Media Coverage of WC racing - Streaming or TV

[Tricia]

Yep, adding insult to insult, they don't have the snowsports logo anymore in Peacock's roster. But don't worry, the supercross and rugby logos are still there!

Could skiing have a lower streaming profile in the US at this point? I'm sure there's a bunch of factors but this is just a bad situation.

I was saying the same thing to Phil this morning. Its a head scratcher for me.
I relied on Peacock last year and got a good handle on finding any alpine race I wanted to watch.
This year its a lot of this....

I ended up finding the coverage on our Hulu Live broadcast on NBC.

 

[Tony S]

From what I could gather, only Outside + would be covering 1st run.

Not

 

[Tony S]

Outside should have recruited the kids from the local high school's media arts class to edit the footage. They would have done a FAR better job than whatever nincompoops actually did it. Incredible. Dozens of minutes in a row of dead air, looking at two spruce trees. WTF?

 

[4ster]

I watched the good old fashion way on the NBC Network. As anticipated it was the Mikaela Shiffrin show with some attention paid to the other US American racers. They spent 40 minutes in the preshow when they could’ve shown some meaningful highlights from the first run. No one even spoke with the winner after her win, nor did they show the fastest second run.
I totally understand that it is American TV and they’re trying to appeal to Americans but really, it is an international sport and should be treated as such.
Still nice to just be able to turn on the TV or DVR and watch the race without all the steaming streaming BS

I watched the men’s downhill on US ski and snowboard. A different commentator, but still a lackluster delivery. I think both races have been Canadian broadcasters who know a little, but not much about ski racing? Not that the American commentators are great but it is US ski and snowboard, not Canadian ski and snowboard. I heard Resi did some commentating on outside +, she may not be a seasoned broadcaster, but at least she knows some of the competitors and was a high-level World Cup racer. Couldn’t they at least find some former US ski team downhiller for Lake Louise?

 

[Tony S]

I watched the good old fashion way on the NBC Network. As anticipated it was the Mikaela Shiffrin show with some attention paid to the other US American racers. They spent 40 minutes in the preshow when they could’ve shown some meaningful highlights from the first run. No one even spoke with Lara Gut-Behrami after her win, nor did they show the fastest second run.
I totally understand that it is American TV and they’re trying to appeal to Americans but really, it is an international sport and should be treated as such.
Still nice to just be able to turn on the TV or DVR and watch the race without all the steaming streaming BS

I watched the men’s downhill on US ski and snowboard. A different commentator, but still a lackluster delivery. I think both races have been Canadian broadcasters who know a little, but not much about ski racing? Not that the American commentators are great but it is US ski and snowboard, not Canadian ski and snowboard. I heard Resi did some commentating on outside +, she may not be a seasoned broadcaster, but at least she knows some of the competitors and was a high-level World Cup racer. Couldn’t they at least find some former US ski team downhiller for Lake Louise?

Well, I don't have conventional TV and I PAID for the streaming BS, like an idiot. And now I know who won, despite avoiding the main thread.

 

[Tony S]

Here is the Outside+ coverage, in all its glory.

 

[James]

^ Now when we ski Superstar, we can point to those two trees and say, “Those are the two trees Outside+ covered!”

 

[Tony S]

^ Now when we ski Superstar, we can point to those two trees and say, “Those are the two trees Outside+ covered!”

Don't forget the test pattern tone.

 

[Jilly]

Watched the ladies on CBC live stream. No commentary so that was interesting Watch the boys on good old CBC. Just about wanted to tell Brian Stemmle to shut up!!

 

[gmp]

If FIS is trying to build greater worldwide interest in ski racing and a brand a la Formula 1, they need to address the disjointed, amateurish, and generally pathetic TV coverage very quickly. I can't think of another international sport worth its salt that would tolerate it.

 

[S.H.]

If FIS is trying to build greater worldwide interest in ski racing and a brand a la Formula 1, they need to address the disjointed, amateurish, and generally pathetic TV coverage very quickly. I can't think of another international sport worth its salt that would tolerate it.

TV coverage is pretty good in Europe. You know, where the racing eyeballs and money is.

 

[BrianB]

Not that the American commentators are great but it is US ski and snowboard, not Canadian ski and snowboard. I heard Resi did some commentating on outside +, she may not be a seasoned broadcaster, but at least she knows some of the competitors and was a high-level World Cup racer. Couldn’t they at least find some former US ski team downhiller for Lake Louise?

skiandsnowboard.live is a site operated by Infront Sports & Media AG, which is a Swiss company, not USSSA. Based so far on the Levi and LL broadcasat, it looks to me like Infront does not care very much about the quality of the commentary they provide to their US customers, which is disappointing on some level but at the same time from a business standpoint I wonder if they can break even on this venture or even afford better commentators. I’m sure USSSA would like to have a better quality broadcast, and obviously I and many people on skitalk and in the US racing community would like this, but I wonder if it is possible for a broadcaster to do it (high quality ski racing broadcasts in the US) without losing money. If Peacock and before that Snow Sports Gold made money on ski racing, would they have dropped it this year? It would be really interesting if anyone has insight into the actual economics that are at play here.

 

[4ster]

^ The way it is so disjointed this year, I’d be surprised if anyone is making any money. I have been contacted numerous times today by lifelong ski racing friends asking how they can watch. These are viewers the media once had and have now probably lost.

 

[Seldomski]

They spent 40 minutes in the preshow when they could’ve shown some meaningful highlights from the first run.

Agreed, I found it really frustrating to watch the first 40 minutes. They showed maybe ~3 total first runs during that time. Why not show the the Americans and then the notable favorites? What a waste. I have no desire to watch these 'live and will record on DVR to speed through the 40+ minutes of useless fluff.

They need to find more story lines / talking points than just Stenmark's record.

 

[slow-line-fast]

TV coverage is pretty good in Europe. You know, where the racing eyeballs and money is.

True. And I can understand when FIS bureaucrats quietly says that's not my job, by doing nothing. But when the European public have better access to footage of the Killington World Cup, than do devoted, willing-to-pay residents of the host country of that World Cup, any organisation that has the slightest interest in promoting the sport should say, that IS my job.

 

[Teppaz]

I can’t find the replay of run 2 on Peacock. Searched by name, looked all over the sports category. I’m so tired of this nonsense.

 

[Parnellia]

Regarding American viewing, is this the fault of the FIS, USSSA, NBC, the Austrians or who? Wasn't the new director of USSSA supposedly from a media background?

Is it nefarious or just incompetency?

Why does NBC have a lock on things or is it that none of the other sports networks want to cover skiing? How long do these contracts last?

Why can't we just purchase the FIS feed and hire a good announcer for our language?

I'd be happy with streaming for a subscription fee if the coverage was professional but after watching Killington on Peacock it wasn't... the sound levels were wrong on Saturday so the crowd drowned out Perino (who isn't bad). The Ski and Snowboard live announcer was unobtrusive but kind of worthless.

It's a shame Ed Drake doesn't put together a team and cover the entire WC consistently for America. People like a British accent, we'd root for all the Commonwealth and Norway too.

 

[James]

You’re pretty much stuck to watching replays on youtube in a foreign tongue. I watched it in Czech I think, and most of it was in black and white for some reason. Still vastly better than Precook or Outside-. Very sad.

Honestly, you could stream it live with an iphone shooting the video from the scoreboard at Killington and it would’ve been better then whst was being shown on Outside+. And yet media executives presumably have meetings about this stuff. Maybe it was a zoom meeting and no one was paying attention.

 

[exwanabee]

What a mess! So US and Austrian races are on NBC/Peackock which is severely lacking any ski/snowboard reliability or ease of use this year. All other races available on skiandsnowboard.live. Does skiandsnowboard.live have an android app or do I need to log into it on a browser on my phone to cast it to my TV? The website is pretty rudimentaary; I tried subscribing but it got hung up in the payment section; will try later. Has anyone else used skiandsnowboard.live this season and had a good experience with it?

 

[dbostedo]

Does skiandsnowboard.live have an android app...

No.

...or do I need to log into it on a browser on my phone to cast it to my TV?

Yes.

Has anyone else used skiandsnowboard.live this season and had a good experience with it?

Yes. I've watched Levi and Lake Louise, and it's worked just fine.

One annoyance I have with it is that once an event has started, there doesn't seem to be a way to start it from the beginning. You have to wait for it to end, and show up in the race replays. (I think Peacock is the same though...)