Effects of ISU's media deal - Figure Skating on CBC but not Eurosport

[Winnie_20]

Oh yes, GREAT, here we go:
NOS - Netherlands.
Yes I GET IT. Dutch public telly LOOOOOOOOVES showing speed skating and of course they have the rights for that.
So, now, What does that means for the figure skating, eh? Because there is NO way the NOS would have bought the righhts for that, at least no way I can imagine.
So is youtube gonna be smart enough to ONLY block the speed skating?

 

[DonnaR]

I'm with you on this one. Essentially the Youtube stuff is just a better version, fingers crossed, of the Eurovision site, basically a way of watching figure skating if no one has the TV rights in your country.

However what will older people who are technically illiterate do, what will casual fans (who have never even heard of GS or FSU) do, will they even think that the ISU (if that's who they know runs the sport) has a Youtube channel, plus what about the very youngest viewers who might watch with their mums and dads and be attracted to/take up the sport, will they find it on Youtube or not?

Really it's vital that skating is still on TV as much as possible, and that you have things like Youtube/Eurovision/Eurosport Player just as backup for those things that aren't shown on standard TV.

I completely agree. It's great that I'll be able to watch all of the competition instead of just what is shown on TV, but I know I'll find it hard to find the time to do that. At least when it is on my PVR, I know I have to watch it, then delete it to clear space. My mum loves watching figure skating but she doesn't use a computer...

 

[BabySloth]

Does anyone know what "geo-restrictions COULD apply mean"? If I found my country on the list, is it 100 % sure that I can't watch the YouTube stream?

I live in Hungary and it says MTVA has the rights, but they don't have figure skating on the schedule for this weekend? They never showed the GP before, only Europeans and Worlds...

The whole Europe basically, North America, Korea, Japan and Russia are blocked. :disapp:

 

[ladyjane]

Does anyone know what "geo-restrictions COULD apply mean"? If I found my country on the list, is it 100 % sure that I can't watch the YouTube stream?

I live in Hungary and it says MTVA has the rights, but they don't have fgurre skating on the schedule for this weekend? They never showed the GP before, only Europeans and Worlds...

To be honest, it seems that all countries where anybody could be interested in figure skating might be blocked. The whole Europe basically, North America and Russia. People don't even really watch skating elsewhere (maybe only a small number of them). :disapp:

Same here. It says NOS has the rights in The Netherlands, but NOS hardly ever shows any Figure skating. Just football and speed skating, and if you're lucky some tennis. That's why I turned to Eurosport in the first place! I'm just hoping that the 'COULD' means that it won't be the case, that it would only be the Case for a World Cup in Speed or Short track skating which is shown by the same NOS.

 

[BabySloth]

Same here. It says NOS has the rights in The Netherlands, but NOS hardly ever shows any Figure skating. Just football and speed skating, and if you're lucky some tennis. That's why I turned to Eurosport in the first place! I'm just hoping that the 'COULD' means that it won't be the case, that it would only be the Case for a World Cup in Speed or Short track skating which is shown by the same NOS.

I hope so too. I only had the Eurosport option before as well.
But now? We don't have Channel 1 like in Russia or NBC like in USA where they will broadcast it 100 %.
If we can't watch through the national broadcaster and not even on Youtube, that means no figure skating AT ALL.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Does anyone know what "geo-restrictions COULD apply mean"? If I found my country on the list, is it 100 % sure that I can't watch the YouTube stream?

I live in Hungary and it says MTVA has the rights, but they don't have figure skating on the schedule for this weekend? They never showed the GP before, only Europeans and Worlds...

To be honest, it seems that all countries where anybody could be interested in figure skating might be blocked. The whole Europe basically, North America, Korea, Japan and Russia. People don't even really watch skating elsewhere (maybe only a small number of them). :disapp:

Same here. It says NOS has the rights in The Netherlands, but NOS hardly ever shows any Figure skating. Just football and speed skating, and if you're lucky some tennis. That's why I turned to Eurosport in the first place! I'm just hoping that the 'COULD' means that it won't be the case, that it would only be the Case for a World Cup in Speed or Short track skating which is shown by the same NOS.

It means "If you are in these countries, we are definitely going to block access to the YouTube streams. But, we don't want to admit that and have lots of fans in these countries up in arms, so we are leaving it ambiguous by saying you 'could' be blocked".

Oh yes, GREAT, here we go:
NOS - Netherlands.
Yes I GET IT. Dutch public telly LOOOOOOOOVES showing speed skating and of course they have the rights for that.
So, now, What does that means for the figure skating, eh? Because there is NO way the NOS would have bought the righhts for that, at least no way I can imagine.
So is youtube gonna be smart enough to ONLY block the speed skating?

I would say you're goosed.

If ever there was a good reason to split the ISU into separate Figure Skating and Speed Skating governing bodies, it is this. Because selling the two sports together is going to result in situations like this if the broadcaster is only interested in showing one of them.

This broadcasting deal is going to undo all the hard work Joan Haanappel has been doing trying to build up figure skating in the Netherlands. Because if the sport is not going to be on the TV, kids aren't going to accidentally stumble across it. And they aren't going to discover that they have a love for it.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Supernovaimplosion]

Oddly, they still list the CBC as carrying the non-SCI events, which, unless there was a big change at the last minute, isn't accurate.

Yes, they still aren't listed in the broadcast schedule VPN?

 

[MGstyle]

Fantastic. I checked the RAI Sport weekly schedule and not even a shadow of SA listed, so I was quite confident that they wouldn't geoblock Italy. Alas... they DID.

 

[BabySloth]

It means "If you are in these countries, we are definitely going to block access to the YouTube streams. But, we don't want to admit that and have lots of fans in these countries up in arms, so we are leaving it ambiguous by saying you 'could' be blocked"

CaroLiza_fan

This makes sense, sadly. But I still pray for a miracle.
I was getting pretty excited about this, but I should have known that this looks way to good to be true. I mean, free figure skating on Youtube? Instead of expensive Europsort? Wow.
And it turns out there won't be anything at all, probably. Because they only broadcast speed skating in my country this part of the year. :sad46:

 

[ladyjane]

It means "If you are in these countries, we are definitely going to block access to the YouTube streams. But, we don't want to admit that and have lots of fans in these countries up in arms, so we are leaving it ambiguous by saying you 'could' be blocked".



I would say you're goosed.

If ever there was a good reason to split the ISU into separate Figure Skating and Speed Skating governing bodies, it is this. Because selling the two sports together is going to result in situations like this if the broadcaster is only interested in showing one of them.

This broadcasting deal is going to undo all the hard work Joan Haanappel has been doing trying to build up figure skating in the Netherlands. Because if the sport is not going to be on the TV, kids aren't going to accidentally stumble across it. And they aren't going to discover that they have a love for it.

CaroLiza_fan

Exactly! This is really awful. I was really looking forward to the GP's in the Fall but it's looking bad. Also, I am a (small) supporter of Joan's efforts with her Foundation and this is a big setback.

 

[Winnie_20]

I wonder how this works behind the scenes, though. Are we talking a package deal? I mean, did the NOS have to buy the rights for all skating in a single package? Or are we thinking they do not actually own the rights for figure skating at all, but because it’s too complicated to change the geoblock per event, youtube will just be geoblocked for everything skating? Or... maybe hopefully they really will only block the speed skating events, and the FS can be watched okay?

 

[Tutto]

This broadcasting deal is going to undo all the hard work Joan Haanappel has been doing trying to build up figure skating in the Netherlands. Because if the sport is not going to be on the TV, kids aren't going to accidentally stumble across it. And they aren't going to discover that they have a love for it.

CaroLiza_fan

Not only that, some young skaters may lose motivation too because I can imagine it is a big deal for a skater who just breaking through onto the GP circuit to know that there will be an international broadcast, that people could see you on TV, not only friends & family but a large audience

 

[TryMeLater]

I don’t understand what’s going on. Will people in America be able to watch a livestream on YouTube or will we be geo-blocked? TSL seems to be mad about something, like, the rest of the world will get to watch skating but here in the US we won’t be able to? Is NBC still gonna show their typical 2-hour highlights of the GP on weekends?

TSL are mad that in the US you have you will need to pay to get skating on NBC Gold, while it's free on youtube (but geo-blocked in the US).

 

[TryMeLater]

I wonder how this works behind the scenes, though. Are we talking a package deal? I mean, did the NOS have to buy the rights for all skating in a single package? Or are we thinking they do not actually own the rights for figure skating at all, but because it’s too complicated to change the geoblock per event, youtube will just be geoblocked for everything skating? Or... maybe hopefully they really will only block the speed skating events, and the FS can be watched okay?

Why don't you contact NOS and have them stream it on their website?
Channel 1 in Russia live streams the events on their website.

 

[Cutting the ice]

For Canadian fans
I emailed the CBC a few days ago and this morning received this reply:
CBC Audience Services (CBC)
Oct 16, 10:23 EDT

Hello there,

Thank you for your interest figure skating coverage on CBC!

CBC Sports will continue to bring the figure skating story to life for Canadians as we always have done with the exception of television coverage.

We will be offering ISU Grand Prix event live streams on gem.cbc.ca and cbc.ca/sports. Any information about our upcoming streaming schedule will be soon updated here: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/figureskating/broadcast

There will also be a A YouTube specific show hosted by Dylan Moscovitch / Asher Hill out on Mondays.

We will also continue to follow the stories of Canada's athletes through our editorial and social platforms.
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/figureskating

You can expect to hear more about the final broadcasting agreements for the World Championships early 2020.

All the best

Hollis Clarke

 

[norwegianfairytale]

Thanks norwegianfairytale! I didn't know about Viafree. Exciting on Friday evening to see how it works, and who the Swedish commentators will be.

Yeah, I just made a random google yesterday about GP and found out about Viafree. Allthough not sure how it works watching the norwegian site in other countries? In case it works for others, I would be happy to share the link, but there will be norwegian commentators and a lot of commerial breaks though.

 

[Winnie_20]

Why don't you contact NOS and have them stream it on their website?
Channel 1 in Russia live streams the events on their website.

If they have the rights, then I am pretty sure they will provide a livestream for FS.
But I somehow doubt they have the rights.

 

[el henry]

TSL are mad that in the US you have you will need to pay to get skating on NBC Gold, while it's free on youtube (but geo-blocked in the US).

Of all the things they could get mad about, that would be no. 9999 on my list. At least we can pay and be guaranteed access.
The rest of this is a SNAFU in the true sense of the acronym. I feel so bad for our European friends,

 

[Miller]

It's a mistake to show everything on the Skating ISU Youtube channel. Instead there should be a separate one for figure skating Grand Prix (just like the junior one), and then further ones for speed skating/short track etc. That way, theoretically, it should be possible to geo-block different type of events for the same country e.g. speed skating in The Netherlands blocked, but not necessarily figure skating.

 

[ruga]

My country is on the list but I see no GP events in their programme. I wonder if the geoblock will still apply.

If it will, then I'm not sure that YouTube stream is a good idea at all. I don't see a reason why I should be blocked from it even if the only events they'll probably show are Euros and Worlds.