraid.

[RD]

Nope.

Remember, NBC does not carry the NBA (ESPN/ABC and TNT do), and reserves football for Sunday night, which they CERTAINLY are not going to fill up with skating. (I see reruns of primetime shows and perhaps Dateline). So, apart from Sunday night in the fall, this is not directly affecting NBC's schedule.

Fox I think has plans to air high-school football instead if there is no NFL season. Don't know if ESPN has decided what they will do with Monday nights but it definitely won't be live sporting events (in case only part of the season is wiped out and they need to clear the schedule to air football again).

If it leads to more coverage of anything on NBC I'm willing to bet it will be NHL hockey.

Nice thought, perhaps, but a thought is all it is.

[FigureSpins]

You might see more skating shows in the US - Disson seems to make TV deals with multiple channels and networks. I sort of wonder about the ISU's new "ICE" competitions - they might be packaged separately and could help fill the gap.

[Skittl1321]

what are lockouts?

From my minimal understanding of it- it's kind of like a strike, but not really. Basically, the players and the owners/management can't come to contract terms. If they don't, there is no season.

I didn't realize there was an NBA one too. I've heard a lot about the football one, but could really care less.

I do feel bad for all the little people who are going to lose on this one- stadium staff like janitors and concessions, small paying jobs, but those people need them. The players and the management can sit tight with their millions and argue forever (though I hear a lot of young players really mismanage their money, but I have a had time feeling bad for a bankrupt millionaire, because they didn't save anything)

[Coco]

a lockout is a strike by the owners, as opposed to a strike by the workers (players), which is just referred to as a strike.

[AndyWarhol]

ahhh k, thanks!

it would be good if they filled up the spaces with skating, however, it is unlikely.

they should put a bunch of skaters in a house together, and let them get drunk and shag each other, and then people will wanna see skating on tv. FAMOUS!

[Skate Talker]

Do you mind if I make another attempt to explain lockout? A lockout is when a company does not allow members of a union to work when their contract has expired.

Recently, the Canadian postal employees union obtained a strike vote from their membership, meaning they were in a legal position to strike after the expiry of their contract. The negotiations can still be going on during a strike, or they may be suspended/broken down. In the case of the posties they chose to have rotating strikes, wherein they typically would pick a city/area where they would go on the picket line for a couple of days before returning to work and moving the strike action to another location. The idea was to convince management that they were serious about their contract demands without putting any of their members seriously out of pocket, and hopefully making their issues more public without totally alienating the public by stopping the mail entirely.

The management claimed this was too costly and disruptive and to show the union they were serious about their last, they locked out all the union members nation-wide. The idea is supposed to be to make the union more willing to bargain.

Perhaps management was also counting on parliament passing back-to-work legislation if the entire postal system was closed down. At any rate that is exactly what happened. Now they contract will go to arbitration where each side will make a final offer and the arbitrator will choose one, winner take all.

[Really]

You do know it means zilch to most of us in the skating world, which isn't located in the US or Canada.

Doesn't mean a helluva lot to many Canadians either. We have no NFL teams up here and the only NBA team is in Toronto. But, major sports is huge business in the US, and I really doubt anyone with a vested interest will be willing to lose a whole season's worth of revenue. Besides, there's always NASCAR to fill up those football slots...

[RD]

a lockout is a strike by the owners, as opposed to a strike by the workers (players), which is just referred to as a strike.

It's basically the same effect (work stoppage), with different causes.

[rfisher]

There's lots of other advertising generators to fill those slots than figure skating which is considered a woman's viewership. The tampon and smuckers people don't pay as much money for ads as the beer distributors so skating isn't a high priority. There's a slim chance they could add more snowboarding or skiiing. Which I'd actually like.

[overedge]

It's basically the same effect (work stoppage), with different causes.

The name comes from the industrial history of unionized workplaces. A lockout was when the factory owners/managers would literally lock the doors, which meant the workers could not go into the workplace and do their work. And because they did not work they didn't get paid.

During a strike, the workers withhold their labor. The workplace might be physically open but the workers don't go in and work. In both cases, the parties are losing money - the workers are losing their pay and the owners are losing sales revenue because they aren't producing their products/services.

Professional sports are a little different because there are a number of revenue streams that don't depend on the sport actually being played (e.g. licensed merchandise, DVDs/videos). But the same principle applies as in a more regular workplace - the party who gets what they want in bargaining is the party that is able to hold out the longest without its income.

[Cheylana]

I think the NFL parties will come to some sort of agreement, certainly before the figure skating season starts. Lockouts are extremely unpopular with the fans; too much money to lose by not having a season.

[galaxygirl]

With the NFL and NBA lockouts, the networks will need programming to fill the the empty time slots. Let's all pray that it means more figure skating on TV!

As much as I love figure skating, the thought of Fall without football makes me want to .