Ratings for figure skating, the most popular sport among female
viewers, have dipped steadily for the past five years and are way
down since their scandal-ridden heyday of 1994.
That has led some to speculate that ABC’s contract with the
International Skating Union, which expires this year, may not be
renewed, or at the very least will be renewed for significantly
less than the $22 million per year the network reportedly pays to
broadcast the world championships and other big-time events.
A similar contract, reportedly worth $100 million, with the U.S.
Figure Skating Association, is also up in a few years.
That makes this week’s broadcast of the U.S. figure
skating championships especially important for ABC to gauge
interest in the sport.
The network shouldn’t be overly optimistic, not when the Winter
Olympics are still two years away, Michelle Kwan is way past
puberty, and the weekend has a promising NFL playoffs lineup.
ABC, which agreed to a $4.6 billion deal for NBA rights two years
ago and also has hefty NFL and NHL contracts, thus may not want to
keep funneling big money into a sport that seems to have settled
into decent but no longer spectacular ratings.
If ABC decides not to renew, NBC would be a logical fit, since the
network has been moving away from the traditional big-revenue
sports and also could tie the figure skating championships to the
Winter Olympics, which it owns rights to.
ABC declined to comment on its current contract or future plans
for figure skating when contacted yesterday by Media Life.
Two years ago, during an Olympic season, the U.S. championships
were moved to cable because of an NFL conflict on ABC (the Sept.
11 attacks pushed playoff games into the slots that were to have
figure skating).
On the one hand, the resulting championships became the
most-watched figure skating event ever on ABC Family, attracting a
3.45 household rating for the women’s finals. On the other, it
was barely half of the 6.0 ABC drew last year – and that was way
down from the double-digit ratings averaged by the same event from
1992-’96 and 1998.
Overall last year’s championship finals averaged a 4.5 for ABC
over two days, airing opposite the NFL playoffs.
National championship ratings usually predict what world
championship ratings will look like in March. Last year the
women’s worlds final averaged a 5.7. In 2002, the men’s and
women’s finals averaged a 5.4.
Though ratings for Sunday’s Sugar Bowl were down, bowl ratings
looked otherwise healthy last week. The Capital One Bowl on ABC
averaged an 8.0, its highest rating in four years and 25 percent
better than last year.
The Alamo Bowl last week averaged a 3.7 household rating, the
highest-rated football game of the year on ESPN.
