ISU to propose expansion of Worlds fields; 2020 Worlds unlikely to be rescheduled

[Japanfan]

This may well be true, or at least for niche sports, but where do you get the future fans or skaters from?

For example I'm in the UK, and while events were being streamed on the Skating ISU channel, I would estimate there was a maximum of 5,000 people, and probably very considerably less than that, that were watching at any one time, and even for the most popular event.

I would be very interested if anyone here can lay out a plan/vision for the Skating ISU channel that is going to increase the popularity of the sport, rather than acting as some sort of stop gap in the absence of TV coverage, as I can't see how casual fans (who end up going to arenas) and potential future skaters are going to come across it.

In the absence of TV coverage any potential new fan/skater is therefore only likely to come across the sport every 4 years i.e. at the Olympics, and I can't see any way that that is going to grow the sport going forwards. Hence why it is important to strengthen the World Championships as much as possible within reason, and give the TV companies as much reason as possible to show it while you've got the chance, otherwise you really will be stuck with the 'fan only' route of streaming etc.

Canada's public broadcaster has shown Figure Skating for longer than the 20 years I've been watching it. At least Worlds and sometimes more than that (4CCs when it has been in Canada?). A different broadcaster, CTV, covers Nationals and Skate Canada. I do remember the year when the CBC broadcast GPF because I was so unhappy when they only aired one skate from the GPF Ladies FS, Mao Asada. And the CBC always used to cram its GP coverage into a two hour show called 'Sports Saturday', which included coverage of other sports.

CBC's contract to cover figure skating expired last year. This year is announced it had no plans to cover this year's worlds, but that changed because the host country is required to provide a host broadcaster.

In future I would be surprised to see any live coverage from CBC. And we don't have the alternative options that Americans have.

This year we watched the Eurosport coverage of GPF provided on You Tube, and ISU stream of 4CCs.

As to the future of the sport, I think it is quite grim, unfortunately. I don't expect the sport to grow.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

As you say, this board does skew older demographically.

Haha. I'm reminded of when I attended the 2006 World Championships, and two people I met who fell into that demographic laughed and said I should be careful here. Otherwise, I might be dragged into a dark alley and given a tight perm.

 

[VGThuy]

I actually have a more optimistic view. People LOVED figure skating at the 2018 Olympics. A lot of skaters themselves saw a huge uptick in followers on their IG and Twitter pages. Figure skating was trending a few times and people were talking about it all over during the time. I think that shows there is a market who not only enjoyed it, but could grow into something more. Not sure what the answer is, but I think there is interest once there's exposure. For example, Virtue/Moir's routine from Pyeongchang went viral with multi-million views, as did Papadakis/Cizeron's Euros FD from that season. The Shibs are looking at 1.6 million views for their Olympic FD that was published a few months ago on the Olympic channel. Chock/Bates's FD this season from Nationals also garnered similar numbers. On Facebook, I saw that about 9-10 million people viewed the Shibs' Nationals blues/hip hop SD from 2016-17. Savchenko/Massot's Olympic LP saw millions of views. People are still getting hit with James/Cipres' "Sounds of Silence" LP after-the-fact.

 

[tony]

Canada's public broadcaster has shown Figure Skating for longer than the 20 years I've been watching it. At least Worlds and sometimes more than that (4CCs when it has been in Canada?). A different broadcaster, CTV, covers Nationals and Skate Canada. I do remember the year when the CBC broadcast GPF because I was so unhappy when they only aired one skate from the GPF Ladies FS, Mao Asada. And the CBC always used to cram its GP coverage into a two hour show called 'Sports Saturday', which included coverage of other sports.

CBC's contract to cover figure skating expired last year. This year is announced it had no plans to cover this year's worlds, but that changed because the host country is required to provide a host broadcaster.

In future I would be surprised to see any live coverage from CBC. And we don't have the alternative options that Americans have.

This year we watched the Eurosport coverage of GPF provided on You Tube, and ISU stream of 4CCs.

As to the future of the sport, I think it is quite grim, unfortunately. I don't expect the sport to grow.

This entire post is because you're personally not changing with the times that have been discussed in the last few pages-- it's fine that you'd prefer to watch everything as you did 20 years ago, but it simply is not how the world is anymore. I'm going to be brutally honest when saying this, but it's the truth. The target audience that the broadcasters and advertisers are looking for is a younger audience and they really don't care about which conventional ways work for the older crowds. Younger people aren't tuning in every week to CTV or CBC or ABC hoping to see a two-hour recap of skating. They are, however, probably checking their Instagram accounts several times an hour to see what their friends have shared, and then they are going to Netflix or Hulu and bingeing whichever show is the new talk of the week.

Because you haven't changed doesn't mean that the world as a whole doesn't change. We've already went over the fact that most of us here caught skating on television at some point 20, 30, or 40 years ago and that's what drew us in- because that was the only option back then. Young people aren't watching broadcast television religiously anymore as a whole. It has nothing to do with figure skating. But they can become fans, much like we did from seeing it on television, by just seeing one clip on social media or on YouTube that makes them curious to see more. And then they have an endless catalog of old performances to watch thanks to YouTube.

Thanks to the ISU streams, people from all over the world can now watch skating live if they become invested. And if they are from a smaller country where skating isn't really well-known, they still have the streaming option and it's possible to go on YT and watch endless programs. This wasn't the case 20 years ago. The small countries were basically shut out of ALL skating unless someone sent them a VHS.

If anything, the skating fandom has probably increased dramatically in the last 10 or so years thanks to different technologies, and @VGThuy basically touched on that already a few posts ago. Your basing fandom on the amount of stuff on broadcast television isn't seeing the big picture at all.

 

[skatingguy]

In future I would be surprised to see any live coverage from CBC. And we don't have the alternative options that Americans have.

All of the events were streamed on the CBC website, and through their app which was free, while Americans had to pay $60 for NBC Gold.

This year we watched the Eurosport coverage of GPF provided on You Tube, and ISU stream of 4CCs

Eurosport had nothing to do with figure skating this year.

 

[AxelAnnie]

This entire post is because you're personally not changing with the times that have been discussed in the last few pages-- it's fine that you'd prefer to watch everything as you did 20 years ago, but it simply is not how the world is anymore. I'm going to be brutally honest when saying this, but it's the truth. The target audience that the broadcasters and advertisers are looking for is a younger audience and they really don't care about which conventional ways work for the older crowds. Younger people aren't tuning in every week to CTV or CBC or ABC hoping to see a two-hour recap of skating. They are, however, probably checking their Instagram accounts several times an hour to see what their friends have shared, and then they are going to Netflix or Hulu and bingeing whichever show is the new talk of the week.

Because you haven't changed doesn't mean that the world as a whole doesn't change. We've already went over the fact that most of us here caught skating on television at some point 20, 30, or 40 years ago and that's what drew us in- because that was the only option back then. Young people aren't watching broadcast television religiously anymore as a whole. It has nothing to do with figure skating. But they can become fans, much like we did from seeing it on television, by just seeing one clip on social media or on YouTube that makes them curious to see more. And then they have an endless catalog of old performances to watch thanks to YouTube.

Thanks to the ISU streams, people from all over the world can now watch skating live if they become invested. And if they are from a smaller country where skating isn't really well-known, they still have the streaming option and it's possible to go on YT and watch endless programs. This wasn't the case 20 years ago. The small countries were basically shut out of ALL skating unless someone sent them a VHS.

If anything, the skating fandom has probably increased dramatically in the last 10 or so years thanks to different technologies, and @VGThuy basically touched on that already a few posts ago. Your basing fandom on the amount of stuff on broadcast television isn't seeing the big picture at all.

What you say may be accurate. Streaming is great. I had my grandson and his friend (both 9) mesmerized watching Nathan Chen....and they spent the next 30 minutes trying to execute moves. You have to know a fair amount and be quite dedicated to follow skating via live stream. I would assert that the rate at which people who see something interesting, unusual (like the dress that changes colors) and then are interested or inspired enough to figure out how to follow skaters, skating, competitions, etc. is very low.

The younger generation(s) may know all about streaming, tweeting, facebook.............but unless they are real fans, why would they go to the trouble of sorting out what competition is what, who is where, why are they there, and why isn't the guy I really liked there. And why do they get credit for a splat?

 

[tony]

What you say may be accurate. Streaming is great. I had my grandson and his friend (both 9) mesmerized watching Nathan Chen....and they spent the next 30 minutes trying to execute moves. You have to know a fair amount and be quite dedicated to follow skating via live stream. I would assert that the rate at which people who see something interesting, unusual (like the dress that changes colors) and then are interested or inspired enough to figure out how to follow skaters, skating, competitions, etc. is very low.

The younger generation(s) may know all about streaming, tweeting, facebook.............but unless they are real fans, why would they go to the trouble of sorting out what competition is what, who is where, why are they there, and why isn't the guy I really liked there. And why do they get credit for a splat?

Just like many of us happened to stumble upon skating on television, the younger generation can stumble upon it somewhere on social media all the same. Were any of us guaranteed to start following it closely just because we saw a competition on television? Absolutely not. But most of us got into it from that one instance, and liked it enough to search out other resources of skating on the internet.

I think I’m missing the point you’re trying to get at here. Putting something on television isn’t going to automatically create fans any more than them seeing something on social media. But the younger generation IS more likely to see it on the latter.

 

[Japanfan]

Eurosport had nothing to do with figure skating this year.

Maybe not Eurosport? It was coverage provided on Youtube with two British commentators.

 

[Japanfan]

This entire post is because you're personally not changing with the times that have been discussed in the last few pages-- it's fine that you'd prefer to watch everything as you did 20 years ago, but it simply is not how the world is anymore. I'm going to be brutally honest when saying this, but it's the truth. The target audience that the broadcasters and advertisers are looking for is a younger audience and they really don't care about which conventional ways work for the older crowds.

Because you haven't changed doesn't mean that the world as a whole doesn't change. We've already went over the fact that most of us here caught skating on television at some point 20, 30, or 40 years ago and that's what drew us in- because that was the only option back then. Young people aren't watching broadcast television religiously anymore as a whole. It has nothing to do with figure skating. But they can become fans, much like we did from seeing it on television, by just seeing one clip on social media or on YouTube that makes them curious to see more. And then they have an endless catalog of old performances to watch thanks to YouTube.

Thanks to the ISU streams, people from all over the world can now watch skating live if they become invested. And if they are from a smaller country where skating isn't really well-known, they still have the streaming option and it's possible to go on YT and watch endless programs. This wasn't the case 20 years ago. The small countries were basically shut out of ALL skating unless someone sent them a VHS.

If anything, the skating fandom has probably increased dramatically in the last 10 or so years thanks to different technologies, and @VGThuy basically touched on that already a few posts ago. Your basing fandom on the amount of stuff on broadcast television isn't seeing the big picture at all.

Yup, I've having a bit of difficulty changing with the times.

I'm resistant to change at the best of times - that's just how I am.

Please allow an older person to grieve.

I understand we will mostly be watching figure skating via stream in future, some with commentary (like the coverage we got of GFP and 4CCs). I'll adjust.

 

[Rhino]

I actually have a more optimistic view. People LOVED figure skating at the 2018 Olympics. A lot of skaters themselves saw a huge uptick in followers on their IG and Twitter pages. Figure skating was trending a few times and people were talking about it all over during the time. I think that shows there is a market who not only enjoyed it, but could grow into something more. Not sure what the answer is, but I think there is interest once there's exposure. For example, Virtue/Moir's routine from Pyeongchang went viral with multi-million views, as did Papadakis/Cizeron's Euros FD from that season. The Shibs are looking at 1.6 million views for their Olympic FD that was published a few months ago on the Olympic channel. Chock/Bates's FD this season from Nationals also garnered similar numbers. On Facebook, I saw that about 9-10 million people viewed the Shibs' Nationals blues/hip hop SD from 2016-17. Savchenko/Massot's Olympic LP saw millions of views. People are still getting hit with James/Cipres' "Sounds of Silence" LP after-the-fact.

I believe 93% of all Tweets at the Olympics were about figure skating - 13 times as many as all other sports put together - have certainly read it somewhere (source article).

Thanks to the ISU streams, people from all over the world can now watch skating live if they become invested. And if they are from a smaller country where skating isn't really well-known, they still have the streaming option and it's possible to go on YT and watch endless programs. This wasn't the case 20 years ago. The small countries were basically shut out of ALL skating unless someone sent them a VHS.

This I very much agree with, it must be a godsend if you're from a smaller skating country, and certainly the ISU's Skating ISU channel can only help in this case.

For those countries losing TV coverage it will be very interesting to see what the situation is in 10 years time say. If younger potential skaters are inspired to take up the sport through what they've seen on social media, brilliant. If not I fear the long term decline in skating in Europe in particular will carry on, and the increase to 54 entries in singles may become a bit of a moot point (Eurosport coverage really was wide and deep, even if at times you ended up tearing your hair out through things like schedule changing and so on). However we'll have to see. Let's hope the ISU has a good marketing strategy for its channel e.g. how about publicising it at every opportunity on the boards you see at every skating competition?

 

[skatingguy]

Maybe not Eurosport? It was coverage provided on Youtube with two British commentators.

It was the ISU coverage, and the same coverage was available on the CBC's website, and app, and in a couple cases the same coverage on NBC Gold.

 

[PRlady]

The important point I think people need to "get" is that a sport isn't going to die if it's not shown on TV. TV is not the be-all and end-all anymore. Lots of things aren't shown on tv and they are doing great and making lots of money.

We are watching “Succession” now, the thinly-veiled story of the Murdoch empire. It’s hilarious that every kid in the family tells dad (Rupert) to bail on TV, networks are obsolete.

I agree that skating not being in TV matters less to everyone but boomers and up.

 

[skatingguy]

Just like many of us happened to stumble upon skating on television, the younger generation can stumble upon it somewhere on social media all the same. Were any of us guaranteed to start following it closely just because we saw a competition on television? Absolutely not. But most of us got into it from that one instance, and liked it enough to search out other resources of skating on the internet.

I think I’m missing the point you’re trying to get at here. Putting something on television isn’t going to automatically create fans any more than them seeing something on social media. But the younger generation IS more likely to see it on the latter.

I think it's important to remember that for many of us we didn't stumble upon skating on television because there were only a few channels, and in my house we watched what my father wanted to watch. In my case that happened to include the '88 Olympics, and the television coverage of that event included a lot of figure skating. Changes to the Olympic program since the early '90's means that figure skating isn't featured as prominently as it once was and it now competes for air time with sports that attract X-Games audiences. In addition there are big changes to the way we watch television since many of us started watching the sport. There was also no remote control so people channel surfed less. Basically the whole audience was much more captive than now, and that makes a different in attracting viewers. Now the ISU, and other skating alphabet soup organizations need to go out and bring viewers to their content using social media, and the sport has a ways to go in developing that side of promotion.

 

[kwanfan1818]

But not one person has chosen "Watching online" in the poll I posted in the trash can about first exposure to figure skating.

Kind of hard when "watching online" didn't exist when I was five years old and found figure skating watching Wide World of Sports.

I’ve been on the message boards for.. 22+ years now? and on FSU for 20 years. I think we just grew used to that flow and I personally feel like that’s part of my problem with using the platforms to have any real in-depth conversations in regards to a particular post.

Which is, of course, the appeal for people who live by social media: you want to be referred to something, comment, get out, and follow what your network recommends next, or what your app recommends next. That doesn't mean you'll never go back and find more stuff just like it, but the pace and shorthand is just a different animal, to an extent the equivalent of getting lost in a physical dictionary or encyclopedia back in the day.

Just like many of us happened to stumble upon skating on television, the younger generation can stumble upon it somewhere on social media all the same. Were any of us guaranteed to start following it closely just because we saw a competition on television? Absolutely not. But most of us got into it from that one instance, and liked it enough to search out other resources of skating on the internet.

And with social media, you don't have to be physically in one place to catch it, which was the case when I first started watching. (Cue dinosaurs.) If your father dragged you, and no one else in the family, to visit his sibling and then insisted on leaving ten minutes before Wide World of Sports ended, just as ABC started to show the skating FS's, you missed Worlds that year. (But I'm not bitter or anything after 55 years...) And even after recording was possible, you still had to be physically there, not being prompted by your network to watch a program while you're on the bus.

 

[mjb52]

Do you think the popularity of skating in Russia right now is just because it has so many of the top skaters or is it more than that, something cultural? Packing the audience for a Junior Grand Prix is really something (although again there, Russia has a multitude of top skaters). The US has Chen so it's not lacking a major star and he even has a great rivalry with Hanyu, so it's not completely lacking a champion with a great story, but I do think the popularity here has largely been driven by having successful ladies, although I guess back in the 80s there were Boitano and Hamilton. But I don't see Lysacek or Chen having the same effect. If someone like Liu became a major competitor for gold would that make a difference or is it more that skating's peak time here has sort of passed for good.

I do think even though Russia has such a rich history, it seems like it's the success with the top ladies that is especially driving the explosion in popularity (I could be 100% wrong here). It's interesting to me, because dance and pairs are my own favorite, but I still feel like for this sport, the ladies event is just clearly the marquee and the one the public is especially interested in.

 

[Vagabond]

Do you think the popularity of skating in Russia right now is just because it has so many of the top skaters or is it more than that, something cultural?

As I have mentioned previously, I watched some Russian television program on a Sunday afternoon when I was staying in Tbilisi, Georgia back in 2018. The show featured pre-teen ice dance couples skating exhibition programs in full costume before an audience of what I think must have been at least 200 people. At the end of each program, the couples were given bouquets by even younger boys and girls. Each couple was interviewed on camera. Tatiana Tarasova and Alexei Yagudin were among the guests also being interviewed for the show. I think Yagudin may have been coaching at least one of the couples.

The current craze may have started with the revival of Russian skating in the runup to Sochi, but it is not limited to the top skaters. I cannot for the life of me imagine anything like this program I saw on Russian television happening in the U.S.

 

[cheremary]

Do you think the popularity of skating in Russia right now is just because it has so many of the top skaters or is it more than that, something cultural? Packing the audience for a Junior Grand Prix is really something (although again there, Russia has a multitude of top skaters). The US has Chen so it's not lacking a major star and he even has a great rivalry with Hanyu, so it's not completely lacking a champion with a great story, but I do think the popularity here has largely been driven by having successful ladies, although I guess back in the 80s there were Boitano and Hamilton. But I don't see Lysacek or Chen having the same effect. If someone like Liu became a major competitor for gold would that make a difference or is it more that skating's peak time here has sort of passed for good.

I think part of the problem is that careers are shorter these days and there's barely any professional or touring opportunities in North America. People who become interested in Olympic skaters don't have an avenue to follow skating any further if those skaters retire right after and don't have the opportunity to do many shows or tours after. I have friends who watched the Olympics, became huge fans of Virtue/Moir and Adam Rippon, but the Olympics were their last competition. Adam only did SOI right after, and even V/M now have stopped skating. Those friends are still interested in these skaters, but are now following them in their other pursuits.

The other issue is the lack of easy access. Even when I want to share a competitive program that might interest friends who are casual fans, it's very hard to share when there are no Youtube videos. You can't expect someone to pay for an entire season's access on NBC Gold for just one program, or to get a VPN and wade through hours on the ISU stream to search for it.

 

[Japanfan]

If someone like Liu became a major competitor for gold would that make a difference or is it more that skating's peak time here has sort of passed for good.

I think FS's peak time has definitely passed for good.

 

[tony]

I think FS's peak time has definitely passed for good.

A few things-

Figure skating is bigger than ever in Russia and Japan and Korea. Just because it’s not as popular in the USA or Canada at the moment doesn’t mean the peak has passed. There are many other parts of the world where it is doing just fine. And just two years ago both the Canadian and US were on the podium in the team event at the Olympics. It’s not as if it’s dead in terms of engagement.

I get that so many people want it to be the mid 90s again. But for what? To see the same 10 professionals skate week after week with different rules in each competition? For maybe only two of those events to actually have logical rules and a serious event?

Looking at this through a North American lens- yes, skating has slowed down starting in 1999 with the ISU taking over the pro events and really starting to slow down around 2005 with IJS and a lack of a big, sustainable name in the ladies event in the US. But I’m going back to an earlier point- the entire world can watch skating on streaming or YouTube now. When the Grand Prix Series first debuted in 95-96, it was aired in the USA and maybe a few other countries and that was it. Senior B events? No coverage. Zero. Maybe a random home video of a skater once or twice a year. National Championships? None besides our own. Yes, we saw a lot of the top 10 skaters, but that was it. There were skaters finishing in the top 5 in Grand Prix events and top 10 in the World and we didn’t even see them throughout the entire season.

If you don’t see how it’s substantially better now, I don’t know what to say to convince you.

 

[overedge]

Personally I have yet to see any reliable research (e.g. not by a company that has a commercial interest in the question) showing that Tweets, clicks, etc. regularly translate into long term viewership, consumerism or fandom. Even in the academic research about marketing strategies.

But on a more immediate note - it's pretty clear that USFS is targeting older audiences, or believes that its core audience is in an older demographic. Otherwise they wouldn't have sponsors like Werthers, cellphones for geezers, river cruises, etc. etc. So if that's the main audience that watches skating, or buys tickets to skating events - that is also the audience that is probably less likely to watch things online. There's no streaming video capability AFAIK on a Consumer Cellular phone That would suggest that "traditional" TV coverage should be more, rather than less, important in reaching figure skating viewers.

 

[tony]

Personally I have yet to see any reliable research (e.g. not by a company that has a commercial interest in the question) showing that Tweets, clicks, etc. regularly translate into long term viewership, consumerism or fandom. Even in the academic research about marketing strategies.

I’m not quite sure you ‘get’ social media then. Almost all advertising is done that way and the sharing of videos is an easy way to get the info out there and allow people to get more invested if they choose to do so. If you don’t think there are kids out there who see a clip of Nathan’s quads or young girls out there who see someone like Simone Biles tumbling and then they want to ‘be’ that, you’re out of your mind. The generation that is going to keep everything sustainable and create future generations in sport is not the older generation, and putting things on TV is not going to help it. There are about three of you on this entire board that think broadcast TV is still the name of the game. Just like we fell in love through TV (or the few of you that didn’t), the new generation is going to do it a different way. It doesn’t make it wrong. It’s keeping up with the times.

But on a more immediate note - it's pretty clear that USFS is targeting older audiences, or believes that its core audience is in an older demographic. Otherwise they wouldn't have sponsors like Werthers, cellphones for geezers, river cruises, etc. etc. So if that's the main audience that watches skating, or buys tickets to skating events - that is also the audience that is probably less likely to watch things online. There's no streaming video capability AFAIK on a Consumer Cellular phone That would suggest that "traditional" TV coverage should be more, rather than less, important in reaching figure skating viewers.

Or maybe they take what they can get. Even when it was on TV much more often, the USFS had sponsors like SmartOnes and Keri Lotion. I wouldn’t look that far into it.

ETA- I did a 10 second fact check. Consumer Cellular has smartphones so YES, people can stream as they want.

 

[tony]

What I really want to know is if the Russians thought skating was on the decline in the late 2000s because they had a lady as National Champion who was struggling to qualify at Europeans? Or if Japan ever gave up on skating future when they didn’t have any huge names really between 95 and 99 or so? Or if Korea thought that they’d never have anyone in the sport because for such a long time they didn’t? Or if China gave up being a future powerhouse when their pair was finishing last at the Olympics?

Canada had their entire top team basically wiped out following 2018. I don’t think most people there assume the sport is dead. They just know they have to rebuild the championship program.

 

[MacMadame]

There's no streaming video capability AFAIK on a Consumer Cellular phone

Nope. I looked into them to see if they were cheaper than my current plan. They have all the same phones as all the other carriers. Including iPhones.

 

[VGThuy]

And honestly...skating still enjoys a healthy television schedule in the U.S. Things may change, but social media will be the only thing keeping it alive, and the generation that watches social media, streaming, and Youtube moreso than cable television will come in age in the next ten or so years if not earlier. That will be a new or already is the metric of success.

And let's face it, the whole Nielson ratings thing has been inaccurate for a long time and it's only kept because corporations like it.

I think what needs to be done is to see how the U.S. can improve Skate America attendance. Attendance at Boston Worlds was excellent, and attendance at Nationals seems to be consistently healthy. Stars on Ice is another issue, but I think there are many factors that come into play for that, and one being no post-competition career prolonging Olympic names in the spotlight.

 

[Japanfan]

If you don’t see how it’s substantially better now, I don’t know what to say to convince you.

I completely get your point, and agree with you.

For me there is a sense of loss because Mr. Japanfan and I would always watch together and sit on the couch while having dinner and drinks. We did hook up the laptop to the TV for GPF and 4CCs. It required some getting up and down to change from one field to the other, and to X all the ads that came up. But that will probably become our new normal.

OTOH, I really enjoy being able to see more skaters on stream than I did on TV. I usually watch at least the top half of the field, sometimes a bit more. The standard top 6 that used to be shown on TV (excepting Oylmpics) would not seem sufficient anymore and leave wanting more.

 

[alchemy void]

But for what? To see the same 10 professionals skate week after week with different rules in each competition?

I have to admit, I wouldn't hate this.

actually have a more optimistic view. People LOVED figure skating at the 2018 Olympics. A lot of skaters themselves saw a huge uptick in followers on their IG and Twitter pages. Figure skating was trending a few times and people were talking about it all over during the time. I think that shows there is a market who not only enjoyed it, but could grow into something more. Not sure what the answer is, but I think there is interest once there's exposure.

Yup. I feel like part of the solution is to have more consistent viral moments each season, not only Olympic years. Skating won't gain significant momentum as exclusively a once-every-four-years sport.

Some of this is on the coaches and choreographers. There are an infinite number of interesting skateable music selections out there, and we're getting way too many slow lazy pop covers. I shudder just thinking about the ladies at Canadian Nationals this season.

Also I think there needs to be more emphasis on performance in IJS. There's a reason James/Cipres' Sound of Silence program keeps going semi-viral every year. Unique (at that time) music, and they performed the hell out of it. How did Jimmy Ma's Eminem and DJ Snake programs not go viral? It's hard to even find a decent copy on youtube. Definitely a USFS marketing issue, but that's an entirely different story.

The younger generation(s) may know all about streaming, tweeting, facebook.............but unless they are real fans, why would they go to the trouble of sorting out what competition is what, who is where, why are they there, and why isn't the guy I really liked there. And why do they get credit for a splat?

That confusion was MUCH worse in the 90s. As a casual watcher, I was SO confused as to why Bobek and Kwan never competed with Kadavy, Sato, and Baiul. Or the 6.0 scale versus 10.0. Or instrumentals versus vocal music. And it's not like I could easily hop online and try to research. I had limited hours on my AOL account which I liked to reserve for other activities.

The other issue is the lack of easy access. Even when I want to share a competitive program that might interest friends who are casual fans, it's very hard to share when there are no Youtube videos. You can't expect someone to pay for an entire season's access on NBC Gold for just one program, or to get a VPN and wade through hours on the ISU stream to search for it.

Yes, this is definitely problematic. NBC Gold is great for the hardcore fans, but blocking youtube videos in the USA (or Korea or Japan) due to violation of broadcast copyrights is a big problem.

 

[VGThuy]

USFS/ISU needs to take a page out of USAG and FIG's playbook. Not only do they provide routines on YouTube at competitions playing live like a few minutes after NBC shows it, but they even make full competitions available. I'm sure there are things they could do better, but they are ahead of USFS there. I don't know what kind of contract USAG has that USFS/ISU doesn't, but it's pretty amazing.

 

[overedge]

Nope. I looked into them to see if they were cheaper than my current plan. They have all the same phones as all the other carriers. Including iPhones.

The message of their advertising is, here's a phone that's simple to operate so Grandma can talk to the kids or call you or 911 if she needs help. They're definitely not targeting streaming video users.

 

[MacMadame]

The message I got is "we're cheap." But their ads talk about sending pictures to the grandkids and mention talk, text and data. Data == streaming.

But what you actually said was that their phones don't do streaming and you are wrong about that. Their phones are the same phones that all the cellular companies have.

 

[allezfred]

USFS/ISU needs to take a page out of USAG and FIG's playbook. Not only do they provide routines on YouTube at competitions playing live like a few minutes after NBC shows it, but they even make full competitions available. I'm sure there are things they could do better, but they are ahead of USFS there. I don't know what kind of contract USAG has that USFS/ISU doesn't, but it's pretty amazing.

The benefits of living in a country with no TV contract for skating.