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Media Coverage of WC racing - Streaming or TV

Teppaz

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I subscribed to Peacock exclusively to watch skiing. I was none too pleased to have to subscribe both to Skiandsnowboardlive AND Peacock to watch skiing this year, but I got over it and just did it. And now I find that I need a third subscription? Watching it live is usually not practical for me. I don't have Trailforks or Outside or Gaia and I have no interest in adding a THIRD subscription.

I also find it ironic that it's the American races we can't watch.

I'm starting to think a VPN + CBC might be the best option, though last time I checked, they were broadcasting races without commentary. Not sure if that's typical.
The American races on Outside+ were free (I don't have a subscription and could watch them) but I agree that it's a total PITA to have to look around which fracking streamer is carrying any given race: "The women are in Norway so that's Skiandsnowboard live" or "The men are in Aspen so that's Peacock…wait, no, that's Outside+."

The people reading this are dedicated and will find the races. There is no chance in hell any casual viewer could stumble onto them. A young fan interested in seeing Shiffrin's latest would struggle.
 

Rudi Riet

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The people reading this are dedicated and will find the races. There is no chance in hell any casual viewer could stumble onto them. A young fan interested in seeing Shiffrin's latest would struggle.

And this is what needs to be reiterated to Sophie Goldschmidt every. single. day.

Seriously: U.S. Ski and Snowboard needs to be taken to the shed with this complete malfeasance of handling the broadcast media end of skiing competition. It shouldn't be a Rube Goldberg puzzle to watch the races. There shouldn't be a requirement to go to multiple platforms to watch one season-long competition series. And if there is one service it should be one that gets actual app development for the most ubiquitous streaming devices (e.g. Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV).

The first impression of SG is not particularly positive. Yes, some of the people she's brought in at lower levels are impressive (e.g Anouk Patty) and hopefully their influence will be seen starting with next season's teams. But the media stuff is woefully bad. If you can't explain how to watch in one sentence then it's a lost cause.

Personally, it was being able to watch athletes like the Mahres, Bill Johnson, Stenmark, Tamara McKinney, et al on "ABC's Wide World of Sports" that drew me into alpine racing as a kid. I'm bummed that the current generation doesn't have that simplicity in accessing footage of athletes like Shiffrin, Radamus, RCS, Odermatt, Kilde, Vlhova, and the like.
 

Average Joe

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And this is what needs to be reiterated to Sophie Goldschmidt every. single. day.
When she got the job, her lack of ski experience was supposed to be more than offset by her media experience.

If someone has to explain the fundamentals of broadcasting to someone in her position, and do it every day because she does not understand it.........
Broadcasting, by definition, is broad, as in, it maximizes exposure.
Narrowcasting seems to be what they are currently practicing.
 

James

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Well the women’s slalom should be on Peacock tmrw. However, if you don’t catch it live, you’re probably sol. Second run at 7:30am eastern. First at 4:30.
 

dbostedo

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Well the women’s slalom should be on Peacock tmrw. However, if you don’t catch it live, you’re probably sol. Second run at 7:30am eastern. First at 4:30.
Now why is Are showing up on Peacock? (Which I do see too.) The early season announcement were that they only had Austrian and US races... when did that change?

It's also on Skiandsnowboard.live, which is where it was supposed to be.
 

James

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Now why is Are showing up on Peacock? (Which I do see too.) The early season announcement were that they only had Austrian and US races... when did that change?

It's also on Skiandsnowboard.live, which is where it was supposed to be.
Sometime in Feb, but it’s this only live garbage. Miss it, and it’s gone. They don’t even have Palisades-Tahoe on replay!
So, if not live it’s back to January in Austria. Then some stuff is USSA badged, and some not. Go figure.
 

S.H.

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Sometime in Feb, but it’s this only live garbage. Miss it, and it’s gone. They don’t even have Palisades-Tahoe on replay!
So, if not live it’s back to January in Austria. Then some stuff is USSA badged, and some not. Go figure.
There was an announcement yesterday .. Peacock to have women's races live the rest of the year; replays only via skiandsnowboard.live

Peacock also had the world champs live only.

 

wnyskier

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Wow, just when you thought the state of ski racing coverage in the US couldn't get any worse..... they managed to do it.

It's not about the $5-10 a month subscription fee(s), it's about the visibility and promotion of the sport. Not sure who in USSSA is in charge of this fiasco, but they should be looking for another job.

But wait, now that MS has the WC win record, maybe they'll change course yet again. If so, the upside is that I won't have to listen to screamin' Steve talk about how great MS is while the other 29 women who made the flip ski poorly by comparison. Nothing against MS, but his disrespect for the other competitors is simply intolerable from the sporting perspective.
 

BrianB

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Over the past few years, I generally like the commentary from Steve Porino and Steve Schlanger, as a team. Porino knows a lot about racing and has contacts involved in day to day workings of USST and WC, and usually provides information from the same during broadcasts that, at least for me, I really like hearing. He also comes across as a huge fan of ski racing, which I appreciate as a viewer. The two of them have good chemistry and work well as a broadcast team.

That said, it drives me crazy when they basically just talk about Shiffrin the whole time and both days in Are I chose to watch the second runs on anywhere else but skiandsnowboard.live in order to avoid having to listen to that. At the same time, the target audience to which they are broadcasting is probably people who have never heard of any of the other competitors, and for whom ski racing is a secondary consideration to breaking a record, so from that standpoint it probably makes sense to talk about Shiffrin as much as possible, even if the fans of ski racing (a much smaller number) who are viewing are more interested in the race itself. They need to try to not lose money on broadcasting WC.

Now that Shiffrin has broken the record, I worry that NBC will perceive that interest in the general public in the US in watching races will decline, and no one else is interested in showing them, and moving forward we might have even worse viewing options until the next Olympic year.
 

4ster

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But wait, now that MS has the WC win record, maybe they'll change course yet again. If so, the upside is that I won't have to listen to screamin' Steve talk about how great MS is while the other 29 women who made the flip ski poorly by comparison. Nothing against MS, but his disrespect for the other competitors is simply intolerable from the sporting perspective.
That said, it drives me crazy when they basically just talk about Shiffrin the whole time and both days in Are I chose to watch the second runs on anywhere else but skiandsnowboard.live in order to avoid having to listen to that.
^This!
Drives me nuts, even when Shiffrin is coming down the hill they are talking about her records or something else not related to the actual race.
I prefer Pino by himself without Schlanger and it seems he has made an effort to improve his technical analysis when he is not merely speaking of Shiffrins records & superiority.

Either way, still better than Ben Steiner who was the commentator for the men’s race yesterday. I ended up just turning the volume down and turning the music up.


Men’s races not on Peacock
I don’t believe it was ever supposed to be on Peacock. That is why I have ski and snowboard live.
 

4ster

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Gotta Luv how even though the US didn’t even field a team, Steve & Steve made every non racing moment about Shiffrin :doh:!
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Mikaela fan but it’s beginning to get a little old. I may try to improve my German this summer so I can watch some European coverage next year or are they jus as shiffricentric?
 

BrianB

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Gotta Luv how even though the US didn’t even field a team, Steve & Steve made every non racing moment about Shiffrin :doh:!
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Mikaela fan but it’s beginning to get a little old. I may try to improve my German this summer so I can watch some European coverage next year or are they jus as shiffricentric?
I think ORF is amazing for World Cup races. For most, maybe all, races they have a whole “pregame” show with a commentator in the finish area, reporter on the course before the start talking about the conditions and course set, multiple athlete interviews before the race, even between runs in tech races, and camera racer talking through the run. Announcers speak something like German you would learn in school or experience in Germany (based on my experience) but some of the athletes who talk like normal people from Austria or Switzerland, I often have no idea what they are saying. Despite how much I like it, I very rarely watch there, firstly because I am paying for the options available in the US and want them to have as many views as possible so they will (hopefully) continue to do it next year, secondly because it can be hard to avoid seeing who won the race while navigating through their website ( US options do not have this problem) and thirdly sometimes even with my vpn they can detect I’m not in Austria. They are definitely not Shiffrencentric though. No experience with Swiss or German broadcasting.
 

4ster

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I am paying for the options available in the US and want them to have as many views as possible so they will (hopefully) continue to do it next year,
Which is why I have spent time trying to promote viewing not just on this site but everywhere.
You wouldn’t believe the amount of texts & calls l get in the fall from friends & acquaintances who are fans trying to figure out how to watch in the US.
Thanks for the reminder.
 

Teppaz

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The commentary on run 2 of the men’s slalom was laughably bad. “Still hanging on.” “Crossing the finish line.” “Good skiing.” We have eyes, we can see! Jeezus.
 

Rudi Riet

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The commentary on run 2 of the men’s slalom was laughably bad. “Still hanging on.” “Crossing the finish line.” “Good skiing.” We have eyes, we can see! Jeezus.

Who was doing commentary today?
 

4ster

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Who was doing commentary today?
Duran Duran! Alice McKennis Duran & her husband at least they are focused on the race & the racer. I almost liked it better than Steve & Steve disrespecting the racer on course by constantly talking about someone else. Even when Pino tries, Schlanger steers it back to Mikaela when there are other really great racers on the hill.

Hoping next year brings us some improvements ogsmile
 
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Teppaz

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McKennis and her husband are worse because there are just making sounds: there is zero analysis, facts or information. At least the Steves do have actual info and opinions from time to time, besides the Shiffrin madness (which only got out of control when we got to 85, and isn’t in effect on men’s races).

If I hadn’t actually seen McKennis race in the past, I’d doubt she had any clue about the sport based on her commentary. Her husband is beyond help. I’m sure he’s a nice guy but he’s not a commentator. Today was the lowest of the low.

Also: would it kill them to show some excitement? They were commenting the last race of the season with a globe on the line and yet they talked in a monotone that was completely snooze-inducing.

USST: I’ll do color next year! I have a French accent and I’m excitable. Pair me with one of the experts on this forum and we’ll just kill it!
 

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