British Eurosport to Give Giro Mountains a Miss?

blazing_saddles

Just been checking British Eurosport schedules.
As mentioned earlier, they have VERY little live coverage, in their schedules for the Terminillo summit finish on Sunday. I'm guessing sub 30 minutes all told.

So, I wondered about what they had planned for the following Sunday, it being the mighty Zoncolan shoot out.
The answer? Well it appears, at first glance, that they have NO live coverage at all.
That's right, nothing.
50 minutes of highlights before the 2 hours of live Cali, is their one and only shot at a slot.

Eurosport International, on the other hand, have over 3 hours, this Sunday and almost 4 hours, split between 1 and 2, for the Zoncolan.
Me? I count myself lucky I've got Rai and International, but it still makes my blood boil.....

Le Commentateur

Maybe it's the price to pay for all the Classics coverage.

There's always an internet feed somewhere.

rick_chasey

Le Commentateur wrote:

Maybe it's the price to pay for all the Classics coverage.

There's always an internet feed somewhere.

Could be.

Watching the Giro's a bit pointless if you don't see the stupidly difficult important climbs though.

May's a tricky time for sport, since there's a lot of overlap between seasons.

deejay

Le Commentateur wrote:

Maybe it's the price to pay for all the Classics coverage.

That is rubish to say that.
Think more of the money grabbing UCI and Blazing told you the answer.
The UCI have put TOC in the mix (is that backhanders ?) and Eurosport are commited to a Planet program for the benifit of the half wits.
Maybe with Levi winning last week (probably with permission) the guvnor of the 3 teams has decided the TOC is his this year.

You & I being real cyclists will be gathering info on the Main Cycle Race Event of May and no one is there this year to cause a stage "Go Slow".
The TOC is a media event and causes about as much interest (in Europe that is) as the other media event that they still seem to be banging on about and who cares. ???

Le Commentateur

TOC (i.e. Armstrong, Cavendish) brings in the advertisers, so even if a majority of the viewers wanted the Giro, they can't trump that.

deejay

Le Commentateur wrote:

TOC (i.e. Armstrong, Cavendish) brings in the advertisers, so even if a majority of the viewers wanted the Giro, they can't trump that.

I can't argue with that if you do mean for USA media and advertisers and Eurosport would like a share in that market. :roll:

moray_gub

deejay wrote:

Le Commentateur wrote:

Maybe it's the price to pay for all the Classics coverage.

That is rubish to say that.
Think more of the money grabbing UCI and Blazing told you the answer.
The UCI have put TOC in the mix (is that backhanders ?) and Eurosport are commited to a Planet program for the benifit of the half wits.
Maybe with Levi winning last week (probably with permission) the guvnor of the 3 teams has decided the TOC is his this year.

You & I being real cyclists will be gathering info on the Main Cycle Race Event of May and no one is there this year to cause a stage "Go Slow".
The TOC is a media event and causes about as much interest (in Europe that is) as the other media event that they still seem to be banging on about and who cares. ???

Oh ffs get a grip the Giro often in previous years has had limited coverage on weekends sometimes clashing with the French Open. I seem to recall thee stage of 2005 having limited coverage ot at least delayed so Its not a new thing and i am surprised you being the big cheese and a real cyclist to boot that you were not aware of that .................

stagehopper

It'll be more to do with what's clashing with the cycling next week. TOC is in an entirely different timeslot which is normally filler programmes for Eurosport as there's no live action.

afx237vi

OMG I agree with Moray Gub :shock:

Roland Garros and the various types of motorbike racing get more viewers, it's as simple as that.

blazing_saddles

afx237vi wrote:

OMG I agree with Moray Gub :shock:

Roland Garros and the various types of motorbike racing get more viewers, it's as simple as that.

True, but only in the UK it seems.
Every other European Eurosport has the Zoncolan, but Brit ES is spending the afternoon at RG, even though I don't think it starts properly until Monday. :?

Maybe they'll botch something together using 1, 2 and HD............and maybe not.......

cal_stewart

for once german eurosport has a upside

pat1cp

The Giro has clashed with The French Open on Eurosport for ages. HD may be your answer, it usually follows Euro-Eurosport.

moray_gub

Blazing Saddles wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

OMG I agree with Moray Gub :shock:

Roland Garros and the various types of motorbike racing get more viewers, it's as simple as that.

True, but only in the UK it seems.
Every other European Eurosport has the Zoncolan, but Brit ES is spending the afternoon at RG, even though I don't think it starts properly until Monday. :?

Maybe they'll botch something together using 1, 2 and HD............and maybe not.......

I suspect maybe not ,if you follow the Giro regularly (and i assume you do) you will be aware of the weekend limited coverage issue. Been doing that for ages now well before they started covering the TOC.

Tom Butcher

At least these days we can get live feed on the internet so it's not a disaster (if missing the Giro can ever be a disaster). If they can offer maybe an hour of highlights that would do me but otherwise I'll be watching it on the PC.

blazing_saddles

Moray Gub wrote:

I suspect maybe not ,if you follow the Giro regularly (and i assume you do) you will be aware of the weekend limited coverage issue. Been doing that for ages now well before they started covering the TOC.

Indeed, it's the reason I got RAI.
I recall Brit ES completely missing the Mortirolo twice, just in recent years.
With UK Eurosport being the only version to get Pais Vasco and Romandie back, I thought they might have had a major policy re-think..........

luckao

Unbelievably poor. I've not watched any of it on Eurosport. Gazzetta’s proving to be a Godsend.

Richrd2205

Blazing Saddles wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

OMG I agree with Moray Gub :shock:

Roland Garros and the various types of motorbike racing get more viewers, it's as simple as that.

True, but only in the UK it seems.
Every other European Eurosport has the Zoncolan, but Brit ES is spending the afternoon at RG, even though I don't think it starts properly until Monday. :?

Maybe they'll botch something together using 1, 2 and HD............and maybe not.......

Blazing, I keep posting at the end of threads you've posted this in, but you seem not to notice....
The on-line Eurosport has all of the Giro, 4-5 hours a day (& all of the tennis too, in case anyone's worried). They show what's paid for...

The Brit version of the online player has uninterrupted coverage of the Giro for 5 hours a day, it's not really that awful, is it?

If the deal that Eurosport sell to your TV provider, that they, in turn, sell to you, isn't up to scratch, it's hardly simply down to Eurosport, is it?

Thy are crap in many ways. This isn't one of them.

deejay

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

I suspect maybe not ,if you follow the Giro regularly (and i assume you do) you will be aware of the weekend limited coverage issue. Been doing that for ages now well before they started covering the TOC.

Indeed, it's the reason I got RAI.
I recall Brit ES completely missing the Mortirolo twice, just in recent years.
With UK Eurosport being the only version to get Pais Vasco and Romandie back, I thought they might have had a major policy re-think..........

Now what year was that, that Eurosport (before British ES) had all the luck.
The saturday promise was "Live" Giro and we finally got there on the last MTF for the remains of our scheduled slot as Pantani punctured.
Mounts his bike and we are lucky to see him dance on the pedals and catch everybody then go on to win.
The 30 min slot with pro-mo's and bull did leave the video with only 22 minutes of the race. (well they appear to like cycling to bung all their adverts on, which I think they do less with other sports)
Lucky Lucky Eurosport (and us) as Duffers said we hadn't missed much until then.

Blazing H, you mean Digital ES international I presume and the adverts are German perhaps. ??

sherer

it's been like this for ages and as stated the tennis gets more viewers. Maybe on the continent things are different as they are more into cycling there.

How many channels do Eurosport International have ? Just one or two like we have in the UK ?

We get far more coverage than we used to so anything is a bonus, I can't remember seeing the Giro even in 87 when Roche won it until we get Eurosport via cable

blazing_saddles

Richrd2205 wrote:

Blazing, I keep posting at the end of threads you've posted this in, but you seem not to notice....
The on-line Eurosport has all of the Giro, 4-5 hours a day (& all of the tennis too, in case any one's worried). They show what's paid for...

The Brit version of the online player has uninterrupted coverage of the Giro for 5 hours a day, it's not really that awful, is it?

No, I've noticed and you should keep plugging the player.
However, I'm not sure those paying for Sky, Virgin etc want to folk out more money on another Eurosport for a couple of Sundays. Besides which, Sunday afternoon is the heaviest net usage slot and unless you have a high guaranteed broadband speed, it will stick.

deejay wrote:

Blazing H, you mean Digital ES international I presume and the adverts are German perhaps. ??

There's the digital version, but the old German analogue on 19E should also be showing the race.

DaveyL

The online player is great, about 3 quid a month and very good quality. I don't really watch the TV so do most of my viewing online and have no problems with it - even on a Sunday.

You should try it, Blaze. Either it works and you get to watch the cycling, or it doesn't work and you get to have a whinge about it. Win-win.

Gazzaputt

On Eurosport HD there is 1hr 45min coverage:

http://uk-tv-guide.com/programme-details/Eurosport+HD/23+May+2010/13%3A45/Cycling/Sport/

Does look that Eurosport HD is the answer.

blazing_saddles

Gazzaputt wrote:

On Eurosport HD there is 1hr 45min coverage:

http://uk-tv-guide.com/programme-details/Eurosport+HD/23+May+2010/13%3A45/Cycling/Sport/

Does look that Eurosport HD is the answer.

Yes. It is. Terminillo stage, this Sunday has over 3 hours on Eurosport HD, too.

For those without HD, I suspect some will follow Davy's suggestion, come the days.

calvjones

ES HD has turned up in South Wales, just in time


Hold on.... I'm in Belgium doing the Liege sportive. Poo.

dave milne

I want to get the player for a month to ensure I get decent weekend coverage. However looking at the website it seems to suggest the tv on demand and the live feed has no commentary - is this correct?

Rodrego Hernandez

Harmon will miss the mountains talking about his favourite riders shoes or his tandem record so I wouldn't be to concerned.

Richrd2205

dave milne wrote:

I want to get the player for a month to ensure I get decent weekend coverage. However looking at the website it seems to suggest the tv on demand and the live feed has no commentary - is this correct?

It appears that the "bonus" coverage (which is the extended bit) is either partially or totally commentary-free. The regular coverage (ES 1 & 2) has Harmon et al commentating as normal. I haven't been around to try much of the additional coverage, but there was no commentary when I did try for 5 mins on Sun after ES1 had shut down & got about 5 mins of endless repeats of the finish. So you'll get at least some commentary.
As has been noted a thousand times, the commentary isn't to everyone's taste anyway!