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Spoiler: PyeongChang 2018 Olympics
- Thread starter James
- Start date
In 2002 Bode was 4 seconds behind after the DH & first run of SL only to make almost all of it up in the final SL run to get the Silver.
Chloe Kim's halfpipe performance is on a different level from the rest of the field. I found the event quite boring aside from her runs.
Otherwise, way too much coverage of figure skating. It's been upwards of half of NBC's primetime broadcast every single night. This is simply too much. Coverage-wise it's skating vs. the field and skating is winning. I understand that they must have some research about skating being the most appealing in their key demographics. But is it really this much more appealing than the rest of the events? If skating is popular enough to demand this much coverage, you wonder why they don't find a way to get it on TV more often.
Otherwise, way too much coverage of figure skating. It's been upwards of half of NBC's primetime broadcast every single night. This is simply too much. Coverage-wise it's skating vs. the field and skating is winning. I understand that they must have some research about skating being the most appealing in their key demographics. But is it really this much more appealing than the rest of the events? If skating is popular enough to demand this much coverage, you wonder why they don't find a way to get it on TV more often.
Thread Starter
TS
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Was there figure skating on last night? Didn't see it.
But, if half pipe is "boring" what do you want to watch? Speed skating?
Combined coverage was poor. They should just show the race and not chop it up. But America generally doesn't want to watch a ski race. Will be interesting to see the slalom tonight.
But, if half pipe is "boring" what do you want to watch? Speed skating?
Combined coverage was poor. They should just show the race and not chop it up. But America generally doesn't want to watch a ski race. Will be interesting to see the slalom tonight.
The figure skating, ice dancing, etc. does suck up SO much airtime, but it's quite obviously what the majority of the viewers want to see. I doubt if those making these decisions at NBC are fools! I enjoy watching almost every sport, and in many, for me the commentary make a big difference. I didn't think it was great in the halfpipe. We could all tell the Chloe Kim story by now, but you get little insight as to why a rider makes changes to their plan, what the judges really value in the actual "ticks". Yeah we get "go big", good landings, etc. In both the men's pipe, we'd hear that these judges were the best in the world "I know them all....", but we also heard a lot of questioning the judging. Like Kelly Clark got jobbed. But no real dialog, I guess because the judges "are all friends of mine."
The combined was not great, but at least it was skiing. Hope the wind lets us watch SL tonight.
Would you rather have them just persevere though the wind, and what will result in some clear disadvantages depending on who gets what wind {likely affecting results}, or see it postponed?
I heard two years ago that it gets brutally cold with these winds blowing in form Siberia, and that they persist. The coaches words were "This could be a real cluster in February. It can be sunny and look great. Of course if the wind flips around out of the SE, it can be 50+ with driving rain......."
If the USST is measuring success based on Olympic medals, I hope that the events can all be fairly contested. Would be a shame if this is remembered as these Olympics are remembered for wind, and cancellations.
BTW, viewer numbers are WAY off. 10% down form Sochi, and 20% off Vancouver as of now. That's despite being able to watch live in USA prime time.
Hope the SL is great, and that people tune in to watch MS!
The combined was not great, but at least it was skiing. Hope the wind lets us watch SL tonight.
Would you rather have them just persevere though the wind, and what will result in some clear disadvantages depending on who gets what wind {likely affecting results}, or see it postponed?
I heard two years ago that it gets brutally cold with these winds blowing in form Siberia, and that they persist. The coaches words were "This could be a real cluster in February. It can be sunny and look great. Of course if the wind flips around out of the SE, it can be 50+ with driving rain......."
If the USST is measuring success based on Olympic medals, I hope that the events can all be fairly contested. Would be a shame if this is remembered as these Olympics are remembered for wind, and cancellations.
BTW, viewer numbers are WAY off. 10% down form Sochi, and 20% off Vancouver as of now. That's despite being able to watch live in USA prime time.
Hope the SL is great, and that people tune in to watch MS!
Rudi Riet
AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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There is a ton of viewing data that shows ice skating to be the most popular sport for everyday viewers in the United States. There are myriad reasons for this:
- Aesthetics ("it's pretty" is a marketable value in TV)
- A made-for-TV format (i.e. camera-ready with fixed mounts for most broadcast cameras, and contained to an arena)
- Easily broadcast live or tape delayed and edited
- Tons of ready-made human interest content
As to why more ISU events aren't televised, that's a bit more complicated. Many of the events take place in Europe or Asia, which means the inevitable tape delay (evening in central Europe is mid-day in the USA, while evening in Asia would be overnight/early morning in the USA). And while NBC Universal has the ISU broadcast rights for the United States, they also have broadcast rights for many sports that have higher viewership than figure skating (NFL, NHL, PGA). Yes, they show quite a few tournaments in prime time where they can (especially in Olympic seasons), and their cable networks (NBCSN and Olympic Channel) show most of the other ISU events.
I'm guessing that, in terms of the Olympic Winter Games and its selection of sports, NBC's data shows that figure skating equates to viewership. That leads to high-dollar ad buys for coverage with figure skating. And I'd imagine that they're leaning even harder on figure skating this time around with the lack of NHL players in the men's ice hockey tournament (second most popular sport).
The upside for those of us who like alpine racing, freestyle, and snowboarding: NBC is paying more mainstream network attention to our favorite sports, cherry picking some U.S. athletes whose stories make for good "human interest" copy. Thus why Shiffrin, Vonn, Ligety, White, Kim, et al are getting a lot of primetime coverage with minimal tape delay. It also helps that the time difference puts our favorite events in prime time, while the figure skaters are openly complaining about the early start times for competition to appeal to North American audiences (after all, NBC has billions of dollars invested in their coverage, far more than any other global media outlet).
Just my $0.02 - YMMV.
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Another plus with figure skating.....weather. no juggling with respect to the production. It goes on. No delays, no postponement.
Not a big factor, but still. Many, many factors why it appeals to so many. And is a money maker.
Not a big factor, but still. Many, many factors why it appeals to so many. And is a money maker.
Thread Starter
TS
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Yes, the same way Football is made for tv with all the stops built in yet it's continuous. Somehow they're making the advertising leap to soccer now in the US.
Complaints about the running of the women's slopestyle in high gusty winds. I think only 1/5 of runs were done without crashing.
It would have been very interesting if that SL run in the combined was the second run of the men's SL, and if the first run had left a "stacked" field, closely packed together by time.
There is NO way that Hirscher could see, on the second half of his run, his feet, the groove {which was likely not in the best place anyways}, etc. Let alone getting blown sideways, and stood up. 40 mph? More?
Luckily it made no difference. The guy who was hammered the most won.
If it were the men's SL and say, Hirscher, HK, and a Swiss like Tule were all literally "blown out",result wise, it would be a shame. And you'd have a lot of bitching. I am crossing my fingers that we see that wind die down. It picks up later in the day, as well. Second run time.
It's "an outdoor sport" for sure. But "fairly contested" is part of the deal as well.
Hoping for the best.
There is NO way that Hirscher could see, on the second half of his run, his feet, the groove {which was likely not in the best place anyways}, etc. Let alone getting blown sideways, and stood up. 40 mph? More?
Luckily it made no difference. The guy who was hammered the most won.
If it were the men's SL and say, Hirscher, HK, and a Swiss like Tule were all literally "blown out",result wise, it would be a shame. And you'd have a lot of bitching. I am crossing my fingers that we see that wind die down. It picks up later in the day, as well. Second run time.
It's "an outdoor sport" for sure. But "fairly contested" is part of the deal as well.
Hoping for the best.
If NBC is so smart then why can’t they hire some UI experts to clean up the mess they have? If we have to have a Sports App and multiple confusing channels and online coverage then the thing should be pushing me notifications of when Mikaela’s racing, where to find it, etc.
The coverage here in France is heavily skewed toward events that French athletes contest, naturally. So we get XC/biathlon/alpine/speed skating etc. Not as much figure skating. the bad part is France kicks ass in judo and fencing, so the summer olympics coverage is wall to wall ... judo and fencing ... and equestrian...
Smart, I guess, is a relative term. Ha! Their research no doubts tells them who wants to see what, and that leads to the advertising and revenue generation side of the house. The rest.......absolutely agree. Nuts.
Why would the USSSA not work with NBC {and for the matter every other sports federation} to be able to offer basically a three week pay per view package to watch the complete feed for every event. Real time, or delayed when you want. You'd think there would be some demand.....at a healthy price. Heck, think about that for the WC season. I've wasted thousands of dollars of my time on this, just this season. Hundreds and hundreds of us, thousands, have.
Yet another to add to my USST "reboot" list. Just should not be that hard, in 2018.
Wonder if the viewership is just the main Network or all the avenues to view.
I haven't watched any Olympics the old standard way. I watch everything live stream or replay.
I haven't watched any Olympics the old standard way. I watch everything live stream or replay.
Thread Starter
TS
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Yeah, amazingly, FIS's mobile website, while not the most elegant, is very very functional. All the info is basically there and it's not that hard to find. In contrast, NBC Olympics sites have very little data info and there's too many dead ends. They want you to watch videos, a 2min video with a 30 sec ad.
Sooo .... what's up today, Ladies SL, right? Is that an almost guaranteed gold for Mikaela? What time is it? Thanks, gang!
Thread Starter
TS
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11:45pm Eastern for run 2.
Go CANADA Go.
Are we allowed to bring our medals back under NAFTA?
Are we allowed to bring our medals back under NAFTA?
Yeah I'd subscribe for $100 per season, send Porino and his crew out with action cams and handhelds, give us premium coverage... x 20,000 hardcore ski racing viewers = $2m. Optimistically speaking.
Of course NBC probably gets $300k for a 30 sec spot on prime time and is making $50m per night so....
I suspect the people who sell advertising for NBC have things really buttoned down while the online low revenue stuff gets outsourced or interned.
Unfortunately we're between a rock and hard place.
Of course NBC probably gets $300k for a 30 sec spot on prime time and is making $50m per night so....
I suspect the people who sell advertising for NBC have things really buttoned down while the online low revenue stuff gets outsourced or interned.
Unfortunately we're between a rock and hard place.
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