This competition is to determine 2010 olympic hopefuls! I cannot believe this is the only tv coverage. How totally imcompetent and derogatory to our US olympic hopefuls!

US Figure Skating and the US Olympic Committee had nothing to do with the TV contracts for this event.

It is the ISU (International Skating Union) that grants the TV rights for this event and all the other ISU events - such as the Grand Prix, European Championships, etc.

And, this event will not determine the competitors for the Olympics, but it will probably have many of the same competitors. Each country will select their athletes next year, usually as a result of their national championships.

What this event will do is determine the number of slots that each country will have next year. And, hopefully, it will contain a tremendous amount of fantastic skating. Although, with the ISU Judging System.......

we love the figure skate on TV, why we do not see the figure skate on TV latery. please great figure skate program bactv again. thanks.

If you can get a Canadian channel (e.g. CBC) you can see ALL of the figure skating.

I don't get the Oxygen channel and the only competive figure skating that I have been able to see all winter is the US Championships. I think that these major competitions should be aired on a national channel that everyone can watch. Shame on NBC for putting the majority on a channel that is not available to everyone including those who do not have cable or sattelite tv.

What has happened to TV coverage of ice skating???
Used to be many hours of coverage, especially for major events. I have spent much time searching for coverage of the World Championships - and am very disappointed to see there's very little of it.

I miss the TV coverage of the Figure Skating season. I did subscribe to icenetwork.com so was able to see the programs but on a computer screen with no commentary, it certaily is a poor but only option.
With so many other sports covered such as bowling, bull riding, billards, poker and endless coverage of every other sport, I don't understand why something as popular as figure skating gets nothing. Whoever makes the deals is not in touch with the figure skating fan base and advertising sponsers are missing out on a large audience.

I agree 100% that coverage for figure skating has really gone down the tube. Years ago there was very much coverage. Someone asked what happened with the coverage. I think the exit of Michelle Kwan from competitions had a lot to do with viewership which in turn had a lot to do with coverage. She was the number 1 draw for most viewers. Let's see, after Michelle we had Sasha Cohn who was not consistant and you never knew what kind of performance she was going to bring. Kimmie Meisner, the same so lots of people just lost interest in watching because there really wasn't much to get over excited about. There are a few young Americans who quite possibily could increase viewers(Zang in particular) and hopefully more fans will get excited about the American skaters again.

I wouldn't have even found out about the tv coverage without this website. This is the world championships. This sport needs more exposure than this.

Interesting posts. In addition to having no dominant American skaters, what also was the demise of skating being shown on the major US networks was their greed in the late nineties. After the Tonya/Nancy debacle, skating was (based both on fan popularity and Neilsen ratings) suddenly red hot. In addition to being good viewing, it appealed to many demographics: youth, female and male (especially during the Olympics), etc.. So up sprang made for TV "specials" that saturated the weekend programing during the fall. But since you were basically seeing the same skaters time after time, and the routines didn't change, even hard core skating fans soon became disinterested (including me). Since they were losing both viewers and positive ratings, the networks scaled back, and then stopped making them. ... Adding to the decrease in interest of the networks was the retirement of Michelle Kwan.

So combine the fact that American's skaters are not the strength they were, and with the rise of the Asian skaters (who have matured with both quality and difficulty in their routines) makes televising the Worlds not a very popular thing to do. As mentioned, if you live in Canada (CBC, etc.) or Europe (EUROSPORT) you would see EVERY flight of EVERY discipline LIVE! Not 'plausibly live.' Not tape delayed. Not trimmed and reformatted to fit a 2 hour format. LIVE! It is a pity that they can't do that on American channels.

Thanks for this info.

Figure skating TV coverage is abominable these days.

IceNetwork.com coverage is so unwieldly, it's almost impossible to enjoy, as Julie Wood noted above.

The members of the International Skating Union &/or the TV sports execs who made the decisions to not allow U.S. stations to broadcast this year's ISU Grand Prix for whatever reason have in effect blocked a whole generation's chance to enjoy & engage in the sport of figure skating.

And though it's terrific that NBC & Oxygen decided to air the Worlds, where was the publicity? All this week I've seen basketball, golf, horse racing, baseball, boxing, wrestling, ice hockey -- not a word about figure skating.

And it may be too late. By not covering Canada, Japan, Russia & China earlier this year & all of last year, TV networks may have already lost the audience that might have tuned in to catch their one chance to see skating live on TV.

I don't know what the ISU wants from NBC -- does anyone know? Were they asking too much money for the rights to broadcast the Grand Prix? Or were NBC execs simply not interested?

(Strangely, My Nine -- My Network -- did air some taped snippets of figure skating a few months back.)

The TV coverage is shameful. We haven't gotten any of the major events, i.e. Four Continents, Skate Russia, Skate China, European Championships. Worlds is sorely lacking. But we have 5000 basketball and baseball games every year. Ice Skating doesn't really consume that much time. Surely we could have better.

I have been hunting and hunting to find TV coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships - why is this beautiful and challenging sport being so ignored?

>>But we have 5000 basketball and baseball games every year.

And let's not forget the edge of the chair many many hours of showing the: World Series of Poker! ... IMHO three things have to happen to make the primary networks come back on board with better (and more) skating coverage.

1] There has to be a major (impact) skater(s) emerge in the U.S. And I don't mean in Dance or Pairs. Like it or not, even non-skating fans knew/know the skater Michelle Kwan.

2] No matter what my opinion of the new scoring system is, it has to be made more non-knowledgeable fan friendly. Everyone knows/knew what a perfect 6.0 meant. As in gymnastics - what a perfect 10 meant. As it is now, do you really understand when a score is announced: is it good? ... With that said, I do agree that rewarding more than the jumping jack triple mania is needed. One of my favorite skaters sadly came along too soon to gain benefit from the new system. Her name was Lucinda Ruh, and her spinning abilities (especially if you got to see them in person) were so amazing! Even Dick Button was impressed, and said so. Chris Howith (sp.?), EUROSPORT's lead commentator, said with the British marvelous use of "less is more" commentary after witnessing her Free Skate spinning at the 1995 Worlds: OH, noble spin!!!" But sadly her jumps were not as difficult as other skaters, and she never made it to the final flights. Interestingly, she is a Guinness Book of World Record Holder (gained in 2003) for being the fastest and longest spinner on ice.

The reason I relate this is, if you didn't have access to the complete skating competition on TV, or were in attendance, you probably have never heard of her, or seen her skate.

3] All skaters must be shown, and profiled. Not just the American or Canadians. That would enhance causal fans appreciation of SKATING, not just American skating.

With that said, do enjoy the rest of the championships! The Ladies final should be most interesting!!! Predictions anyone???

John B.

We should all deluge NBC with emails complaining about their coverage. All we see is football, basketball, golf, poker (if yoou call that a sport) and NASCAR. We dont event get any sking except for the snowboarders. This is a shame and a slap in the face to our athletes. We have good skaters in contention and it is a shame that most of us will not see them represent the USA.

I want to give my comment about your TV coverage from an international point of view. I am an exchange student in ND, USA from Finland this year, and I have totally missed the whole season(though I consider myself as hardcore figure skating fan)and now I wanted to see the worldchampionships, to enjoy the sport as well as to see how my home country's ladies will do. But it took me a long, long time to find even a channel that shows it! I always thought, that well I would assume that at least in sports in the USA they should have a good coverage... but no!

And don't worry, in Finland, too, this one of the most beautiful sports is ignored so much, that it's just a huge shame. I don't know how much ISU has to do with international TV coverages, yes, for my luck we get EUROSPORT in Finland, but I would enjoy more, if the commentary was in my own language. Our own channels only one shows very SHORT formats of any "more artistic" sports, including figure skating.

I believe, that there are so many people, who don't know anything about this sport, but once they look at the TV and see the amazing beauty and magic of it - they are enchanted. It doesn't take the 10 years own experience on ice to watch this sport, but simple just recognizing it for bigger public, everywhere. It is just a shame how much it is ignored, but we all know, that once it gets the recognition it deserves, this sport stops a lot of people, and everyone can enjoy the beauty, hard physical and mental work, that this sport is build on. I truly hope that the public recognition will once again rise high, as it used to be in the early 90s.

I am appalled at the lack of advertising any of the World Championship Skating got. Since NBC got the contract for competitive skating, you never see it anymore. And all you DO see on NBC is repeats of professional skaters doing special shows. Not that they are not enjoyable to watch, but there is no need to see them over and over again.

I totally missed the men, pairs and dance skating. Is the lack of coverage because it's a "woman's" sport? Supposedly we do not spend money like the men do. Only the womans finals will e broadcast on a non-cable station. You cannot even find the broadcasts online to watch.

NBC shows no respect to these hard working athletes with this lack of coverage. Personally, I find watching cars going around in circles to be utterly boring. I am thrilled they all know how to make those left turns though. Of course, if there's a crash and burn, NBC ets lots more viewers. HEY! Maybe that is what's wrong with figure skating....there are no car crashes!

I certainly invite NBC to contact me about this. I would love to give them my opinion of their sports coverage. But wait...this coverage matches their cracker jack coverage of the last Olympics. And the release of the information of what will be covered on what channel and when.

Please, NBC, contact me. I certasinly watch a number of sports. I would love to give you my opinion of the bull riding, NASCAR, snowboarding, and other trash you show nationally.

I'm not going to complain about how much coverage of skating there is, but rather how terrible the coverage tha does exist is.

I enjoy watching skating occasionally ,and will of ocurse watch it during the Olympics to root for the US, but mainly if I do watch it only becasue I appreciate the artistry and skill of the skaters . As far as enjoying it as a "sport' , I can't, and that IS NOT becasue I think tha skaters aren't atheletes...they most certainly are..but i can;t enjoy saktong as a sport because have no understanding of it as a sport.I would venture to guess that a very large percentage of the peoeple who do watch skating during the Olympics and the major competitions that are televised also don;t get interested in it as a sport for the same reason,and I think that and I blame that on the attrocious coverage of it by the announcers.I have no idea how the scoring system works, and never have I heard it explained by the announcers.How can you get interested in it as a sport when you have no idea why one person scored higher than another? Additionally, I ahve no clue what the diiference is between a lutz, a toe loop, and a sow-cow(though I like the sound of the last one) or how they are supposed to be performed.,and again, in all the yrs I;ve watched the coverag eof the Olympics(I'm 54) and some of the other major chamopinships, I have never seen or heard it explained by the announcers...nor do they show slow motions replays to ecplain what someone did right or wrong as they do in almost every other major sports coverage.I watch golf, and they are always talking about , explaining, and showing what each golfer did, or is doing right or wrong,as well as constantly explaining the rules.

Aside form the coverage, the scoring system iteself is a mess.As John B commeneted, everyone, even a casula fan , knew the difference between a 9.0 and a perfect 10,but how they figure it out now is anyone's guess..and as I said, the announcers are certianly not explaining it to us.
Another thing that is terribly wrong with the scoring system is that it is so completelybiased toward the "stars". An unknown could com eout asn skate the routine of the decade and still wouldn;t get as good a score as the riegning Olympic gold medalist would get for a mediocre rooutine.and that doesn't happen in other "sports"
If a golfer in his , or her first tournament shoots the lowest score, they win...it doesn't matter if they've "paid thier dues" or not

I think it is really sad that Evan Lysechek won the first Mens World Gold Medal in 13 years, not to mention how awesome a moment it was for him, in the middle of the night, past midnight, here on the west coast. I did not even know that that portion was aired after midnight, and so missed it altogether. I am so thrilled for Evan, and so disappointed that I missed it. Shame on those who scheduled this, it should have been scheduled in prime time, the same as the Women's Long Program, and that holds true for Pairs and Ice Dancing as well. These are major events and deserve a better time slow than after midnight. Hope someone pays attention and sees they get the respect and placement on air they deserve. Congratulations and God Bless Evan....awesome job.

I totally agree with all of the above comments. I was searching the TV guide for any airings of the World Championships and all I could find were the ladies long program that aired tonight on NBC. I so badly wanted to see the other three disciplines but they were broadcast only on OXY and I don't get that cable channel with my cable package. What a huge dissapointment to find out the results on a list on the internet. Ice skating is an important sport,too, and should be treated as such when it comes to aring any competition.

Surely after world compettion was so poorly shown on tv the powers that be will think twice before they pass up the opportunity to show the US skaters and all of the other countries. We need so much more coverage of the skating competitions. Please consider my request of future skating coverages.

I am TOTALLY upset at the lack of tv coverage of the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships! As a prelim for the Olympics, this is such an important meet! And I hunted in the tv listings but never could find myself in a location this week to receive OXY tv channel. I am beyond PO'd. Why is this sport being so mishandled and overlooked????

I'm just weighing in to agree with everyone else about the abysmal lack of coverage of figure skating. How we long for the days when ABC Sports did such a fabulous job of coverage. If we can find a way to get OXY, that will leave us no reason at all to turn on NBC.

this is so stupid!! i cant believe you only did one night i mean come on people this determins if you go to the olypics!!! now because you only brocasted one night i cant see the rest of worlds!! you guys should be ashamed of your selves!! you need to re-think this!! totally!!

i just posted a comment any way i happen to be on pre-juvinle and would personaly like to learn about figure skating more and it doesent help when you only brocast one hour i am very mad!!!!

When for years ABC televised the best sports show ever, "Wide World of Sports," Figure Skating was always their most watched sport. It is easy to see why NBC is the butt of its biggest star's jokes. Jay Leno blasts his own network for their lousy programing choices and here is the perfect example. The country (and NBC) missed one of the year's biggest sports hi-lights when Even Lysechek's incredible, if not seminal, Free Skates went unseen. I talked to former world champions at Staples Center who were describing this as one of the sport's historical performances and only those at the Arena got to see it. U.S. Figure Skating Association leadership should not be given a free a ride on this omission. Even if the event was not owned by them, how weak is USFSA that they have zero influence when their own country is hosting the sports biggest event international stage. With this kind of leadership, the NBA stars would be shooting at peach basket's in an old barn. And who negotiated the TV deals? Both sides, Skating Execs & TV reps should be fired. Now sports fans, we can go watch "Bowling for Dollars", or "Big Stakes Poker, Live from Las Vegas."

I still can NOT believe that the FIRST World Figure-Skating Championship to be held in THIS Country for
years was blacked out except for 2 paltry hours last
night on NBC. Even that did NOT include all the contestants in Woman's Free Skate. Since when are we NOT interested in other than our native STARS.

I would say that Evan's Gold Medal was an exciting
accomplishment and the close duel between our Belbin & Agosto and the Russian couple in Ice Dancing must have been the Highlight of the Whole
Affair. A silver medal is Not too bad.

I suffer through hours and hours of football, basketball because my husband follows the pros, The skill and artistry of championship skating takes many years of dedicated training & practice.
It can to magical to watch....PLEASE NBC, bring us
the sessions that we missed.

I'm just weighing in to agree with so many others that I am outraged at the lack of coverage of the World Championships and completely disgusted with NBC. I can only hope that perhaps a miracle will occur and the skating that we missed will be shown after all, even if late.

I would like to know if there will be a repeat of the entire ISU World Championship Competition so that I could see it? I only saw the women's competition because I saw it advertised on CBS.

Was it on only the OXY station for the other competitions? Also, I missed seeing the Grand Prix, and European, etc. competitions.
It really is a shame that they are not being shown.

A bit more: PT 1: TV schedule help

>>Was it on only the OXY station for the other competitions? Also, I missed seeing the Grand Prix, and European, etc. competitions. It really is a shame that they are not being shown.http://heatherw.com/mk/sch.htm

Be sure to check it frequently as it is updated often. However remember, we are now going into skating's hibernation period -- so there won't be much listed in the next few months.

And a warning to most: the times are listed are east coast statr times. And as you know, many channels shuffle their sports start times, especially if it is preceded by a live 'sports' broadcast (I am forever in agony here on the West coast weekend skating was always preceded by a basketball game shown "live." And as you know that '5 minutes to go' in basketball usually translates to 15 or 20 minutes of real time. ;-0 )!

John B.

A bit more PT. 2: Upsets.

>>I would venture to guess that a very large percentage of the peoeple who do watch skating during the Olympics and the major competitions that are televised also don;t get interested in it as a sport for the same reason,and I think that and I blame that on the attrocious coverage of it by the announcers.I have no idea how the scoring system works, and never have I heard it explained by the announcers.How can you get interested in it as a sport when you have no idea why one person scored higher than another? Additionally, I ahve no clue what the diiference is between a lutz, a toe loop, and a sow-cow(though I like the sound of the last one) or how they are supposed to be performed.,and again, in all the yrs I;ve watched the coverag eof the Olympics(I'm 54) and some of the other major chamopinships, I have never seen or heard it explained by the announcers...nor do they show slow motions replays to ecplain what someone did right or wrong as they do in almost every other major sports coverage.I watch golf, and they are always talking about , explaining, and showing what each golfer did, or is doing right or wrong,as well as constantly explaining the rules.> Another thing that is terribly wrong with the scoring system is that it is so completelybiased toward the "stars". An unknown could com eout asn skate the routine of the decade and still wouldn;t get as good a score as the riegning Olympic gold medalist would get for a mediocre rooutine.and that doesn't happen in other "sports"

One of the complaints of the sport overall is that the judges are [perceived as "propping up" either their skaters, or the elite skaters. If you remember Miki Ando's FS last night. Skated clean, had the de rigeur jumps yet due to her TP placement, she could not hit the podium. Note: I have NO complaint with Kim Yu-Na winning. But as Paul N. states: there usually is no "surprise" upset. The last time I can remember any kind of that happening was when Oksana Baiul came form out'of'the'blue to capture the 1993 Worlds.

John B.

A bit more PT. 3: Announcers yap.

>>interested in it as a sport for the same reason,and I think that and I blame that on the attrocious coverage of it by the announcers.I have no idea how the scoring system works, and never have I heard it explained by the announcers.

I'll go you one better. How sad it is that all TV sakting announcers feel compelled to talk over the routine. And most often it isn't helping you understand what you are seeing. And if you hit the mute button, you can't hear the skaters music. Please, please, please: keep comments cogent and brief!!!

And since we're piling it on to NBC, hey, c'mon NBC, you've got a world class skater in Michelle Kwan, and you only trot her out for a few canned and scripted talking to Dick & Bob (once at the beginning and once at the ice cut), and then don't use her for the actual skating??!!! Amazing waste of talent.

Ok, I'll climb back down off my soapbox.

John B.

HERE IS THE E-MAIL ADDRESS PROVIDED ON NBC'S WEBSITE FOR OLYMPICS-RELATED COMMENTS:

nbcolympicsfeedback@nbcuni.com

I figure that's a good place to start with letting them know that figure skating fans are consumers too! They are letting their advertisers down by missing a whole market segment!

When will the 1993 World Champ when Oksana Bauil (sp?) be replayed?

Thank you and kindest regards!

I ma so mad skating won't be as televised. It's so stupid! Each year I look forward to skating season. Are they going to televise the Olympics?? And someone should seriously sign a new contract with skating to air the competitions on TV becasue idk y NBC canceled theirs. It makes me so sad.

I am so disappointed that figure skating has not been covered on American TV. It's the only sport I love to watch. Why is poker on TV and not figure skating? Good grief! How can anyone expect young Americans to get interested in figure skating if there's no coverage. So what if we don't have any outstanding skaters now, I'm sure there will be some in the future--that is, if any attention is paid to the sport. I like watching all the skaters, foreign or whatever. It's a beautiful and demanding sport--requires a lot more dedication and talent than most others. PLEASE, bring back figure skating to our television sets! (and not a chopped up edited version)

Scott Hamilton is sooooo annoying. He screeches, talks too much and is too much of a cheerleader. Bring back Dick Button who is more honest. We mute the tv when scott is talking because he is so irritating. And we miss the music because of him.

Thank you for this information, HOWEVER, I need the dates for these competitions! WHEN will they begin, etc.

Thank you again

you give the day and station that the national figure skating will be televised, but you don't give a date. there are 4 wednesdays in january, which one are you giving us.

if every editor wrote like you believe me the world would be a better place! this was an excellent read expecting more!

Thanks for posting this. Would be intrested to read more or possibly please contact me by email thank you!

if every editor wrote like you believe me the world would be a better place! this was an excellent read expecting more!

Thanks for posting this. Would be intrested to read more or possibly please contact me by email thank you!

if every editor wrote like you believe me the world would be a better place! this was an excellent read expecting more!