It would be interesting to see some hard numbers from TV networks comparing overall figure skating viewership over the years. Is it declining, increasing, staying stable? I reviewed a book elsewhere that was written in 1995/96 and it was the writer's view then that figure skating was "The Hottest Thing" ever and it would eventually dominate sports network programming.
I really have no comment on the artistic merit of Don Jackson's skating, All I'm saying is he knew his limits, while still pushing them, and he skated clean and won. I was appalled at the commentators remarks about Kevin Reynolds mistakes, that they were compensated for by landing some clean quadruple jumps. It is no different than 40 years ago saying a skater can freeskate poorly and bore the audience to tears but still win because they had such a huge lead in compulsory figures. Both scoring systems seem to me to be flawed in that they can manipulated by skaters who excel in figures back then, or jumping today. While spectacular on-ice accidents and hell-bent-for-leather jumping may be exciting for some, even the majority of, TV spectators, is it really taking skating in the right direction when winning any competition becomes the exclusive right reserved for the elite few who can jump? Where does this leave the vast majority of skaters who might otherwise be expressive and artistic skaters, but who are thwarted when doing triples and quads becomes the benchmark of what constitutes a "good skater". Has the pendulum swung out of control in the opposite direction from where it was 50-60 years ago? How many years are these young-twenties skaters going to be able to land these quads before they damage something? How many aspiring skaters will injure themselves attempting to master more and more difficult jumps earlier and earlier?
I take the long view. A skater should be able to enjoy the sport their whole life long. To reduce technical merit down to just landing difficult jumps? It leaves me cold. I'm not opposed to change, I'm not interested in turning back the clock. There is more to skating than landing jumps. The work of choreographers is so much more advanced, the skaters have so many more advantages today in developing a graceful artistic style of their own, and this is good.
I'm just cautious, that's all. Let us see in 40 more years where figure skating is, and compare notes again.