NBC SPORTS :( Coverage is Terrible

[RiccoDinko]

This is the 2nd year in a row, no Flanders.

To add fuel to the fire, no same day coverage of Paris Roubaix, replay on Monday.

 

[Afrank]

I think we can fairly state that overall coverage in the US is terrible. That's why I mostly just stick with livestreams.

NBC is definitely the worst of them all though. Gotten frustrated with them more then a few times in the past. I have my DVR set to record any cycling that may pop up, and I've now learned that if I rely on them completely I'll see just a few races a year.

 

[Roude Leiw]

Considering the ease of VPN solutions, why do most of you guys not stream via VPN over official websides (Sporza, RTBF, RAI, RTL,....) instead using these dodgy streams on lemon.tv et al?

 

[Volderke]

I think the best way to deal with this, for EVERY cycling fan, is to get a Belgian VPN. This way, you can watch all live Sporza.be streams, and I bet they broadcast more cycling than you can handle to see.

This is how it works:
http://www.ipaddressguide.org/how-to-get-a-belgian-ip-address/

It seems like it will cost you some money (I thought 40 dollar/year), but what is 40 dollar compared to the price of your bike, shoes, different wheel sets, Lightweights or tubulars? ;-)

I have a vpn through work, so every time I am for work abroad in the weekends, I use the server in Belgium to watch the race when there is no channel on the television broadcasting.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

There normally are lots of Belgian streams available without geo restrictions, that are of the same quality as the official sporza stream... I'm not sure they broadcast more cycling than Europorsport. This is only true for Belgian races, but not if you're interested in 2nd tier stage races.

 

[BigMac]

Is the only problem not broadcasting races on the day they take place/not broadcasting at all?

I don't watch NBC Sports for a long time, but I enjoyed their coverage of the 2012 Tour de Suisse quite a lot.

Truly a shame they don't have more races on their calendar. One would expect the cycling culture in the US to have grown even more in the recent years, but it seems not to be the case? It's bizarre that you have to stick to online streams in order to get a proper coverage of races.

Considering the ease of VPN solutions, why do most of you guys not stream via VPN over official websides (Sporza, RTBF, RAI, RTL,....) instead using these dodgy streams on lemon.tv et al?

Most of the times using a VPN means a loss in internet bandwidth. What is the point of watching a channel (Sporza for instance) which I cannot understand anyway. I'd rather mute Eurosport (precisely what I do).

---

Edit: Went searching for the NBC commentator who was doing TdS in 2012 (and likely most other races) and found out it was Phil Liggett. I noticed the talk on his commentating skills but did not know who he was. Well I must say I really like him.

 

[dcrozier]

Getting Eurosport

Big Mac, How do you access Eurosport the feed. People on this thread talk about internet feeds but I have no idea how to find a one. Everything link I click on at Steephill is a dead spam/virus type of link....

How can I access the official Eurosport feed in the U.S.?

Thanks.

Darren

 

[Roude Leiw]

Big Mac, How do you access Eurosport the feed. People on this thread talk about internet feeds but I have no idea how to find a one. Everything link I click on at Steephill is a dead spam/virus type of link....

How can I access the official Eurosport feed in the U.S.?

Thanks.

Darren

That's what I am saying, spammed into oblivion on these links. Ended up paying for the Eurosport player & VPN to get belgian streams (I speak french though)

I am on a Mac, so ES player is available in the app store over here. You download whatever version is relevant. Interesting thing, if you change countries through VPN (as a basis I got French & German ES), e.g. for UK, the player shows me the UK schedule of ES.

Basic URL is http://www.eurosportplayer.xxx (xxx puts you through to the region which is most appropriate), so a VPN is probably needed

 

[BigMac]

Big Mac, How do you access Eurosport the feed. People on this thread talk about internet feeds but I have no idea how to find a one. Everything link I click on at Steephill is a dead spam/virus type of link....

How can I access the official Eurosport feed in the U.S.?

Thanks.

Darren

Hi Darren,

If you want to watch Eurosport online from the official feed (If there's one (I only know ESplayer)) you'll have to pay for it. However, most people watch free illegal ones on sites such as sportslemon (which provides a list with the best feeds from actual streaming sites). I can assure you you won't find any viruses or other malware. To get rid of the annoying adverts just install adblock.

You'll notice that during races, users post a working link on the respective thread every once in while.

 

[zlev11]

This is the 2nd year in a row, no Flanders.

To add fuel to the fire, no same day coverage of Paris Roubaix, replay on Monday.

blame BeIN Sports. they have the rights to show Tour of Flanders but choose not to show it. they also had the rights to Milan-San Remo and showed a terrible chopped up 30 minute highlight package of it on the Monday after the race. i guess they can't cut into their 15 hour-per-day La Liga coverage. they bought up a ton of rights to cycling races and then do a terrible job covering them, or don't cover them at all. it's a disgrace.

 

[argyllflyer]

blame BeIN Sports. they have the rights to show Tour of Flanders but choose not to show it. they also had the rights to Milan-San Remo and showed a terrible chopped up 30 minute highlight package of it on the Monday after the race. i guess they can't cut into their 15 hour-per-day La Liga coverage. they bought up a ton of rights to cycling races and then do a terrible job covering them, or don't cover them at all. it's a disgrace.

The same thing has happened with Sky Sports in the UK. They hold all the rights to the Flanders Classics (apart from ToF itself which Eurosport also have) and the two Swiss races. Yet for most of these it's brief highlights - for Tour de Suisse the highlights came the week after the race!

 

[Carols]

blame BeIN Sports. they have the rights to show Tour of Flanders but choose not to show it. they also had the rights to Milan-San Remo and showed a terrible chopped up 30 minute highlight package of it on the Monday after the race. i guess they can't cut into their 15 hour-per-day La Liga coverage. they bought up a ton of rights to cycling races and then do a terrible job covering them, or don't cover them at all. it's a disgrace.

EXACTLY!!!! beIN bought up many races that were on NBC and Universal and then do not show them Last year they did a better job, but No RvV This year they have really cut back and races that had full coverage last year: MSR, Strade Bianchi, Roma Maxima, T-A became 1/2 hour highlight shows this year. I'm praying they don't do that with the Giro which had full live coverage last year.

I'm not afraid to pay $110 per month to get all the stations that carry cycling here in the states. But Universal is the only one that is giving decent coverage so far this year. Yeah Universal!!!! Geez they have de Panne live this week, and Pais Vasco live next week. No HD but you can't have everything!

Streams are so confining.....I like that the dvr can capture it from a tv broadcast and I can live my life, sans internet so I don't know the result, and watch it on my big screen with great pictures and sound when I please. Plus keep great races on the dvr and watch them at will. Alas it is becoming more and more difficult

beIN s*cks, NBC s*cks......but the tv coverage in the US is limited. BTW I cannot purchase ES player, it won't let me. Could I buy a UK ip address? Do they let you do replays on demand? That could make it worth it

 

[Afrank]

EXACTLY!!!! beIN bought up many races that were on NBC and Universal and then do not show them Last year they did a better job, but No RvV This year they have really cut back and races that had full coverage last year: MSR, Strade Bianchi, Roma Maxima, T-A became 1/2 hour highlight shows this year. I'm praying they don't do that with the Giro which had full live coverage last year.

I'm not afraid to pay $110 per month to get all the stations that carry cycling here in the states. But Universal is the only one that is giving decent coverage so far this year. Yeah Universal!!!! Geez they have de Panne live this week, and Pais Vasco live next week. No HD but you can't have everything!

Pretty much agree, Universal is really the only station that cares enough about cycling to show us some quality coverage of the races. For NBC and Bein cycling is an afterthought at best. If only Universal would go and buy all the rights to all the races. Then we would get some good coverage I'm betting.

 

[VeloHuman]

Pretty much agree, Universal is really the only station that cares enough about cycling to show us some quality coverage of the races. For NBC and Bein cycling is an afterthought at best. If only Universal would go and buy all the rights to all the races. Then we would get some good coverage I'm betting.

beIN is far worse than NBC Sports, IMHO. For one, NBC Sports and Universal are the same company; NBC Sports is the regular cable channel though, so they're only going to show bigger races that they know people will watch live, because they're going to have higher value programming to contest with... but the races they don't show, they give to Universal, and Universal shows them instead. They have a web player, too.

beIN, meanwhile, buys up a ton of rights and then does diddly with them. There is no second channel that they move programming to like NBC Sports and Universal. They also have a horrible website that does not make it clear what races they are showing.

 

[dcrozier]

Thanks!

Thanks Big Mac...I appreaciate the info.

Darren

 

[Rossco8]

I am always looking for the best way to watch cycling so I appreciate the information. A while back someone mentioned DishWorld and I pay to get online access (including on my phone) for whatever cycling is available on beIn and Universal. I think I pay $10 a month and can cancel at anytime. Plus I can go back and watch from the beginning so it's kind of like a DVR that way.

That said, both those channels leave a lot to be desired and if I am home I watch a live feed on my computer that Cyclingfans.com has posted a link to.

I have also made my 10 year old daughter read the cyclingnews tracker to me while driving so I don't miss the action. (Bad Mom!)

 

[More Strides than Rides]

One would expect the cycling culture in the US to have grown even more in the recent years, but it seems not to be the case? It's bizarre that you have to stick to online streams in order to get a proper coverage of races.

There may be a cycling culture, but its not a spectator culture. More transportation and environmental motivated cyclists than those interested in the sporting side.

 

[CycloAndy]

Considering the ease of VPN solutions, why do most of you guys not stream via VPN over official websides (Sporza, RTBF, RAI, RTL,....) instead using these dodgy streams on lemon.tv et al?

Media hint (a free extension available on google chrome) should allow you to avoid geo-restrictions and watch Sporza and Rai streams.

http://www.mediahint.com

 

[BigMac]

There may be a cycling culture, but its not a spectator culture. More transportation and environmental motivated cyclists than those interested in the sporting side.

I see, makes sence. Thanks for the insight.

 

[VeloHuman]

There may be a cycling culture, but its not a spectator culture. More transportation and environmental motivated cyclists than those interested in the sporting side.

Vicious cycle: no good cycling coverage on TV other than the Tour, so people can't really get interested; not many interested people so there isn't much coverage on TV. Lance didn't help.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Media hint (a free extension available on google chrome) should allow you to avoid geo-restrictions and watch Sporza and Rai streams.

http://www.mediahint.com

just looking at site..
is it safe? looks good

 

[zlev11]

maybe beIN sports saw this thread, because they've added Flanders coverage to their schedule, which wasn't on there yesterday.

12:55-2:30 this Sunday. not bad.

 

[Carols]

maybe beIN sports saw this thread, because they've added Flanders coverage to their schedule, which wasn't on there yesterday.

12:55-2:30 this Sunday. not bad.

Totally cool; it is there So happy!!!!

 

[Rossco8]

maybe beIN sports saw this thread, because they've added Flanders coverage to their schedule, which wasn't on there yesterday.

12:55-2:30 this Sunday. not bad.

Even earlier in my time zone 10:55-12:30!
Thanks for posting!

 

[dcrozier]

BeIn

Yeah, I see BeIn now has it on the schedule...That's a nice win. Searching the on-screen TV guide under "cycling" didn't bring it up because they have the show titled "Tour of Flanders."

I'm psyched....