I like Universal Sport's coverage better than NBC Sports...

[Query]

I visited someone who subscribes to Universal Sports. (Last I checked, it wasn't available through Comcast, my cable company. And IceNetwork is a bit pricey)

Wow, what a difference for watching skating.

They cover a lot more. Not just the U.S. skaters who might win, and a very few of the non-U.S. skaters who compete with them, but all of the top skaters. And they include Dance and Pairs skating, and short programs, which NBC Sports mostly leaves out.

But I'd STILL love to see USFSA and ISU make the sacrifices necessary to let skating be seen on free broadcast television in the U.S.

On a separate note, I think Tanith Belbin makes a good sportscaster. She treats the skaters in a more even-handed manner. Perhaps being born in Canada but partnering with a U.S. ice dancer makes rooting the home team less of an issue for her. And, not surprisingly, she really knows ice dance.

[WaltzJump413]

UniversalSports has a good YouTube channel with videos from past competitions, too.

[PinkLaces]

How do you subscribe to it? I have comcast. I subbed to ice network last year, but had tons of problems viewing it. Their support never did help me get it fixed.

[Query]

How do you subscribe to it? I have comcast.

AFAIK, you can't, from Comcast.

Dish and Direct TV have it. By next year, Google and Intel and others may offer cable-like services over the Internet which may have it too.

[Kitten23]

Time Warner Cable used to have it too, but dropped it right after the 2010 Olympics (like the next day).  I miss Universal Sports, but I think you can subscribe via your computer. 

[Query]

I know a couple who have both Comcast TV for the wife and Dish or DirectTV for the husband. Not cheap.

Someone I know got Times-Warner cable to give her a special deal. Somehow she has pretty much just basic cable and low speed Internet, and Universal Sports. At first they said they couldn't sell her Universal Sports without selling her an extremely expensive channel line-up, but a day or two later they called her back, and said they had created a special deal just for her.

Cable providers like Comcast and Times-Warner are apparently not "common carriers" - which means they do not have to offer every customer the same prices and deals. They can and should be bargained with. It helps to find out what deals their competitors - phone companies like Verizon, and satellite companies like Dish and DirectTV - can offer, and it may help to switch back and forth between providers every year or two.

Unfortunately, one neighbor tells me they have to re-align their mast-mounted satellite dish after storms, once a month or so. So, unless there is a better way to do that, satellite dishes can be problematical.

If I was setting up a TV system for myself alone, I would go with an antenna to get the major broadcast channels, and subscribe to Hulu+ and maybe Netflix (and get a 3-6 megabit/second Internet connection to watch Hulu and Netflix). That includes just about all the shows I watch regularly (NBC, CBS, ABC which the antenna picks up, and SyFy and BBC America which are on Hulu+), and would be far cheaper than cable TV. 

Though that would exclude Universal Sports...