watch Tour de France 2012?

[lost_river]

What are the online options for watching the Tour live this year? I bought a $20 subscription for the Giro through Universal and it was great. Otherwise I watch Eurosport etc. Does MSNBC offer an online subscription?

 

[Kwibus]

What are the online options for watching the Tour live this year? I bought a $20 subscription for the Giro through Universal and it was great. Otherwise I watch Eurosport etc. Does MSNBC offer an online subscription?

I can't really help you with quality feeds, but there are plenty of free medium quality streams during the TdF.
Allthough if I were you I'd pay for a quality stream as well, but luckily I can choose between 3 different channels to watch it.

 

[DirtyWorks]

If you are in the U.S. I'm pretty sure you are stuck with a single distributor of ASO's feed. I think it is NBC Sports/Versus.

If there is some kind of online option exclusive of your cable/sat provider, a couple of people were burned with the Spring package ultimately false promise of "always on demand."

Like others, I would gladly pay for another feed that I could store in my own format, because the American narration is aimed at non-enthusiasts. But the broadcast industry is still trying to monetize customers like it's 1990 and distributes infected media and pretends consumers like it.

 

[orangerider]

Well, I hope NBC offers it online for purchase and is as good as when it was on Versus. Particularly last year the quality of the stream was 720p high bitrate, just incredible, plus full stage replay which is the main thing I want to have as I can't watch anything live. Those youtube clips and what not don't do any justice, especially when 75% spoil the ending with a thumbnail frame shot of the winner throwing his arms in the air.

 

[kcmark]

I'm pretty sure NBC had purchased Versus before the Tour kicked off last summer - the "All Access" online package was still through the Versus tour tracker but it was NBC owned by that time.

Thisis the link where, I think, the NBC Sports option for subscribing to watch the tour online is going to appear, but nothing has shown up yet - http://tourdefrance.nbcsports.com/

We don't get cable so I'll be ****ed if NBC doesn't offer online what Versus has offered for a few years now now that they hold the US distribution rights. I'm like Orangerider - I want the full replay since I can't watch it all live due to work.

 

[kcmark]

I sent an email inquiry to nbcsportshelp@nbcuni.com to ask about the subscription status. Will let you know what response I get.

 

[lost_river]

Thanks to all. I will post as well if/when I find something out.

 

[kcmark]

No email reply yet from NBC and the tour tracker page still says "Coming Soon for 2012" but I did find this NBC Advertising Page via the magical powers of Google.

With regard to online streaming for 2012 it says, "We'll augment our on-air coverage with live, extended streaming of digital platforms, including the Fantasy Cycling Challenge powered by Mapmyfitness.com."

Googling "Fantasy Cycling Challenge" only gets you to the 2011 version, nothing for 2012 yet.

NBC is really dropping the ball on this. If they fail to come through - anyone know what other online subscription options there are for US ip addresses? I need on-demand features, more than live streaming, given that I can't watch it live due to work.

 

[lost_river]

Is NBC/MSNBC (or any US TV station) going to be providing live broadcasting of all the stages of the Tour? Or are they only going to show on weekends? Thanks.

 

[kcmark]

lost_river - pretty sure that the NBCSports channel (formerly Versus) is going to be showing the same coverage that Versus did each day during the tour - live stage broadcast with shortened rebroadcasts later in the evening. However, you typically have to subscribe to a mid-to-upper tier cable package in order to get it in your list of channels.

 

[airstream]

Are you all from US, guys? Are there real obstacles in watching the Tour?

 

[kcmark]

airstream - yes, I am in the U.S. -- When Versus held the distribution rights to the TdF they always had excellent television coverage - broadcasting most stages live in their entirety and the last 4 hours of those stages that went longer than 4 hours. They also had shorter "summary" broadcasts in the evening. Versus has also offered the TdF via online streaming (both live and full stage replays on demand) for at least the past 2 years.

Part of the problem now is that NBC bought Versus and converted it to the NBCSports channel, which is only available on mid-to-upper tier cable subscriptions (basic cable will not get you this channel). For those of us that cannot afford cable our only option has been to pay the subscription for online streaming for $30 for the entire tour. I know it's more than other rights distributors (ie Eurosport) charge elsewhere in the world, but most of us are glad to have the option.

However, for this year's TdF NBC has not yet posted anything on its website indicating that fans will be able to subscribe to watch it online as we could in past years with Versus. Seems like it should be available for sign-up with less than 3 weeks to the start of the tour.

 

[orangerider]

Are you all from US, guys? Are there real obstacles in watching the Tour?

Yep. Many households are dropping cable tv because it's gotten to be so expensive with lesser quality, junky channels that you're forced to pay for even though you're only interested in a small handful of them. NBCsports is a prime example of this.

 

[kcmark]

NBC also owns Universal Sports, which is where you could subscribe to watch the Giro in the US (for $20) - I'm keeping an eye on their website as well as the NBC Sports website to see when one of them updates their site with information regarding the online subscription option.

 

[richwagmn]

If you're blocked from viewing euro feeds, you could always buy a VPN connection in Europe for the month of the July. They're pretty cheap ($5/mo) or so.

I just can't stand Phil, Paul and Roll. I really enjoyed the NBC/Universal sports coverage of the Giro and would far rather listen to those folks.

 

[Sciatic]

I just can't stand Phil, Paul and Roll. I really enjoyed the NBC/Universal sports coverage of the Giro and would far rather listen to those folks.[/QUOTE]

I can understand that folks may want a better picture than is available on live free feeds, by why listen to Phil and Paul (and Todd and his sidekick also ultra-simplify and are redundant), when you can use the audio from the Internet feeds like sporza or rai? Who cares if you don't understand the language-- you'll still recognize the riders names and the European broadcasters will usually identify riders much more quickly and accurately than the American broadcasters.

 

[richtea]

Yep. Many households are dropping cable tv because it's gotten to be so expensive with lesser quality, junky channels that you're forced to pay for even though you're only interested in a small handful of them. NBCsports is a prime example of this.

How much does cable cost?

 

[kcmark]

If you're blocked from viewing euro feeds, you could always buy a VPN connection in Europe for the month of the July. They're pretty cheap ($5/mo) or so.

I just can't stand Phil, Paul and Roll. I really enjoyed the NBC/Universal sports coverage of the Giro and would far rather listen to those folks.

Thanks for the head's up. I'll have to look into the VPN connection option if NBC fails to offer the previous online subscription. Any suggested providers?

I'm just the opposite when it comes to Paul and Phil (though I'm not a fan of Bob Roll or Craig Hummer) I've listened to Paul and Phil cover the Tour since Lance's 3rd win and since then they've become the soothing sound of July in our home. Although, I lived in the UK for a bit so I have some affinity for the accent and the figures of speech.

 

[college]

What are the online options for watching the Tour live this year? I bought a $20 subscription for the Giro through Universal and it was great. Otherwise I watch Eurosport etc. Does MSNBC offer an online subscription?

My buddy has everything set up just right in his work shop basement. He has the Universal subscription set up at his cycling shop. We are going to have some serious viewing parties in there.

 

[Afrank]

airstream - yes, I am in the U.S. -- When Versus held the distribution rights to the TdF they always had excellent television coverage - broadcasting most stages live in their entirety and the last 4 hours of those stages that went longer than 4 hours. They also had shorter "summary" broadcasts in the evening. Versus has also offered the TdF via online streaming (both live and full stage replays on demand) for at least the past 2 years.

Part of the problem now is that NBC bought Versus and converted it to the NBCSports channel, which is only available on mid-to-upper tier cable subscriptions (basic cable will not get you this channel). For those of us that cannot afford cable our only option has been to pay the subscription for online streaming for $30 for the entire tour. I know it's more than other rights distributors (ie Eurosport) charge elsewhere in the world, but most of us are glad to have the option.

However, for this year's TdF NBC has not yet posted anything on its website indicating that fans will be able to subscribe to watch it online as we could in past years with Versus. Seems like it should be available for sign-up with less than 3 weeks to the start of the tour.

Plus NBC sports has been bumbing cycling so they can show recaps of hockey games all year. Hopefully this won't happen during the tour. But in my opinion we need Versus back, really hate NBC.

 

[college]

I just can't stand Phil, Paul and Roll. I really enjoyed the NBC/Universal sports coverage of the Giro and would far rather listen to those folks.
I can understand that folks may want a better picture than is available on live free feeds, by why listen to Phil and Paul (and Todd and his sidekick also ultra-simplify and are redundant), when you can use the audio from the Internet feeds like sporza or rai? Who cares if you don't understand the language-- you'll still recognize the riders names and the European broadcasters will usually identify riders much more quickly and accurately than the American broadcasters.

Phil, Paul and Bob Roll are the best in the buisness for cycling coverage.