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

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

litenkyckling

Final Flight
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Jun 6, 2018
It's all very up in the air for Europe as well - the ISU have sold the rights to a new media group which leaves a huge question mark over Eurosport coverage.

Eurosport Player Support (@EurosportCare) said:
We feel your passion guys! The distribution of these rights are not yet decided, please stay tuned for updates.

I just don't get it - surely the growth of the JGP coverage on youtube that will be seen through their own data shows that they need to ensure that the coverage is accessible for all? Total nightmare :disapp:

When does the ISU make decisions that actually make sense though, lets be honest
 
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Lunalovesskating

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Jul 3, 2018
It's all very up in the air for Europe as well - the ISU have sold the rights to a new media group which leaves a huge question mark over Eurosport coverage.

Eurosport will still cover the GP in many countries. As far as I know Finland, the Netherlands and other nordic countries are the only ones who won't have the Eurosport coverage of the GP this season. The commentator of Eurosport Italy already confirmed that they will cover the GP and Germany also has the GP listed on their schedule on Eurosport.
 

Edwin

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Jan 5, 2019
It's all about money unfortunately. GP events are costly, and somehow these costs need to be recovered. I don't know if Youtube generates any reverse revenue for ISU, since they have to fight off copyright claims and most likely don't even care about that, given the loss of their archived content.

Personally, I can do without Eurosport' pay subscriptions, which are still ridden with advertisements. But any coverage is better than no coverage. So more incentive to watch Russian or Japanese coverage though any means, legal or not.
 

litenkyckling

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Jun 6, 2018
Eurosport will still cover the GP in many countries. As far as I know Finland, the Netherlands and other nordic countries are the only ones who won't have the Eurosport coverage of the GP this season. The commentator of Eurosport Italy already confirmed that they will cover the GP and Germany also has the GP listed on their schedule on Eurosport.

oh thats ok then - it was Eurosport themselves who tweeted to say that they had yet to agree on rights and terms. Hoping we'll still have them covering it in the UK because there isn't really another easy way round it
 

litenkyckling

Final Flight
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Jun 6, 2018
It's all about money unfortunately. GP events are costly, and somehow these costs need to be recovered. I don't know if Youtube generates any reverse revenue for ISU, since they have to fight off copyright claims and most likely don't even care about that, given the loss of their archived content.

I do think that the YouTube channel can be used to prove the demand is there though
 

Winnie_20

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Feb 24, 2013
As far as I know Finland, the Netherlands [...]

Say what?! *prepares to freak out* No Eurosport coverage?! :devil:
And how does that translate to on-line coverage? No livestreams, either?
edit: read some tweets on the matter, confusion seems to reign supreme. Netherlands aren’t exactly a nordic country, so not entirely sure how this all works.

edit: well, that's interesting. I just did a search on the Eurosport Player for figure skating, and... came across an archived three-hour livestream of the Aurora Games. Like... huh?!
So no GPs, but we can enjoy the Aurora Games? How nice of them! *sarcasm*

I must've been really out of the loop to have missed that, though.
 

Tolstoj

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Joined
Nov 21, 2015
It's all very up in the air for Europe as well - the ISU have sold the rights to a new media group which leaves a huge question mark over Eurosport coverage.



I just don't get it - surely the growth of the JGP coverage on youtube that will be seen through their own data shows that they need to ensure that the coverage is accessible for all? Total nightmare :disapp:

When does the ISU make decisions that actually make sense though, lets be honest

Who is this new media group? DAZN?

It's a bit sad, as a foreigner i didn't like CBC commentary at first, it felt just super biased, but down the line i learned to appreciate their takes, there is always a lot to learn from former skaters like Kurt Browning or current coaches like Carol Lane.
 

mrrice

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Jul 9, 2014
I saw this tweet ( https://twitter.com/FlutzesCast/status/1171059441162227714 ) which says that CBC hasn't been able to reach an agreement with the ISU. What shall Canadian fs fans do? :(

How is figure skating ever going to regain its former glory when they make it so difficult for "Regular' people to find. As a long time skating fan, I have learned to hunt down the events I want to see via sites like this one where the members can help me find one if I'm lost. I'm old but, I remember when figure skating could be viewed on Wide World Of Sports. NBC usually has Nationals and I hope they'll still carry it. I'll find skating through the help of my GS friends. :sad4:
 

ladyjane

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Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
Well, no subscription to eurosport player then for me. There is only one reason to have it, and that's figure skating as the Eurosport channel in itself broadcasts far too little of the sport in any case. They favour snooker which to me is a pub game and no sport at all.
 

Elucidus

Match Penalty
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Nov 19, 2017
I just did a search on the Eurosport Player for figure skating, and... came across an archived three-hour livestream of the Aurora Games. Like... huh?!
So no GPs, but we can enjoy the Aurora Games? How nice of them! *sarcasm*

It's easy - Aurora Games is true sport while GP events are not :biggrin:
 

Skater Boy

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Feb 24, 2012
If CBC can have their primetime skating show then they should have the Grand Prix events, worlds, 4CC's and Nats at least as well as Euros. This would be a big blow for skating. We are diehards at GS but skating is struggling - less coverage won't help.
 

Ryan O

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Mar 5, 2004
Country
Canada
It would certainly be odd for Canadian television to *reduce* figure skating coverage in the same season as the World Championships are being held in Canada!

I imagine Skate Canada will be furious if that happens!
 

Edwin

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It's easy - Aurora Games is true sport while GP events are not :biggrin:

Aurora Games while nice in itself seemed to be more like a constant commercial with small chunks of sports in between. Clearly made for US consumption.
 

CaroLiza_fan

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It's all very up in the air for Europe as well - the ISU have sold the rights to a new media group which leaves a huge question mark over Eurosport coverage.

Who is this new media group? DAZN?

This maybe? It was a few moths ago though and Canada's excluded.

https://www.infront.sport/en/news/2...up-for-new-exclusive-media-rights-partnership

About the Nordic countries, but no mention of Netherlands:

https://www.infront.sport/en/news/2...edia-rights-agreement-for-isu-with-nent-group

Yes, it is Infront who litenkyckling is referring to. But, they are hardly new - they have been around for donkey's years. (Since 2003 as Infront, but their predecessor companies go back much further - as far back as 1973! Source)

I know them mainly because in 2007 they bought the Flamini Group, who had been the promotors of the World Superbike Championship since it started back in 1988 (the promotion of WSBK has since been transferred over to MotoGP promotors Dorna, who at the time were owned by the same company as Infront). But, since I got more into ski sports over the past couple of Olympic Cycles, I have discovered that Infront are the promotors of all of the Nordic Ski World Cups, as well as the Alpine Ski World Cup.

The important thing I want to point out is that Eurosport have been the broadcasters of both World Superbikes and the World Cups of the ski sports for, well, as long as I can remember. So, it is not as if Infront and Eurosport do not work together.

So, I do not see things changing too much in terms of broadcasting rights. What has happened in the Netherlands and the Nordic countries are probably special cases. In the Netherlands, Speed Skating is practically the national sport, so Infront will have got a better offer from another broadcaster (possibly even a public service broadcaster).

As for the deal in the Nordic countries, I had never heard tell of Nordic Entertainment Group before. However, I just looked them up and it turns out that they are a rebranding of the owners of Viasat, who have been around a long time and are well known. So, they are not an unknown quantity. Plus, Discovery's operations in the Nordic countries are strange. They have never been fully part of Discovery Networks, instead being a joint venture with SBS (Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems; so nothing to do with the Australian or Korean channels of the same name). Which probably explains why, when doing my TV schedule posts, I have found that the Eurosport channels up there often do not follow the same schedules as in the rest of Europe. Anyway, figure skating is not by any means a big sport in Scandinavia (ski sports are the main thing), so I think SBS has maybe been reluctant to spend too much on renewing the skating rights. And Viasat's owners have seen an opportunity to get one over on a rival, and have come in with a slightly bigger offer, which Infront has accepted.

Maybe I am being too optimistic, but I do think these cases are the exception rather than the rule. Figure skating is not a major sport in Europe, so I do not imagine many broadcasters being willing to pay out what it would cost to get exclusive rights. Instead, I see things staying largely the same as they already are.

I hope...

CaroLiza_fan
 

Winnie_20

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Feb 24, 2013
Okay, so, assuming worst-case scenario... I have a subscription to the Eurosport player, mainly for the GPs. Is it possible to watch the livestreams if I were to use a VPN and set it to, say, Germany?
 

Edwin

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Jan 5, 2019
Okay, so, assuming worst-case scenario... I have a subscription to the Eurosport player, mainly for the GPs. Is it possible to watch the livestreams if I were to use a VPN and set it to, say, Germany?

You can try, but it could be your login contains your actual location, so the stream still won't open.

Better set your VPN to Russia, since 1tv.ru will stream the events live.

No doubt there will be bootleg streams through some less reliable channels, even VPN providers are not to be trusted with any personal data on your device.
 
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