Figure Skating TV Commentators thread

[Sylvia]

Your faves? Least faves? Wish list combinations? Have at it!

 

[rfisher]

Favorite: Ted Barton on the ISU junior GP feed. Informative, positive and waits till the replay to discuss, Tanith Belbin-White: informative and has a good speaking voice. Ben Agosto same

Neutral: TAT. I can't understand Russian, but I can tell when she's excited. Terry Gannon. He used to be fine until see below. Charlie White: OK, but not as good as his wife.

Least Favorite: Johnny/Tara Dog and Pony Show. No longer funny. Ryan Bradley (his voice drives me crazy. Andrea Joyce is just annoying.

 

[oleada]

^^ I agree. I also couldn't stand Scott with his constant screaming and lack of knowledge about IJS.

 

[angi]

I absolutely love all BESP commentators - Chris Howarth, Nicky Slater, Simon Reed and Mark Hanretty. I know they sometimes miss things on the technical side but they have a great sense of humor and amazing knowledge about figure skating and they are usually very respectful and supportive of the skaters competing - both the top skaters and the relatively unknown ones. I also enjoy Ryan Bradley when he comments on pairs skating and Ben Agosto when he comments on ice dance - both are usually also great imo.

 

[rfisher]

Ryan Bradley or John Coughlin on pairs? Coughlin is better than Bradley IMHO, but he's only a commentator for US nationals.

 

[Sylvia]

John Coughlin commentated on singles & pairs for NBCSN's 4CC TV live broadcast last season and I thought he was insightful and articulate. He also split Grand Prix duties on UniversalHD last season with Ryan Bradley and I'm hoping John will turn up on an Olympic Channel broadcast at some point.

 

[VGThuy]

I remember when I first heard John Coughlin's commentary. He really was a breath of fresh air after years of dealing with the NBC team (outside of Tracy Wilson). He really has been a great commentator not only for what he says but his voice has a real sound to it that sounds great on television unlike some others. Ben Agosto has also become one of my favorites. Tanith and Charlie have potential but aren't quite there yet. I think I'm getting used to Johnny and Tara even though they are far from my favorites in both content and sound of voice. Still, they're all better than Roz Sumners.

 

[MarieM]

I hate Nathalie PECHALAT commenting. She's getting better, but I don't enjoy it one bit. Alban PREAUBERT is getting better, but neither will ever be able to compensate for the loss of Pélissier. Boo.

 

[CoolGuy]

Wishlist: Tracy Wilson + Dick Button. Technical analysis with a splash tsunami of color. I vaguely remember really enjoying the dance commentary during the 2006 Olympics (where it was Tracy Wilson and Dick Button).

 

[nuge]

Love BES Chris Simon best .But a combination of Chris/Simon /Nicky .
No No is Robin Cousins so boring and Sue Barker please don't even go there
Ben Agosto I really like too.

 

[Areski]

Favourite: Chris Simon, Mark Hanretty - BESP, Jacek Tascher -PL Eurosport, Dick Button, Benjamin Agosto
The worst: Tara Lipinski (by far the worst), Sandra Bezic (biased) , Scott Hamilton

 

[firstflight]

I no longer watch any videos with Weir/Lipinski and Carol Lane commentary. I cannot stand the repetitive negativity from Weir-- it's like "Ok, we get the point. You don't have to say he's being inauthentic 5 times in this LP." And Lane's issues are well covered in the Dancehall thread.

My favorite commentator: Ben Agosto. He is succinct (Charlie White sometimes wanders a bit in trying to get to his point) but always informative. And he describes in an accessible way what separates the lower ranked teams from the top teams technically and artistically without being mean spirited. He likes to point out the positive moments in each program too. I thoroughly enjoy his commentary for the first flights of teams, not just the top group.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

For some reason the dancers and pair skaters are across the board better commentators than single skaters. Is it the partnering experience? Less drive to own the spotlight? Anyway, almost all of the former skaters are adequate to very good, when left to their own devices. It all falls apart for me when they add color commentators, who blurt out random factoids during performances.

 

[rfisher]

For some reason the dancers and pair skaters are across the board better commentators than single skaters. Is it the partnering experience? Less drive to own the spotlight? Anyway, almost all of the former skaters are adequate to very good, when left to their own devices. It all falls apart for me when they add color commentators, who blurt out random factoids during performances.

I was during the COR pbp threads when Lipnitskaia or Ilinykh were correcting the guy (who'd never watched skating) during the commentary. Even to the point they told him he didn't know what he was talking about. Russian posters were kind enough to let us know what was going on. And apparently both Julia and Elena did a very good job on their first commentary.

 

[lmarie086]

I loved listening to John Coughlin last season! He comes across really evenly and he's positive and informative without talking too much. Ben Agosto is the same way - I really hope the both of them get to be a part of the commentary teams for the Olympics (especially considering I will if I have to hear Tara/Johnny during ice dance again).

I generally really enjoy the British commentators and Tracy Wilson. TAT is always entertaining to listen to, though I never know what she's saying.

I haven't enjoyed Carol Lane much over the years, and I don't miss Scott Hamilton or Sandra Bezic. I do miss Dick Button at times though lol.

 

[Skate Talker]

Tops for me was PJ Kwong. Low key fact during the performance, mostly element identification, and always a few supportive comments afterward, even when having to point out numerous problems. Really enjoy Coughlin now. Usually enjoy the BEsp guys, even with the mistakes. Tracy used to be top tier for me but has slipped a wee bit.

Not really a fan of Kurt & Carol's commentary which all seems a bit too self-congratulatory. (Kurt drives me crazy when he talks about the "height-th" of the skater's jumps. Come on Kurt, the word is height, rhymes with light, right, night, fight, etc.) I haven't listened to much of Ryan Bradley yet but his way of speaking does bother me too. He sounds like he is lecturing young children. I pretty much give Tara & Johnny a C minus.

Can't say much about the non-english commentary as I usually can't catch enough of it to get an impression of the speaker's style - spending too much of my limited brain power just trying to get the gist of the comments.

 

[zebraswan]

TAT/Grishin & the BESP guys all the way. Sergei Voronov is very good when he has been on with Grishin or on Eurosport. He commentated the men's SP at CoR all by himself and hopefully will do more in the future.

I can't think of any North American commentators I like, apart from Ted Barton. I don't go out of my way to listen to them though.

 

[alchemy void]

I think Chris Howarth (British Eurosport) and Ted Barton are the clearly the best English speaking commentators. Chris in particular really articulates in depth technical knowledge, he never misses a underrotation, change of edge, or missed level. He is really insightful and I learn something new every time I listen to him commentate.

Ted Barton is fantastic . The perfect commentator for the junior Grand Prix.

I kind of like what I’ve heard of Kurt Browning and Carol Lane. Not bad at all. Their main commentator doesn’t do anything for me though.

I like Ryan Bradley quite a bit, mostly because he sounds exactly like my friend who is a huge stoner.

Everyone loved Johnny and Tara 4 years ago and we’re already over them. Tara in particular really used to do her homework back then, but now really just seems to coast and be Johnny’s side boo. Even if sometimes annoying, just remember they’re still better than. Scott and Sandra and Tom Hammond!

 

[coppertop1]

I like the Canadian and British commentators. I miss Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini. I find the American commentators are so biased, and Johnny and Tara are slipping into that.

 

[watchthis!!]

I still miss Debbie Wilkes...

 

[aftershocks]

Ted Barton and Eurosport guys, including Mark Hanretty are my faves. Barton is really the best of all because he comes so prepared, and he seems to hold a fountain of information about every obscure young skater. Plus he's knowledgeable, fair and generous in the way he offers critiques. It's so helpful listening to Barton. He's obviously passionate about the skaters and the work he does. He probably enjoys juniors more than seniors, but it would be wonderful to have someone with his vast knowledge, expertise and graciousness commentating on seniors. Eurosport guys often make good points and are quite pleasing to listen to, but sometimes they aren't too familiar with some skaters. Also, the music soundtrack is often too low on Eurosport broadcasts.

I used to enjoy Terry Gannon with Dick Button and Peggy Fleming. Uncle Dick is the best ever. He taught several generations of fans about figure skating. Dick and Jim McKay used to work very well together. Paul Wylie and Brian Boitano were pretty good with their commentary years ago. Peter Carruthers has been generally competent but usually very annoying. I think Ben Agosto, John Coughlin, Molly Oberstar, Charlie White, and Tanith Belbin are all excellent. Another former U.S. ice dancer, Susie Wynne, was also a good ice dance commentator.

I suppose Andrea Joyce is competent, but I've never liked her oversmiley, over-hypey, and superficial way of covering the sport. Ryan Bradley is generally likeable and he clearly knows more than Joyce when they are paired up. Still, he's always polite in correcting her errors. Ryan is very knowledgeable about technical details and he often has helpful things to say, but sometimes I disagree with his take on certain skaters or else he overstates his critiques. Michael Weiss is usually decent on Ice Network, and sometimes he's very good.

Terry Gannon with Tara and Johnny trio is cute but there's not much there anymore (even though I still love Terry's looks and his voice is yummy). Unfortunately, the network and the way they have cut back with their coverage has essentially stripped TT&J of juice and relevance for the most part. They are largely unable to tell me anything that I didn't know already and much better than them. Only a few bits of news here and there that they know as insiders. When they talk about skaters' individual performances, for the most part they grate on my nerves. That didn't used to be the case with Johnny -- he used to have insightful and witty things to say. Tara & Johnny seem to be not as interested in figure skating anymore. It's just one of the things they do for the moolah, and seemingly it's the least important to them. Plus during skating broadcasts, too often Tara aggressively talks and talks and talks without saying anything that's necessary or important. And sometimes, Tara is completely wrong or slants her comments inaccurately, e.g. when she annoyingly kept saying during Cain/LeDuc's sp at 2017 Nationals that Ashley was a singles skater so she knows how to jump and that's what gives Timothy confidence, and that Ashley's the one who makes the most difference to the pairing. Nope, Timothy was also a singles skater and thus he's good at jumping too. Ashley and Timothy support and enhance each other as a unit! And they are still putting things together with their partnership. Quite often I find myself yelling at the television when I listen to TT&J. But again, the problems largely stem from the network's stark limitations in the way they approach covering the sport.

I actually never thought I'd get nostalgic for Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic. The biggest problem with Scott and Sandra was they weren't that good together. And with Tom Hammond in the mix, they all stunk as a team. Hammond is good with golf and horse racing, NOT figure skating.

I like listening to Kurt Browning on CBC because he is too cool! He's also very funny and self-deprecating about himself and the sport and the commentating process. Kurt makes me smile. He also sometimes says things that shows he doesn't closely follow skaters from every country like die-hard fans do. Most of the female CBC announcers are annoying. On occasion they have good things to say, especially Debbi Wilkes and Tracy Wilson. I don't like any of the male CBC announcers, aside from Kurt. One thing you can always count on from CBC announcers is how much they support and enthusiastically take up for Canadian skaters. U.S. broadcasters tend to try and pose as neutral, and sometimes they bend over backward critquing U.S. skaters, seemingly in order to not sound overly partisan.

TAT is a laugh riot and I wish I could understand Russian. Still it's fun listening to TAT even without understanding Russian. Some of the other Russian commentators are overly talkative and boring. The Italian and Spanish commentators talk way too much. However, I love the lilt & rhythm of the Italians' speaking voices (but would prefer them to be more quiet during programs). The Japanese commentators really sound knowledgeable and passionate, but also too talkative and I can't understand them either.

 

[viennese]

Ryan Bradley lapses into a sort of sing-song style of speaking that gets really annoying. If has to listen to himself, I bet he could break that habit.

I remember really liking Coughlin as a commentator. Pleasant voice, interesting things to say.

I like Tanith and Ben Agosto the best. Lovely voices, much knowledge.

 

[screech]

In Canada, the sweet spot to me used to be Rod Black and Tracy Wilson. Tracy is so knowledgeable and relatively unbiased, and for the network sports guy, Rod seems to genuinely enjoy the sport. I prefer him to the CBC guys.

To me, Kurt just seems to like the sound of his own voice, and Carol can be brilliant at times, but others she's so critical.

 

[aftershocks]

^^ Kurt just seems to take it all very lightly and with a grain of salt. He doesn't seem to sweat the insane tensions involved in the sport these days at every level. In any case, it's always seemed part of Kurt's personality to be humorous and self-deprecating. He has a nice speaking voice too, so nothing not to like there. Rod Black does seem to enjoy figure skating a lot, but I don't see much of the CBC commentary to tell a difference between him and the other CBC guys. I really enjoyed Rod Black's interview with Tessa and Scott in Montreal a year or so ago.

I think Chris Howarth (British Eurosport) and Ted Barton are the clearly the best English speaking commentators. Chris in particular really articulates in depth technical knowledge, he never misses a underrotation, change of edge, or missed level. He is really insightful and I learn something new every time I listen to him commentate.

Ted Barton is fantastic . The perfect commentator for the junior Grand Prix.

I kind of like what I’ve heard of Kurt Browning and Carol Lane. Not bad at all. Their main commentator doesn’t do anything for me though.

I like Ryan Bradley quite a bit, mostly because he sounds exactly like my friend who is a huge stoner.

Everyone loved Johnny and Tara 4 years ago and we’re already over them. Tara in particular really used to do her homework back then, but now really just seems to coast and be Johnny’s side boo. Even if sometimes annoying, just remember they’re still better than. Scott and Sandra and Tom Hammond!

@alchemy void, yep I think you hit the nail on the head with everything you said! However, I feel Johnny used to be good, but now he's usually overly patient and protective of Tara who tends to over-talk without saying anything that's helpful most of the time. Johnny and Terry just allow it, and as a result, Johnny doesn't tend to get many words in edgewise. When Johnny does have a chance to talk, it's usually way more dumbed down these days than formerly (think of 2012 U.S. Nationals men's coverage on IN where Johnny sans Tara was very witty and insightful, with not even Tonia Kwiatkowski and co-host able to hamper him).

Now on NBC, Terry tries to steer things the best he can with humor, and only sometimes does Johnny take exception to Tara's more annoying comments. But seriously none of TT&J are as prepared as they used to be because NBC has cut way back on figure skating coverage for regular television broadcasts.

Regarding Scott, Sandra and Hammond, they stunk as a team. But Scott and Sandra could be okay at times with some of their commentary, they were just not great together. You could often hear the impatience in Sandra's voice when she would correct something Scott said. If Scott and Sandra had been paired separately with someone who could bring out their better qualities, it might have worked more successfully for them on an individual basis. I think Sandra was better sometimes with Greg Gumbel (but that was ages ago, and skating was very different then). Sandra's difficulty was that her biases were always glaring. Robin Roberts was fairly decent when she was with Wide World of Sports covering skating in the late 1990s. Basketball announcer Brent Musburger was absolutely horrible as a figure skating talking head back-in-the-day.

 

[kittysk8ts]

The Italian and Spanish commentators talk way too much. However, I love the lilt & rhythm of the Italians' speaking voices (but would prefer them to be more quiet during programs).

I watch this program every now and then because of these two Italian commentators. They make me lol they are so cute and sooooo thrilled for Caro. It is really great at the end of the program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOf6-8lT9t0

 

[alchemy void]

When Johnny does have a chance to talk, it's usually way more dumbed down these days than formerly (think of 2012 U.S. Nationals men's coverage on IN where Johnny sans Tara was very witty and insightful, with not even Tonia Kwiatkowski and co-host able to hamper him).

Queen Kwiatkowski! How could I forget about her!? I want her and Terry Gannon together for Skate America!

Regarding Scott, Sandra and Hammond, they stunk as a team. But Scott and Sandra could be okay at times with some of their commentary, they were just not great together.

Great point, @aftershocks. The role of the main commentator really is important. Tom Hammond was just terrible, his disdain and ambivalence for the sport was palpable. He really dragged Scott and Sandra down, they were just a terrible grouping.

However, I really enjoyed Scott quite a bit when he was paired with the legendary Verne Lundquist in the 80s and 90s— Scott still had hisannoying habits (grunting, “the blade doesn’t like to go sideways” etc) but Lundquist really elevated and steered the commentary into a much better direction, utilizing Scott’s strengths.

If Scott and Sandra had been paired separately with someone who could bring out their better qualities, it might have worked more successfully for them on an individual basis.

Definitely. You’re right about Robin Roberts...she only did a few competitions (early 2000s Europeans maybe?) did a phenomenal job. Of course she was going on to bigger and better things.

 

[Jeanne7]

For ice dance, my passion, I find Carole Lane and Tracy Wilson extremely knowledgeable. Ben, Tanith are very good, Charlie not bad. Alain Goldberg over at Radio-Canada Sports (in French) is amazing in all disciplines. I tolerate the guys at Brit Eurosports because they can be fun, but their descriptions are repetitive, their vocabulary limited, they get names and facts mixed up, and their technical knowledge is quite limited - except for Mark Hanretty - he's very good. Kurt Browning is ok for men, but not for dance. David Peltier is great for pairs. Johnny and Tara are a joke. Lastly, I can't bear listening to Spanish or Russian commentators - all they do is talk incessantly!

 

[aftershocks]

^^ Again, I agree with all of your points @alchemy void. Thanks for remembering how well Verne Lundquist paired with Scott Hamilton, who was new to commentating back then.

What you expressed is definitely the key about Hammond. He was a very bad lead commentator because he didn't really know much about figure skating, and he couldn't be bothered to learn either. Not so for Terry Gannon whose looks and voice are as boffo as his talent, passion and knowledge. Terry was an able anchor with Dick and Peggy, but he was comfortable and gracious about learning from them too, as well as doing his own homework. I love Terry and I miss him with Uncle Dick especially. They were quite good together. NBC just isn't paying much attention to figure skating in the way that it needs to be paid attention to for in-depth and meaningful coverage, rather than superficial, status quo, and over-hyped coverage.

Robin Roberts did some announcing work and reporting for Worlds 1996. I remember because of a feature she did on Michelle Kwan which I found unforgettable especially because that was the year I became a huge fan of Michelle's. It was the shock and awe year that MK won it all, and her amazing journey took off.

Brent Musburger's ego was always bigger than his talent.

Kwiatkowski and Gannon ... that's a thought. But there's something about Tonia's delivery at times that gets in the way of her overall competence. I think Molly Oberstar with Gannon might be a sparkling match.

I really like Tara, but her need to talk too much instead of showing competence, shows weakness. Everyone is very protective of her though. She just needs to relax more and learn how to give Johnny equal time. She should only speak when she has something meaningful to say, and be sure that what she's saying is relevant and accurate. By Johnny giving so much ground to Tara's meanderings, it takes away from them both. They are much better with their cultural commentating, wardrobe shtick, dog show coverage, Kentucky Derby spots, and Rio Olympics color reporting. They don't seem as passionate about figure skating anymore, or as involved and committed re trying to make a difference. It's hard when you become beholden to the system and the party line.

I like Ryan Bradley quite a bit, mostly because he sounds exactly like my friend who is a huge stoner.

Ryan is a lovable character. And he's passionate about the sport too. I'm happy that he seems to enjoy coaching too, and he's helping his friend and student, Angela Wang, to loosen up and trust her talent.

 

[morqet]

Florent Amodio sometimes livestreams bits of competitions on his Instagram, and his commentary is often hilarious - snarky about music & costumes without ever being mean, and a nice mix of appreciating technical quality and also choreo/interpretation. I know he mentioned when he retired that he was going to start training to become a journalist, so it would be good to see him commentating in a more professional capacity.

 

[gk_891]

Outside of Grishuk & Platov, I usually like Tracy Wilson in her ice dance commentary.

I also usually like Judy Blumberg as well. Has she done any commentary after the 1990s?