GCN App and GCN+ no more?

hogfly
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A friend just posted a screenshot from his inbox that was a message from GCN saying the services were doing away December 19. Also had a bunch of info about refunds and such. Anyone know the story? Seems like it could have big implications (unless it’s all just bundling into Discovery+?)

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Ahab
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11/15/2023 4:23am

Just came to post it. 


IMG 3899

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stoic_machine
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11/15/2023 4:58am

Are they gonna attempt to force us to get discovery + accounts now? RIP bike racing.

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smelly
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11/15/2023 5:07am

Just saw the email and came here to find out more.

Figures that WB has no plans for what comes next.

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stoic_machine
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11/15/2023 5:41am
smelly wrote:

Just saw the email and came here to find out more.

Figures that WB has no plans for what comes next.

They probably have no real plans to broadcast all the racing that GCN+ was and by saying "we will let you know" allows them to just you know.... Not let us know.

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Masjo
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11/15/2023 5:41am

So far they've only said that in Europe they're moving content to Eurosport or Discovery+, though  that's really the same thing since a Discovery+ Sport subscription is the same price as a Eurosport subscription and includes the same content. 

So long to cheap cycling-only media, at this rate it will be 4x more expensive to subscribe over a whole year (for those of us that also watch cyclocross/road). 

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mfoga
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11/15/2023 5:51am

No email for me.  Hopefully they just add it to Max in the US

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dolface
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11/15/2023 6:03am

"In Europe, GCN+ subscribers will now have the option to subscribe to access Discovery+, Eurosport or Eurosport Extra, where you can continue to watch live cycling. In markets outside of Europe, WBD is reviewing how content is delivered to its fans.

Information for viewers in the USA and other territories around the world served by GCN+ was not yet available.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gcn-to-close-down-in-december-as-race-…

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mickey
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11/15/2023 6:07am

Tiz continues to reign supreme (just don’t click on the ads)

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funktekk
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11/15/2023 6:12am
dolface wrote:
"In Europe, GCN+ subscribers will now have the option to subscribe to access Discovery+, Eurosport or Eurosport Extra, where you can continue to watch live cycling...

"In Europe, GCN+ subscribers will now have the option to subscribe to access Discovery+, Eurosport or Eurosport Extra, where you can continue to watch live cycling. In markets outside of Europe, WBD is reviewing how content is delivered to its fans.

Information for viewers in the USA and other territories around the world served by GCN+ was not yet available.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gcn-to-close-down-in-december-as-race-…

This is the point where we need the Walton's to fire up a North American race series. 

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bizutch
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11/15/2023 6:28am

Knew they were buying it to remove choice. WB/ Discovery has stated elsewhere their intent for sports streaming is to make it a single BULK purchase of ALL sports related content.  So basically...whatever single sport interests you & you want to watch, your only choice (the opposite of choice really) is to purchase their $79.99 sports package. 

They essentially force EVERYONE to pay $80 around the world b/c you can't pay to see your sport any other way.  Shittiest, dirtiest thing ever.

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stoic_machine
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11/15/2023 6:36am

Did anyone one here this year living In Canada or the US use Discovery+ to watch mountain bike racing?

mfoga
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11/15/2023 6:46am

Pretty sure only option was GCN+ in NA

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hogfly
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11/15/2023 7:04am
mfoga wrote:

Pretty sure only option was GCN+ in NA

Yep. I get Discovery+ through my MAX sub. No cycling to be found. Just a bunch of crappy reality shows.

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mfoga
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11/15/2023 7:29am
mfoga wrote:

Pretty sure only option was GCN+ in NA

Will have to run a VPN

Use a VPN to do what?   You still need a subscription.  Are you able to get a subscription with NA address?   

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stoic_machine
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11/15/2023 7:33am
mfoga wrote:

Pretty sure only option was GCN+ in NA

Will have to run a VPN

mfoga wrote:

Use a VPN to do what?   You still need a subscription.  Are you able to get a subscription with NA address?   

Once you have the subscription just close your browser, activate VPN to the UK, fire up your browser and login into your account and you will see the UK discovery+ content. Just the same way you would do with GCN when there was broadcast restriction.

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Mr.Nally
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11/15/2023 8:11am

The unfortunate realities of capitalist/corporate bull. The guys like Chris Ball @ ESO won't be able to do anything about this and might find themselves in a tough spot if they loose hundreds of thousands of US viewers for world cups. Black swans and all that. I'm quite positive about changes to world cup dh this year, but this ain't good. MTB racing needs a single point of contact globally, not a shit storm of providers per region

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sspomer
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11/15/2023 8:17am Edited Date/Time 11/15/2023 8:27am

IIRC, at the beginning of the season before getting the gcn+ app, i signed up for the disco+ app thinking i'd get access to bike races. turned out i needed an additional subscription to view the content...discovery+ sports or something? i forget the price but it seemed like a PIA, would cost more money and even then i wasn't positive i'd get to watch the races through that channel. then i realized gcn+ was the easy way to watch. unless they have a different solution/strategy coming, watching next year may be difficult.

if there is no new broadcasting/streaming solution, why in the world would any team/brand/sponsor want to put effort into this series? anecdotally, i have heard of so many DH fans who didn't watch a single race last year. and GCN+ was about as easy as it gets if you didn't care about paying for it. instagram views from a race are neat, but will anyone actually watch the race program?

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TEAMROBOT
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11/15/2023 8:18am Edited Date/Time 11/15/2023 8:47am

Shout out to U.S. anti-trust law, which on paper exists to prevent big businesses from buying up an entire market and creating a monopoly, like this. Unfortunately, anti-trust laws are only as good as the level of enforcement by the current presidential administration, so companies like Walmart, Amazon, Alphabet, and now Warner Bros/Discovery are allowed to continue eating up whole markets unchecked, making customers and workers worse off everywhere they go. It doesn't have to be this way.

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stoic_machine
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11/15/2023 8:29am
TEAMROBOT wrote:
Shout out to U.S. anti-trust law, which on paper exists to prevent big businesses from buying up an entire market and creating a monopoly, like this...

Shout out to U.S. anti-trust law, which on paper exists to prevent big businesses from buying up an entire market and creating a monopoly, like this. Unfortunately, anti-trust laws are only as good as the level of enforcement by the current presidential administration, so companies like Walmart, Amazon, Alphabet, and now Warner Bros/Discovery are allowed to continue eating up whole markets unchecked, making customers and workers worse off everywhere they go. It doesn't have to be this way.

The collapse of the streaming and content war is gonna be mighty epic in a few years...

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1
jonkranked
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11/15/2023 8:54am
mfoga wrote:

Pretty sure only option was GCN+ in NA

hogfly wrote:

Yep. I get Discovery+ through my MAX sub. No cycling to be found. Just a bunch of crappy reality shows.

i'm considering cancelling my MAX sub after the latest changes to the subs.... now i have to pay extra for 4k content. F-

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stoic_machine
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11/15/2023 9:00am
mfoga wrote:

Pretty sure only option was GCN+ in NA

hogfly wrote:

Yep. I get Discovery+ through my MAX sub. No cycling to be found. Just a bunch of crappy reality shows.

jonkranked wrote:

i'm considering cancelling my MAX sub after the latest changes to the subs.... now i have to pay extra for 4k content. F-

The bigger scam here is them convincing someone streaming 4k is even remotely happening.

4K streaming services have much lower bit rates and by definition are not consistent. Let's use Netflix for example. Netflix has a max of 20mbps compared to 4K blu ray with a peak max well over 100mbps....

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11/15/2023 9:07am

Damn. I maybe anomaly but I got GCN+ for dh obviously but also to watch cyclocross through the winter. Could see something like this coming though given the cycling size compared to how big WBD’s portfolio is. Was reading the other day that they have been cancelling $90 million movies that are already shot just for the tax write off 

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Losifer
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11/15/2023 9:35am
BGoldstone wrote:
Damn. I maybe anomaly but I got GCN+ for dh obviously but also to watch cyclocross through the winter. Could see something like this coming though...

Damn. I maybe anomaly but I got GCN+ for dh obviously but also to watch cyclocross through the winter. Could see something like this coming though given the cycling size compared to how big WBD’s portfolio is. Was reading the other day that they have been cancelling $90 million movies that are already shot just for the tax write off 

CX is the reason I opted for an annual subscription instead of monthly.  Very bummed.

2
stoic_machine
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11/15/2023 9:54am
BGoldstone wrote:
Damn. I maybe anomaly but I got GCN+ for dh obviously but also to watch cyclocross through the winter. Could see something like this coming though...

Damn. I maybe anomaly but I got GCN+ for dh obviously but also to watch cyclocross through the winter. Could see something like this coming though given the cycling size compared to how big WBD’s portfolio is. Was reading the other day that they have been cancelling $90 million movies that are already shot just for the tax write off 

Losifer wrote:

CX is the reason I opted for an annual subscription instead of monthly.  Very bummed.

How do you think those of us who watch road, CX, DH, XCO and track racing feel! Haha. Goddamit!!

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dolface
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11/15/2023 11:04am

The collapse of the streaming and content war is gonna be mighty epic in a few years...

chriskief wrote:

The linked piece about David Zaslev is worth a read, guy sounds like a real piece o f work; "the most hated man i Hollywood".

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11/15/2023 11:26am

As far as I can see discovery plus is not available in New Zealand so I assume there are other countries where it isn't available.

How are you meant to watch the world cups in these countries? 

11/15/2023 11:36am
TEAMROBOT wrote:
Shout out to U.S. anti-trust law, which on paper exists to prevent big businesses from buying up an entire market and creating a monopoly, like this...

Shout out to U.S. anti-trust law, which on paper exists to prevent big businesses from buying up an entire market and creating a monopoly, like this. Unfortunately, anti-trust laws are only as good as the level of enforcement by the current presidential administration, so companies like Walmart, Amazon, Alphabet, and now Warner Bros/Discovery are allowed to continue eating up whole markets unchecked, making customers and workers worse off everywhere they go. It doesn't have to be this way.

If you're interested in US anti-trust law enforcement, subscribe to Matt Stoller's newsletter.

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