Chicago Al 

We've noticed a weird thing with watching cycling on MAX since we started in the spring, in that, after scrolling through a lot of stuff, races will often show up in the 'Upcoming' display, even after they are completed. That fooled me at first, I'd think it wasn't available yet, but in fact the races turned out to be viewable.

With the Giro, it's different. We were able to watch the first two stages on the weekend, no problem, though Stage 2 was still in the 'Upcoming' list, hours after it was completed.

Yesterday though we tried to watch Stage 3, again hours after the race was over, and got the display CONTENT NOT AVAILABLE with the options TRY AGAIN or CANCEL. Trying again did nothing, of course. Today it's STILL not available, and it's now 24 hrs since that stage completed.

So now we're a day behind on the race, even if it becomes available right away.

Is anyone else experiencing this? I can't imagine it's not system-wide.

I'm about to make a deal with a Brit friend to get a Discovery+ UK subscription. I'd thought there was no hurry since we have MAX for the Giro, but that was obviously wrong.

Why do US vendors even bother with cycling? They obviously don't care about delivering it.

USAZorro

I don't understand why the Giro organizers don't get themselves packaged with the outlets showing the Tour and the Vuelta. No doubt someone gets more money today doing it how they are, but they're not helping to grow the sport in the US.

diphthong

there was that one cable network that did a pretty decent job (back in the he who shall not be named daze) covering the gt's with phil, paul, bobkie, etc.
tdf coverage was solid with both the giro and vuelta being spottier but waay less work than is required now tracking stuff down. classics and bigger stage
races like romandie and tirreno were hit and miss. gcn (until their recent folding) did a commendable job during their lifespan. but yah, it's generally been
a goat show the last 25 years or so. and that's just the men's uci world/pro road racing...much less gravel, mtb or *gasp* anything involving the ladies.
doesn't seem to be profitable enough here in the states to have a dedicated ladies and guys cycling (multiple disciplines) channel/wavelength. our best bet
appears to be watching the races in one of the romance languages-or deciphering sean kelly.

been so discouraged last few years that usually just follow the typed descriptions and flip between cyclingnews.com and procyclingstats.com during the race
and youtube highlights as available afterwards. obviously not desirable but it is what it is.

spinconn

I have that problem as well but then I just ignore the headings and go to the general sports section, scroll down, and after a few rows they have the Giro. But that only works on my pc once the race has started. I don't try to stream it on TV so I don't know if that would work.

Chicago Al 

I'm using the MAX app, on an Apple TV, and am pretty sure that we only see races in one place. As of this morrning (5/8) Stages 3 & 4 show up as 'Watch Now' and are there, and Stage 5 is apparently available to watch live. So whatever the problem was has been fixed. But it sure doesn't inspire confidence. What year was it that NBC Sports just stopped showing the Tour de France partway through?

I'm not a fan of pirating creative content (which this is, broadly) but the US platforms treat the audience for cycling with such contempt, it erases any moral qualms I might otherwise have about using vpns, torrents, etc to get around them. Actually I WAS paying for cycling content on GCN+ and would happily have paid more, though I wasn't supposed to be able to do so from the US.

Chicago Al 

Last night we were able to watch highlights (nice long highlights!) of Stages 3 & 4 and Stage 5. No problem.

Tonight: Stage 6: CONTENT NOT AVAILABLE.

But I see what's going on: this is via the MAX app on our Apple TV. When I pull up Max via a browser on my laptop, the race is there. I can cast it to the Apple TV, so we can watch it, but the picture is definitely not full resolution and sometimes gets very compressed. So MAX has the content, and are making it available, they're just slow to get it to the iOS app, for some reason, maybe just sloppiness. If I can find a way to complain to MAX, I'll do so. Doubtless they'll listen to me respectfully and get right on solving the problem.

slcbob

Because they are competitors.

RCS vs ASO
Coke vs Pepsi
Fox vs CNN

USAZorro

Well maybe they could do better in finding a capable partner who will make distribution far less painful for fans.

Chicago Al 

Last night (Friday) same thing on the iOS MAX app. TWO days (Thursday and Friday) showing as 'Upcoming' then 'CONTENT NOT AVAILABLE.'

So I managed to get ahold of a customer service person via chat on the MAX site, after jumping through some hoops, of course. I hadn't actually checked the app this morning, and once I'd thoroughly explained the problem, he said that Stage 8 of the Giro was live now, and that I should check. Sure enough, it showed as LIVE but when I tried to watch it, there was audio but no picture. This sometimes happens with different apps on the Apple TV, and the usual fix is to delete the app and reinstall it. So I tried that but got the same result, in fact when I tried looking at other content on the MAX app, same thing: audio but no picture. That also sometimes happens with other apps, the first fix won't work.

The Apple TV's software is up to date, so the next step was to power-cycle it, restart it, then re-install the MAX app.
Huzzah, that worked, and there's Stage 8 going, live, and all the past stages available to watch, either the full race or Eurosport's very nicely edited 45-min-ish highlights.

So I think I had two problems: the one this AM with the app not working properly (audio but no picture), and the original content issue with previous stages not being available, which I am pretty sure was on the HBO side. After all, could the app spontaneously generate the 'content not available' warning?

Ganesh the rep said he'd report the issue, and maybe it won't recur.

I'm still hoping my Brit friend will do a Discovery+ subscription for me. I sent the wire transfer and all my banking info to his cousin who was imprisoned in Nigeria last week, so I can't imagine what is taking so long.

Chicago Al 

And more aggro last night...though Stage 8 was available live mid-day, when we went to watch it last night, it was not there, not 'content not available,' just not there at all. I deleted the app off the Apple TV, re-installed it, and there it was. So somehow the app is not taking the updates, and I'm nowhere near tech savvy enough to understand where the problem is. I also suspect I'm going to have to do this frequently, possibly every day.

These things have come to be like any other appliance we use daily, but can you imagine if every time you wanted to use your toaster you had to unplug it, maybe fiddle with the wires a bit, wait a bit, then plug it back in and hope it worked?

Anyway...we got a late start, so watched till 20-something K and went to bed, will pick up the finale today. I regret to say it but when the winner is such a foregone conclusion it makes the race less interesting to watch. Sure there are all the other races within the race, like it's great to see EF always throwing the dice and getting into a break, but Pogacar is so dominant there's no suspense, and the commentators are clearly struggling to get excited.

Breadfan

I saved all of the stages to "My List". On day 2 I went to play stage 2 and it was missing from my list, all the others I had saved were still there. This happens every day now, that days stage is removed form my list when the stage is completed. To get around it, I have to search "Giro" and then the stage I'm looking for pops up and I can watch it. Makes no sense. Max is a terrible app and the Eurosport coverage is not very good. I laugh so hard when the reporter (for Eurosport) shucks and jives, trying to get to that days stage winner so he can get a interview, only to get nothing. It's so amateurish. Like a groupie trying to get a selfie.

Chicago Al 

This confirms that the issue isn't confined somehow to our AppleTV but is a system problem. What device are you using?

I agree about the awkward post-race interview attempts. And that guy is not one of the Eurosport regulars, so Idk why they are going to him. Maybe it's some kind of deal for Italian media, like they have to use that guy? Hannah Walker is pretty annoying when she does stand-ups, though she's getting a bit calmer, but we like all the other commentators.

Breadfan

We are just using the smart TV built into our Sony Bravia.

Chicago Al 

So it's evidently system-wide, affecting all cycling fans who want to watch races on MAX. Why, there must be DOZENS of us experiencing this problem!

Shadco 

Works fine both on an older Samsung Smart tv and a newer Sony just using the apps on the tvs. But I have had a fair amount of practice during the spring season.

.

HeyItsSara

that is weird

mabe we should start a different thread about all the ways the US doesn't encourage professional cycling

slcbob

Painfully true tongue in cheek observation. OMG, the sky is falling!

With the demise of the MD Cycling Classic, at least for 2024, I think there are only three road races this year with any semblance of a caravan: the Tour of the Gila, the USAC Pro Championships, and the UCI race in NYC. The last two were both last weekend.

Chicago Al 

The problem has recurred, intermittently, and I understand it a bit better. Yesterday was Stage 16, but when I turned on the Apple TV and Max app, it was not there. Every other stage was, including Stage 15, still labeled as 'upcoming' though it was more than 24 hrs old and we had watched it already. I figured I'd try just power-cycling the AppleTV itself, unplugging it and replugging after 30 secs, in case that had something to do with the problem. Son-of-a-gun if that didn't work!

So: there's something wrong with the way that the AppleTV streaming device, or more likely the Max app within it, gets updated on content. Looking online I haven't seen anyone else with this exact issue, but there are lots of similar problems, people complaining that their Apple TV, Roku, etc, doesn't show the latest episode of (whatever show), until they do some kind of reboot.

My surmise is that the app can't update a *finished* program (as opposed to a live one), until it's restarted, and the AppleTV somehow doesn't close out the connection when it's shut down. This explanation comes with all the weight of my technical knowledge, which is essentially zero. You're welcome.

Idk about bike racing in the US, but maybe, maybe, Red Bull's sponsorship of Bora, and their marketing muscle, will bring more attention to the sport here, and we happen to have some accomplished and charismatic young American riders in the peloton (both men's and womens') right now.

Breadfan

When I watched yesterdays delayed start, the scheduled time ran out before the race was finished with less than 5K to go, and it just quit. I had to go to youtube to see the ending. Guh.

Chicago Al 

We’re on vacation but brought our AppleTV with us to watch the last two Giro stages. Same issue happened: the latest stage not being available under ‘replay’ or ‘upcoming.’ However my wife found a workaround. If you search (menu on L of screen) for say ‘stage 21 Giro’ there it is.

But that's it for us with MAX, because an English friend who has been part of our weekly riding group subscribed to D+ for me using my VPN account.! As he can use it to watch rugby even when he goes home, we will be sharing the account, hopefully until the future day when the US gets decent coverage of bike racing!