GCN+ Discovery + MT...
 

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GCN+ Discovery + MTB coverage. Our thoughts?

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I’ve just watched the women’s short track. It seemed ok. My main complaint is that I don’t think I saw a starters list, I may have missed it. They showed the top 20 at the end, so didn’t show placed 21 to 49. But that means that I think I saw Annie Last Racing but that was never confirmed.


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 5:44 pm
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Bart sounds like Marvin the Martian. Still giggling.

Men’s short course coverage is pretty good though. There was a start list for the men


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 5:58 pm
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Yeah can't fault it. Sad we don't have Warner. But other than that it's good.

The difference is that they're now reaching a much much bigger audience potentially, plus sponsors, advertisers etc. It could be the making of the sport


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 5:59 pm
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Are we doing spoilers in here?


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 6:05 pm
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I’d say no, this is about the coverage, not the result.


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 6:07 pm
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They did put up a women's start list, Annie Last was last row I think.
I enjoyed the coverage much better than I expected, Bart was much better than previously, seemed more engaged as a commentator rather than answering questions, not once did I hear "that's how it is" 🙂


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 7:47 pm
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I thought it was good. Did miss Warner a bit.


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 8:44 pm
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tomhoward
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I’d say no, this is about the coverage, not the result.

Is there another thread where we can discuss results?


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 8:46 pm
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paint watches Ric McLaughlin dry


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 8:57 pm
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Thought the coverage was good, just like Red Bull but without Warner getting everything wrong


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 9:26 pm
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lol 🙂


 
Posted : 12/05/2023 9:27 pm
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Well the men's race was exciting!

Enjoying the commentary, they seem to be spotting stuff and not waffling away missing everything.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 9:40 am
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Yeah enjoyed it, but as mentioned above missed warners voice.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 9:46 am
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Enjoying the commentary, they seem to be spotting stuff and not waffling away missing everything.

Only watched the women’s race but I thought the overall package was pretty good. Test will come in the longer races when they need to fill more time by waffling.

Didn’t miss Warner but I think he was more in his element in the DH. Will see how it goes when that starts next month.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 11:02 am
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Are we allowed to talk about the actual race yet?


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 11:35 am
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still considering subscribing to GCN+ as I normally watch the XC and DH. I take it you can watch again after as I am not always able to watch it live. Have seen the highlights on YouTube and it came across quite well.

<div class="bbp-reply-content">

Are we allowed to talk about the actual race yet?

</div>

could always start a new thread, with it being about actual bikes/bike racing it may not be the usual argumentative STWness...


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 11:47 am
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Have to say I'm fed up with the official uci social media spoiling events immediately. I hadn't figured on the racing being on Friday so was dismayed on opening IG last night to have a wall of results. Surely this hurts viewing figures as I have little desire to watch a replay when I know the results...


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 12:17 pm
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Can you watch on catch up or is the coverage only live? Work hours makes live sport impossible apart from the Super Bowl.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 12:21 pm
 beej
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Catch up on GCN app/website, I watched the XCC this morning.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 12:22 pm
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dismayed on opening IG last night to have a wall of results

Yeah - I don't want to see the results on any media of the CL semis, Or the FA cup, or today's stage 8 of the Giro just in case I haven't yet watched it......🤔
But actually watching the mens on catch up on the turbo was great, and the final lap was awesome.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 12:43 pm
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Recorded the highlights yesterday on Eurosport, for a planned watch today with a coffee, post-ride.
I've got motocross & speed climbing instead, so somethings gone wrong with their scheduling. I've set record for several repeats tomorrow & Monday, so fingers crossed.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 1:08 pm
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I’ve got motocross & speed climbing instead, so somethings gone wrong with their scheduling.

Nope, that sounds exactly like Eurosport scheduling since forever.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 1:30 pm
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True that!


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 1:44 pm
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It's going to be interesting watching the end of the DH season in the snow. Although I'm sure visiting ski resorts in September and October will be absolutely fine and the UCI have made arrangements.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 2:43 pm
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BoardinBob
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paint watches Ric McLaughlin dry

I'm really pissed off he's got the lead commentator gig as well, it was clearly decided on price/who you know, rather than looking for the best person for the job.

Hopefully Cedric as colour commentator will give the DH a bit more excitement.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 3:37 pm
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Watched replays on the android tv app. Seems every 4th frame is missing with random black frame inserts.
Live feed just the same 🙁

Defo missed Rob and his excitement. Whilst often mistaken, he was good at filling silence and getting Bart to answer questions. Rick and Bart together leave a little too much silence.

Only event 1 though.


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 5:33 pm
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Video quality was as good as my telly gets on our Chromecast


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 5:35 pm
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Footage of both elite races now on YouTube without the commentary if you don't want to pay


 
Posted : 13/05/2023 6:26 pm
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U23s races are available free (in full and with commentary) if you want to get an idea of the production.

Camerawork has improved greatly over last year.

Somehow red bull have got some advertising boards up on the fast descent, drone camera keeps pointing right at them. Reminds me of when Setanta sports got their first premier league football game, sky bought every advert in the stadium.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 12:18 am
 mos
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I was watching the men's short track and the Irish guy kinda gave away the women's result. Bit disappointed as I hadn't watched it at that point.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 9:00 am
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Somehow red bull have got some advertising boards up on the fast descent, drone camera keeps pointing right at them. Reminds me of when Setanta sports got their first premier league football game, sky bought every advert in the stadium.

I'm sure they are a very welcome sponsor and they don't really have a rival product, so I'm not surprised they are trying to keep some presence.

Smart move.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 9:10 am
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From the comments above I take it that GCN and Disco+ show the same bike related content.
DH cup and champs, some Enduro 4X would interest me.

So would you guys choose GCN or Discovery+ ?

It seems that GCN is half the price at about £25 a year with the disadvantage that, unless your smart tv has the GCN app (mine doesn’t) it’s a “casting” situation. From mobile or laptop.

Discovery + seems to have a lot of other content too. If that’s of interest. Plus the advantage that it seems to be an add on to Prime and maybe to virgin TiVo.
Am I right they are both showing the same bike content - so it’s about convenience, cost and whether there’s any interest in Disco+ additional material?
Or maybe I got it all wrong!!
Thanks


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 9:48 am
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The coverage on Discovery + is good, kudos to the drone pilot weaving through the trees like that. I wish they wouldn't focus on heart rate though, it means nothing - everyone's max / ranges are very different.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 10:55 am
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Having Cedric in the commentary box was pretty pointless. Barely said anything


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 11:24 am
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The women's race was brilliant. Great camera & drone work for sure, as well.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 12:00 pm
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Great coverage, enjoyed the whole race and it got me motivated to get back out on the MTB again!

Am not loving the road racing at the moment, there's a strange sense of the Giro having jumped the shark a bit, was refreshing to watch a fairly straightforward physical ding-dong! I think I also liked watching a course I felt I could actually ride, at perhaps half the speed 🙄

Sad we don’t have Warner. But other than that it’s good

I don't miss him, can maybe tolerate small doses. Shame Cedric didn't speak up much.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 12:07 pm
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I opened the app to a spoiler! Then chose "watch from start". Unfortunately when I cast to the TV it went "live". The race had just finished and the result was on the screen.
And the audio was about 5 seconds out from the picture.
Not especially happy so far...


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 12:22 pm
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I succumbed and signed up for the year on gcn+ Don’t see much (any) difference in the production quality over red bull, that’s either a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. Off out on the bike this afternoon, looking forward to watching the mens race later and possibly the Giro TT

not downloaded the app yet, plenty of negative reviews of it in the App Store, is it really that bad?


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 12:30 pm
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Watched it and thought it was good coverage. Rob W may not turn out to be the loss we thought... XC and XCO was fine IMHO. Wonder what DH will be like.

What was different was the "look" of the event. No Mercedes vehicles and lower key sponsor banners. Looked like fewer Media Camera bods scrapping at the finish line and the podium area looks a bit empty/thin.

Got tickets for Lenzerheide XC and DH, wonder what an actual event will be like. Let's see.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 12:44 pm
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Edit: ignore.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 5:20 pm
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Wait, I was out this afternoon, went to D+ only to discover they have only a 6 min highlight program and I can’t watch the whole race??

Unless something has changed and D+ is doing something different then the full replay will be up a little later..  the short highlights usually pop up almost immediately but full race replay takes longer.

That's how it works on GCN+, and previous to that Eurosport Online was the same.  As I understand it they are all using the same footage and have the same live/highlights/replays available it's just that GCN+ is a cycling subset of Eurosport which is a sports subset of Discovery+, as you move up the ladder the cost increases and you get access to more content.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 5:27 pm
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It’s there, I didn’t scroll down far enough 😳


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 5:52 pm
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Just watching the women’s XCO. Filming is good they haven’t skimped on cameras, drones etc.

your smart tv has the GCN app (mine doesn’t) it’s a “casting” situation. From mobile or laptop.

Assuming you can’t download the App consider buying a cromecast, they aren’t that much, some of the rivals are even cheaper. I bought one when my tv stopped supporting tyres red bull app. We now do all our streaming from it. It’s great to take in holiday as well.

Chromecast


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 6:07 pm
 mos
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The red bull sign was well positioned for the drone pilot to pick up every lap.


 
Posted : 14/05/2023 7:04 pm
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Can't fault the coverage in truth... The drone footage was way better than previous years... They seemed to have every single meter or the track covered for footage.. Good angles... Plus a bonus it's on Eurosport.... More than happy.


 
Posted : 15/05/2023 7:40 am
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FYI for those with Sky, Sky gives you access to Discovery+ free of charge, I have the app on my Sky Q box and Apple Tv and works fine.


 
Posted : 15/05/2023 1:13 pm
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And it's on Eurosport if you have basic Sky like me, and you can get races on demand by searching for them.

What did Cedric commentate on? I only watched the men's XCO and I thought it was just Bart & Ric.


 
Posted : 15/05/2023 1:43 pm
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Yeah wasn’t as bad as I was worried it might be, happy with Ric too, sometimes Rob was a bit too shouty on the XC and Bart seemed happy to just let him talk.

On the which service to subscribe too I have got discovery+ not sure if it’s because sky give it to me for free (used to exclude sports but started working recently) but I also watch the BSB and world super bikes religiously so makes sense for me.

I love wfh and just having the live no breaks covers on in the background.

highlights of the road cycling are as crap as ever though, in a pinch the short highlights are just as good as the long ones, and not as good as the itv2 package.


 
Posted : 15/05/2023 2:32 pm

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