I do like Battle of the Blades- I find it much better than the "Skating with the stars." I think it's a great premise to get the hockey boys onto figure skates. It's even better if it convinces more guys to sign up for lessons. I find it interesting- at my rink, along with the hockey school, we have the professional hockey team. A few have young children. One of them told me flat out that figure skaters are better actual skaters and hence plans to sign his son up in the LTS series next year to compliment the hockey training. More than one of the coaches have told me that those who start off in LTS and actually stick with it for a while make much better hockey players, simply because they skate better. I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but we were just talking generally. If only more of those boys would take LTS....and be converted......
In terms of school figures, which I think is the original source of this thread.....I don't think the networks actually HAD to show them. I do believe there was some felt need to discuss them to explain the scoring, and how the final placement was calculated. But I don't remember seeing much more than short clips of them on TV, mostly in that explanatory role.
I am not convinced that pressure from TV networks had anything to do with figures being dropped from competition. I think it was an "internal" ISO decision- the argument has been hashed out elsewhere and need not be repeated here. Once out of competition, it did take a while for figures to fall out of common practice; in the mid '90's I was still able to patch at a rink near my college. To not skate them has been more of an internal choice. Clearly some rinks still have figures sessions, although I am saddened to hear them referred to as a "novelty" now. But if MITF serves the same training purpose as figures did, then you know, the sport can evolve. But I think that's us as the skating community, not the Networks.
In contrast, the compulsory dances are still fundamental to ice dancing. Am I right though, that in competition now one pattern of the compulsory is embedded in a more creative interpretation of the music? I feel like I heard my coaches saying that. To me, that's an acceptable compromise. It shows mastery of the dances, while freeing more the skaters to express their creativity. Given that there is a free dance element, I'm not sure it's necessary to have made that change, but that's my personal opinion- like figures I never minded watching the OSP's. Rather liked them, actually- served as a model to aspire to! But now, is that change due to pressure from the Networks, or again natural evolution of the sport? While I'm sure the networks would like to have their say, I hope they're not causing such changes; those decisions should rest solely with the ISO and member organizations.