The sports with the oldest— and youngest— TV audiences

[jenniferlyon]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-sports-with-the-oldest-and-youngest-tv-audiences-2017-06-30

Although this isn't a figure skating article per se, I thought y'all would want to see where our fine sport ranks amongst the others.

On the other hand, the only sports with an average age higher than baseball’s are Nascar (58), men’s tennis (61), horse racing (63), figure skating (63) and any form of golf (63 to 64). They’re also the only sports drawing fewer young people, with the under-18 crowd ranging from 6% for women’s tennis and figure skating to a dismal 3% for golf.

While these statistics sound accurate, they aren't revealing the entire picture. As a group, young people do not watch sports or much of anything else on network or cable TV. The younger American skating fans I know in real life and online prefer to watch the Ice Network or they tap into other countries' live feeds. They also watch a lot of skating on YouTube.

 

[Frau Muller]

So how can we explain the younger people choosing to watch football and basketball on TV? Wouldn't most young folks want to watch online?

 

[mollymgr]

So how can we explain the younger people choosing to watch football and basketball on TV? Wouldn't most young folks want to watch online?

One explanation could be that football and basketball are more along the lines of social events associated with parties rather than just plain sports, the Superbowl and March Madness as examples.

 

[alchemy void]

On the other hand, the only sports with an average age higher than baseball’s are Nascar (58), men’s tennis (61), horse racing (63), figure skating (63) and any form of golf (63 to 64). They’re also the only sports drawing fewer young people, with the under-18 crowd ranging from 6% for women’s tennis and figure skating to a dismal 3% for golf.

We're not last! We're not last!

Skating will never again even approach the ratings of the major sports again, it's not 1995 anymore, but there is definitely room for improvement.

 

[Debbie S]

Kids (and adults) don't always know when skating is on TV, and on which channel. If I didn't hang out on FSU, I probably wouldn't know the full sched either. USFS members get e-mails but we all know e-mails can easily be overlooked/lost/deleted without reading. And reading that skating is on this or that cable channel still requires one to figure out which channel number that is on their TV. The Super Bowl is part of our national culture; everybody knows the date and the (major network) channel.

 

[misskarne]

So how can we explain the younger people choosing to watch football and basketball on TV? Wouldn't most young folks want to watch online?

Easy. Football/basketball have regular, consistent seasons and multiple live games every week, including midweek games in some divisions, with the sport itself in some form being on main TV channels at peak viewing times. Figure skating gets a highlights package a week delayed in the US, if it's lucky, and the few events they do show live always only show a handful of skaters. Add in the bitchy, horrible commentators (really helpful for skating's reputation as a bitchy sport!), the fact that Americans aren't winning (and when they are they're over-hyped to the gills, like the US Nats broadcast which they may as well have retitled The Nathan Chen Show), and it's just not going to catch attention on TV.

EDIT: The other thing the USFS and skating fans should be concerned about is the lack of paid advertising revenue in skating broadcasts. Every time I watch something on NBC streams, I see CSA after CSA. That's a big problem.

 

[mollymgr]

As a skating fan, one has to really go above and beyond to follow the sport. I mean you really have to LOVE it to seek out grainy streams to watch at unearthly hours.

 

[jenniferlyon]

So how can we explain the younger people choosing to watch football and basketball on TV? Wouldn't most young folks want to watch online?

The TV audience for those sports is younger than that of figure skating, but it isn't "young." According to the article, the average NFL fan is 50 years old (52 for college football). The average NBA fan is 42 (52 for college basketball; 55 for the WNBA). Soccer fans were the youngest, at forty years old.

 

[Enchanted]

Young people watch less traditional tv than the older generations. The habits of media consumption are changing.

http://www.businessinsider.com/more-young-people-are-watching-less-traditional-tv-2016-7?IR=T

 

[gkelly]

And skating benefits more from an online model than team sports in which each game/match fits neatly into a 2- or 3-hour time slot in which someone can sit down in front of the TV and watch the whole game.

Skating has often been condensed into neat timeslots by editing out many of the skaters and sometimes chacking some important to the final results. Delayed heavily edited broadcasts are likely to cut more skaters; live broadcasts are more likely to cut important performances.

So a fan who really wants to see the whole competition needs to look elsewhere in any case.

On the other hand, you're watching after the fact in any case, perhaps already knowing the results, fans who just want an executive summary can choose to watch only the best performances, or only the skaters they're particularly interested in, which works well with youtube uploads of individual performances. Of course those often rely on fans watching/capturing live feeds and then making clips and uploading unofficially/illegally. Which is not a business model.

 

[Aceon6]

Watching anything on broadcast TV just doesn't seem to be in the consciousness of many people born after 1980. The norm seems to be that they want their entertainment on demand and are happy to just watch a recap or highlights unless it's a big social deal like the Super Bowl. This sucks for people who want to watch the whole thing as advertisers aren't going to put their money down if they don't think they'll get the eyeballs.

FWIW, l enjoy watching golf, but I really prefer to watch on The Golf Channel where the ads are relevant to me and never interfere with play. Watching on network tv is painful. I feel the same about skating. Watching on IN or the Russian feed let's me see more of the warmups and the K&C. When it goes network, it's always a disappointment.

 

[Seerek]

A lot of the younger demographic have tuned out of traditional sports altogether - I suspect the growing e-sports market will translate to more and more e-sports broadcasts even on traditional networks in the future.

 

[PDilemma]

Easy. Football/basketball have regular, consistent seasons and multiple live games every week, including midweek games in some divisions, with the sport itself in some form being on main TV channels at peak viewing times. Figure skating gets a highlights package a week delayed in the US,

I have always thought that football ratings would go down a lot if only the highlights of the second half were shown a week after the game took place and everyone already knew the score, read about it and saw clips on youtube before the broadcast.

Because that is basically how the GPs have been broadcast in the U.S. for many years now--top 6 (at most) free skates only and aired a week or more later.

 

[alchemy void]

Yeah, I barely watch figure skating on TV, and I'm a crazy psycho fan..I find it inherently frustrating when I'm forced to due to TV rights (Nationals, SKAM, etc).

The other two sports I love are golf and baseball (good lord I skew old!). Baseball is great to watch on TV, golf on the other hand...

I enjoy watching golf, but I really prefer to watch on The Golf Channel where the ads are relevant to me and never interfere with play. Watching on network tv is painful. I feel the same about skating. Watching on IN or the Russian feed let's me see more of the warmups and the K&C. When it goes network, it's always a disappointment.

Agreed. I like NBC's golf coverage the most...I find FOX's US Open coverage to be terrible and really detracts from my enjoyment from the event. That combined with the USGA's questionable competence has made the US Open by far my least favorite major to watch; it used to be my favorite major by far in the late 90s/2000s. Am I getting off track?

Anyways, back to skating, I still think the way to grow the sport is more modern music and programs. Programs/moments that go viral on YouTube (Brown' Riverdance, Janny's Sailor Moon, etc) will do a hell of a lot more to grow viewership in the USA then anything NBC or television can EVER do.

 

[jenniferlyon]

Anyways, back to skating, I still think the way to grow the sport is more modern music and programs. Programs/moments that go viral on YouTube (Brown' Riverdance, Janny's Sailor Moon, etc) will do a hell of a lot more to grow viewership in the USA then anything NBC or television can EVER do.

We are seeing this now that skaters are allowed to use music with lyrics. There's also a younger generation of choreographers (Shae-Lynn Bourne, Rohene Ward) who are more willing to use modern music.

 

[el henry]

We are seeing this now that skaters are allowed to use music with lyrics. There's also a younger generation of choreographers (Shae-Lynn Bourne, Rohene Ward) who are more willing to use modern music.

Although of course Rohene famously said a few years ago that he didn't like music with lyrics because he felt it limited the skaters' interpretation options. I'm glad to see he changed his mind.

And although I agree with all the comments regarding the viewing habits of young adults/teens, I don't think we can let it blind us to the fact that FS audience *is* older. Look at the audience at a pro sporting event (particularly football) and look at the rink. 62 sounds about right to me.

 

[jenniferlyon]

And although I agree with all the comments regarding the viewing habits of young adults/teens, I don't think we can let it blind us to the fact that FS audience *is* older. Look at the audience at a pro sporting event (particularly football) and look at the rink. 62 sounds about right to me.

The audience who attends an actual football game seems to be younger than the audience watching that same game on TV at home. Ditto for baseball. Lots of people take their kids to the ballgame, but do those same kids watch it on TV on those days when they don't have tickets to the real thing?

There seemed to be a mixture of age groups at the World Championships in Boston. I was there as part of a three-generation contingent. (I was the middle generation. And no, I'm nowhere near 62.) But that was an international audience.

I'd say the average attendee at Skate Detroit every year is younger than 62 because the audience is mostly skatemoms (who are about my age) and kids who watch their friends compete when they aren't competing themselves. But 62 sounds right for the now-defunct Disson shows.

 

[MAXSwagg]

Idiotic article. Most people under 30 don't even have cable or satellite, because it's a scam. We stream...

Figure skating would grow in the US if there was someone who could win. Jason is not that person.

 

[Yehudi]

A lot of the younger demographic have tuned out of traditional sports altogether - I suspect the growing e-sports market will translate to more and more e-sports broadcasts even on traditional networks in the future.

The way esports is consumed does not lend itself well to traditional TV. The hard core enthusiasts prefer watching on platforms such as Twitch because they can choose the commentators they want and can interact with fans on the chat box. And to be honest, that's probably how most of us have been consuming for as long as I've been on this board. Stream and FSU.

BTW, overall fandom of a sport, at least by those involved in the buying and selling of sports advertising, is measured by self-reported interest rather than consumption.

 

[Dobre]

Sixty-two fits the North American demographic I have seen at live skating events. People who are retired and can afford to take the time off and pay for the tickets. There are always a sprinkling of young girls and quite a few gay male couples 20's-60's. But that is balanced out by the many people who are older than their sixties.

Asian fans attending the same events seem to trend much younger. It's interesting. Is this because skating's heyday did not arrive in Asia until much later? Or because the financial wealth within Asian countries is somehow more centered among younger adults rather than retirees? Also, I think quite a number of Asian fans in the Pacific Northwest are Asian-American or Asian-Canadian but that the younger trend is still true.

 

[el henry]

Of course it's well known that kids don't watch TV; not everyone I know is in my age bracket. But let me clue you in, young 'uns, neither do the old timers. We cut the cord about two years ago, so any skating, or anything else I watch, is streamed, and rarely on the big screen.

I did divert by talking about attendance at events, and I apologize. But football in particular does in fact have teens and people in their 20s watching TV. How do I know this? I have seen it with my own eyes. Because at family functions and yes, some young folks do come over on weekends for free home cooked meals with the family, what does the whole family, teens to gramps, watch? Football. At houses unlike mine that still have cable

I remember watching Wide World of Sports on a tiny black and white TV with my mom, waiting for skating. As far as skating is concerned I fear those days are gone...

 

[Simone411]

As a skating fan, one has to really go above and beyond to follow the sport. I mean you really have to LOVE it to seek out grainy streams to watch at unearthly hours.

And before the live streams and internet, you definitely had to look for it ... or either just had a lot of luck like I did back in the day and was able to record it with my VCR. When I got my first VCR in 1992, I went crazy taping every skating event that I found in the TV Guide and in my newspaper. This was when I only had cable TV, too.

I swear. I still need to take the time to go through tapes I didn't label. I still have around 30 of those to go through, and some are 6 and 8 hour tapes. Now if I'm not a fanatic about it, then I don't know what else you would call it.

 

[MAXSwagg]

Sixty-two fits the North American demographic I have seen at live skating events. People who are retired and can afford to take the time off and pay for the tickets. There are always a sprinkling of young girls and quite a few gay male couples 20's-60's. But that is balanced out by the many people who are older than their sixties.

Asian fans attending the same events seem to trend much younger. It's interesting. Is this because skating's heyday did not arrive in Asia until much later? Or because the financial wealth within Asian countries is somehow more centered among younger adults rather than retirees? Also, I think quite a number of Asian fans in the Pacific Northwest are Asian-American or Asian-Canadian but that the younger trend is still true.

They're not wealthy. They simply save, and many save specifically to attend figure skating events.

 

[Bellanca]

Most people under 30 don't even have cable or satellite, because it's a scam. We stream...

I agree with you that many fans prefer to stream. I also believe some will search for the results of a competition choosing to view it later, much later, or in some cases, not at all.

 

[jenniferlyon]

And before the live streams and internet, you definitely had to look for it ... or either just had a lot of luck like I did back in the day and was able to record it with my VCR. When I got my first VCR in 1992, I went crazy taping every skating event that I found in the TV Guide and in my newspaper. This was when I only had cable TV, too.

I swear. I still need to take the time to go through tapes I didn't label. I still have around 30 of those to go through, and some are 6 and 8 hour tapes. Now if I'm not a fanatic about it, then I don't know what else you would call it.

I have a similar collection of tapes. I did label them, but they're so old that I've forgotten who is in them or who is skating to what. I can remember the Olympics and World Championships well enough, but if I come across some cheesefest circa 1994 I won't be able to distinguish it from the cheesefest circa 1995 that's sitting on the shelf next to it.

 

[Simone411]

Idiotic article. Most people under 30 don't even have cable or satellite, because it's a scam. We stream...

Figure skating would grow in the US if there was someone who could win. Jason is not that person.

Yeah, but there's a lot of websites you can't go to and just stream unless you have an account with DirecTV, Dish or Cable because you have to sign in with your satellite acct. or cable acct.

Some of those are NBCSports, ABC, CBS, ESPN, and several of the other websites like A&E, USA, TNT, Ovation, etc. and all of those I've mentioned have had skating specials and competitions in the past and in the present.

Most any website you go to now like National Geographic, Smithsonian, TNT, TBS, Animal Planet require you to sign in with your satellite or cable account.

 

[Bellanca]

Yeah, but there's a lot of websites you can't go to and just stream unless you have an account with DirecTV, Dish or Cable because you have to sign in with your satellite acct. or cable acct.

Some of those are NBCSports, ABC, CBS, ESPN, and several of the other websites like A&E, USA, TNT, Ovation, etc. and all of those I've mentioned have had skating specials and competitions in the past and in the present.

Most any website you go to now like National Geographic, Smithsonian, TNT, TBS, Animal Planet require you to sign in with your satellite or cable account.

Good point! It is a racket, for sure.

 

[Simone411]

Good point! It is a racket, for sure.

Yes it is in a way. Especially if the channel isn't included in your package. I used to have ESPN Classic included in my package with DirecTV. Now it's included in the Sports Package with DirecTV and you have to pay extra for that. So even if I went to DirecTV to watch, I still couldn't watch ESPN Classic since it's no longer included.

 

[MAXSwagg]

Yeah, but there's a lot of websites you can't go to and just stream unless you have an account with DirecTV, Dish or Cable because you have to sign in with your satellite acct. or cable acct.

Some of those are NBCSports, ABC, CBS, ESPN, and several of the other websites like A&E, USA, TNT, Ovation, etc. and all of those I've mentioned have had skating specials and competitions in the past and in the present.

Most any website you go to now like National Geographic, Smithsonian, TNT, TBS, Animal Planet require you to sign in with your satellite or cable account.

Lol That's super easy to get around.

 

[Bellanca]

Lol That's super easy to get around.

Legally? Just kidding!