IceNetwork season renewal notice :-(

[ChelleC]

Not everyone lives somewhere that getting DirectTV or any other dish is an option. My apartment complex does not allow satellite dishes. Frankly after this power play, I don't believe I would get Universal Sports if I could.

Lovely, both Universal Sports, and their parent company NBC, seem to not care there are people without cable, etc., who are very willing to pay for the streams.

Hopefully the youtube user who put up the Russian videos so quickly last season will be doing the same this season.

And I was looking forward to working from home again this fall, and getting to watch the Grand Prix live.

[jlai]

The Icenetwork's charging $40 is literally financially unsustainable as a business enterprise and I've been wondering how they have managed to keep that price for years. They should have increased their price incrementally every year, but they didn't. Now all of a sudden, they no longer can do GP live and they still charge the same. That's basically the same as a substantial price increase, perhaps to keep themselves from running in red again.

The thing is, had IN started off charging $40 and slowly gone up year after year, people might find this rather reasonable. I mean, $40 for nationals, and on-demand regionals, and sectionals, plus a couple of international events live, is not bad. I paid Wheatdesigns more for less (Broadmoor Open itself was $20 or $30 for just 1 event).

It's like my local bus system. For years, they charged three times less than buses in other cities. All of a sudden, their price went up twofold and people complained endless, though it is still cheaper than buses in other cities. It's the amount of increase people didn't get used to.

[HisWeirness]

The ISU should revoke Universal Sports' rights to the online coverage. I wonder if UniSports making the online coverage unavailable to most Americans breaks part of the contract.

It's a piss-off.

Hopefully we'll figure out a way to watch GP coverage in other countries (if there is even anyone else that is going to show the GP live).

Not happy about icenetwork's pricing, but there is no other way to watch Nationals live so I guess I am stuck.

[rfisher]

NBC has it's own sports channel now. US is still independent. They just signed an exclusive contract with DirectTV and Dish and some cable companies. I guess they got a lot of money for the deal.

We can hope for European coverage, but last season, many of those sources didn't show any skating.

BR, your sentiment is good, but unfortunately, there aren't enough figure skating fans to cause them to make accomodations. Especially since there no American "stars". And sorry dance fans, but Charlie and Meryl don't count.

I have US, but I'm not holding my breath they'll actually show skating this season.

[PinkFeathers]

It's really too much to hope for the ISU to sell the streams themselves, right? Their coverage of WTT was amazing.

[BlueRidge]

NBC has it's own sports channel now. US is still independent. They just signed an exclusive contract with DirectTV and Dish and some cable companies. I guess they got a lot of money for the deal.

We can hope for European coverage, but last season, many of those sources didn't show any skating.

BR, your sentiment is good, but unfortunately, there aren't enough figure skating fans to cause them to make accomodations. Especially since there no American "stars". And sorry dance fans, but Charlie and Meryl don't count.

I have US, but I'm not holding my breath they'll actually show skating this season.

See that's the thing. It isn't going to help them to dump figure skating fans in the trash, there aren't enough of us to demand US on our cable providers (if we have them, I don't), people have tried. I realize this is not just about figure skating, but maybe if they realized they wouldn't lose anything by having online fs for pay but would actually pocket some change, they would alter the policy for it.

I know foolish wishes. It won't happen. But it does sound like Universal Sports will not survive very long. And I doubt any other provider would be so desperate as this. Hopefully Universal Sports will crash, burn, and cease to exist before we miss too much figure skating.

[Casey2]

Maybe this is just me, but I don't mind seeing the GP events one week later since for many years I couldn't see most of them at all, or any skating really. (OK, I'm old, but remember ABC wide world of sports showing only one or two skaters?)

[gkelly]

Maybe this is just me, but I don't mind seeing the GP events one week later since for many years I couldn't see most of them at all, or any skating really. (OK, I'm old, but remember ABC wide world of sports showing only one or two skaters?)

Yes.

In the early 90s, I remember only Skate America being shown on broadcast TV at a time when I didn't have cable and few people did. Even when ESPN showed some other fall competitions, it was limited coverage and inconsistent. And if we got more than 2 hours even from SA, part of it was delayed at least a week.

Or Fox showing 1 1/2 hours of each Grand Prix Champions Series event -- all disciplines -- and then spending a big chunk of that time interviewing Michelle Kwan in weeks that she wasn't competing.

Or all networks covering only pro and pro-am competitions in the fall and nothing of the Grand Prix except Skate America.

Or Lifetime showing all the pairs and dance from the GPs and spending more time on fluff than on skating.

Even with the best years of the ESPN2 and Lifetime (after they realized skating fans want to watch skating) coverage, it was still less than everyone and much of it was delayed up to a week or more.

I have never been able to watch all skaters at a single GP event on US television, the same weekend it took place, except maybe for a year or two a few years ago when Universal Sports was available to me.

Any coverage we can get online or on cable is welcome. Universal's current contract seems to be a step back from what they made available a few years ago and an obstacle to those who want real-time online coverage.

But that coverage was never the norm. The fact that it was available for a year or two was a treat for American skating fans who could access it. But we're not a large enough group to drive their policy.

[my little pony]

i'm getting old. i think maybe it is good that my days of getting up in the middle of the night to watch a ladies lp from asia are done.

and $40 is much cheaper than attending anything, and unless you can get that dish whatever, it's the only game in town

[Jun Y]

I agree that Universal Sports may be dead very soon. It seems kind of bizarre that NBC cannot make a deal with cables to carry it, when NBC/Universal is now owned by Comcast. By then ISU may be forced to take up a cheaper deal with Ice Network or something. I don't mind paying more for subscription if they carry Grand Prix live.

[lavenderblue]

The thing is, coverage was once much more minimal, and the extent of (legal) coverage that existed in the last few years was a pretty huge leap from the past decades. It may now return to what it used to be. But those earlier years also came in an era without the existence of streaming internet. When developments go backwards instead of remaining consistent or moving forward, it's regression and I don't think it's an issue to find it objectionable, and problematic for the sport in general.

[A.H.Black]

I agree that Universal Sports may be dead very soon. It seems kind of bizarre that NBC cannot make a deal with cables to carry it, when NBC/Universal is now owned by Comcast. By then ISU may be forced to take up a cheaper deal with Ice Network or something. I don't mind paying more for subscription if they carry Grand Prix live.

I think Universal Sports is just following the NBC example. In order to watch the live streaming of the Olympics on the NBC site you have to have an account with a cable/satellite company. Universal sports got the contract with the IOC when the networks didn't want it.

I have posted this before. There is a protest thread on the Comcast forums concerning Universal Sports and its lack of availability. It is here - Still no HD Universal Sports. If you are a Comcast subscriber you have access to this board and can post your feelings. Since it is a Comcast/Xfinity board, they do read it - and occasionally post there.

[Simone411]

Yes, it seems you have to be a USFS member AND a 2011-12 Season Pass subscriber in order to receive the special $19.95 auto-renewal discount.

I received the e-mail from USFSA yesterday. It mentioned something about getting a one time only special code and the offer is valid through midnight ET on October 22, 2012.

What I don't like is the fact that IN auto-renews your subscription. I called them yesterday regarding that fact and told them not to auto-renew. I don't know if I want to renew, and I'd rather renew when I'm ready - not the other way around.

I remember when ABC, ESPN, A&E, used to show the Grand Prix, Skate America, The Europeans, Nationals, Worlds, Stars On Ice, etc. The good ole days are gone.

[jlai]

What I don't like is the fact that IN auto-renews your subscription. I called them yesterday regarding that fact and told them not to auto-renew. I don't know if I want to renew, and I'd rather renew when I'm ready - not the other way around.

Automatic renewal is now the norm for many online/electronic subscriptions I manage at work.

[Simone411]

Automatic renewal is now the norm for many online/electronic subscriptions I manage at work.

That may be with some electronic subscriptions, but this is part of the other e-mail I received from IN:

Icenetwork.com is pleased to announce our offering for the 2012-13 season. As a 2011-12 Season Pass subscriber who has opted-in for auto renewal, we will automatically renew your subscription for the 2012-13 season on or about Aug. 14 at the rate of $39.95. The first live streaming subscription event of the season -- Junior Grand Prix Lake Placid -- will begin Aug. 29.

It seems we had a choice when we purchaed the subscription whether to opt-in for auto renewal. I never opted in last year for auto renewal, but for some reason, that's exactly what happened.

[jlai]

That may be with some electronic subscriptions, but this is part of the other e-mail I received from IN:



It seems we had a choice when we purchaed the subscription whether to opt-in for auto renewal. I never opted in last year for auto renewal, but for some reason, that's exactly what happened.

That's what happened with all my other electronic subscriptions too. It's kind of like that one cell phone option that they charged you for because you didn't opt out.

[Simone411]

Yeah, you definitely have a point.

[Visaliakid]

I think we should petition NBC to move it's figure skating coverage to NBC Sports Network. Comcast provides this channel and it is certainly going to out last UniversalSports.com

I will have to go back to the old days of searching the web for live coverage of GP events from foreign sources.

[CoyoteChris]

Feel the love. The next time you meet somebody who says they do marketing for a living, kick them just as hard as you can in the shins....like lawyers, its 90 percent of them that make the other 10 percent look bad.
BTW, all news letters and updates to us USFSA Friends of Figure Skating folk have stopped near as I can tell. And no more nice spirral bound media guide for us high roller donners, either...you can get it on-line, which doesnt do alot for me at events. My inside contacts at the USFSA world headquarters say they still dont care much about fans still there, so my contribution is going down...way down...this year....the magazine and the calander are nice....

[A.H.Black]

I think we should petition NBC to move it's figure skating coverage to NBC Sports Network. Comcast provides this channel and it is certainly going to out last UniversalSports.com

I will have to go back to the old days of searching the web for live coverage of GP events from foreign sources.

The contract with the IOC for Grand prix (-Skate America) is with Universal Sports, not NBC>