Universal Sports on DirecTV was available, but they didn't broadcast live. I got to see all of the top skaters just a little delayed.
(It was a free preview weekend; I don't have the sports package. Kept me from cancelling my service, to be honest.)
I jokingly said that we (a group of local adult skaters) should go to Applebees and ask the bartender to change the channel so we could watch Worlds. We had a good laugh about how well that would go over during March Madness, lol. Them's fighting words, woman!
I agree that skating was watched more when it was on channels that were available over the air, but it's been squeezed out by longer seasons, more games being broadcast, and even other sports that weren't televised extensively back in the day. Think about this weekend's college basketball conference; it's not just the final four being shown on TV, it's every matchup on either broadcast or cable!
Skating just gets overwhelmed and pushed to the back burner since it doesn't bring in the numbers. The major broadcast channels aren't going to take air time away from the bigger sports because they bring in more viewers. I was thinking that the CW network or ION Television would have the air time, but they won't be able to pay the high fees that the ISU wants. It's a business dilemma.
I don't think the broadcast issues help, but I also don't believe they've been the solo cause of driving down popularity of skating. I really think that skating has exceeded the audience's boggle factor. The skating, programs and even costumes are so fantastic (and pricey) now that it's become a spectacle of sorts and the costs of training are staggering to an ordinary person's mind. There are a lot of people who push their kids into other sports, including hockey, because they're afraid to get involve with such an expensive sport. It's not within reach of the average person, which is one of the reasons people enjoy shows more than competitions these days. Of my friends who love to watch skating, none of them are uber fans; they willingly admit that they can't tell the difference between a triple and a quad, although they think it's exciting when they know it's about to/has just happened.
I don't know why we haven't had an "american sweetheart" in such a long time. It's not from lack of marketing effort on the USFSA and ISU's part: skaters pay back by doing skating clinics, autograph signings, and personal appearances. Maybe that's part of the problem; they're just trying to hard to package heroes and force him/her/them on the public? For every skater they promote, there's a hater crew picking apart every limitation and mistake the skater has ever made. Yet, I don't think being a pollyanna is the right answer, either. People aren't perfect, maybe that lack of exposure back in the day was a blessing in disguise? I don't know.