slcbob

Looking at the upcoming races in GCN+ from my UK IP they are showing daily airings but only from 8am to 9am (Eastern). I hope that's just a flawed placeholder. It's a strange window if all they were going to do was a highlights show.

Anyone know what is going on?

I checked around for more info, found a decent "how to watch" round up here. GCN should be mission capable in the UK but no comment re highlights or not: https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/how...and-streaming/

I have Peacock and may have to take a glance there if GCN doesn't sort itself out. Not Freecock but not the extra premium Paycock either. The one in between. I sure hope I don't have to resort to it, and to watching commercials. Particularly for Ultra beer.

GrainBrain

Has to be a glitch, I'll check sometime. Just threw in a rag tag team for Velogames, but this is gonna be a good Vuelta!

HeyItsSara

How is your Spanish? Sometimes I see it on cable

slcbob

Yes, someone de-glitched it and they are now showing proper times plus the option of Orla and the boys on the barstools (formerly the sofa).

Almost as incomprehensible as Sean Kelly's English is to some around here. Algo habia una vez...

HeyItsSara

I did a search and found it on Channel 24 in New York City. Not all the stages, though; I got the first 2 stages then nothing until the weekend - Stage 8. I'm not sure what else is being broadcasted as I can only view a week of current shows at a time.
I think 24 is CBS but I could be wrong.

USAZorro

CNBC on weekends. Peacock carries them all.

diphthong

just doing tú tube/usted tube highlights. not ideal but better than nada.

Shadco 

GCN+ + vpn.

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gpsblake

Peacock coverage pretty bad because they are not putting any production into it at all, just having Bob and Vande off the generic world feed. I wish we had the alternate coverage of the world feed announcers and graphics.

DLBroox

I keep trying to watch it but get completely bored with it. It’s like listening to two guys sitting in my living room blather on inanely.

Goes to show you how the production matters to watching sports.

Chicago Al 

I know I'm like a broken record here (does anyone these days even know what that means?), but GCN+ and a VPN opens up a whole new world of cycling coverage, not just races (MANY races) but documentaries, etc. For the major races they have several commentators who are former pros, including some who retired recently enough to still have pals in the peloton.

As far as the video feed itself though, they all get the same, and la Vuelta's video feed can't compare to what's done at La Tour or the Giro, or some of the other major races. The motorbike cameras are shaky, sometimes not in the right place, the helicopter footage is often random, like they'll just stay parked on a shot of some monument but not integrate that into a moving shot of the race, and the live-edit is very sloppy, sometimes staying on a shot after the racers have blown through or even cutting to black. They even had a test pattern come up the other day! I suspect the budget for the video on this race is a fraction of that for the other two grand tours, meaning the staff is smaller, there aren't as many cameras or they can't afford the very best operators, there's no time to rehearse helicopter shots, etc. All that stuff--like a full day of helicopter camera for rehearsal--would be very expensive and ASO evidently doesn't think it's worth it. I am pretty sure they're not hiring the same production company that shoots La Tour, and if so, that company is not sending their A team and gear. The helicopters used on La Vuelta clearly don't have the same stabilized camera rigs as those used on other races.

GrainBrain

GCN really has it dialed in with the pro announcers mixed with ex riders. Bobke and Vanderbilt really, really need a smooth talker with them. I haven't checked peacock, but peacock used to offer the intentional broadcast (usually by Anthony McCrossan) if you paid like $10 instead of $5 a month. McCrossan(sp?) very good, he'll partner up with a Nico roche or last year it was an ex woman pro.

Carlton's great, I really like Rob Hatch but he's not here on the Vuelta, I wonder if he's off for the rest of the year?

Chicago Al 

One of the guys mentioned talking to Rob, who apparently lives in Spain, so he's certainly not on the outs, maybe just covering another race? Not the Tour of Britain, though, which we've also been trying to keep up with. I haven't caught who the lead commentator there is, but his partner is Brian Smith--yet another former pro. (SPOILER ALERT: if you've been wondering whether Jumbo has a longterm plan to bring up younger riders, question answered.)

If anything we're finding the pre-and post-race GCN 'Breakaway' TOO much, maybe because we've been watching for a while and a lot of what they are saying we already know or can surmise. We liked the show just fine when they were in the tiny studio which looked like it was in a basement (I think it actually was), and the elaborate CG set and longer talk time is kind of over-the-top. Especially the virtual 'team bus.'

Shadco 

I disagree a bit about Carlton, he isn’t the linguistic gymnast that Hatch or Ant is but he is still a dofuss.

Robbie and Sean make up for that though.

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Het Volk

I guess I remember the dark, dark days 15 years ago....and so still appreciate the fact I can watch full replays in the evening of every Vuelta stage. Production is near 0 because quite frankly, few people, if any, are watching the Vuelta in the States. And given the fact that it is now only available on Peacock, you ain't going to get any casuals flipping the channel and finding it on NBC Sportsnet.

I am too lazy to go to the trouble of setting up a VPN on my router, so I can utilize VPN with my Apple TV, and I am done with the days of watching on a laptop or mobile device. However, watch most races on GCN+, and they do the same "commenting" from a remote studio because cost constraints are critical in order to cover a niche spectator sport. And I would not be shocked if we eventually see this same level of coverage for the Tour de France in the future from Peaock. Budgets are shrinking, as the streaming project is not making money, and as we are seeing with the ESPN/Comcast dispute, the traditional cable companies are done with paying a premium for live sports, as people are cutting the cords regardless.