NBC figure skating low ratings

[reneerose]

This is sad. They made sure that it was aired prime time for the US, and it still didn't work out.

Not unexpected though. The US just doesn't care about FS anymore.

They might if TV were completely free. Sad that mainstream U.S. care only when it's Olympics time. Some of the people I know at work couldn't be bothered to even watch The Games overall. How are the ratings compared to gymnastics? Do gymnastics historically get higher ratings?

I find because the NBC livestream shows it all in one block with no cuts except for quick ads and lovely commentating from the Australian lady Belinda Noonan (she needs props), that the experience is much better. I didn't even watch the primetime feed anymore because they cut away so much.

ABC of old used to just show the ENTIRE figure skating program in 1 block with commercials, I don't recall ABC cutting away as much.

I sat immoveable almost from my laptop for a full 3 hours the other night. My sleep schedule this entire week has been majorly disrupted by this beautiful sport.

 

[Smith16]

I think in general gymnastics does get higher ratings than figure skating because primarily of the team aspect and the fact that the USA women's team has been dominant over the last 2 cycles in both the team and the individual. There were even articles out recently talking about why hasn't an American women won Olympic gold since Salt Lake? What's interesting is that for gymnastics the team part of the competition brings in even more excitement than the individual, because of all the "drama" around the competition.Yes some of it's manufactured and some that's real. They also show a lot of fluff pieces on different national teams and their gymnasts. Some of their best fluff pieces haven't been about the US team, but about their competitors such as Russia, Romania, and China. Figure Skating should try to do something like that.

On the topic of Tara and Johnny, while some might find them annoying, I've seen articles talking about how both of them are a breath of fresh air and people like them "telling it how it is". Plus Johnny and Tara became a popular meme due to their outrageous hair and outfit choices.

 

[MiRé]

CBC ALL THE WAY!! NBC SUCKS (And I live in US.....)

 

[Barb]

Sorry to say, but “the usual gang of suspects” doesn’t work here:

1. The average couch sitting streaming TV watching American is not nearly, and I mean NOT nearly, as offended by Tara and Johnny as the hard-core fans, bless us every one, who frequent a figure skating board. I say this as someone who has yelled “Shut Up Tara” as often as everyone else here. Just as many folks to tune in to see what Johnny’s going to wear as die-hands tune him out. It ain’t Johnny and it ain’t Tara.

2. “Understanding” the sport, or having someone who can explain judging accurately, may be a plus, but I am afraid it has very little to do with ratings. If you need @Mathman’s advanced degrees to understand the sport, you just won’t watch. Period. Yes, folks can watch football who will talk about Xs and Os and game plans and analyze strategy endlessly. But those aren’t the folks giving it high ratings. “Look at that, the quarterback *caught* a touchdown on the last play, isn’t that cool?” The basics you need to know to understand that you can learn in less than a minute. Even with the football equivalent of Tara commenting. Knowledge won’t increase the TV audience.

3. If anything, Nathan hype would have driven up ratings, if not helped poor Nathan. Even for the FS. That’s not the issue.

4. No one, outside of us, my dear friends, is going to watch three hours straight of skating. Of *course* they switch around, the ratings would be even more abysmal if they didn’t.

Do I have the answer? No. I’d make gazillions of dollars and have so many more people in the US love skating if I did. But IMHO the usual suspects are off the hook for this.

Agree. Actually, I think figure skating is getting a lot more attention than I hoped. In FSU someone said that Aliona was practically a nobody in Germany, that is a disgrace .

 

[Tonichelle]

Not unexpected though. The US just doesn't care about FS anymore.

Judging by my non skating fans posts on social media - the fact that the commentators don't take it seriously as a sport greatly reduces their willingness to watch.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Judging by my non skating fans posts on social media - the fact that the commentators don't take it seriously as a sport greatly reduces their willingness to watch.

This and for many non-skating regulars it is Johnny and Tara. I can't tell you how many people I've seen on social media complaining and how many of my friends/relatives/acquaintances have said: "have I told you how annoying Johnny and Tara are and how they never shut up?!??"

 

[Feline Feeder]

Something not mentioned is that a small percentage of people, I'm talking about Trump-voting conservatives, are pissed that athletes don't like trump and have deigned to occasionally mention that they're not conservatives. They definitely aren't watching, and take every opportunity they can to harass the athletes on twitter, attack every post that NBC shares, etc. They aren't the majority of US watchers, for sure, but it might explain even a small downtick in viewers, who might otherwise be compelled by nationalism or their couch potato habits to at least have the tube on.

These individuals literally have a palpable rancor against athletes like Vonn, Rippon, and Kenworthy, and are making sure they're heard.
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If that's just a small number of people, it won't affect the ratings that much. However, while I'm still watching the games, I don't like NBC's take on them this year. There seems to be a bigger emphasis on personalities more than sports, and NBC's choices on who to focus on seem to be based on factors other than their athleticism.

Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy get attention because they publicly announced that they are gay and Adam, at least, reinvented himself from a middling skater into a gay rights advocate/LGBT spokesman. He has gotten a lot more press for those roles than, oh, I don't know, Jamie Anderson (is that her name?) got for actually winning a gold medal.

Maame Biney, who is a lovely woman by all accounts, has gotten a lot more attention than all the white and Asian short trackers who get eliminated in quarter finals. I'd name one, but I can't. We'll see how Gus does tonight.

It's clear that NBC has added a "social justice" angle to their coverage in a way that is more noticeable than other years, and while being rude to athletes is unacceptable, I can see where some people would get annoyed. People want to see sports, they don't want to be preached to.

 

[kwanfan4]

I wouldn’t watch it either if I had to listen to Johnny and Tara. Lol

My problem with them is they talk too much, especially Tara. I like to listen to the music as the skater is skating rather than hear her rabbling on. Also maybe the skating is getting low ratings because it comes on so late, some people have to work and get up early. During the last Olympics I had Directv(before at&t bought it) and DTV had a
special channel for figure skating only. I don't get the Olympic channel because now I would have to pay for it, not happening. AT&T taking over Directv has been a nightmare.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

This and for many non-skating regulars it is Johnny and Tara. I can't tell you how many people I've seen on social media complaining and how many of my friends/relatives/acquaintances have said: "have I told you how annoying Johnny and Tara are and how they never shut up?!??"

Kind of funny how people can share the exact opposite experiences. The non skating people in my circles find them funny and unique and I’ve even heard them say things like “just like the sport” or “I remember them being hilarious at the derby”. Now my rink people...boy do they complain but it should be noted that they tend to complain a lot anyway.

This thread will be overtaken with rants about them but I’m with el Henry!! I don’t think it’s their fault the ratings are down.

 

[Ladskater]

Here in Canada, the CBC is doing a fabulous job covering the whole Olympics. Not only can we watch it on TV we can watch it live on our PCs or Iphones or Tablets. They've made it so easy for us, it's pretty hard to miss any coverage. Of course for Figure Skating we have Kurt Browning, Carol Lane and Brenda Irving. They're doing an awesome job explaining every skater's move.

 

[el henry]

Delete

 

[el henry]

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If that's just a small number of people, it won't affect the ratings that much. However, while I'm still watching the games, I don't like NBC's take on them this year. There seems to be a bigger emphasis on personalities more than sports, and NBC's choices on who to focus on seem to be based on factors other than their athleticism.

Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy get attention because they publicly announced that they are gay and Adam, at least, reinvented himself from a middling skater into a gay rights advocate/LGBT spokesman. He has gotten a lot more press for those roles than, oh, I don't know, Jamie Anderson (is that her name?) got for actually winning a gold medal.

Maame Biney, who is a lovely woman by all accounts, has gotten a lot more attention than all the white and Asian short trackers who get eliminated in quarter finals. I'd name one, but I can't. We'll see how Gus does tonight.

It's clear that NBC has added a "social justice" angle to their coverage in a way that is more noticeable than other years, and while being rude to athletes is unacceptable, I can see where some people would get annoyed. People want to see sports, they don't want to be preached to.

Completely disagree. How in the world could anyone be offended by learning who a person is and what is important to them? (A far more accurate description than “social justice” IMHO).

My best memories of watching the Olys in the 70s were the “Up Close and Personal, the ABC Way” fluff pieces. If anything they increased coverage. And I have no doubt that Adam’s, Gus’ and Maame’s stories have done the same:agree:

 

[Proxy]

If someone is a once-every-four years viewer, and they like what you are doing, but people who watch regularly hate what you are doing, you just might have the wrong approach.

 

[el henry]

If someone is a once-every-four years viewer, and they like what you are doing, but people who watch regularly hate what you are doing, you just might have the wrong approach.

For what purpose? I mean that sincerely.

If people who watch every four years bring in millions of advertising dollars, and people who post on FS Boards can’t even sell out US Nats, and I am an American TV exec charged with one thing: making money : what do I do?

 

[Lamente Ariane]

Most people I know don't have TV anymore, and so can't contribute to NBC ratings because they have yet to offer a streaming-only service as far as I know. When the non-skating fans started asking me about Mirai, the Shibutanis and so on, I had to send them links to watch their programs online that would've been way harder for me to find if it weren't for Jackie Wong.

The few that have TV are not fans of the Johnny and Tara show. Especially Tara-- one of them said he can't understand why Tara presents herself as an authority when her skating career was so short she can't possibly understand what it's like for the older skaters.

 

[Procrastinator]

Something not mentioned is that a small percentage of people, I'm talking about Trump-voting conservatives, are pissed that athletes don't like trump and have deigned to occasionally mention that they're not conservatives. They definitely aren't watching, and take every opportunity they can to harass the athletes on twitter, attack every post that NBC shares, etc. They aren't the majority of US watchers, for sure, but it might explain even a small downtick in viewers, who might otherwise be compelled by nationalism or their couch potato habits to at least have the tube on.

These individuals literally have a palpable rancor against athletes like Vonn, Rippon, and Kenworthy, and are making sure they're heard.
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If that's just a small number of people, it won't affect the ratings that much. However, while I'm still watching the games, I don't like NBC's take on them this year. There seems to be a bigger emphasis on personalities more than sports, and NBC's choices on who to focus on seem to be based on factors other than their athleticism.

Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy get attention because they publicly announced that they are gay and Adam, at least, reinvented himself from a middling skater into a gay rights advocate/LGBT spokesman. He has gotten a lot more press for those roles than, oh, I don't know, Jamie Anderson (is that her name?) got for actually winning a gold medal.

Maame Biney, who is a lovely woman by all accounts, has gotten a lot more attention than all the white and Asian short trackers who get eliminated in quarter finals. I'd name one, but I can't. We'll see how Gus does tonight.

It's clear that NBC has added a "social justice" angle to their coverage in a way that is more noticeable than other years, and while being rude to athletes is unacceptable, I can see where some people would get annoyed. People want to see sports, they don't want to be preached to.

Oh lord. NBC has done nothing different from what it's always done. Anything involving an athlete expressing an opinion becomes "preaching," as if they only exist to entertain you like silent mimes. These people have opinions, especially in light of their backgrounds and experiences. The minority athletes have gotten attention because they're pioneers in their respective sports, and that kind of visibility is extremely important for young people and young athletes. I understand why it's strange for out of touch white people to comprehend why non-white/non-straight athletes are getting more attention; they think we've somehow reached societal equality/color-blindness and that paying attention to difference in a positive way is the same as helping to entrench and magnify it.

 

[Proxy]

For what purpose? I mean that sincerely.

If people who watch every four years bring in millions of advertising dollars, and people who post on FS Boards can’t even sell out US Nats, and I am an American TV exec charged with one thing: making money : what do I do?

Well think about it. If part of the population does not watch figure skating but tunes into the Olympics, you are not doing your job if you only entertain their vanity for a couple of weeks and then they disappear until the next four years. You are doing your job if they think dang, I really enjoyed that figure skating broadcast and I want to watch more of that figure skating thing in the future.

To be fair, this is not all on the broadcasters. Their job is to enhance the viewing experience and they take some responsibility. But there is also much more responsibility on the ISU, the judges, the skaters, and the like. If the product is bad, it doesn't matter what the broadcasters do...you cannot put lipstick on a pig.

 

[Proxy]

To put it another way, you don't want viewers to subconsciously think: "I enjoyed that figure skating broadcast, but not enough to watch it more than once every four years".

 

[el henry]

To put it another way, you don't want viewers to subconsciously think: "I enjoyed that figure skating broadcast, but not enough to watch it more than once every four years".

Agreed.

But everyone here has their anecdotes about what friends, neighbors and the mailman thinks about Tara and Johnny. NBC, I am sure, has cold hard numbers that they are looking at and analyzing, and they are deciding to go with Tara and Johnny.

Our experiences are not going to overcome what their financial analysts are telling them. And if those analysts are telling them that Tara and Johnny bring more eyeballs than they "drive away", then that's what they are going with.

I stand by my opinion that if FS viewership is down at the Olys, it's not T&J's fault. And I don't even *watch* their coverage most of the time.....

 

[SpiffySpiders]

Are many people still watching traditional television coverage for events like these? I haven't had cable in years and can't imagine watching any sport filtered through a general Olympic broadcast. These days, it's become more the norm to pick for yourself what you want to watch in full from online options.

Me, for instance, I loath 'fluff' and interviews. Television coverage is loaded up with such filler. I don't care for zany commentary teams making the show 'fun' either, something tv producers seem to love. Streams provide choice that tv can't, allowing me to watch, say, the day's speed skating in full then load up the biathlon race that happened at the same time earlier while ignoring the downhill I didn't much care about.

I'm lucky enough to have access to the CBC web site where I can select commercial-free coverage of any competition in any sport I wish to watch, always in full including plushie ceremony, either live or at my convenience. I simply stream my choices through my tv - or on my laptop or mobile device if away from home. The commentary is normally provided by a team of an experienced former athlete and a professional sports commentator, a combo I find keeps them from wandering off on tangents or acting too silly.

I wouldn't dream of following the Olympics any other way than online and I suspect a large segment of NBC's potential audience feels the same and is only using their streaming service (or others they prefer, via whatever means). That said, I'm certain fewer people are watching at all. Most folks I know don't care much about the Olympics, winter or summer. Oh, people watch a bit but it's not the same as even a few years ago. The specialness is fading just a little and that's not limited to any particular sport.