Giro d'Italia+ GCN = fail

[Tony S]

No Giro thread? Maybe it's because no one else could get a GCN subscription to work either.

SO tired of the struggle to watch bike and ski racing from the US.

 

[scott43]

You know, I was thinking on this the other day... Does the ever-increasing difficulty (from a dollar point of view..) in watching sports make those sports less healthy in the long term? I remember MotoGP used to be free on basic cable. Now you basically have to subsrcibe to Dorna to get it...I was going to say Live but you can't actually watch it on Youtube or anywhere else after the fact because they pull it down through copyright. F1 was contemplating Pay Per View and I thought that would be the death knell over time.

As for the Giro, I've been reading the results but I don't have time to watch it. I see a few crashes, took out Joe Dombrowski, Mikael Landa..and today I see Mohoric did a header, broke his frame and rang his bell. I just went to look at the video and it's blocked in Canada. An extension of above paragraph.... I certainly lack enthusiasm more now than I ever did..I don't know if that's just me or if that's many people who are losing touch without easy access to their sports.

 

[cantunamunch]

*shrug* works for me - better than NBC.

 

[scott43]

*shrug* works for me - better than NBC.

So you're saying it's just me...

 

[cantunamunch]

So you're saying it's just me...

Heh.

I'll just remind everyone that in the days of analog TV channels in the US there was no Giro or Vuelta coverage - ESPN would barely condescend to cover the TdF. We only got Giro coverage when Universal/Paramount bought digital channel rights at NBC affiliates - and the Giro was super cheap.

Do I think US cycling programming is guilty of rent seeking? Absolutely.
Is it worse than in '92, '94, '98? Absolutely not.

 

[scott43]

Do you think it affects audience size positively it negatively? It's true, you can see a lot more sports if you choose to sigh up. For instance I can watch every NHL have if I choose to. In the old days you got your local team maybe and Saturday hockey night in Canada. Same with F1. You can watch practice qualifying and race. I'm curious though if this becomes short term gain and longer term irrelevance.

I was looking for MotoGP numbers but haven't had much luck yet.

 

[Tom K.]

I remember MotoGP used to be free on basic cable. Now you basically have to subsrcibe to Dorna to get it.

Right?!

Last couple years I could get MotoGP on bein or some such network, but this year I'm pretty sure it's on NBC Sports Network.

But I've kind of lost interest.

 

[Tony S]

Heh.

I'll just remind everyone that in the days of analog TV channels in the US there was no Giro or Vuelta coverage - ESPN would barely condescend to cover the TdF. We only got Giro coverage when Universal/Paramount bought digital channel rights at NBC affiliates - and the Giro was super cheap.

Do I think US cycling programming is guilty of rent seeking? Absolutely.
Is it worse than in '92, '94, '98? Absolutely not.

Saying that the situation is a win for the consumer because we have more options than thirty years ago is like calling out how many more brands are available at Sears Roebuck than there used to be. It's a true statement, but it completely ignores a little thing called Amazon and the vastly accelerated pace of improvement in the range and quality of products and services available from other sources.

 

[cantunamunch]

Saying that the situation is a win for the consumer because we have more options than thirty years ago is like calling out how many more brands are available at Sears Roebuck than there used to be.

I made no assertions as to a win for the consumer. The question on table was whether the current state of coverage is bad for the sport itself. I made a case for it being no worse than before.

As for Amazon being good for the consumer who is not in lockdown, it has been asserted but not proven.

For specialist goods, from advanced materials to resole kits, Amazon hasn't done squat for the consumer. If you're lucky micro-resellers and micro-importers exist, or maybe, a Chinese seller in Shenzen has put a crate of it on sale.

So, yeh, I'm sure I can see lots of cycling movies on Prime.

 

[scott43]

I suppose in the old days you could bring new viewers in randomly because it was available. Now by having to pay to even watch something can you get the same new fan participation? Especially with younger people. How long does it take for an existing generation of fans to drop off and when could you see a lack of new fans?

 

[cantunamunch]

Can you get the same new fan participation? Especially with younger people. How long does it take for an existing generation of fans to drop off and when could you see a lack of new fans?

I am thinking that VR saw this happen in skiing, and dropped Epic pass prices for this reason. Pandemic rebound was the trigger, not the cause. So, as an unproven notion, ~15-20 years.

EDIT: My post above with specific years was not accidental. They're pre-Lance-domination. My contention is that US viewership isn't formed by exposure, it's formed by hero-story media storms. If we proceed on that notion, US hero-story-driven viewership has been falling off since what, 2006 if we count Flandis? Taking all these suppositions in combination, we should be seeing a canyoning of road bike viewership, well, now through 5 years from now.

 

[scott43]

And that's another way in, National interest. Lance have people a reason to watch the Tour. If they don't have a known face, will they watch? Especially without free tv? Is there a US market for ski racing on TV for subscription without a US champ?

 

[Tony S]

No Giro thread? Maybe it's because no one else could get a GCN subscription to work either.

SO tired of the struggle to watch bike and ski racing from the US.

Update. Sometime in the wee hours, when I was asleep, LONNNNG after I clicked "install," the GCN app finally decided to install. Streaming from within the app is working MUCH better. It also has a native Chromecast capability.

 

[Rudi Riet]

GCN+ has been awesome for bike racing viewing. As mentioned above: it's leagues better than NBC Sports Gold's package: better commentators, better pre-stage and post-stage stuff, better rest day content. Their Giro coverage has been super, with the full Eurosport/GCN crew doing start-to-finish coverage, tag-teaming to give folks rest (so you don't hear a weary commentator after six hours of commentary) and a lot of solid insider info.

And yes, I plan to watch the Tour de France and Vuelta a España via GCN rather than NBC Sports. All respect to Phil Liggett and Bob Roll, but I'll take Carlton Kirby, Sean Kelly, Rob Hatch, Brian Smith, Hanna Walker, Dal Lloyd, Adam Blythe, Bradley Wigging, et al for my Grad Tour coverage. They're that much better.

And the app works well on iOS and iPadOS. I even use AirPlay to mirror it on my TV in full HD.

 

[NZRob]

It's ironic that in little old New Zealand our pay-TV coverage of cycling is superb. We even get a lot of the womens races and second tier events. As for MotoGP, well that's wall-to-wall during race weekends.

 

[NZRob]

p.s. Bernal has been a MACHINE

 

[scott43]

Viva Colombia!

 

[Tony S]

No spoilers here, please.

 

[Tony S]

It's ironic that in little old New Zealand our pay-TV coverage of cycling is superb.

Why does this not surprise me? "Little old New Zealand" has some things to teach, as we've been finding out.

 

[Nobody]

I am thinking that VR saw this happen in skiing, and dropped Epic pass prices for this reason. Pandemic rebound was the trigger, not the cause. So, as an unproven notion, ~15-20 years.

EDIT: My post above with specific years was not accidental. They're pre-Lance-domination. My contention is that US viewership isn't formed by exposure, it's formed by hero-story media storms. If we proceed on that notion, US hero-story-driven viewership has been falling off since what, 2006 if we count Flandis? Taking all these suppositions in combination, we should be seeing a canyoning of road bike viewership, well, now through 5 years from now.

I know I am digressing and probably hijacking a cycling thread, but I see this a lot in Italy too, I mean this "hero-story media" thing. Don't know for other countries but here too, and not only concerning cycling. Skiing as well, take hte Toma years. When AT was racing, the national TV broadcasting was going to the lenght of putting on hold other programs to show him, if need be. After AT stopped racing, skiers pratictioners stayed stable for some years, but hten started to decline. And TV coverage dropped (and viewers went down to an absolute minimum of "core numbers").
Cycling went the same route, when I was a child, duringthe month of May, everyone from 5 yrs old to 99 was talking about the Giro, and following it. Via any available media, radio broadcasting, newspapers, TV.
What worries me most, is not the amount of viewers, but, rather, how much the diminishing viewers base will reflect, in the mid to long term, in the numbers of pratictioners. That is more worrying. Until a certain pratictioner base, in any sport, is not reached, said sport cannot "self-sustain", need TV coverage. After a certains base number, the sport will, self feed, for a time, even without TC coverage...but then