NBC Sports Gold figure skating pass - feedback, troubleshooting, pros/cons, etc.

[Carolla5501]

The biggest con... there's no way to escape the "bling team" anymore Hopefully NBC won't pay Tara and Johnny to call the rest of the GP so we get a break!

 

[maatTheViking]

Pros: great quality, on demand available immediately, all skaters, works on fire TV and more devices, (almost) no ads, Tanith White commenting, great score ticker

Cons: Tara/Johnny and Andrea Joyce commentating, regular broadcast strategies including replay of top skates and hype HYPE of certain skaters, sometimes fade to black in lieu of commercials instead of seeing the full replay, or views of ‘skaters to come’, doesn’t always show warmup

Neither good or bad: blurbs about upcoming other nbc gold events for sports I don’t care about, interviews with American skaters

Some of these more mainstream TV broadcast things might be skam / us nationals only?

Wishlist: feed with no commentating or bigger choice of commentators, full replay of program instead of ‘blank commercials’, b stream for back stage / warmups, more interviews with skaters of all nationalities and/or press conferences feeds, victory ceremonies

I would say that I don’t have to wait 12-48 hours for in demand to be up is HUGE (I rarely watch live but often delayed - will see if I can actually watch delayed) and the quality and amount of devices supported is worth the money.

I will probably send some suggestions to nbc at some point but I’ll give them a bit to find their feet.

 

[Aceon6]

If you’ve got an open HDMI port on your TV, try Roku. I’ve used my laptop and iPad, but the Roku experience seems best, both live and replay. The ability to advance a replay minute by minute with the Roku remote is great.

This from someone who is completely spoiled by TiVo live. If something is on broadcast TV, there’s nothing quite a satisfying as skipping through or going back a few secs. And super slo mo let’s me see the little details. I hope there are at least a few live events on NBCSN this year.

 

[Braulio]

I think Tara, Johnny and and Andrea will be doing commentary with SkAm and maybe Skate Canada/Grand Prix Finals and Nationals plus 4 Continents next year at Anaheim

I guess the rest of the Grand Prix, European Championships/Worlds will have no commentary or maybe some Charlie White, Tanith Belbin, Ben Agosto joining the team for those early hour (Europe Grand Prix events) and overnight (with NHK) and Worlds

 

[jeffisjeff]

Is the NBC sports app on Roku the right one or is there a separate NBC sports Gold app?

For me they are separate apps on my Roku. I have NBC, NBS sports and NBC sports gold.

 

[oleada]

For me they are separate apps on my Roku. I have NBC, NBS sports and NBC sports gold.

Thanks. I have the NBC sports app and could access FS through there but wasn’t sure if there was a separate app.

 

[maureenfarone]

Thanks, though I want to watch it at the nbcsportsgold website but I can't find any of the coverage

@Braulio I checked on the nbcsportsgold website. I logged in and then selected full event replays. I used the drop down arrow to select figure skating and all of the SA videos are there including the exhibition. Here is a link https://www.nbcsports.com/gold#full-event-replays Hope this helps! Thanks so much for all of the videos you've posted.

 

[maureenfarone]

Thanks. I have the NBC sports app and could access FS through there but wasn’t sure if there was a separate app.

The only app I have is for NBC Sports Gold.

 

[Braulio]

@Braulio I checked on the nbcsportsgold website. I logged in and then selected full event replays. I used the drop down arrow to select figure skating and all of the SA videos are there including the exhibition. Here is a link https://www.nbcsports.com/gold#full-event-replays Hope this helps! Thanks so much for all of the videos you've posted.

Thanks so much, now I solved the problem. I am using a VPN to access the goldpass and If I dont browse the website using the VPN app simply the videos don't display.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

FYI, I have a friend who works for NBC and is in a position to pass along feedback to the team working on the skating stuff. I've given them some feedback already about the streaming experience of SA—largely around the way the stream mimicked the broadcast with fade outs to commercials, not to mention the lack of a commentary-free option for those who can't stand T&J—but if there's anything else I'm missing, let me know and I'll do what I can to relay it. I thought those were the two biggest offenders; hopefully we'll see some improvements over time.

 

[AxelAnnie]

They totally sucked. Makes you very nostalgic for IceNetwork.....even Tonia.

 

[Braulio]

It will be very useful if they have a non commentary feed

 

[Aceon6]

@Theoreticalgirl The random blackouts were confusing to many. It mimics losing the feed and probably raised the blood pressure of many viewers.

Some other thoughts...
- I like to see the entire kiss & cry, complete with spy mikes.
- The introductions are important. It’s a new quad with lots of first time teams. A graphic with the career highlights would help and allow the announcers a 5 minute break between groups.
- We need something similar to IN’s B feed with real time scoring of the elements. Maybe it could be a Gold exclusive.
- Andrea Joyce does not belong in the booth. FWIW, I don’t see a role for Andrea. Her interviews don’t enhance the broadcast. Bring in John Coughlin for pairs.
- The camera work was acceptable, but it seems that the camera operators hadn’t done their homework. Perhaps Gold could stream practices so that the tech team could practice as well.

 

[maatTheViking]

For the camera work, I assume that the camera operators are not necessarily hired/controlled by NBC? I assume they get a feed and then edit it live? especially for non-american events I assume that what they get is what they get? or do NBC hire the cameramen for the US events?

 

[Lacey]

I had trouble w. being asked to enter my password again and again. Finally realized, if I keep myself logged in, like permanently, I can just click on live skating 5 minutes before it starts and everything tunes in. Hope this is right.

FYI, I have a friend who works for NBC and is in a position to pass along feedback to the team working on the skating stuff.

I disagree on commentators, think T&J are fine (just wish JW could tone down the clothes to something less distracting than he customarily loves to wear), think Tanith is fine in Dance, but not so fine at all in Pairs. They need to find someone who has done Pairs, like John Coughlin, NOW.

Andrea Joyce could be sent back to Gymnastics if she has a contract that has to fill out, she was there for more years than she has been in figure skating. There are many many more skating familiar peeps who could cover skating interviews.

Also, it has always bugged me that the current skater is not identified by name during his/her/their programs, say in the upper left corner or in an overlay across the bottom of pic. Would be very useful. That way we could watch without commentary, if one so chose.

 

[momnatur]

Is the NBC sports app on Roku the right one or is there a separate NBC sports Gold app?

There is a separate NBC Sports Gold app on Roku. Allow some extra time before things start so you can get your "device" authenticated before the skating starts.


Always count on having problems. I had it happen to me, spent the time I wanted to watch the show trying to figure out why I couldn't get the show in the first place.

 

[Coco]

I loaded the NBC Sports Gold ap onto my ROKU TV, but I'm getting an Authentication Failure message.

It says "Access to this content is not part of your current subscription. Please add this sport pass to your NBC Sports Gold account. [what the heck does that mean?] If you just purchased this pass, close and then re-open the app to update your content. Need help? Post on FSU no just kidding, it gives the support @nbcsportsgold.com address.

ETA:

NBC Sports gold help support came through. Basically I just had to remove NBC Sports gold Channel reset my system add the channel back sign out then sign back in and use that activation code.

 

[Aceon6]

Roku has been shaky today. I blame the storm as everyone is streaming and I don't care what fios says, service degrades terribly when the entire block is streaming.

 

[azcalder]

Thanks to Maureenfarone for the info about the NBC Gold. I was at Skate Canada, then visited family in Massachusetts. I am how heading home to Arizona. I did get it to work before leaving. Sorry to be so slow in my thanks.

 

[SkateSand]

I disagree on commentators, think T&J are fine (just wish JW could tone down the clothes to something less distracting than he customarily loves to wear), think Tanith is fine in Dance, but not so fine at all in Pairs. They need to find someone who has done Pairs, like John Coughlin, NOW.

I think John Coughlin is a terrific commentator for pairs, but Tanith was also a competing pairs skater herself before she decided to stick exclusively to ice dance so she has real experience.

 

[juliav927]

I never subscribed to Ice Network, so I can't compare them, but I've had no trouble streaming with NBC Gold. But does anyone see the Skate Canada exhibition available on demand? They have the exhibition from Skate America so I thought they'd be making all of them available from the GP. I don't even see the Helsinki exhibition on the streaming schedule.

 

[Aceon6]

They’re there. Go to the Replays section. You may need to refresh.

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

I only see the Skate America exhibition too. Not sure they ever streamed Skate Canada's.

 

[Sylvia]

IceNetwork used to save all the GP exhibition galas after Skate America and put them up during the December holiday season, IIRC. I have no idea if NBC Gold plans to upload any of the other exhibition galas - someone should make an inquiry. I'm not happy that Junior Worlds is not listed on their schedule -- IN included it.

 

[maureenfarone]

I sent an email to NBC asking about the Galas. I'll post the info when they reply.

Just received a reply at 8:15 p.m. that exhibitions will not be part of the NBC Gold pass.

That is kind of sad as I know many fans enjoy them.

 

[juliav927]

ok, I emailed support for NBC Gold and they responded a few hours later. here's the reply I got:

Thank you for reaching out to us.

The Figure Skating Exhibitions are not part of the NBC Gold Figure Skating Pass.

We are sorry for the confusion.

Chaz
Customer Support

I guess the good news is that they got back to me so quickly. I'm really disappointed the galas aren't included though.

 

[aemeraldrainc]

I guess the good news is that they got back to me so quickly. I'm really disappointed the galas aren't included though.

I agree. That's kinda lame. Galas are a part of the competition. I wonder what the reasoning is for not including them.

 

[Aceon6]

I agree. That's kinda lame. Galas are a part of the competition. I wonder what the reasoning is for not including them.

Usually music.

 

[valdora]

Anyone know what the story is with Pairs and Dance Free from Helsinki? The replays aren't up on NBC Gold.

 

[Sylvia]

The live stream of the FD started late... maybe NBC is trying to fix that before uploading? Usually the replays are up almost immediately so this is an anomaly today.