There is no doubt & nothing unlikely about it. It’s pathetic but it’s what we are stuck with.
I remember a few years ago Pino broadcasting with Steve Nyman when he was injured, they were in Pinos garage or basement studio in Sun Valley at 2 AM for a European race.
At least Marco Sullivan was on site at Palisades & Aspen, he did a good job too.
The budgets for U.S. media outlets to cover non-North American FIS events is all but non-existent these days.
Even
Ski Racing isn't sending their reporters and photogs to international events. That wasn't the case in the final years of the Black family operating the company, but under Leever they're content to rehash wire reports and USST press releases as "SR Staff Report" coverage. The photos are all pool sourced (e.g. GEPA).
Pino does almost all of his non-U.S. coverage from his Sun Valley home. The Durans do theirs from Colorado. Doug Lewis does his from Park City. They used to all commute to Colorado or Connecticut to be on one place, but in these days with reliable broadband connections it's no longer necessary.
Look at GCN/Eurosport's cycling coverage, where Robbie McEwan is exchanging banter with his UK-based colleagues with nary a time delay. Sure, you never see them on screen during things like the spring classics, but they're separated by half a world. But their commentators know their stuff, are well versed in the material the cover and how to cover it for an audience of both new viewers and longtime fans alike.
USSS (and to a lesser extent NBC Universal) could learn from Eurosport and GCN. The irony is that Eurosport is part of the NBCU global holdings so they
should be able to share knowledge. But even when it comes to pro cycling NBCU has decided to do its own thing with the long-in-the-tooth Phil Liggett and Bob Roll, rather than the (to my ears) superior Carlton Kirby, Rob Hatch, Sean Kelly, Dan Lloyd, McEwan, Brian Smith, and Brad Wiggins. Even those in their arsenal who are closer to the modern sport - Christian VandeVelde, Chris Horner, and even Pino - are given short shrift compared to the legacy folk.
That said: all of these cycling commentators have been trained and served apprenticeships under the seasoned pros. It's a far sight more professional than taking recent USST alumni with
zero media training and having them call races. Agreed that Marco Sullivan knows what he's doing - he should see more time.