Agree. I had high hopes, but finding races you can actually watch in the US is a chore. The UX needs an over haul, and it needs the ability to just show what I can watch as the main view.
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I get what you mean but I don’t think they ever said all markets get all races from what I can remember. I had vpn before so no biggie but not sure I will renew as I have not watched the races much. F1 app, gcn+ and discovery + are my only subs and only pay for discovery monthly. I don’t even have cable
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Agree 100% that if the race is not available in a geographic area, it shouldn’t be listed on the menu.
As for the pricing, even though we don’t get all the races in the US, I find $50 / year to be entirely reasonable. I regularly drop more than that on dumber stuff related to cycling, so $50 for hours and hours of entertainment seems to be money well spent.
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This is the biggest issue really, I can live with not getting all races since that’s beyond control. The search feature and UX doesn’t even need the wheel inventing, look at Netflix and go from there.
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Maybe this is just me, but I barely watch anything on GCN+ because it is such a PIA to find something - a race - that I can actually watch in the US. As a consumer, I hate launching the app / going to the website, seeing a list of races, and have to click endlessly to find something that I can actually watch in the US. It just reminds me every time I use the app / website that I’m getting a pretty inferior product that makes it really hard for me to use.
I agree, I find the same thing with Amazon Prime. I’m sure there’s lots I’d enjoy watching but every time I have a trial I find it super frustrating.
+1 for the Apple TV app - mirroring from my phone is a pain in the a$$ and if there’s any type of length the phone app ‘crashes’, so then a re-boot then start all over again. It doesn’t seem like it would be too difficult to have the functionality?
At least on Amazon Prime there is (is now) a switch you can flip to only show shows that are free with Prime. So that at least gives me the option to see everything - free + what I would need to pay extra for - or just what is free. If GCN+ had a switch like this, that would go a long way to making it 10000000000% better. But at least with Amazon Prime, I can watch everything I’m shown, and it has a “tag” to indicate which are included with Prime.
I’m probably the least technological person on the planet, and have had no issues setting up and watching GCN in the US paired with VPN. I do indoor workouts Mon-Sat, and can almost watch a race/day; if not, they constantly add documentaries which are well made. Announcers are top notch and fun to listen to (exponentially better than the scripted crap NBC puts out during the TdF). Even at full price, I’m at a little over $100/year. Flobikes wanted $150/year with severe limits on what was watchable in the US. Sticking with GCN
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I liked Flo until they put commercials in the middle of races. So I asked myself, ‘Why are you paying for this?’ Dumped them and went with GCN…great move!
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Another round of CX races, another round of issues with the announcers…somebody at GCN please pay for Ellen Noble to upgrade her WiFi so she doesn’t keep cutting out while she is commenting.
Seriously annoying.
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The US 2022 coverage schedule is up. https://help.globalcyclingnetwork.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360015571479-United-States-of-America
FWIW, NBC moved their broadcasts to USA network. I expect that some of it will also be on Peacock network. I haven’t found a list of what they will cover in 2022 other than TdF.
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NBC has the rights to ASO races, so they will show the Tour, P-R, Liege, Vuelta, etc.
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Any word for Canada who is going to hold the coverage of the GTs and classics this year?
Have not been able to find what is going to be covered by who. I hate that I need 3 different subs to watch this sport. So frustrating.
Are they ever going to have an apple tv app. Seriously ridiculous they do not.
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haha! after the airplay crashed today while watching the new iceland ride, I just wrote the same thing into my workout notes.
agreed.
The US coverage availability for major races seems pretty weak:
- Strade Bianchi
- Milan Sanremo
- Giro d’Italia
- Il Lombardia
For me, that’s maybe worth $25. But definitely won’t renew if the price goes up from what I paid this past year.
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Or Xbox/Windows or PS or Roku or fill in any platform that isn’t a web browser or their mobile app. If they (Discovery Networks is business daddy) don’t want to give the platforms a cut, just don’t offer purchase or renewal via the app let me watch it on the device of MY choice not theirs.
NBC has a lock on the ASO races, so not much they can do about that (this year). I appreciate the ability to watch the depth of the racing calendar. Remember when all we could get was TdF?