Disagree on that last opinion about Ric. The most difficult thing about being a presenter seems to keep talking for hours without falling into repeating lines...
Disagree on that last opinion about Ric. The most difficult thing about being a presenter seems to keep talking for hours without falling into repeating lines, stats, etc. Ric has a natural way of keeping the commentary kind of neutral but still interesting, and even some funny lines.
The chemistry with Gracia was good IMO. And both of them know about the sport, the riders and have lots of stories to tell.
CG has the most difficult job, the shadow of Warner is (literally) very large, and the hyped up style of commentary, can never be as fun as it was with Rob. More so when English is not his first language.
But hey, CG is a great character, a respected rider, and passionate about DH racing. He can improve for sure, developing his own personal style with the season.
If you ask me, these two did a very good job on their first go of this new era. Keep it up!
They may both know the sport, but they didn't bring anywhere near the same level of insight about the track, the teams or the riders that...
They may both know the sport, but they didn't bring anywhere near the same level of insight about the track, the teams or the riders that we were used to.
I hope they get better, I really enjoyed the racing, but for me the commentary was poor. And someone please tell CG the difference between being up and down on time.
I know that RedBull put a bunch of time and money into getting Rob media training, and Rob was open to it and worked hard to improve. I hope ESO and Ric/CG are willing to do the same.
I watched as a vermette’s dh se snowshoe run with my mom and gf in the room. Told them to watch and gave them the brief insight of his age and potential.
will did a great job of explaining exactly what’s happening. My mom literally would respond to his commentary with her own comments and questions on cue.
the commentary as it stands would have the opposite effect which is what’s most important. Sure I’d rather have guys of rob and Elliot’s caliber to listen to but I can fully enjoy and understand the race on mute (well not semis cause it was all over the place to The point it was hard for ric and cedric to commentate). But they need to work on just explaining what’s happening on screen without talking very much. Its most important job and it was by far the aspect they were weakest at. As well as annunciation. Americans love a good accent but it could be hard to understand at times.
IIRC, Cedric was the French commentator during the Red Bull TV era. That said, he likely had access to the same resources that Rob had (i.e. media training and mentoring).
In any case, I was expecting Cedric to be the "expert" while Ric provides the play-by-play commentary. From what I've seen, it seems this duo is doing both but doesn't have the chemistry yet to sound cohesive on the mic.
IIRC, Cedric was the French commentator during the Red Bull TV era. That said, he likely had access to the same resources that Rob had (i.e...
IIRC, Cedric was the French commentator during the Red Bull TV era. That said, he likely had access to the same resources that Rob had (i.e. media training and mentoring).
In any case, I was expecting Cedric to be the "expert" while Ric provides the play-by-play commentary. From what I've seen, it seems this duo is doing both but doesn't have the chemistry yet to sound cohesive on the mic.
I don't think I'm speaking out of my ass when I say that Cedric Gracia wasn't as technically savvy of a racer as some would think. Yes, he's French & French team tactics are amazing. But CG is a rogue. I've been there when he raced. I've been talked into stupid lines by him. I've been told my lines were too scary by him (literally...but in a joking manner) only to see him take a WAY scarier line than I would.
He's all out talent & a fantastic guy. But I think we need a race tactician in the booth, not a French hype man, who can communicate the intensity, the focus, the planning, the line choices, the etiquitte, the nerves, etc to us the avid fans, but in a way that makes the new fan squeeze their chair arm a bit.
We all think Rob brought flair and catch phrases & antics...but he genuinely pulled you into the absolute intensity of the line, the effort, the nerves, the chaos...and you were smarter for it. And exhausted. CG simply cannot communicate the sport to the English speaking viewer. And I love the guy.
IIRC, Cedric was the French commentator during the Red Bull TV era. That said, he likely had access to the same resources that Rob had (i.e...
IIRC, Cedric was the French commentator during the Red Bull TV era. That said, he likely had access to the same resources that Rob had (i.e. media training and mentoring).
In any case, I was expecting Cedric to be the "expert" while Ric provides the play-by-play commentary. From what I've seen, it seems this duo is doing both but doesn't have the chemistry yet to sound cohesive on the mic.
I don't think I'm speaking out of my ass when I say that Cedric Gracia wasn't as technically savvy of a racer as some would think. ...
I don't think I'm speaking out of my ass when I say that Cedric Gracia wasn't as technically savvy of a racer as some would think. Yes, he's French & French team tactics are amazing. But CG is a rogue. I've been there when he raced. I've been talked into stupid lines by him. I've been told my lines were too scary by him (literally...but in a joking manner) only to see him take a WAY scarier line than I would.
He's all out talent & a fantastic guy. But I think we need a race tactician in the booth, not a French hype man, who can communicate the intensity, the focus, the planning, the line choices, the etiquitte, the nerves, etc to us the avid fans, but in a way that makes the new fan squeeze their chair arm a bit.
We all think Rob brought flair and catch phrases & antics...but he genuinely pulled you into the absolute intensity of the line, the effort, the nerves, the chaos...and you were smarter for it. And exhausted. CG simply cannot communicate the sport to the English speaking viewer. And I love the guy.
Seems to me CG is supposed to be replacing Claudio, and is doing just about as good a job as Claudio was doing. But the story of the race, the tension, the build up of the event, as well as the knowledge of the track and riders, the knowledge of racing, that was all Rob. Ric does not seem to have it. I hope he gets better.
I'm digging this thread back up since it seems like the most relevant place to post this. Apparently Warner Bros Discovery has put GCN up for sale: https://escapecollective.com/gcn-is-for-sale/
None of the brands involved are commenting, but what does this mean for DH and enduro? I know the rights were sold to Warner Bros Discovery, but if GCN is sold would that mean DH and enduro get shipped off too? That would be an awfully quick turnaround from 'investing in the sport' to dropping it.
I'm digging this thread back up since it seems like the most relevant place to post this. Apparently Warner Bros Discovery has put GCN up for...
I'm digging this thread back up since it seems like the most relevant place to post this. Apparently Warner Bros Discovery has put GCN up for sale: https://escapecollective.com/gcn-is-for-sale/
None of the brands involved are commenting, but what does this mean for DH and enduro? I know the rights were sold to Warner Bros Discovery, but if GCN is sold would that mean DH and enduro get shipped off too? That would be an awfully quick turnaround from 'investing in the sport' to dropping it.
This doesn't appear to include ESO which per their LinkedIn "is a part of Discovery, Inc and a partner of Play Sports Group."
eso was sold to discovery. not sure when specifically but i was sent this info which is public record in the UK (mergers and acquisitions are way outside of my wheelhouse fwiw)
I'm digging this thread back up since it seems like the most relevant place to post this. Apparently Warner Bros Discovery has put GCN up for...
I'm digging this thread back up since it seems like the most relevant place to post this. Apparently Warner Bros Discovery has put GCN up for sale: https://escapecollective.com/gcn-is-for-sale/
None of the brands involved are commenting, but what does this mean for DH and enduro? I know the rights were sold to Warner Bros Discovery, but if GCN is sold would that mean DH and enduro get shipped off too? That would be an awfully quick turnaround from 'investing in the sport' to dropping it.
This simply doesn't add up due to broadcasting rights, etc. I'm guessing that these aren't included in the sale. The article also states that Discovery shut down the Eurosport player, which is complete bollocks because I've been watching road races and the DH world cup on it all year.
Imagine being given the golden goose by redbull and you kill it in under a season and shit the bed in the process.
Im honestly not surprised though. GCN is a youtube channel first and foremost. There was no way that they were ready to undertake this.
It must be frustrating being a part of the live broadcasts this year. You have to know that everyone hates it. There has been tons of criticism everywhere and im sure its been seen. I just hope whoever buys it can manage to do something decent with it.
Imagine being given the golden goose by redbull and you kill it in under a season and shit the bed in the process.
Im honestly not...
Imagine being given the golden goose by redbull and you kill it in under a season and shit the bed in the process.
Im honestly not surprised though. GCN is a youtube channel first and foremost. There was no way that they were ready to undertake this.
It must be frustrating being a part of the live broadcasts this year. You have to know that everyone hates it. There has been tons of criticism everywhere and im sure its been seen. I just hope whoever buys it can manage to do something decent with it.
Yes they're a YT channel and started like that, but the road cycling coverage is massive full of really good commentators+guests with tremendous history and wins in the sport, they do this on a daily basis, broadcasts with dozens of hours of play.
Plus the app has a ton of documentaries and shows exclusive to subscribers.
I would say MTB (and DH in particular) is just a tiny little part of the whole thing.
Imagine being given the golden goose by redbull and you kill it in under a season and shit the bed in the process.
Im honestly not...
Imagine being given the golden goose by redbull and you kill it in under a season and shit the bed in the process.
Im honestly not surprised though. GCN is a youtube channel first and foremost. There was no way that they were ready to undertake this.
It must be frustrating being a part of the live broadcasts this year. You have to know that everyone hates it. There has been tons of criticism everywhere and im sure its been seen. I just hope whoever buys it can manage to do something decent with it.
Yes they're a YT channel and started like that, but the road cycling coverage is massive full of really good commentators+guests with tremendous history and wins...
Yes they're a YT channel and started like that, but the road cycling coverage is massive full of really good commentators+guests with tremendous history and wins in the sport, they do this on a daily basis, broadcasts with dozens of hours of play.
Plus the app has a ton of documentaries and shows exclusive to subscribers.
I would say MTB (and DH in particular) is just a tiny little part of the whole thing.
You think Rob Hurst and Carlton Kirby are really good commentators? I had to turn off The Giro and didn't even bother with La Vuelta, they're both awful.
Imagine being given the golden goose by redbull and you kill it in under a season and shit the bed in the process.
Im honestly not...
Imagine being given the golden goose by redbull and you kill it in under a season and shit the bed in the process.
Im honestly not surprised though. GCN is a youtube channel first and foremost. There was no way that they were ready to undertake this.
It must be frustrating being a part of the live broadcasts this year. You have to know that everyone hates it. There has been tons of criticism everywhere and im sure its been seen. I just hope whoever buys it can manage to do something decent with it.
Yes they're a YT channel and started like that, but the road cycling coverage is massive full of really good commentators+guests with tremendous history and wins...
Yes they're a YT channel and started like that, but the road cycling coverage is massive full of really good commentators+guests with tremendous history and wins in the sport, they do this on a daily basis, broadcasts with dozens of hours of play.
Plus the app has a ton of documentaries and shows exclusive to subscribers.
I would say MTB (and DH in particular) is just a tiny little part of the whole thing.
You think Rob Hurst and Carlton Kirby are really good commentators? I had to turn off The Giro and didn't even bother with La Vuelta, they're...
You think Rob Hurst and Carlton Kirby are really good commentators? I had to turn off The Giro and didn't even bother with La Vuelta, they're both awful.
Meh, I find Hatch and Kirby passable... but it's the talent around them that keeps me from muting the broadcast. Would be nice if mountain biking could have a team of experts in the booth.
Like it's suggested in the article I imagine WB/Disc might keep dh as an "action sport" and stick it on flo or another platform they already own, with even a lower budget. Forget about enduro, they'll push it out of the car without slowing down.
I'm digging this thread back up since it seems like the most relevant place to post this. Apparently Warner Bros Discovery has put GCN up for...
I'm digging this thread back up since it seems like the most relevant place to post this. Apparently Warner Bros Discovery has put GCN up for sale: https://escapecollective.com/gcn-is-for-sale/
None of the brands involved are commenting, but what does this mean for DH and enduro? I know the rights were sold to Warner Bros Discovery, but if GCN is sold would that mean DH and enduro get shipped off too? That would be an awfully quick turnaround from 'investing in the sport' to dropping it.
It does sound like it's just the GCN website and YouTube that are up for sale (including the mountain bike, e-bike, and triathlon channels) but there's such a deep integration of the two now that some things will inevitably be changed in a split up. I think it wouldn't be a huge surprise to find some of the content on GCN+ and their YouTube cut to some degree which would be a bit of a shame. As much as you might not want to pay for DH racing, you do get access to basically all cycling races for the year for way less than most other subscription service's yearly cost.
At least on the road side, some of the presenters are from GCN and some from Eurosport; what happens when those two split? Similarly for mtb, the UCI has their own YouTube page but GMBN are the ones really doing most of the recaps and weekly updates there. What happens there?
When WBD bought GCN and the UCI rights it seemed like cycling would become a package deal and WBD was looking to profit off of it (which would probably mean some investment to generate revenue). To be selling half of it after only a few months makes it seem like they aren't really invested in the sport succeeding or they don't view it as a great investment anymore which doesn't look great for future funding.
In the big picture of Warner Bros they could just shut GCN down without selling it and hardly even notice it’s such a small piece of their pie. They are taking bigger hits elsewhere in their portfolio through subscriber, box office flops, hollywood strikes, the list goes on.
I don’t see Discovery selling the cycling telecast rights they own. Presumably the contracts are between Discovery UCI, ASO etc. and not the individual plat from.
The telecasts will shift to another platform they already own.
ESO are the partner that the UCI contracted to organise and promote the MTB World Cup series while Discovery are the telecast partner.
UCI has openly said they are not a event promotor but the governing body that overseas international competitive cycling (liceneces, rules, doping, classification of races, points ranking system and also oversees the World Championships.
It's easier/prefered to deal with one promotor (ESO for Mountain biking) to organises a series instead of individual promotors for each round as it was worked previously.
Road has Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) that run the grand tours and many other events.
The most recent Downtime Podcast post race recap from Les Gets, Olly mentioned that the heads from Discovery attended the week and loved the racing, crowds, entertainment and passion.
Play Sports Network (PSN), the parent company of Global Cycling Network (GCN) and a handful of other cycling media verticals, is being spit-shined and placed on the showroom floor as PSN owner Warner Bros. Discovery seeks a suitable buyer.
In the running are at least two well-known entities in the cycling world, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s plans who requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak on the subject.
One option is Outside Interactive Inc., a conglomeration of outdoor media titles and mapping apps that hoovered up cycling titles like Peloton, CyclingTips, Pinkbike, and VeloNews before shutting down or rebranding all but Pinkbike. The Outside portfolio also contains Outside Watch, which began life as the Resort Sports Network and is a mix of original content and live coverage of events like Ironman 70.3.
A second interested party is apparently Play Sports’ founder, Simon Wear, who sold the company to Discovery in 2021. Wear remained on the board of Play Sports but left his day-to-day role in early 2023. Neither Wear nor Outside Interactive CEO Robin Thurston responded to Escape Collective‘s request for comment.
After buying an initial stake in Play Sports in 2017, and then becoming the majority holder in 2019, Discovery purchased the remainder of Play Sports Network in 2021, in doing so valuing the company at roughly £70 million.
A press release issued at the time of the 2019 acquisition made the goal clear: to “combine Play Sports Group’s market-leading cycling content and community with Discovery’s live sports rights to create the #1 cycling media ecosystem in the world.”
Discovery began to merge the GCN brand with its existing Eurosport television properties, and what was once primarily a YouTube channel quickly morphed into a streaming television product. While GCN remains hugely successful on YouTube, the GCN+ app has become ubiquitous amongst cycling fans as their primary method of watching live professional cycling.
In February of 2022, Discovery also picked up the rights to the 2023-2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series, which have been combined with Eurosport’s extensive portfolio of road events, including the Tour de France, in major markets like the UK. Around the same time, Discovery shut down the Eurosport player and phased out that method of streaming live sports.
Cycling coverage had already been moved over to GCN+ from Eurosport, and these events continued to be distributed under the GCN+ banner, which has strong recognition with enthusiasts. However, the television rights for all these live events are owned by parent company Discovery, which merged with Warner Bros. in April 2022. (In 2019, Discovery also led a $50 million investment round into Flo Sports, which owns the North American broadcast rights to a number of races.)
Around the same time, Play Sports kicked off a significant original-content creation campaign, releasing numerous documentaries on the GCN+ platform as it sought to build out an app that provided both live sports and more evergreen cycling content.
The GCN+ road racing coverage utilizes many familiar faces from the company’s YouTube channel, including former professional racer Dan Lloyd, and combines them with Eurosport host talent like Orla Chennaoui, analysts like Robbie McEwen and Adam Blythe, and commentators including Rob Hatch. It’s a winning combination, providing what is broadly considered the most comprehensive and intelligent racing coverage on English-language television.
The company was loss-making through its latest public report, for the year ending December 2021, and Escape Collective understands that remains the case. Play Sports’ after-tax loss amounted to £10,022,044 in 2021, up from £6,344,153 in 2020, largely the result of development and other costs associated with the GCN+ app. The app was also largely responsible for a roughly £7 million increase in revenue the same year, to £17.2 million total.
The full scope and timeline of the sale remain unclear at this time, and the details could have a sizable impact on the way cycling fans consume live race coverage. The Play Sports properties available for acquisition may be only the YouTube and web divisions, including the newly launched GCN website. The TV rights currently owned by Discovery may or may not be included in any potential sale of Play Sports Network, and would likely be retained by Discovery, possibly to be found on Discovery’s own streaming platform, Discovery+.
The most recent Downtime Podcast post race recap from Les Gets, Olly mentioned that the heads from Discovery attended the week and loved the racing, crowds...
The most recent Downtime Podcast post race recap from Les Gets, Olly mentioned that the heads from Discovery attended the week and loved the racing, crowds, entertainment and passion.
From Exposure:
Play Sports Network (PSN), the parent company of Global Cycling Network (GCN) and a handful of other cycling media verticals, is being spit-shined...
From Exposure:
Play Sports Network (PSN), the parent company of Global Cycling Network (GCN) and a handful of other cycling media verticals, is being spit-shined and placed on the showroom floor as PSN owner Warner Bros. Discovery seeks a suitable buyer.
In the running are at least two well-known entities in the cycling world, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s plans who requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak on the subject.
One option is Outside Interactive Inc., a conglomeration of outdoor media titles and mapping apps that hoovered up cycling titles like Peloton, CyclingTips, Pinkbike, and VeloNews before shutting down or rebranding all but Pinkbike. The Outside portfolio also contains Outside Watch, which began life as the Resort Sports Network and is a mix of original content and live coverage of events like Ironman 70.3.
A second interested party is apparently Play Sports’ founder, Simon Wear, who sold the company to Discovery in 2021. Wear remained on the board of Play Sports but left his day-to-day role in early 2023. Neither Wear nor Outside Interactive CEO Robin Thurston responded to Escape Collective‘s request for comment.
After buying an initial stake in Play Sports in 2017, and then becoming the majority holder in 2019, Discovery purchased the remainder of Play Sports Network in 2021, in doing so valuing the company at roughly £70 million.
A press release issued at the time of the 2019 acquisition made the goal clear: to “combine Play Sports Group’s market-leading cycling content and community with Discovery’s live sports rights to create the #1 cycling media ecosystem in the world.”
Discovery began to merge the GCN brand with its existing Eurosport television properties, and what was once primarily a YouTube channel quickly morphed into a streaming television product. While GCN remains hugely successful on YouTube, the GCN+ app has become ubiquitous amongst cycling fans as their primary method of watching live professional cycling.
In February of 2022, Discovery also picked up the rights to the 2023-2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series, which have been combined with Eurosport’s extensive portfolio of road events, including the Tour de France, in major markets like the UK. Around the same time, Discovery shut down the Eurosport player and phased out that method of streaming live sports.
Cycling coverage had already been moved over to GCN+ from Eurosport, and these events continued to be distributed under the GCN+ banner, which has strong recognition with enthusiasts. However, the television rights for all these live events are owned by parent company Discovery, which merged with Warner Bros. in April 2022. (In 2019, Discovery also led a $50 million investment round into Flo Sports, which owns the North American broadcast rights to a number of races.)
Around the same time, Play Sports kicked off a significant original-content creation campaign, releasing numerous documentaries on the GCN+ platform as it sought to build out an app that provided both live sports and more evergreen cycling content.
The GCN+ road racing coverage utilizes many familiar faces from the company’s YouTube channel, including former professional racer Dan Lloyd, and combines them with Eurosport host talent like Orla Chennaoui, analysts like Robbie McEwen and Adam Blythe, and commentators including Rob Hatch. It’s a winning combination, providing what is broadly considered the most comprehensive and intelligent racing coverage on English-language television.
The company was loss-making through its latest public report, for the year ending December 2021, and Escape Collective understands that remains the case. Play Sports’ after-tax loss amounted to £10,022,044 in 2021, up from £6,344,153 in 2020, largely the result of development and other costs associated with the GCN+ app. The app was also largely responsible for a roughly £7 million increase in revenue the same year, to £17.2 million total.
The full scope and timeline of the sale remain unclear at this time, and the details could have a sizable impact on the way cycling fans consume live race coverage. The Play Sports properties available for acquisition may be only the YouTube and web divisions, including the newly launched GCN website. The TV rights currently owned by Discovery may or may not be included in any potential sale of Play Sports Network, and would likely be retained by Discovery, possibly to be found on Discovery’s own streaming platform, Discovery+.
If somebody is more savvy than me, could somebody explain what it means?
It makes little sense to me that WB pumps money into GCN, builds audience, and brand recognition, generates traffic with their right acquisition then sells it without the rights ( which is kind of worthless.. a platform without content). I guess they want to consolidate their own platform discovery+ ( I heard from people working at WB that is already what they are doing for other types of content) or/and want to quickly cash out and don't care about the future (which would not be too surprising:-( ).
Strategy-wise it sounds antiquated (or really bold) to build a platform in the YouTube era (like to compete against Google and co) when the money and their background are in content..
For cycling fans, it sounds like we are caught in something bigger than us and the future of mtb broadcasting..
I missed the time was MTB was niche and out of corporate BS and was more independent..
The truth is that despite what many believe, current technology would allow a much more streamlined, inexpensive, and independent way to organize and broadcast racing. We don't really need media conglomerates and old-fashioned governing bodies.. Look at the coverage of Downhill Southeast, it's on par with World Cup racing and probably way cheaper to produce.. (Btw, I would love to hear more about these people).
The most recent Downtime Podcast post race recap from Les Gets, Olly mentioned that the heads from Discovery attended the week and loved the racing, crowds...
The most recent Downtime Podcast post race recap from Les Gets, Olly mentioned that the heads from Discovery attended the week and loved the racing, crowds, entertainment and passion.
exactly. the broadcast and its eyeballs are what they're selling to sponsors and subscribers.
who wouldn't love to be in les gets with that electric atmosphere and thousands of passionate fans? les gets is basically the superbowl of world cup venues for in-person spectating and energy. did that translate into views on their platform?
From Exposure:
Play Sports Network (PSN), the parent company of Global Cycling Network (GCN) and a handful of other cycling media verticals, is being spit-shined...
From Exposure:
Play Sports Network (PSN), the parent company of Global Cycling Network (GCN) and a handful of other cycling media verticals, is being spit-shined and placed on the showroom floor as PSN owner Warner Bros. Discovery seeks a suitable buyer.
In the running are at least two well-known entities in the cycling world, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s plans who requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak on the subject.
One option is Outside Interactive Inc., a conglomeration of outdoor media titles and mapping apps that hoovered up cycling titles like Peloton, CyclingTips, Pinkbike, and VeloNews before shutting down or rebranding all but Pinkbike. The Outside portfolio also contains Outside Watch, which began life as the Resort Sports Network and is a mix of original content and live coverage of events like Ironman 70.3.
A second interested party is apparently Play Sports’ founder, Simon Wear, who sold the company to Discovery in 2021. Wear remained on the board of Play Sports but left his day-to-day role in early 2023. Neither Wear nor Outside Interactive CEO Robin Thurston responded to Escape Collective‘s request for comment.
After buying an initial stake in Play Sports in 2017, and then becoming the majority holder in 2019, Discovery purchased the remainder of Play Sports Network in 2021, in doing so valuing the company at roughly £70 million.
A press release issued at the time of the 2019 acquisition made the goal clear: to “combine Play Sports Group’s market-leading cycling content and community with Discovery’s live sports rights to create the #1 cycling media ecosystem in the world.”
Discovery began to merge the GCN brand with its existing Eurosport television properties, and what was once primarily a YouTube channel quickly morphed into a streaming television product. While GCN remains hugely successful on YouTube, the GCN+ app has become ubiquitous amongst cycling fans as their primary method of watching live professional cycling.
In February of 2022, Discovery also picked up the rights to the 2023-2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series, which have been combined with Eurosport’s extensive portfolio of road events, including the Tour de France, in major markets like the UK. Around the same time, Discovery shut down the Eurosport player and phased out that method of streaming live sports.
Cycling coverage had already been moved over to GCN+ from Eurosport, and these events continued to be distributed under the GCN+ banner, which has strong recognition with enthusiasts. However, the television rights for all these live events are owned by parent company Discovery, which merged with Warner Bros. in April 2022. (In 2019, Discovery also led a $50 million investment round into Flo Sports, which owns the North American broadcast rights to a number of races.)
Around the same time, Play Sports kicked off a significant original-content creation campaign, releasing numerous documentaries on the GCN+ platform as it sought to build out an app that provided both live sports and more evergreen cycling content.
The GCN+ road racing coverage utilizes many familiar faces from the company’s YouTube channel, including former professional racer Dan Lloyd, and combines them with Eurosport host talent like Orla Chennaoui, analysts like Robbie McEwen and Adam Blythe, and commentators including Rob Hatch. It’s a winning combination, providing what is broadly considered the most comprehensive and intelligent racing coverage on English-language television.
The company was loss-making through its latest public report, for the year ending December 2021, and Escape Collective understands that remains the case. Play Sports’ after-tax loss amounted to £10,022,044 in 2021, up from £6,344,153 in 2020, largely the result of development and other costs associated with the GCN+ app. The app was also largely responsible for a roughly £7 million increase in revenue the same year, to £17.2 million total.
The full scope and timeline of the sale remain unclear at this time, and the details could have a sizable impact on the way cycling fans consume live race coverage. The Play Sports properties available for acquisition may be only the YouTube and web divisions, including the newly launched GCN website. The TV rights currently owned by Discovery may or may not be included in any potential sale of Play Sports Network, and would likely be retained by Discovery, possibly to be found on Discovery’s own streaming platform, Discovery+.
"Done a bit of research. I expect GCN to be sold fairly quickly. There is no cycling listed in app beyond October 18 when road season ends. Cyclocross 23/24 completely missing despite starting on Discovery+ with USCX this weekend. Also UCI Track Champions League starting Oct 21 is listed on event website (joint UCI and Warner Bros Discovery event) as watchable in UK on Discovery+ and Eurosport only. No GCN. No broadcasters listed for US. It was good whilst it lasted."
I know that RedBull put a bunch of time and money into getting Rob media training, and Rob was open to it and worked hard to improve. I hope ESO and Ric/CG are willing to do the same.
I wonder who’s talking in their ear.
I watched as a vermette’s dh se snowshoe run with my mom and gf in the room. Told them to watch and gave them the brief insight of his age and potential.
will did a great job of explaining exactly what’s happening. My mom literally would respond to his commentary with her own comments and questions on cue.
the commentary as it stands would have the opposite effect which is what’s most important. Sure I’d rather have guys of rob and Elliot’s caliber to listen to but I can fully enjoy and understand the race on mute (well not semis cause it was all over the place to The point it was hard for ric and cedric to commentate). But they need to work on just explaining what’s happening on screen without talking very much. Its most important job and it was by far the aspect they were weakest at. As well as annunciation. Americans love a good accent but it could be hard to understand at times.
IIRC, Cedric was the French commentator during the Red Bull TV era. That said, he likely had access to the same resources that Rob had (i.e. media training and mentoring).
In any case, I was expecting Cedric to be the "expert" while Ric provides the play-by-play commentary. From what I've seen, it seems this duo is doing both but doesn't have the chemistry yet to sound cohesive on the mic.
I don't think I'm speaking out of my ass when I say that Cedric Gracia wasn't as technically savvy of a racer as some would think. Yes, he's French & French team tactics are amazing. But CG is a rogue. I've been there when he raced. I've been talked into stupid lines by him. I've been told my lines were too scary by him (literally...but in a joking manner) only to see him take a WAY scarier line than I would.
He's all out talent & a fantastic guy. But I think we need a race tactician in the booth, not a French hype man, who can communicate the intensity, the focus, the planning, the line choices, the etiquitte, the nerves, etc to us the avid fans, but in a way that makes the new fan squeeze their chair arm a bit.
We all think Rob brought flair and catch phrases & antics...but he genuinely pulled you into the absolute intensity of the line, the effort, the nerves, the chaos...and you were smarter for it. And exhausted. CG simply cannot communicate the sport to the English speaking viewer. And I love the guy.
Seems to me CG is supposed to be replacing Claudio, and is doing just about as good a job as Claudio was doing. But the story of the race, the tension, the build up of the event, as well as the knowledge of the track and riders, the knowledge of racing, that was all Rob. Ric does not seem to have it. I hope he gets better.
I'm digging this thread back up since it seems like the most relevant place to post this. Apparently Warner Bros Discovery has put GCN up for sale: https://escapecollective.com/gcn-is-for-sale/
None of the brands involved are commenting, but what does this mean for DH and enduro? I know the rights were sold to Warner Bros Discovery, but if GCN is sold would that mean DH and enduro get shipped off too? That would be an awfully quick turnaround from 'investing in the sport' to dropping it.
Hopefully Red Bull buys it.
That would be amazing and hilarious in equal measure.
bonkers. article indicates outside or gcn founder as potential buyers.
This doesn't appear to include ESO which per their LinkedIn "is a part of Discovery, Inc and a partner of Play Sports Group."
https://www.linkedin.com/company/enduro-sports-organisation/?originalSu…
i'm stealing this joke from someone else, but "have we been rocky roaded again?" hahaha
eso was sold to discovery. not sure when specifically but i was sent this info which is public record in the UK (mergers and acquisitions are way outside of my wheelhouse fwiw)
This simply doesn't add up due to broadcasting rights, etc. I'm guessing that these aren't included in the sale. The article also states that Discovery shut down the Eurosport player, which is complete bollocks because I've been watching road races and the DH world cup on it all year.
They better sell quick before everyone cancels their subs next month.
I want my mtv!
pinkbike world cup?
Imagine being given the golden goose by redbull and you kill it in under a season and shit the bed in the process.
Im honestly not surprised though. GCN is a youtube channel first and foremost. There was no way that they were ready to undertake this.
It must be frustrating being a part of the live broadcasts this year. You have to know that everyone hates it. There has been tons of criticism everywhere and im sure its been seen. I just hope whoever buys it can manage to do something decent with it.
Yes they're a YT channel and started like that, but the road cycling coverage is massive full of really good commentators+guests with tremendous history and wins in the sport, they do this on a daily basis, broadcasts with dozens of hours of play.
Plus the app has a ton of documentaries and shows exclusive to subscribers.
I would say MTB (and DH in particular) is just a tiny little part of the whole thing.
You think Rob Hurst and Carlton Kirby are really good commentators? I had to turn off The Giro and didn't even bother with La Vuelta, they're both awful.
Meh, I find Hatch and Kirby passable... but it's the talent around them that keeps me from muting the broadcast. Would be nice if mountain biking could have a team of experts in the booth.
Like it's suggested in the article I imagine WB/Disc might keep dh as an "action sport" and stick it on flo or another platform they already own, with even a lower budget. Forget about enduro, they'll push it out of the car without slowing down.
It does sound like it's just the GCN website and YouTube that are up for sale (including the mountain bike, e-bike, and triathlon channels) but there's such a deep integration of the two now that some things will inevitably be changed in a split up. I think it wouldn't be a huge surprise to find some of the content on GCN+ and their YouTube cut to some degree which would be a bit of a shame. As much as you might not want to pay for DH racing, you do get access to basically all cycling races for the year for way less than most other subscription service's yearly cost.
At least on the road side, some of the presenters are from GCN and some from Eurosport; what happens when those two split? Similarly for mtb, the UCI has their own YouTube page but GMBN are the ones really doing most of the recaps and weekly updates there. What happens there?
When WBD bought GCN and the UCI rights it seemed like cycling would become a package deal and WBD was looking to profit off of it (which would probably mean some investment to generate revenue). To be selling half of it after only a few months makes it seem like they aren't really invested in the sport succeeding or they don't view it as a great investment anymore which doesn't look great for future funding.
In the big picture of Warner Bros they could just shut GCN down without selling it and hardly even notice it’s such a small piece of their pie. They are taking bigger hits elsewhere in their portfolio through subscriber, box office flops, hollywood strikes, the list goes on.
I see it more as a consolidation of platforms.
I don’t see Discovery selling the cycling telecast rights they own. Presumably the contracts are between Discovery UCI, ASO etc. and not the individual plat from.
The telecasts will shift to another platform they already own.
ESO are the partner that the UCI contracted to organise and promote the MTB World Cup series while Discovery are the telecast partner.
UCI has openly said they are not a event promotor but the governing body that overseas international competitive cycling (liceneces, rules, doping, classification of races, points ranking system and also oversees the World Championships.
It's easier/prefered to deal with one promotor (ESO for Mountain biking) to organises a series instead of individual promotors for each round as it was worked previously.
Road has Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) that run the grand tours and many other events.
The most recent Downtime Podcast post race recap from Les Gets, Olly mentioned that the heads from Discovery attended the week and loved the racing, crowds, entertainment and passion.
https://www.downtimepodcast.com/les-gets-2023-post/
From Exposure:
Play Sports Network (PSN), the parent company of Global Cycling Network (GCN) and a handful of other cycling media verticals, is being spit-shined and placed on the showroom floor as PSN owner Warner Bros. Discovery seeks a suitable buyer.
In the running are at least two well-known entities in the cycling world, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s plans who requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak on the subject.
One option is Outside Interactive Inc., a conglomeration of outdoor media titles and mapping apps that hoovered up cycling titles like Peloton, CyclingTips, Pinkbike, and VeloNews before shutting down or rebranding all but Pinkbike. The Outside portfolio also contains Outside Watch, which began life as the Resort Sports Network and is a mix of original content and live coverage of events like Ironman 70.3.
A second interested party is apparently Play Sports’ founder, Simon Wear, who sold the company to Discovery in 2021. Wear remained on the board of Play Sports but left his day-to-day role in early 2023. Neither Wear nor Outside Interactive CEO Robin Thurston responded to Escape Collective‘s request for comment.
After buying an initial stake in Play Sports in 2017, and then becoming the majority holder in 2019, Discovery purchased the remainder of Play Sports Network in 2021, in doing so valuing the company at roughly £70 million.
A press release issued at the time of the 2019 acquisition made the goal clear: to “combine Play Sports Group’s market-leading cycling content and community with Discovery’s live sports rights to create the #1 cycling media ecosystem in the world.”
Discovery began to merge the GCN brand with its existing Eurosport television properties, and what was once primarily a YouTube channel quickly morphed into a streaming television product. While GCN remains hugely successful on YouTube, the GCN+ app has become ubiquitous amongst cycling fans as their primary method of watching live professional cycling.
In February of 2022, Discovery also picked up the rights to the 2023-2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series, which have been combined with Eurosport’s extensive portfolio of road events, including the Tour de France, in major markets like the UK. Around the same time, Discovery shut down the Eurosport player and phased out that method of streaming live sports.
Cycling coverage had already been moved over to GCN+ from Eurosport, and these events continued to be distributed under the GCN+ banner, which has strong recognition with enthusiasts. However, the television rights for all these live events are owned by parent company Discovery, which merged with Warner Bros. in April 2022. (In 2019, Discovery also led a $50 million investment round into Flo Sports, which owns the North American broadcast rights to a number of races.)
Around the same time, Play Sports kicked off a significant original-content creation campaign, releasing numerous documentaries on the GCN+ platform as it sought to build out an app that provided both live sports and more evergreen cycling content.
The GCN+ road racing coverage utilizes many familiar faces from the company’s YouTube channel, including former professional racer Dan Lloyd, and combines them with Eurosport host talent like Orla Chennaoui, analysts like Robbie McEwen and Adam Blythe, and commentators including Rob Hatch. It’s a winning combination, providing what is broadly considered the most comprehensive and intelligent racing coverage on English-language television.
The company was loss-making through its latest public report, for the year ending December 2021, and Escape Collective understands that remains the case. Play Sports’ after-tax loss amounted to £10,022,044 in 2021, up from £6,344,153 in 2020, largely the result of development and other costs associated with the GCN+ app. The app was also largely responsible for a roughly £7 million increase in revenue the same year, to £17.2 million total.
The full scope and timeline of the sale remain unclear at this time, and the details could have a sizable impact on the way cycling fans consume live race coverage. The Play Sports properties available for acquisition may be only the YouTube and web divisions, including the newly launched GCN website. The TV rights currently owned by Discovery may or may not be included in any potential sale of Play Sports Network, and would likely be retained by Discovery, possibly to be found on Discovery’s own streaming platform, Discovery+.
but did they love the broadcast
If somebody is more savvy than me, could somebody explain what it means?
It makes little sense to me that WB pumps money into GCN, builds audience, and brand recognition, generates traffic with their right acquisition then sells it without the rights ( which is kind of worthless.. a platform without content). I guess they want to consolidate their own platform discovery+ ( I heard from people working at WB that is already what they are doing for other types of content) or/and want to quickly cash out and don't care about the future (which would not be too surprising:-( ).
Strategy-wise it sounds antiquated (or really bold) to build a platform in the YouTube era (like to compete against Google and co) when the money and their background are in content..
For cycling fans, it sounds like we are caught in something bigger than us and the future of mtb broadcasting..
I missed the time was MTB was niche and out of corporate BS and was more independent..
The truth is that despite what many believe, current technology would allow a much more streamlined, inexpensive, and independent way to organize and broadcast racing. We don't really need media conglomerates and old-fashioned governing bodies.. Look at the coverage of Downhill Southeast, it's on par with World Cup racing and probably way cheaper to produce.. (Btw, I would love to hear more about these people).
exactly. the broadcast and its eyeballs are what they're selling to sponsors and subscribers.
who wouldn't love to be in les gets with that electric atmosphere and thousands of passionate fans? les gets is basically the superbowl of world cup venues for in-person spectating and energy. did that translate into views on their platform?
From the comments on the article:
"Done a bit of research. I expect GCN to be sold fairly quickly. There is no cycling listed in app beyond October 18 when road season ends. Cyclocross 23/24 completely missing despite starting on Discovery+ with USCX this weekend. Also UCI Track Champions League starting Oct 21 is listed on event website (joint UCI and Warner Bros Discovery event) as watchable in UK on Discovery+ and Eurosport only. No GCN. No broadcasters listed for US. It was good whilst it lasted."
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