Paris-Tours on NBC Sports Gold--wtf??
 

So I watched, or tried to, Paris-Tours as recorded 'in the cloud' off the NBC Sports Gold app a few weeks back. (Have to admit I have not subscribed yet, but our daughter did, so we used her account.)

It was unwatchable. Coverage started abruptly in the middle of the race, no prologue or intro, and the sound mix, almost the entire way through, was completely wrong, with the sound of motos and helos drowning out the commentators. You literally could not hear what they were saying. It seemed like the kind of thing that might happen momentarily in a live broadcast when someone makes a mistake, only instead of it being corrected quickly, it just went on and on.

Did anyone else watch this race on NBCS Gold? If this is what you get for your subscription, I'll pass.

I watched from the regular NBC broadcast (dvr'd it actually). I don't recall anything too annoying with it except the coverage is short - I believe maybe 30K.
NBC's cycling coverage is fairly lacking with the exception of the TdF , ToC, and some of the classics. They don't even show the Tour de Suisse anymore.

Late reply, but yeah, I saw that too. NBC Gold is a godsend, but it definitely has its flaws, and sound engineering is its biggest. 2018 is my second year of subscribing, and I'll be back in 2019, but there have been both men's stages and especially women's events that the sound is just FUBAR. Why? Isn't anyone paying attention. Just turn the sound of the helicopter/motorcycle down and the announcers up. Seems like a very basic thing to get right. I get the whole it's "their feed" which NBC lays over their announcers sound, but still.

I may have to subscribe . . . . $40 isn't bad for a year of pro cycling.

Glad to hear I was not the only one who observed this!

I would have watched it on regular NBC Sports, but had missed recording it and watching live. But that's what the 'Gold' option was for, right? You'd get anytime access to all the cycling stuff that was on NBCSn + a lot more. In this case though they may have carried more of the race in km it was not really useful.

Oh well better luck next (or now, this) year, right?

Yea...for whatever reason American broadcast companies have productions issues with commentary/background noise being overblown. NBC Gold it happens all the time, all the Tour Tracker races over the years had them too. Part of why I kept my Eurosport subscript and let my Gold drop after a year--just wish Eurosport had as much CX as Gold did.

Same experience, out of desperation last summer had to subscribe to Gold for the TdF, it was fine, could get the normal Phil and Paul et al, a lifesaver under the circumstances. Later attempted to watch the Vuelta. It was bad, just as you say. Almost had me looking for Hinault or Merckx, could have been straight from the 1970s..

My wife and I watched the Tour de France on NBC and didn't have any trouble hearing the commentators--even the guy riding on the back of the motorcycle. Maybe we had a different connection? Not sure, but it made me realize how ignorant I've been about professional cyclists. Wow, those guys are from a different planet!