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U.S. Figure Skating, NBC Sports Announce Broadcast Contract Extension

(8/27/09) - U.S. Figure Skating and NBC Sports announced today the continuation of their multi-year partnership to extend through the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The agreement will ensure live primetime and afternoon coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships as well as live afternoon coverage of the annual international Skate America competition for the next four years.

“The partnership with NBC has allowed figure skating fans to view numerous hours of live competition over the course of the last two years,” said Patricia St. Peter, president of U.S. Figure Skating. “The extension of this partnership again shows the dedication of both U.S. Figure Skating and NBC Sports to showcase this popular sport not just in an Olympic year but for the next four years.”

The partnership includes 12 hours of live event coverage on NBC Sports during the 2009-10 season, including live primetime coverage of the ladies free skate at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Jan. 14-24, 2010, in Spokane, Wash. The 2010 U.S. Winter Olympic Figure Skating Team will be determined at the conclusion of this event. Universal Sports, available in more than 56 million homes, will once again offer additional coverage and re-airs of Skate America and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

“We're pleased to continue the great relationship with NBC,” said David Raith, executive director of U.S. Figure Skating. “We appreciate the support of Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, as well as Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports, for making figure skating a broadcast priority."

“We are proud to extend our partnership with U.S. Figure Skating and to broadcast expanded live coverage of their marquee events,” said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. “Figure skating is the most popular sport in the Winter Olympics, and the U.S. Championships is always compelling programming especially in Olympic years when the event will help determine which men and women will represent our country at the Vancouver Games this February and at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.”

Coverage on NBC Sports:

• Sun., Nov. 15, 2009 – Skate America – Ladies final – 2-4 p.m. ET (Live)
  
• Sat., Jan. 16, 2010 – 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Pairs final – 4:30-6 p.m. ET (Live)
  
• Sun., Jan. 17, 2010 – 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Men's final – 4:30-6 p.m. ET (Live)
• Sat., Jan. 23, 2010 – 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Ice Dancing final – 3-6 p.m. ET (Live)
• Sat., Jan. 23, 2010 – 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Ladies final – 9–11 p.m. ET (Live)
• Sun., Jan. 24, 2010 – Smucker's Skating Spectacular – 4-6 p.m. ET (Live)

This is the third year of a multi-year agreement between NBC Sports and U.S. Figure Skating. The 10 hours of coverage of the 2010 U.S Championships on NBC Sports is the most network coverage of this event since 1998. In the first year of this agreement, the U.S. Championships on NBC Sports drew nearly 12.5 million viewers, up 164 percent over the previous year on ABC and ESPN2 (4.7 million). It was the most-watched U.S. Championships since 2003 when the event benefited from the lift that figure skating received from the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

Icenetwork.com Coverage: Icenetwork.com, a joint partnership between U.S. Figure Skating and MLB Advanced Media, will provide exclusive online video coverage of competition in addition to backstage photos, interviews with former champions, video diaries and much more. Icenetwork.com's coverage of Skate America and the U.S. Championships will once again include the “AT&T Ice Desk,” which will feature interviews with alumni from past U.S. Championships and current competitors as well as other backstage and special features.