RIP GCN+

[YavorD]

And now, RIP Discovery+

E-mail I have just received:


So that's up from £6.99 to £30.99 per month

This is wild. I used to randomly pay the £7 only to watch some races with a better quality (assuming they were in 4k) but removing the premium plan asking us to pay £30.99 is just nuts.

 

[jono]

When GCN+ kicked the bucket, this Canadian felt like it was a major rip off to be paying $250 a year or whatever it is for Flo bikes, but with Flo carrying basically every race, this has to be one of the best deals going by now.

£30.99 is almost 60 CAD a month!

 

[scribers]

Flonadian too

 

[Rob5091]

"We are investing in cycling" ... yeah. WarnerBros next financial report is on Feb 27th so expect some PR hoopla/bs.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ge...get-a-lot-more-expensive-to-watch/ar-AA1xYg9z

From 28 February 2025, Eurosport will disappear in the UK and Ireland, and cycling will move to TNT Sports. The decision was made by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the parent company of the two channels, in a plan to align its sports offerings in a “single destination”.

“We’re building out the best sports and entertainment profile we have in this country,” Young said. “People can choose to make their decision as to how they want to engage with us in the short term. We are investing in cycling.

 

[ingsve]

From 28 February 2025, Eurosport will disappear in the UK and Ireland, and cycling will move to TNT Sports.

I wonder what this will mean for coverage on Max in other countries. Certain races were only given with English commentary from Eurosport so if that no longer exists will those smaller races disappear perhaps. Or I guess they will just use the TNT feed for the English language versions.

 

[Rob5091]

https://thedesk.net/2025/01/eurosport-rebranding-tnt-sports-uk/

There are no plans to phase out Eurosport in other countries where the satellite channel currently broadcasts. In addition to the U.K. and Ireland, Eurosports broadcasts to more than 50 countries and television regions, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

I'm guessing that later in the year something will be announced.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Apart from the expense (I am hooked enough that I probably will pay it: have earmarked a couple of other things that I might limit spending on), what really galls me is that I will be contributing to footballers' salaries. I utterly hate the culture around that sport.

But what really worries me is that not many will stump up the extra, viewing figures for cycling will fall, WB will ask themselves why they are buying product that a tiny proportion of TNT users are watching, and so the breadth of coverage falls.

Far from investing in cycling, this looks like an excuse to sideline it.

 

[Davesta]

Apart from the expense (I am hooked enough that I probably will pay it: have earmarked a couple of other things that I might limit spending on), what really galls me is that I will be contributing to footballers' salaries. I utterly hate the culture around that sport.

But what really worries me is that not many will stump up the extra, viewing figures for cycling will fall, WB will ask themselves why they are buying product that a tiny proportion of TNT users are watching, and so the breadth of coverage falls.

Far from investing in cycling, this looks like an excuse to sideline it.

My thoughts exactly - I don’t see how this is investing in cycling…it’s killing off cycling viewership and subsidising football and other sports.

 

[Ricco']

Congratulations to Discovery, they finally achieved what they came up to do.

I have to thank them as well, since they put cycling in an extra paywall, I haven't watched a single cycling broadcast since July, apart from a couple Vuelta stages I saw in the TV while I was at home. It gave me more free time and my routine of having always cycling in the background also disappeared.

If they continue like this, races and sponsors will be thrilled.

 

[Andy262]

Fuming about this. 370% price hike for a load of crap I don’t want to watch.

 

[awavey]

I wonder what this will mean for coverage on Max in other countries. Certain races were only given with English commentary from Eurosport so if that no longer exists will those smaller races disappear perhaps. Or I guess they will just use the TNT feed for the English language versions.

I expect that to continue barring more money changing hands shenanigans, but what i mean is, ever since WB/Discovery whatever their name is this month took on Eurosport with TNT, they've effectively been the same setup and group they just for various reasons, some contractual some not, have kept the names of the channels distinct. So it was always expected post Olympics they'd rename Eurosport to be TNT something and just continue to pump out the same content.


That's the one thing the email doesn't explain whether this change is just the rename or they'll be using the breadth of existing TNT channels to move it, or even if more ends up just streamed

 

[awavey]

Fuming about this. 370% price hike for a load of crap I don’t want to watch.

I can see why WB get into so much debt as they really don't understand their consumers at least with Sky it's like boiling frogs raises a couple of quid per year and before you know it you're paying 1200 quid a year.

To go from 3.99 recently to 30.99, basically another 330quid a year to watch the same stuff, as surely we're already at the if I wanted to watch all these other tnt sports I'd be subscribed already stage, I can't see how they expect people to stomach such an increase.

 

[ingsve]

Just curious. When they stream cycling online on Eurosport in the UK, do they provide access to commentary in other languages or is it just English?

 

[wirral]

Well, that's me out at the end of February. £30.99 a month is too much. That's a shame.

 

[sam6]

Well at least the price has gone up such a ridiculous amount that I won't feel any guilt about illegally streaming it!

 

[noob]

Had the price increase last year and hence watched on TV only. But from this year I lose Eurosport 2.

Let's see for how long Eurosport 1 remains 😓

 

[Rob5091]

Well Adam Blythe fans will be glad that he does n't have to go and find a real job.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uk...hike-to-pound3099-per-month-from-february-28/

TNT Sports' cycling offering in 2025 is set to include all three men's and women's Grand Tours, the UCI World Championships, all Monuments and one-day WorldTour Classics, the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, complete cyclocross and track seasons, plus 70+ additional men's and women's road races.

The network's new weekly cycling show, named 'The Ultimate Cycling Show' and hosted by Orla Chennaoui and Adam Blythe, will be aired in 15 weekly episodes on Quest and cover 'key parts of the season, outside of the Grand Tours'.

Interesting to see how Discovery's part then full ownership of Eurosport mirrors the timescale of Team Sky's/Ineos success, then now demise. Reflecting viewer numbers in the UK I suppose.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Not sure what to say, though rather appropriately my outlook classified the email as junk.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Got the dreaded e-mail last night; £6.99 per month for Standard, to £3.99 for Basic, with no sport. But, £30.99 per month for all sports.......
Er, thanks, but no. If it was £10-12 I'd probably pay, but £30.99??? Really????? No chance - and for loads of stuff I don't want to watch.

And as a MTB fan, we've gone from free on Red Bull TV, to £6.99 per month, to £30.99 per month all in 2 years....Pinkbike will be in meltdown.......

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

is it a coincidence that it happens the day before omloop? I think not. 1 month notice. scum.

 

[Tim Cahill]

The robbing b*stards. 30 quid for the cycling. This Chinese hegemony can't come soon enough.

I would've paid a little bit more, but that's a 'don't subscribe on principle alone' level increase.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Yeah, if it was £10-12 per month, I'd have paid. £30.99 is not happening......

 

[slow_climber]

Seems crazy that with all the new technology that allows different digital platforms and the ability to offer bespoke packages that the broadcasters have gone with bundling everything together and one-size-fits-all.

 

[AmRacer]

Seems crazy that with all the new technology that allows different digital platforms and the ability to offer bespoke packages that the broadcasters have gone with bundling everything together and one-size-fits-all.

Each package would probably not be paying the costs of the rights

 

[Rob5091]

Seems crazy that with all the new technology that allows different digital platforms and the ability to offer bespoke packages that the broadcasters have gone with bundling everything together and one-size-fits-all.

Exactly but in the end it all comes down to cost and WarnerBrosDiscovery are apparently desperate to dump loss making sections and boast up the share price again (it's lost 50% of it's worth in two years).
Going from https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uk...hike-to-pound3099-per-month-from-february-28/

WBD confirmed that it will not broadcast free-to-air live coverage of the Tour de France from 2026 when the ITV television rights deal ends and WBD become the exclusive broadcaster for the Tour in Great Britain.

Pro cycling's a loss making niche in the UK & Ireland so if you want to watch, you have to pay up.
The technology is there to stream so maybe some European company will see it as an opportunity to beam across their own feed to the UK at a later point. Watching the Tour with a French commentary team would not be so bad if it were at a small price (compared to WBD's).