Media Coverage of WC racing - Streaming or TV

[geepers]

FIS Alpine youtube still providing excellent coverage for some. Really good view of today's SG at BC.

No commentator. Wherever the mics are along the course they occasionally pick up sound bites from the crowd or course workers. There's been some colorful phrasing from time to time.

Marco probably had the recovery of the race on that final jump. Lotta hitch hiking.

 

[Rudi Riet]

FIS Alpine youtube still providing excellent coverage for some. Really good view of today's SG at BC.

If you happen to live in an area where FIS can use their YouTube channel to broadcast events - awesome!

But their feed is georestricted in areas where FIS has contracts with local broadcasters - e.g. the USA (where NBC Universal has the FIS contract) and myriad EU countries. Sure, there are ways to make it work but they don't always pan out.

 

[geepers]

If you happen to live in an area where FIS can use their YouTube channel to broadcast events - awesome!

But their feed is georestricted in areas where FIS has contracts with local broadcasters - e.g. the USA (where NBC Universal has the FIS contract) and myriad EU countries. Sure, there are ways to make it work but they don't always pan out.

Yeah, think we worked that out previously.

Normally ski racing is not available in Australia except by a fairly expensive subscription (and this year I'm not even sure that one is doing FIS). So all we got was the FIS youtube highlights - typically just the podium runs. Enjoying the good viewing access atm. Together with Ski Austria (for Solden and P-GS at Lech-Zurs but not on FIS yt) it's been a treat.

It's also great to enjoy no adverts!

 

[BrianB]

I started watching today’s SG on Peacock after getting home from work around 9 pm EST. It was the replay so maybe people who were watching live had a different/better experience. The replay skipped racers #8 and #11. During these runs it displayed a graphic saying “Coverage will resume shortly” Travis Ganong was 12 and the Peacock replay showed his run. Then it went back to “Coverage will resume shortly”. At that point I gave up and switched to ORF to watch the race. Later I saw that Peacock/NBC also skipped 13 and 14, so 4 out of the first 14 starters. That is complete clownshow stuff. I understand if they are broadcasting the race on TV in the US they have to show way more commercials than the FIS race schedule allows, but it is hard to understand why they can’t show the whole race on replay on the streaming platform. This seems like a really hostile way to treat your customers. NBC/Peacock ski racing coverage clownshow. Hopefully this will stop once races go back to Europe next week.

 

[S.H.]

I started watching today’s SG on Peacock after getting home from work around 9 pm EST. It was the replay so maybe people who were watching live had a different/better experience. The replay skipped racers #8 and #11. During these runs it displayed a graphic saying “Coverage will resume shortly” Travis Ganong was 12 and the Peacock replay showed his run. Then it went back to “Coverage will resume shortly”. At that point I gave up and switched to ORF to watch the race. Later I saw that Peacock/NBC also skipped 13 and 14, so 4 out of the first 14 starters. That is complete clownshow stuff. I understand if they are broadcasting the race on TV in the US they have to show way more commercials than the FIS race schedule allows, but it is hard to understand why they can’t show the whole race on replay on the streaming platform. This seems like a really hostile way to treat your customers. NBC/Peacock ski racing coverage clownshow. Hopefully this will stop once races go back to Europe next week.

I'd guess it'll be better in Europe, and the races aren't on real TV in the US ... I don't think there were any skiers missed in Levi.

 

[4ster]

First time I’ve seen so many breaks on Peacock. I’m pretty sure it was a US thing as they broadcast the race later on NBCSN.
I was gone all day and had not put the race on my watchlist. It took me about 15 minutes to find the re-broadcast on Peacock and that was when I finally initiated a search.

 

[James]

Well curling has had pretty big coverage recently. Qualifying for the Olympics.

 

[Rudi Riet]

Well curling has had pretty big coverage recently. Qualifying for the Olympics.

Yup. And curling is a sport that TV viewers can sorta relate to. The competitors mostly look like average people: not super athletic in build. And while the skills are specialized it's something many people could envision doing.

And then there are the team uniforms the various countries wear which, in and of themselves, are a competition along the lines of Project Runway.

 

[James]

Anyone signup for this site from SkiAustria? Not sure if North America gets covered.

https://app.skiworldcup.live/signup

 

[Rudi Riet]

I'd guess it'll be better in Europe, and the races aren't on real TV in the US ... I don't think there were any skiers missed in Levi.

Right: the U.S. races are being shown on cable and OTA, so the commercial breaks are longer and there are longer intro bumpers to familiarize viewers with certain athletes that'll be a focus in Beijing.

The problem is that this dumbs down the broadcast too much. Look at yesterday: 4 of the top 15 were omitted from broadcast. I'm not sure whether NBC edited Broderick Thompson's run into the evening NBCSN broadcast, as it happened after they'd gone offline for the live broadcast.

What's interesting is they did the same "Coverage will resume" thing on Peacock for Killington yet they showed racers whose runs happened during the extended break. So this is simply a matter of NBC being either super controlling, lazy, or both.

Sadly NBC has the Olympic broadcast rights in the U.S. for the rest of most of our lifetimes, which likely means they'll retain the FIS rights for the same time. VPNs may end up being my saving grace moving forward, sadly.

 

[Rudi Riet]

Anyone signup for this site from SkiAustria? Not sure if North America gets covered.

https://app.skiworldcup.live/signup

NA gets covered for the Austrian events. Not sure about anything non-Austrian, tho.

This site does work in the U.S. and streams World Cup events. Haven't tried it yet but they may simply show the global feed.

SKI & SNOWBOARD | Live Streaming & Race Highlight | World Cup

Live and on-demand streaming service broadcasting 2022-2023 FIS World Cup & World Championship events to USA-based fans. Flexible subscription plans, stream on any device and access highlights immediately after the races. Free content available.

skiandsnowboard.live

Note that it's not free: $75 for the full season of coverage. Given Peacock Premium is free with my internet service I'm willing to deal with the super annoying NBC editorial decisions for their U.S. race coverage.

 

[4ster]

Anyone signup for this site from SkiAustria? Not sure if North America gets covered.

https://app.skiworldcup.live/signup

I watched the Austrian races earlier this season using this app. It was free and flawless with Ed Drake announcing, they also had replay available for awhile. It was the same coverage that peacock had but I was able to use my little apple connector from my iPad to watch on my big screen. Peacock is so lame I can’t even do that so unless I hook my laptop up to my big screen which is a PITA, I have to watch on my little iPad or iPhone screen which is what I ended up doing for Yesterdays BC race.

I just looked at the Austrian app schedule and did not see any non-Austrian World Cup races on there. There are a couple of Womens WC races from Lienz beginning December 28.

 

[4ster]

I just checked my listings and it appears that NBCSN is showing today’s BC SG Live 12:30pm EST.
Please don’t hold me responsible if that does not hold true .

 

[James]

Peacock is so lame …

Pracock has all the look of being a spectacular failure. Itjust amazes me that NBC execs get paid millions and are willing to put up with that crap. I’d love to heat the meetings on the performance of it.

Reminds me of taking a Greyhound bus like 6 years ago, Philly to DC. It took so many screens and hoops just to buy a ticket. Very confusing. Then when I got it, it doesn’t say where the freakin’ bus terminal is. No info. My friends thought it was the big train station, I was dubious. So I had to look that up, then make sure. What a pita. The whole process was difficult and annoying.

On the way back, I used a third party app. Simple, easy, had all the info I needed to actually find and get on the bus in the Union station parking garage. So much.better.

The difference is approaching it from the end user and making it work. As opposed to just making something function with no regards to the user experience.

 

[Tony S]

I think today's replay of the men's DH at Beaver Creek was possibly the most egregious yet. All the double takes during what would have been commercial breaks ... and SEVERAL "I didn't know our mics were on" incidents. I think my local college undergrad radio station can produce smoother reporting than that.

 

[James]

I think today's replay of the men's DH at Beaver Creek was possibly the most egregious yet. All the double takes during what would have been commercial breaks ... and SEVERAL "I didn't know our mics were on" incidents. I think my local college undergrad radio station can produce smoother reporting than that.

You mean Steve Porino babbling about something? It was so inane I’ve forgotten it.

 

[wnyskier]

The consensus here on the forum is that the Peacock coverage is mediocre at best, and I'm being charitable. I think the bigger question is how can ski racing get the exposure and following in the US that will help to grow awareness and hopefully popularity of the sport?

The usual path followed by the media and the USST is to focus exclusively on the current US star(s), hype the hell out of them and hope for the best. And god forbid if you don't have a winning hand. This model is right out the old school print media, with "fill in the blank" skier on the cover of Sports Illustrated (are they still in business?) or an article in the NYT. It's broken and has been abandoned by virtually every other professional sport.....

Perhaps skiing needs to take a page from the Liberty Media playbook on promoting and growing Formula 1 in the US. Liberty and Netflix have been producing "Drive to Survive" for 3 seasons, following the behind the scenes drama and personalities of the drivers and teams in F1. It has been wildly successful at promoting and gaining exposure for F1 racing in the US. The USGP in Austin had record crowds this year and next year's inaugural Miami GP is already sold out. Race viewrship is through the roof. How can this happen with NO US drivers, and the only US team racing at the back of the pack, based in the UK and Italy, with backing from a Russian oligarch? Like the rest of the modern social media world LM and Netflix focus on the human interest story. It doesn't matter where the participants come from, viewers are interested in the personal stories of the participants.

Ski racing has all the elements for a great story: Speed, danger, split second timing, big mountains, exotic locations, big personalities, great personal stories, established stars, young challengers, all waiting to have their stories told. Imagine the pre-game interviews with LGB, Vlhova, Holdener? Behind the scenes with McGrath, Pinturault, or Kreichmayer? The stories are already there, scripts ready made from the competition, worldwide travel, and the competitors themselves......

To be successful in the US ski racing needs to be more than Porino, Peacock, and the MS show. Don't get me wrong, she's great but she's only a small part of a much bigger story that has broader appeal if the F1 success is anything to go by...

 

[BrianB]

This is a really great post and I won’t try to quote because I don’t know how to do that without making it show the whole thing over again which everyone already just read.

I think there are two significant differences in the US market between ski racing and F1 that are challenging from a TV or streaming broadcasting perspective. One is that F1 is hugely popular globally whereas ski racing is a fringe sport for the general public, and the other is that even for people who don’t know either sport, the number of people in the US who can relate to auto racing is orders of magnitude more than those who can relate to ski racing. Everyone (more or less) drives a car. I agree with everything you say about how ski racing about has all the elements for a great story, and a lot can be done to sell this but I fear it will still be difficult just because it will be hard to appeal to people who are not skiers.

 

[James]

There was “In Search of Speed”, sponsored by Red Bull. But I think this was the last one, after 2019 season.

 

[geepers]

FIS Alpine youtube is live streaming the men's events at Val d'isere but not the women's events at St Moritz. (At least for some regions.)

Are the Swiss similar to the Austrians in holding on to broadcast rights? Is there anything similar to Ski Austria for the Swiss?