Showjumping is very easy to understand, it’s objective with a simple scoring system, and it’s exciting, that’s one of the beauties of the sport. Showjumping at one point (in the 70’s into the 80’s) was the 2nd largest spectator sport in Europe after soccer. It’s still quite popular.
Marketed properly there’s no reason it couldn’t be more popular in the US than it is.
Dressage will never be a popular sport, even many horse people find it boring.
Eventing, too drawn out, XC is fun even for non-horsey people but on the whole it’s impossible to package and display the sport on TV.
We have an expression in skating that’s even made its way into urbandictionary.com. It’s called “being chacked.” It refers to the time when US men’s bronze medalist Michael Chack’s free skate, which won him the bronze at Nationals, wasn’t broadcast on their live coverage. The network (may have been NBC, actually) opted to show an interview with the winning skater while Chack was performing. (There was no possibility Chack would win, but still.) When an athlete is chacked, they are omitted from the broadcast. It happens in every sport. In the case of equestrian, especially GP dressage, i can see where they’re coming from. I like dressage, I rode it, and I am bored silly after a few full rounds. It’s not a TV-friendly sport.
I also agree with some comments, either on this thread or the NBC-specific one, that riding in general doesn’t do much to be welcoming to outsiders. Heck, riding can be viscious with people IN the sport. I’m not saying that doesn’t happen in other sports, but it’s definitely noticable in riding, probably exacerbated by the massive amounts of money required to participate even at the lowest levels. While not everyone can play volleyball like Misty May-Traynor, almost anyone CAN pick up a volleyball and whap it around. Things like trail rides at Disney World aside, people who start to take up riding end up getting sneered at if they show up with an untucked shirt or the wrong color breeches. It definitely is NOT a feel-good environment for most newcomers.
I remember in 1980, when cable was just getting started that HBO showed show jumping. I remember watching Melanie at Tampa, and the show was sponsored by Mercedes.
OLN used to be great for people who wanted to watch show jumping. I wonder why they quit carrying Spruce Meadows? Fox has carried it for the past couple of years on their regional sports channels at different times, and now Animal Planet is showing a bit of our sport. As the ever pessimistic viewer, I suppose that won’t last either. 
I am so pleased with Bold TV’s coverage of the dressage so far. It really is great having Cara Witham, an FEI “O” level judge as commentator. There is some babble by Nancy, her co-host, but I can live with that. Nancy perhaps brings up points that non-horsey people might find interesting. And the camera crew, my hat’s off to them!! The only time they zoomed in on the rider’s face or horse’s face was during the walk phase. Otherwise, we get to see the entire horse and rider. In some of the slow-mo replays, you get close-ups on the horse’s feet, etc. The top rides were also replayed during the breaks, in case you missed them.
