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Why the change?

When the ISU established its open series last year, their motivation was to cash in on the popularity of top athletes from the Nagano Olympics who might otherwise have "turned professional" by skating in unsanctioned competitions produced by commercial promoters. In effect, the ISU was attempting to take over the professional competition circuit, by offering sanctions for the pro events in exchange for financial considerations.

Terminology can be confusing. What the ISU calls "open" competitions are not really "open" at all; they are elite invitational events, and the skaters who participate in them are all paid professionals, whether they retain their ISU eligibility or not. According to the ISU's rules, skaters who participate in an unsanctioned competition become permanently ineligible to participate in the ISU's regular Olympic-track competitions. But there's virtually no difference between the ISU's sanctioned professional competitions, and the unsanctioned variety; they all involve nonstandard formats, rules, and scoring, for example.

What the ISU didn't seem to anticipate last year was that its new circuit of so-called open competitions was in direct conflict with their existing Grand Prix series of Olympic-style competitions, not just the unsanctioned pro events. As well as attracting skaters who might have retired from the standard competition track anyway, the opens drew active competitors such as Michelle Kwan away from the Grand Prix. And, by not delivering the top marquee-name skaters, the ISU failed to sell the TV rights to the Grand Prix events in the U.S.

The whole mess erupted into an unseemly squabble last October, as the ISU unsuccessfully attempted to blackmail Kwan into participating in both the open and Grand Prix series by threatening to withdraw the sanctions on the open events.

Michelle Kwan wouldn't bend over backward for the ISU when it tried to force her to increase her appearances.(AP)

The ISU's capriciousness over the matter of sanctions for the open competitions probably did not make their commercial partners in these ventures -- the promoters and TV networks -- very happy. On top of that, TV ratings for all skating events were down last season, and the highest-rated TV skating programs of the season were the two unsanctioned CBS Ice Wars competitions featuring ISU-ineligible skaters only. And a number of these ineligible skaters, including Brian Boitano and Tara Lipinski, had been boycotting the ISU-produced events.

So, while the idea of "open" competitions might have seemed like a good idea (and there was actually some solid skating from eligible and ineligible skaters at the events held last year), the ISU's plans succumbed to commercial pressures arising from an oversaturation of the market -- too many competitions, and not enough elite skaters to put in them.

The end result is that this year there will be fewer ISU-sanctioned open competitions. The open events that remain are also moving away from the mixed pro-am format of last year's events. For example, the "Grand Slam Super Teams" event being held later this month is actually two separate competitions: one for eligible skaters only, and one for ineligible skaters only. The USFSA's made-for-TV Keri Lotion Classic, coming up in early October, will be for eligible skaters only, although in a pro team competition format with rules that emphasize "interpretive free skating" instead of jumping and athleticism.

Meanwhile, the ISU has changed focus again to put more emphasis on its main purpose of promoting Olympic-style competitive skating. This year there are new requirements for top skaters who wish to remain eligible to participate in the Grand Prix series as a precondition of also participating in the open events that remain on the schedule.

Not everyone agrees that this is fair to the skaters involved; non-seeded competitors are not subject to the same requirements, for example. But by promising to deliver the big-name talent -- skaters like Michelle Kwan -- the ISU got the TV deal for the Grand Prix this year that they couldn't negotiate last year.

Similarly, the USFSA seems to be cracking down on American skaters' external commercial pursuits in order to protect the viability of their own competitions. In recent years the USFSA has routinely approved requests for eligible competitors to appear in skating shows put on by outside promoters, but this year some requests have been denied.

As far as the unsanctioned, professional-only competitions are concerned, don't expect to see as many of them as there were two or three years ago. This year the World Professional Championships produced by Dick Button's Candid Productions will return to its traditional status as an unsanctioned event for ineligible skaters only, but it's not clear whether the other Candid pro events from past years will return at all this year in any format. Some of the cheesier pro events from other promoters, including the Battle of the Sexes and the Rock 'N' Roll Championships, also seem to be gone for good.

Instead, there will be more noncompetitive-themed skating entertainment programs on TV this year. One particularly promising project is the set of four events being produced for NBC by Adventure on Ice, Robin Cousins' production company. Cousins seems to be in a unique position in the skating world: he not only has creative inspiration, but a name and professional reputation to back up his projects, and the business contacts and expertise to make them happen.

Cousins was responsible for last year's Improv-Ice event, which is slated to return again this year. The four new shows this year are a Barry Manilow tribute, an Ice Jam with live musicians, plus shows with country and Broadway themes.

A&E's Winter Solstice on Ice looks to be another interesting project, featuring ice dancers Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko, who are known for their creativity, plus the Ice Theatre of New York and other guests. Kristi Yamaguchi and Brian Boitano also have televised shows on the schedule, and there will be the usual assortment of holiday-themed shows and broadcasts of the major touring ice shows.

On the whole, the change in emphasis away from contrived competitive events is probably going to be good news for skating fans. Perhaps this year we'll get to see skating programming with more meat and less cheese.

Made-for-TV competitions are cheap to put on and don't require much creativity from the producers. But the problem with filling the airwaves with such events is that it can get tedious for viewers to see the same small group of elite skaters performing the same programs in one meaningless event after another. If the networks want to avoid boring people with their skating programming, they can either choose to rotate among a larger cast of skaters so that individuals are not so overexposed, or they can find something more original for the skaters to do.

If we're lucky, this season fans will get some of both. Provided ABC treats the Grand Prix competitions as serious sporting events instead of as personality-driven fluff, increased coverage of these events will satisfy fans who want to see up-and-coming competitors from Canada, Europe, and Asia who have not been getting much TV exposure in the U.S. up until now. And the shift to more creative skating programming ought to please fans who want to see more emphasis on the artistic and entertainment aspects of professional skating.