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I suspect £6.99 a month was enough to support a product that only showed cycling like GCN+. However, the new model is not for people who just like cycling. It's for general sport fans so the only option is to pay for every sport. If you want to watch every sport then £30 is probably reasonable.
However, people who just like to watch sport I suspect don't really do sports. We watch cycling because we like bikes. I have time to cycle and to watch some races. I have no interest in watching any other sports.
Like I said earlier, with GCN+ we were the target audience. With WBD their target audience isn't us. It's people who like to watch sport in general.
I'm not even convinced it's that you know. I was looking the other day and there's Tennins, Ski jumping, Speedway, MotoGP, squash, cricket, Darts, cycling, along with 20-30 more. I don't think WBD bought 'cycling' or even gave any thoughts to who will watch what, i think it was more a case of "we're buying Eurosport" which part of that came in with Cycling of course.
I doubt we'll ever know the answer but it would be interesting to get viewing figures for the Dauphine, or the Giro and of course the Tour to see how it's all going.
I don't think MTB is ever going to reach mainstream, but i guess we could say that about all the other 'minority' sports on there from Rock Climbing to Badminton.
i think it was more a case of "we're buying Eurosport" which part of that came in with Cycling of course.
Yeah, but if you remember they also bought GCN+ and shut it down.
They could have kept it running with the same subscription model but they chose to close it and shift everyone to their own streaming service. Then they made everyone move to their general sport package.
Of course, it may be they never actually planned anything and this is just the desperate thrashings of a corporate entity that took on too much debt...
I'm still really annoyed about losing GCN+, tbh. Especially since it seemed to be, if not a goldmine, at the very least sustainable.
£6.99 a month was cheap enough that I used to keep it rolling.
£31.00 a month is very much in the territory of cancel as soon as an event is over.
I think the only way Sky survives is they cling on like a limpet to their 12/18/24 month contract model, so stop people flip-flopping.
£31.00 is very much in the "screw that, ill find a dodgy stream" territory
Forgive my laziness and save me trawling through the entire thread for it is rather hot but did we come to conclusion on where and how was best to watch the UCI XC and TdF this summer?
Is the only option to weigh out £31 or is there a cheaper and/or cheekier alternative?
I think the only option in the UK is to form out the money.
It's a shame really, it's still free to stream in France 😉
Our Sky bill had crept up to £75.00/month, for their TV + Netflix + Movies - have now completely sacked it off.
I can get Apple, Disney, Netflix, Prime & pay for C4 to get rid of the adverts for a fraction of the cost.
Forgive my laziness and save me trawling through the entire thread for it is rather hot but did we come to conclusion on where and how was best to watch the UCI XC and TdF this summer?
Is the only option to weigh out £31 or is there a cheaper and/or cheekier alternative?
As a bt/ee customer I can get the sport package for £21 a month or thereabouts to watch on my iMac/ipad. I thought about it but as the only sport I watch is/was the downhill I figured it’s not worth it.
I’ve previously watched the 15 min highlights on YouTube but I’ve not even bothered with that for the last race.
TDF highlights are still on ITV4 I think, full coverage is behind the paywall of death
TDF highlights are still on ITV4 I think, full coverage is behind the paywall of death
I think it's still full coverage on ITV4 this year - every stage from start to finish (except the ad breaks), plus an evening highlights programme, then that's it. It's also available on s4c with welsh commentary and analysis
Forgive my laziness and save me trawling through the entire thread for it is rather hot but did we come to conclusion on where and how was best to watch the UCI XC and TdF this summer?
Is the only option to weigh out £31 or is there a cheaper and/or cheekier alternative?
Tiz cycling is the answer if you're prepared to wait a day or two to watch it.
If anybody wants to look at the TdF roadbook, you can download it from the google playstore, username:guest password:roadbook2025
I'm scared to post this at it'll no doubt jinx it but I was watching the junior race for free on the Discovery Plus app and I've let the stream continue and for some reason it's showing the women elite race live despite me not having the full subscription...
Tiz steam working perfectly here
Mens race also being broadcast free of charge
On the same day they've announced they won't be broadcasting the juniors on YouTube at all
And now they're just about to pause the broadcast because the weather is affecting them
It's a continuous shambles
I have a BT/EE TV and internet subscription at £16/month and adding TNT Sports only costs a further £12 which I'm happy to pay for the extra channels. Not HD though.
So my current complaint is that it’s now multi screen or adverts! I’m paying for this! ( this is for the tour)
We already have Discovery (we’re football fans) but on point of principle I have decided that will try and ensure all my viewing of the Tour this year is going to be ITV 4
I've found Tiz to be very glitchy recently - mtb and road
VPN and a NZ UCI mtb subscription, plus either Aussie coverage of the road (free) or UK Ch4 (hadn't realised they were showing live until today)
So my current complaint is that it’s now multi screen or adverts! I’m paying for this! ( this is for the tour)
Agreed. Why do I pay a subscription and still have to endure ads? Robbing bastards. It's not been like this on previous races and still isn't right now on the Women's Giro.
So my current complaint is that it’s now multi screen or adverts! I’m paying for this! ( this is for the tour)
Agreed. Why do I pay a subscription and still have to endure ads? Robbing bastards. It's not been like this on previous races and still isn't right now on the Women's Giro.
Cheeky robbing bastards indeed! I thought it was me! I’m watching whilst on holiday via a VPN and wondered where the ‘digital’ feed had gone.
Why do I pay a subscription and still have to endure ads
Because this has been their aim all along. To monetise the sport to the absolute max. Selling as much advertising space as possible. All they boast about on linkedin is the viewership numbers. Never once do they mention the quality of the racing or any exceptional result. Chris Ball has sold the sport for the maximum £££
TNT working fine with my BT Internet - not paid for but seems to be bundled free with Halo 3 service. Adverts are a pain, but it at least allows a brew/wee stop ! Will probably watch ITV4 for the highlights mid week, but might wait for the on-demand version as ITV4 live is so poor picture quality.
ITV4 live is so poor picture quality.
Agreed, the ITVx app is HD but if if you run that on a firestick your only otons are "watch live" and "Watch from start". If you use a phone then you do get "pause" and "resume"