A Worlds Of Relief

So Canadian figure skating fans aren't going to be denied television coverage of the world championships after all.
In what can probably be rightly (and fairly) called a last-ditch negotiation, CBC Sports has reached agreement with the International Skating Union for coverage of the 2008 worlds in Gothenburg, Sweden, and 2009 worlds in Los Angeles.
That erases the fears of skating fans in the Great White North that they'd be shut out when the planet's best convene in Sweden in March. Granted, you'll need to pony up a few bucks to subscribe to digital CBC Country Canada, which has all the live coverage and prime-time repeats (CBC's airtime is mainly slotted in at midnight). But given the other option, I'd say most skating fans won't object to the rather neglible extra cost.
The two-year deal also gives CBC multimedia rights, meaning you'll have the same live and on-demand options at www.cbcsports.ca that you'd got for this week's nationals in Vancouver.
CBC also gets rights to the 2009 Four Continents Championship — the test event for the 2010 Winter Olympics — and has an option for coverage of fall Grand Prix competitions (not including HomeSense Skate Canada, which is covered in a separate CBC agreement with Skate Canada).
Needless to say, there's a sense of true relief among the folks who govern the sport's fortunes in this country.
"I can't even explain to you how thrilled I am," Skate Canada CEO William Thompson said Wednesday morning during the opening press conference for the BMO Canadian figure skating championships. "It's important for us that our world championships gets strong television coverage.
"This is fantastic news and good for the sport in Canada."