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UCI / Discovery channel

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
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media blackout
pretty big topic, figure it deserves its own thread.


RIP Redbull WC. sounds like they had the rug pulled out from under them. feels like they were really hitting their stride too (although there are still some valid criticisms of their influence).

i'd like to be hopeful that discovery won't fuck things up and can ultimately bring more money into the sport in terms of getting racers paid. but let's not forget this was this was part of the past involvement with cycling:

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canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
How epic would it be if Red Bull was like hey fuck you guys and started their own DH series, with HUGELY big money payouts and whatever? It probably won't happen due to the UCI's large dong swinging ability, but still, that'd be great.

But yeah, not sure how this will be a step forward, from what the situation is right now. Races are easily accessible to anyone on the planet, for the most part.

I saw @slyfink post something similar somewhere - but I doubt I'll subscribe to this, just to watch a few races. If I can pay to just watch the races and somehow that will benefit the racers, then sure I'll put my cash forward.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
meh, sound and fury signifying nothing.

I hate Lance Armstrong more than anyone, but it’s a reach trying to connect that shithead with the shitheads in Swisserland. -7’s venture capital is tied up in the Outside rollup. if you hate lance armstrong, you are barking up the wrong tree.

Redbull is a fiefdom owned by Austrians who are fascist-adjacent. Probably more of a worry than an inept and constantly changing media company who has you know, media business to take care of to make money, instead of propagating type 2 diabetes.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
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media blackout
I hate Lance Armstrong more than anyone, but it’s a reach trying to connect that shithead with the shitheads in Swisserland. -7’s venture capital is tied up in the Outside rollup. if you hate lance armstrong, you are barking up the wrong tree.
i know and don't disagree. best case scenario they got hoodwinked by him too. but #neverforget
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
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Redbull is a fiefdom owned by Austrians who are fascist-adjacent. Probably more of a worry than an inept and constantly changing media company who has you know, media business to take care of to make money, instead of propagating type 2 diabetes.
someone has been waiting for their opportune moment to release a sports drink

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slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
How epic would it be if Red Bull was like hey fuck you guys and started their own DH series, with HUGELY big money payouts and whatever? It probably won't happen due to the UCI's large dong swinging ability, but still, that'd be great.

But yeah, not sure how this will be a step forward, from what the situation is right now. Races are easily accessible to anyone on the planet, for the most part.

I saw @slyfink post something similar somewhere - but I doubt I'll subscribe to this, just to watch a few races. If I can pay to just watch the races and somehow that will benefit the racers, then sure I'll put my cash forward.
yeah, it was in the 2022 racing thread.

this is my main concern too. I'll gladly pay to watch the races. But I don't have cable, and I'm not going to get it, and pay an extra fee to get their channel, just to watch an abridged version of the race. I really (really) hope they offer some sort of stand alone, pay per view option.

If they can infuse cash into the sport, then great. But I really question whether it's sustainable in the long-term. People talk about the good ol' days of Grundig and big TV contracts. But look at what happened. The general public may have had a passing interest in the races, but probably mostly because of the novelty factor (mtb was new back then), and for the shock factor of watching the crashes. Eventually, interest in the sport waned.

IMHO, I don't think TV drives interest in the sport, it only showcases the sport if there is a market for it. If they don't get the viewership #s, they're going to drop it like a hot potato, and we could end up with what we had in the years before Freecaster... Or how the world champs are covered, which is to say really shitty coverage, not available as a re-broadcast, and only as a 20-minute summary of what happened.

I really hope the UCI anticipated that possibility and put in place safeguards to prevent it from happening. The bottom line, again imho and without any sort of facts or stats to back it up, is that watching mtb racing is an enthusiasts activity. offering it up as a mass-media product isn't going to drive increases in participation. without the proper safeguards, the UCI could cut off the enthusiasts from watching their sport, and inadvertently drive down participation numbers.

I also don't believe that having more prize money will help drive participation. I doubt the earning potential will get anywhere close to what budding athletes could make in traditional sports, or even in BMX, skateboarding, or motocross. A few at the top might make even more money, but I'd be surprised to see it trickle down any farther than the top 20...
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
Its a money move, Redbull media has never been cheap but the myriad of production houses that Discovery uses are. Couple that with the growing viewer rates that RB established and add in the advertising budget of network goliaths and bingo, new money maker.

I dont think it will be a big deal overall since Discovery already owns, runs and covers plenty of similar or racing content such as motortrend, Eurosport, Setanta, Thrillist, Turbo etc but it definately wont be the same flair that RB mediahouse can produce for sure.

I think RB can hold its own in its space of unique and extreme segments without the UCI for sure.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
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media blackout
Its a money move, Redbull media has never been cheap but the myriad of production houses that Discovery uses are. Couple that with the growing viewer rates that RB established and add in the advertising budget of network goliaths and bingo, new money maker.

I dont think it will be a big deal overall since Discovery already owns, runs and covers plenty of similar or racing content such as motortrend, Eurosport, Setanta, Thrillist, Turbo etc but it definately wont be the same flair that RB mediahouse can produce for sure.
my concern is that they'll do away with the livestream and try to package it into a very condensed 30 to 60 minute episode that will be much shorter due to commercial breaks.
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
my concern is that they'll do away with the livestream and try to package it into a very condensed 30 to 60 minute episode that will be much shorter due to commercial breaks.
Hard to say this early but I am willing to bet the production house that gets hired to cover the events will have to work pretty hard to reach the benchmark that RB has created. I can see more money for more camera angles, less post production and more of a live stream editing/switching format since they are already used to that coverage environment. I can see it emulating the Isle of man TT coverage.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
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media blackout
Hard to say this early but I am willing to bet the production house that gets hired to cover the events will have to work pretty hard to reach the benchmark that RB has created. I can see more money for more camera angles, less post production and more of a live stream editing/switching format since they are already used to that coverage environment. I can see it emulating the Isle of man TT coverage.
i will say the EWS coverage they done so far has been an uninspired yawn fest.
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
i will say the EWS coverage they done so far has been an uninspired yawn fest.
You can thank Covid for that apparently

"Due to COVID restrictions we are heavily restricting the number of media at all of our 2021 events. Only EWS production staff, official EWS Team media and a few key outlets will be permitted to accredit for any of our events in 2021"


 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
my concern is that they'll do away with the livestream and try to package it into a very condensed 30 to 60 minute episode that will be much shorter due to commercial breaks.
Do you really think that is the future of TV?
I think TV is becoming a ubiquitous product to watch at will on whatever screen one sees fit.

The cord is pretty much officially cut for most people under the age of 70. Paying for small slices of content is undoubtedly the future, and I think consumer demand will dictate how and when ads are fed to us.

All of these content providers/creators will invariably merge up into 2 monopolistic behemoths before your great gran can say Walter Cronkite, anyway.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
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media blackout
Do you really think that is the future of TV?
I think TV is becoming a ubiquitous product to watch at will on whatever screen one sees fit.

The cord is pretty much officially cut for most people under the age of 70. Paying for small slices of content is undoubtedly the future, and I think consumer demand will dictate how and when ads are fed to us.

All of these content providers/creators will invariably merge up into 2 monopolistic behemoths before your great gran can say Walter Cronkite, anyway.
i would watch Walter Kronkite spectate a DH race
 
Feb 21, 2020
817
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SoCo Western Slope
Redbull + Crankworx with an expanded DH race series.

Numerous pros have said they prefer Crankworx events to UCI DH, they need to expand the series and offer serious prize money/better coverage to pull all the WC riders over. Redbull could provide that.

There is no real reason for the UCI in DH as it's not an Olympic sport.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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media blackout
Redbull + Crankworx with an expanded DH race series.

Numerous pros have said they prefer Crankworx events to UCI DH, they need to expand the series and offer serious prize money/better coverage to pull all the WC riders over. Redbull could provide that.

There is no real reason for the UCI in DH as it's not an Olympic sport.
dangle a big enough carrot and the teams will go.

although i will say XC racing improved immensely under RB coverage. hell even I watch it now.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
Discovery is Eurovision, as said in the 2022 racing rumors thread. They won't bring moar money into the sport, just into the UCI. And as said before, they sill think the audience of MTB is the same as the one watching road races. I can see the WC and World Champs brought behind a paywall in the near future. And with shitty commentards.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
24,181
media blackout
Discovery is Eurovision, as said in the 2022 racing rumors thread. They won't bring moar money into the sport, just into the UCI. And as said before, they sill think the audience of MTB is the same as the one watching road races. I can see the WC and World Champs brought behind a paywall in the near future. And with shitty commentards.
bob roll?
 

FlipFantasia

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,659
492
Sea to Sky BC
free coverage drives up viewership over the years, lizards look at those numbers and start salivating at monetization, paywall comes, 70% of viewers leave, lizards wonder why people now don't like watching the mtbz...rinse, repeat
 

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
Honestly, I will pay a reasonable fee to watch all the World Cups, but where they will truly shit and fall back in it,
is if it is not live streamed. I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to NOT live stream events like this where the results will be at the click of a finger as soon as the race ends. And once that happens, nobody is buying it. Live is the only way it can possibly work now.
 

monkeyfcuker

Monkey
May 26, 2008
912
8
UK, Carlisle
my concern is that they'll do away with the livestream and try to package it into a very condensed 30 to 60 minute episode that will be much shorter due to commercial breaks.
Echo this, even worse if they then add in over enthusiastic dumb shit (Soz) ‘Mericanised commentary over the top from someone that’s never ridden and wasn’t even watching the event live.

Doesn’t the EWS/GCN have form for this?
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Honestly, I will pay a reasonable fee to watch all the World Cups, but where they will truly shit and fall back in it,
is if it is not live streamed. I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to NOT live stream events like this where the results will be at the click of a finger as soon as the race ends. And once that happens, nobody is buying it. Live is the only way it can possibly work now.
Agree with most of this, and I will be willing to pay a reasonable amount for reliable coverage (and more if it's ad-free). Also agree that live coverage is critical, but I also really want the same-day replays to continue as well. With the time zone differences (and the fact that I would usually prefer to be sleeping or riding at race time), the ability to see replays same day is super important. We watch some races live but more often we sleep through the race, avoid spoilers, head out for a ride, then settle in for the replay later.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,141
El Lay
Is it confirmed that Discovery will show the entire race (whatever that happens to mean (men top20, women, juniors)) or do they want us to pay for a 22-46 minute digest that's 50% maps, previews, host blabbing, and interviews?
Paying for the privilege should get us more (longer) content, not more expensive graphics, in my book.

I prefer Rob Warner to someone who doesn't ride or know the sport as he does.
 
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Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
Agree with most of this, and I will be willing to pay a reasonable amount for reliable coverage (and more if it's ad-free). Also agree that live coverage is critical, but I also really want the same-day replays to continue as well. With the time zone differences (and the fact that I would usually prefer to be sleeping or riding at race time), the ability to see replays same day is super important. We watch some races live but more often we sleep through the race, avoid spoilers, head out for a ride, then settle in for the replay later.
These networks have seized on the strategy of pay subscriptions, so if it isn't on regular Discovery you will probably have to pay a significant fee for the whole Discovery + catalog and also pay for Amish Survivor and 800lb Bachelorette.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,141
El Lay
I'm innocently inquiring as to whether torrents still exist.

These networks have seized on the strategy of pay subscriptions, so if it isn't on regular Discovery you will probably have to pay a significant fee for the whole Discovery + catalog and also pay for Amish Survivor and 800lb Bachelorette.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
I say we put Redbull, Monster and Rockstar CEO's in a room, make them drink a sixxer of their own product and last man standing gets the contract
Yeah, that's the troubling part. The stuff is just so much crap it's just ridiculous, like no "athlete" performing would be drinking that crap in their right mind. Well, Disco channel isn't any better anymore...long long time ago it might have been legit, but they are all about the fake drama "reality", so no winning. Like too bad we can't have it sponsored by...Water...or even though I'm not a fan, Milk...but no, has to be fucking redbull.
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
Yeah, that's the troubling part. The stuff is just so much crap it's just ridiculous, like no "athlete" performing would be drinking that crap in their right mind. Well, Disco channel isn't any better anymore...long long time ago it might have been legit, but they are all about the fake drama "reality", so no winning. Like too bad we can't have it sponsored by...Water...or even though I'm not a fan, Milk...but no, has to be fucking redbull.
I was talking to the woman about this last night and she always wondered why such an unhealthy sponsor was promoting a sport like cycling. Might be something UCI is thinking about as well

Sorta like Marlboro and yoga or Meth and gymnastics