One thing this will really do to the sport is bring pirating or illegal streaming to it. People genuinely do not mind, in fact they are willing to pay for something they enjoy (GCN +). But if the price is too high, well, you know what happens. You have perfectly summarised all the negatives that this will bring to the sport. GCN + was incredible. I watched practically every race highlights (men and women’s) Because it was so easy to and I was happy to pay for it. Great video David!
GCN+ was good while it lasted. Now I'm paying more than 250CAD to watch this new season on Flobikes. That's almost half what a complete cable subscription costs in Canada for a year. I guess I really love cycling because that's prohibitive.
SBS On Demand in Australia still broadcasts many of the major cycling races - such as Monuments, one week stage races and Grand Tours - live and for free. You do have to register, which is free, and then use a VPN to view the content if located outside that country.
Which is true, but the point is 11 year old Billy Velo isn’t going to be able to do that when they get home from work unless mum and dad have this expensive service.
Agree but I contacted Sky to cancel my Sky Sports package. The discussions ended up with me keeping Sky Sports and getting a £35 reduction per month, so I have covered my additional Discovery+ costs.
Did the same with Strava after they increased fees and stated i now had access to new features. I didn’t want the new features, cancelled. Looking pretty hard at all streamed services for value.
Cancelled Discovery + definitely not paying £30 a month. So for the first time since the early 80’s can’t watch the tour it’s an absolute disgrace. The early days on channel four got myself and lots of mates into cycling. Greed is destroying too many sports now, it’s just so depressing.
You Superstar! Many thanks for bringing this to our attention at the time that you have. I’ve just cancelled my subscription 2 days before renewal. For sure, I’ll no longer be watching live cycling, a sad moment indeed, but I ain’t paying £30+ per month!
Use a VPN and set it to the USA. CX World Cup is live and free here on YT, for "American" viewers. NBC, here on YT, does nice highlights for grand tours. 30+ minutes for big stages. Shouldn't have to but......
Wouldn’t take the Netherlands! Belgium + tiz will cover most if not all of the races and cx. Dutch won’t broadcast whenever there is football / ice skating…
This situation highlights what is wrong with the American system of unrestricted capitalism - it simply promotes, greed, greed and more greed. I have for the past few years watched the three Grand Tours via Eurosport / Discovery - which for me, did represent good value but if the price is being raised to £30, then forget it. I'll seek out other ways to watch the Grand Tours and do so without putting even more of my money into the pockets of greedy TNT directors!!
Yes. Anglo-Saxon culture has never embraced cycling. I'm going watch Formula 1, get rid of my bikes and buy a pick up truck. If you can't beat em, join em.
"Watching a cycle race is free. Just head to Belgium or France..." Hmm yeah, I reckon my travel and accommodation costs would largely exceed the TNT sub. 😆😆
Gutted to see this news, I had the old GCN membership, once I bought 12 months for £1.99, but then latterly I was more than happy with £19.99/£39.99 per year. When it went to £6.99 monthly, I just chose the months I wanted, and it was going to be £42 - £49 for the year, again more than happy with that, and with the exception of some of their commentators, I very much enjoyed the coverage, and no ads on the right feeds. I'm a member of a club, and several forums, and swathes of us have already cancelled, I haven't heard one person say they will continue with the £31 monthly cost. I can see if there were LOTS of sports on there you followed, AND you were retired and had ample time on your hand you could maybe justify it, but I'm not in that camp, I don't have the extra time, and I don't have any interest in any of the other sports they are offering. I hope they have been unpleasantly surprised by the volume of cancellations they will have had, not that I expect them to do anything about it, as it would be admitting they were wrong, and let's be honest, they genuinely won't care. My prediction is that viewing figures from the uk for cycling will plummet, and then in a couple of years they will hopefully sell it off to someone who can offer it at a reasonable price. As to what it will do to attracting children to the sports, and finding new viewers, well totally, this is going to only have a negative effect, but the people lining their pockets at warner will not care one jot. Like others, I left plenty of feedback in my exit survey as to why I was going - doubt they read them though, too busy counting their cash probably.
@@2wheelsrbest327 agreed, I think most people even if they can afford it, and I suppose most of us probably could if we REALLY wanted to, simply don't find it remotely decent value for money. If you are absolutely loaded, and are not worried about vfm, then I dare say it wouldn't even cross your mind not to subscribe. If they had live F1 as well as Cycling, then I might have been tempted, but they don't, and if they did, they would of course increase the price even more, or likely make F1 a standalone product - like they could easily do with cycling IF they wanted to, which they do not. I'd love to be a fly on the wall to find out how many cancellations they have, and also find out what the subsequent uk viewing figures are for the 1 day races coming up, the Giro and of course the breakaway shows. I can't imagine it was ever massive, it's going to be down to 4 figures at the very most I would have thought after this debacle.
I know people who do watch NBA, but I do get your point. In the end TNT is a US company, or owned by one, so I bet the rights for these for them is minimal. I have to say the TdF no longer being on ITV is sickening as it will prevent those who aren't that into cycling at least getting a look at it, and potentially getting into the sport off the back of it. I think cycling at a professional level in the UK is going backwards fast. First the Tour de Yorkshire went, then Sky pulled out to be replaced as opening the team by INEOS (and have been thinking backwards ever since), and now this. At first having only a BT Sport subscription for rugby and football I was happy when I suddenly didn't have to pay extra to watch cycling (as Eurosport was then added), but the price hikes looks like Discovery/TNT are going up to complete against Sky. I bet on a few years this week falls apart as I don't think this will work for cycling. Apparently in the UK from next year TNT are getting the rights to the 6 Nations rugby union so they're obviously targeting what is currently on free to air TV. As I said I don't think this works for cycling I don't think it will help rugby union either.
I'm one of those people who simply don't pay the money they ask for. Be it football, icehockey, UFC, or bike racing. As long as people do, we will keep seeing mad price hikes and insane money made in sports. Lot's of free UA-cam content that can sustain me anyways.
TV coverage and TV money is destroying sport in general. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects team sponsorship. Lower viewing figures will see sponsors abandoning teams.
Cycling IS too expensive! And screw anybody that disagrees! Bikes that are how much? I can’t get a decent pair of shorts or a jersey for less than $100?! Shoes for $400? All you money baggers saying that it’s not expensive, just buy 105, just shut up already.
think you hit the nail on the head, being screwed by bike brands, bikes the same price as a car, and maintenance the same, the straw that broke the camels back, self inflicted by greed
You sound like someone that wants a Porsche but wants to spent the same amount as a fiat. But I agree it is a little too expensive overall. BUT you are NOT a professional and do not need the best gear. You can spend 1-2000$ on a bike and that’s perfectly fine. And yea I would drop the extra money on a bib because sometimes you can’t just beat quality. But saying screw anybody that disagrees makes you look like a child. Sorry if that hurts your feelings(but not really)
…if you are persuaded to buy the cycling gear. I don’t have a cycling jersey or jacket. I use sales and buy sports t shirts and jackets. UA is my favourite. Await sales to buy one pair of Giro Cycling shoes and cleats….£50. One pair mtb shoes from sport shoes….£39. One pair mtb shorts and one pair Altura trousers. £70 in total. Avoid the snobs.
In Australia we get free to air coverage on most of the classics, monuments and all grand tours on SBS (Special Broadcasting Station). The only major sport not free to air is association football (old man term) baseball and other American sports, although the NFL is free to air. Pretty lucky in this subscription age.
Shocking news, and I won't be subscribing to the new channel. If they had a model just for cycling as you suggested, then I would however pay for that.
Like many others, I’ve just cancelled my Discovery plus subscription. Paid £6.99 per month all winter and hadn’t had time to watch Alula, Tour Downunder, CX etc… so they were getting my money for nothing. But at £30 per month? No thanks. I can afford it. But it’s not good value, so I’m out.
Warner Bros don't care about cycling. They couldn't make enough money out of it. Capitalism is in deep crisis and we're all just getting chewed up by the big monopolies now.
There doing the same in America I no longer watch college or pro football, baseball or basketball. price of food and trying to hang on to my house. Watch cycling tape delay couple hrs.. So sad for younger generation. I'm 57 remember when everything was basically free
Was considering a discovery+ subscription recently for the cycling, definitely won’t be now. I’ll stick to the short highlights on UA-cam (if they will still be available). Thanks for raising the issue.
As far as I’m aware, we don’t even have an option to pay to watch cycling coverage in Australia. It’s the limited and ad filled SBS coverage or nothing. Big races are generally covered but a small fraction of what we used to have through GCN+.
They need to split the sports channels up instead of lumping them all together. It’s like going to the shop to buy some milk but you have to buy a trolley full of shitty fast food as well.
American racing is also at an all time low. Gravel is the replacement for road and crits. There are still crits but field sizes are anemic and races fewer and fewer
I’m 50 this year, on our group rides here in Michigan, I’d say the average age of our groups is 40…..probably 40+. It’s a sport (life style to me) that is not introduced to youth. If you can’t “arena” the sport you can’t make money so it has no capitalist market. It’s like art. I’m happy to be 50 and had that some older guys showed me the life style. It will disappear because there is no money in it.
GCN plus got me into watching bike racing. I feel like I was give a cheap hit to get me hooked into the sport. Now having to pay so much a month 😅 I never knew how good I had it.
It’s not just cycling or a few other fringe sports, this has happened to the entirety of the foundation of society and when we look around everything is in a very bad state as a result, we need a revolution to reestablish an order that worked for society
It’s really difficult as I’ve always watched cycling since the 1980’s I’ll pay no other choice but I’ve consolidated so I now don’t have Netflix or any of the others but…I do pay for UA-cam premium as it’s brilliant value for my streaming music and add free videos
Yes a massive blow. I started watching the Tour in the 80's on Ch4 which got me into cycle racing, and more recently I've loved sitting for hours listening to commentary and watching the scenery, esp in the mountain stages plus the obvious excitement of the race. I'm way beyond racing myself so watching has been great, but £31 a month.....no hope of paying that. One bit of fortune is that I pay for a VPN to watch Italian TV, and the Giro will still be watchable live on Rai 2 I hope. I'm wondering if the Tour will be on French TV where I will be able to watch but not understand.
Such a horrific price gouge. I'm working part tine as I transition to full time early retirement so I stream almost every race which appears on Eurosport. I don't have Netflix, Prime or any other subscriptions. Having gone from 20GBP a year with GCN+ to 7 pcm with Eurosport, 30pcm is incomprehensible. As you so rightly said, like most cycling fans I have no interest in watching cricket, tennis or football so there is no added bonus for me. I'm currently looking for "friends/family" to share my subscription with to share the financial load as the thought of losing the big one day races like the monuments or classics. I think TNT have messed up and will lose more than 60% of their current subscribers and a net loss from this action. FYI, I live in Canada so watching a race live is not financially sound.
Sorry to see this … D+ is still only 6€ per month in Germany, no notification that my so would assume the rest of the continent is similar. But I sense a storm coming…
I'm out..... will just not watch cycling anymore live. UK cycling seems to just get worse and worse. It's nearly done. British cycling need to do something or they won't be needed soon!
No free option to watch the Tour de France is just outrageous. I look forward to the spring classics and grand tours. I just couldn’t afford to pay for it at £30
It is a shock, David, thanks for reporting on this. And yes, UA-cam is my go-to for all things cycling, with a handful of websites and still clutching some magazines and books, love reading. And I have UA-cam Premium as a nod of appreciation to UA-cam and the no-ads does enhance the user experience, not to sound like a sales brochure. And racing comes in ten-thousands forms these days, no? I just read at Velonews that Phil Gaimon has set a big record up a climb in Hawaii and cool, good for him and cookie power. And I'll enjoy watching his video about it. And we can only wonder when Keegen is flying to Maui. It's my favorite soap opera, As the Cycling World Turns. 😀
Unfortunately David you are absolutely correct-basically the only sport I watch apart from the Olympics is cycling. I used to watch MotoGP on Eurosport-but the BTSport bought the rights to it and I would have to subscribe-but to get BT Sport being a Virgin Media customer I would have to take their top sports package to be able to add BT Sport-having absolutely NO interest in football I don’t subscribe so apart from going to watch the occasional race live I don’t get to see any racing. Looks like I will be going to France for my Tour fix!
I felt like I'd taken a punch to the gut when I read the terms. I've been a Eurosport fan since the early days when you could get it for free over analogue satellite, but have subscribed and paid for many years. The commentary and studio team are at the best in the field of sport and I would miss them dearly if I didn't cough up the money. Duffers must be turning in his grave. :(
Just booked for 4 of us to drive over and watch the Superprestige CX races at Middelkerke in February and even with the entry ticket, fuel and Eurotunnel it’s only just over £50 each. Means an early start but sure to be a great day.
100% agree that watching a race is awesome, I’ve been at a few cross races over the winter and the atmosphere is great. Really welcoming, community vibes. Maybe there’s more people at the amateur end can do to grow the sport again though - I get travel is expensive, but a few amateurs commentating some local races live would be great to see on UA-cam. No TV rights to worry about and engages the younger generation
This maybe of interest for those who are considering TNT sports . From what I've read ( and please correct me if im wrong ) you can get TNT sports slightly cheaper via - EE & BT broadband customers £20. Virgin Media package ( unsure what that means ) £18. EE mobile account £20. Also as most of the cycling is between March & September & there is no annual contract you could pay just for 6 months installments & then cancel in September. Still a massive increase from what we were previously paying . These are just my random thoughts for those considering TNT sports.
A few of my mates have dodgy boxes for watching TV on. They get every single sky channel plus more, in both HD and UHD for a single one off payment of £112 for the year 😮. I sometimes go around to watch the football and F1 live. And that’s what it’s come down to now and they only have themselves to blame. I know what I’m going to do 😉 Also, due to less viewers, the sponsors will start to pull out and the downward spiral will fully begin.
Yes cancelled D+ a few months ago, but was hoping to re-subscribe when the racing starts but wont be now at that price. Highlights are ok on UA-cam but not the same. Lantern Rouge sums up the main points but will miss watching grand tours in full.
I've watched nearly every stage of every Tour for 35 years straight on ITV's highlights... maybe watch the good stages live in the background while 'ahem' working. Genuinely gutted that this will no longer be a defining feature of Summer, it was one of my most favourite things in the world.. .the best event of the best sport in the world as I'll tell to anyone who's listening. At the same time, I'm not paying some soulless MegaCorp a penny to watch it on subscription. Very sucky.
If, as seems highly likely, this leads to a significant drop in the audience for the sport, I can't imagine the sponsors of teams will be thrilled at the diminishing exposure they are getting. Cycling operates on a very different funding model compared to football etc and this can only discourage sponsors for whom TV exposure is the principal benefit.
Growing up in the 80's riding a road bike in the UK was quite a niche thing to be doing. With, Tour highlights being all the cycling ever broadcast, cycling had little profile. All leading to little interest in bikes. Never thought we'd head that way again.
I would recommend a first time spectator to goto a criterium or track race, as they will see more action and have more idea of what's going on vs a long road race where they will be in and out of the car chasing the peleton and finding new areas to park and spectate every few minutes
Can't blame Discovery+. They're just following bike brands, wheel manufacturers, bike clothing companies and bike parts manufacturers. They've all been ripping off cyclists for years.
Be interesting to understand WB's stance on why this pricing is only for UK/Eire, while EU remains as is? But yeah - another "walk with your wallet" from me. There's price increases and then there's price increases..
Cost us in NZ beyond $75NZD (£34) per month for Sky, and we get bugger all events. Wish UCI (or whoever owns the cycling events) did something similar to F1TV, and just had a global subscription service
Shame, cycle racing was one of the few sports left on the TV that I still watched but not paying £31 a month to watch it. I appreciate you get more sports than just cycling for that but just not interested enough in the other sports to justify the cost unfortunately .... just cancelled subscription with Discovery+ like many others here
it was GBP 6.99 in UK on discovery+ , which DIDNT include football,but now moving to TNT where you have to buy Premium package which includes Premier League football
I appreciate that watching cycling live is free but it would be cheaper to subscribe to that greedy service TNT. I'm sorry but that was just a silly thing to say regarding just travelling to France, Spain, Belgium... thats just realistic at all for pretty much every body. GCN+ was the best thing since sliced bread. This is definitely the end of a dream for most cycling fans. Now only a limited audience will get to watch it. Its definitely a sad time for UK cycling fans.
So true in what you say. We've been subscribers at seven quid a month for the last few years, but we aren't going to support over-paid prima-donna footballers. Cancelled subscription to Disc+ today.
Totally agree, rubbish pricing and bundling David, cycling fans have been shafted. It seems these decisions have been made in boardrooms in America and not with a great understanding of the UK market for cycling fans. I’m sure TNT will see the viewing figures and make a change but that might take a few years yet. The Tour should definitely be on terrestrial TV. I do disagree that cycling fans only want to watch cycling though. Football, rugby union, cricket, athletics are all appealing for me, I’m sure many of your viewers have a second or third sport and many cyclists come to the sport after trying others. £31 x12 = £372… you could plan a good Tour de France trip with that and watch it on the roadside with great food and wine close by. Anecdotally, the price of watching football in a PL stadium is going up and up (most expensive is now £141 for Arsenal and £160 at Fulham) and it’s all on Sky/TNT. Six Nations tickets are £120-£200 but it’s on BBC/ITV. Centre Court tickets at Wimbledon start at £105 but it’s on BBC. Lord’s is £90-£175 to watch England vs India tests and as you point out cricket is in a participation rut and on Sky (with excellent coverage).
Basically taking us back to the early eighties and World of Sport. Greedy bar stewards. Now, to start brushing up on my Flemish ready for Opening Weekend...
Like others, I have no interest in watching other sports alongside cycling, so paying £30 a month is a non-starter 😢 Incidently the annual cost is more than my car insurance AND the combined cost of gym membership for my wife and I. Crazy!
We have antisiphoning laws for sports in Australia. Some does get paywalled. SBS is a national free to air that has the TDF until 2030 but who knows what will happen here as cycling isn’t considered a home sport. Warner Brothers Discovery are the parent company and are apparently launching HBO Max here. This could be a victim. But £31 is AUS$60 is very expensive with only cable TV approaching this so the market simply wouldn’t support it and the service would fail.
Cancelled D+ sub yesterday - feel like I and the sport are being screwed so yet another big company can make more money. will still watch all the races i can, just elsewhere
But when people pay the fees then it encourages these companies to price like this . When our local channels lost the cover for F1 and gp it was easy for me to stop watching the sports and do other stuff
Bike racing isn't free in real life, unless one happens to fly past your front door, or there is a crit in your area; unless there are ways of travelling abroad to Belgium, France, Spain, Italy etc. that I'm not aware of🤔
Hi David, just been watching your video Cycling Fans Just Screwed. I have some good news for you! I upgraded my Discovery+ subscription to Premium £30.99, had second thoughts think an offer might be available at my next payment date mid February so cancelled it. Part of the cancellation process was an offer of 50% reduction to £15.49 for 7 months. That´s much more like it.. happy with that! See how it goes until mid September. Be slightly careful though as the £6.99 monthly renewal was renewed to £3.99 for me from mid Feb yet I was charged £27.00 immediately which wasn´t reimbursed. So I ought to have waited to cancel the day before my next monthly payment was due. Apart from that, hopefully you can do even better than I did! Cheers for your videos postings I like to view and give a thumbs up 👍.
Much of the same here in Canada. Flobikes is the only option. $205/year or $40/month to watch. Absolutely gross. I might pay $40 for one month to watch the tour, but the whole year cost, no thanks.
You could see this coming from a mile off. Arguably cycling coverage has had its Golden Era over the last ~5yrs. Both with Eurosport & GCN+. Niche channels with high retention and a committed used base. WB looked on with envy. The buyout and subsequent dismantling is pure avarice and asset stripping. They won't care.They're going to do the same to rugby by snaffling the SixNations.
I have already succumbed to paying for TNT for the MotoGP and UFC coverage, but this is a pretty shit move all round. So much is split into individual subscriptions and it just seems to be getting worse.
I predict this will backfire as advertising dwindles due to a lack of audience willing to pay £30/mo. Then, they will reduce it to £25, hoping that fans won't notice the overall increase but enjoy a perceived discount. That will work for a few weeks until they drop it down to £15. 🔮
Cynical move by Discovery. They chewed up GCN+ and spat them out, they bought up Wheeler Dealers and wrecked that too (I'm a petrol head as well as ex 1st. Cat rider) and now this. They're everything that's bad about Corporate America, buy up all your stuff, wreck it or simply price you out of it. Interested to know what will now happen to Eurosport which is part of your Virgin or Sky package. Will they simply pull it, so you're forced to consider paying to stream it? At £31 a month, that's a **** off from me.
In the UK and Ireland, Eurosport as we know it will be no more. It will be rebranded under TNT Sports which will become the new subscription service at a cost of 30 odd quid a month.
Just canceled discovery plus. I wrote in the reason section “only want to watch cycling and £30 is a disgrace”
Same. Just cancelled too.
Me too
And me.
Me too. And now they're not even getting the 6.99... Multiply that by all the cancellations. 👎👎
Same here. Was thinking of looking into getting a VPN to watch France, Italian Belgian TV and catching the races that way,
Cancelled D+ yesterday. I don’t want to watch football and defo do not want to be paying for others to watch football!
😂
See above. I got an offer of 50% discount for 7 months. Happy with that.
One thing this will really do to the sport is bring pirating or illegal streaming to it.
People genuinely do not mind, in fact they are willing to pay for something they enjoy (GCN +). But if the price is too high, well, you know what happens.
You have perfectly summarised all the negatives that this will bring to the sport. GCN + was incredible. I watched practically every race highlights (men and women’s)
Because it was so easy to and I was happy to pay for it.
Great video David!
I bloody hope so. 😊
Yep. I've never pirated any sport coverage but I now fully intend to!
Perfectly put good sir
See above. I got an offer of 50% discount for 7 months. Happy with that.
GCN+ was good while it lasted. Now I'm paying more than 250CAD to watch this new season on Flobikes. That's almost half what a complete cable subscription costs in Canada for a year. I guess I really love cycling because that's prohibitive.
SBS On Demand in Australia still broadcasts many of the major cycling races - such as Monuments, one week stage races and Grand Tours - live and for free. You do have to register, which is free, and then use a VPN to view the content if located outside that country.
Which is true, but the point is 11 year old Billy Velo isn’t going to be able to do that when they get home from work unless mum and dad have this expensive service.
@@NeilLavitt NordVPN £2.59 a month..
SBS dont show all races just the hipster ones. The. You have so many ads at the wrong times too.
@ you’re the target audience then - you don’t want ads, pay £31 if you’re in the UK.
@@NeilLavitt Trust me 11 year old Billy knows how to get VPN services for free, or the parents already have a dodgy fire stick with TNT already to go.
I've cancelled D+. Less watching a screen, more time for actual cycling.
😂
See above. I got an offer of 50% discount for 7 months. Happy with that.
£30 a month ... no thanks ... like most I am sure ... already pay for TV licence, Sky, Netflix, Disney+, etc .... have to draw the line somewhere
Agree but I contacted Sky to cancel my Sky Sports package. The discussions ended up with me keeping Sky Sports and getting a £35 reduction per month, so I have covered my additional Discovery+ costs.
Cancelled my D+ subscription this very morning. Sick of being gouged.
Did the same with Strava after they increased fees and stated i now had access to new features.
I didn’t want the new features, cancelled.
Looking pretty hard at all streamed services for value.
@@themcguires3562 Mywoosh is the way to go - for now at least
Cancelled Discovery + definitely not paying £30 a month. So for the first time since the early 80’s can’t watch the tour it’s an absolute disgrace. The early days on channel four got myself and lots of mates into cycling. Greed is destroying too many sports now, it’s just so depressing.
oh yes, channel 4 6:30 pm highlights...i made my family watch it Stephen Roche doing epic things...totally got me into cycling and hooked
Totally agree. I'm not fuelling someone else's pockets.
I'll miss it, but hey ho...
You Superstar! Many thanks for bringing this to our attention at the time that you have. I’ve just cancelled my subscription 2 days before renewal. For sure, I’ll no longer be watching live cycling, a sad moment indeed, but I ain’t paying £30+ per month!
You would have got an email from Discovery+ about 4-5 days ago.
Cancelling Discovery+. I've no interest in watching any sports other than CX, Gravel & Road Cycling. Not for £31 a month, though!
Use a VPN and set it to the USA. CX World Cup is live and free here on YT, for "American" viewers. NBC, here on YT, does nice highlights for grand tours. 30+ minutes for big stages. Shouldn't have to but......
Thanks for the video , I didn't know the price would be £30 , I have no interest in other sports just Cycling
Use a VPN and watch through Belgium or the Netherlands?
Wouldn’t take the Netherlands! Belgium + tiz will cover most if not all of the races and cx. Dutch won’t broadcast whenever there is football / ice skating…
RAI in Italy seems promising
Greed, greed, greed, greed! Boycott them and they will soon lower the price.
Sadly, we are a very small part of their audience so I don't see any backpedaling on their side.
This situation highlights what is wrong with the American system of unrestricted capitalism - it simply promotes, greed, greed and more greed. I have for the past few years watched the three Grand Tours via Eurosport / Discovery - which for me, did represent good value but if the price is being raised to £30, then forget it. I'll seek out other ways to watch the Grand Tours and do so without putting even more of my money into the pockets of greedy TNT directors!!
@@julianallen515 so…who else watches cycling apart from cycling fans? Or do you mean cycling being a part of an expensive streaming bundle?
I am not that optimistic, but we’ll see what happens when their rights deal expires, but Inthink it’s at least 6 years.
@@joooohan Exactly.
The broadcasting companies think we’re all riding 10k bikes so they think we can easily pay £30 a month . They can jog on
It does feel like the GB cycling boom of the late 2000s into the middle of 2010s is well and truly dead :(
Totally agree with you.
Yeah, only interested when britts are winning. Shitty fan base.
Yes. Anglo-Saxon culture has never embraced cycling. I'm going watch Formula 1, get rid of my bikes and buy a pick up truck. If you can't beat em, join em.
Absolutely
@@repo4they are still winning - Pidcock won today.
"Watching a cycle race is free. Just head to Belgium or France..." Hmm yeah, I reckon my travel and accommodation costs would largely exceed the TNT sub. 😆😆
Right? just spend several thousand dollars in airline and hotel fees and voila....who needs a 30 pound subscription smh
And you just get to see them fly past, hardly the same as watching a full stage on TV.
Don’t forget your visum, long life brexit 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Just ride to France bro
Watched my 1st TDF last year. Every stage and I loved the coverage and it did inspire me to ride more and I did. Disappointing to say the least.
Gutted to see this news, I had the old GCN membership, once I bought 12 months for £1.99, but then latterly I was more than happy with £19.99/£39.99 per year. When it went to £6.99 monthly, I just chose the months I wanted, and it was going to be £42 - £49 for the year, again more than happy with that, and with the exception of some of their commentators, I very much enjoyed the coverage, and no ads on the right feeds.
I'm a member of a club, and several forums, and swathes of us have already cancelled, I haven't heard one person say they will continue with the £31 monthly cost.
I can see if there were LOTS of sports on there you followed, AND you were retired and had ample time on your hand you could maybe justify it, but I'm not in that camp, I don't have the extra time, and I don't have any interest in any of the other sports they are offering.
I hope they have been unpleasantly surprised by the volume of cancellations they will have had, not that I expect them to do anything about it, as it would be admitting they were wrong, and let's be honest, they genuinely won't care.
My prediction is that viewing figures from the uk for cycling will plummet, and then in a couple of years they will hopefully sell it off to someone who can offer it at a reasonable price.
As to what it will do to attracting children to the sports, and finding new viewers, well totally, this is going to only have a negative effect, but the people lining their pockets at warner will not care one jot.
Like others, I left plenty of feedback in my exit survey as to why I was going - doubt they read them though, too busy counting their cash probably.
Dan I am retired and even with a company pension £30.99 is just extortionate in my opinion.
@@2wheelsrbest327 agreed, I think most people even if they can afford it, and I suppose most of us probably could if we REALLY wanted to, simply don't find it remotely decent value for money.
If you are absolutely loaded, and are not worried about vfm, then I dare say it wouldn't even cross your mind not to subscribe.
If they had live F1 as well as Cycling, then I might have been tempted, but they don't, and if they did, they would of course increase the price even more, or likely make F1 a standalone product - like they could easily do with cycling IF they wanted to, which they do not. I'd love to be a fly on the wall to find out how many cancellations they have, and also find out what the subsequent uk viewing figures are for the 1 day races coming up, the Giro and of course the breakaway shows. I can't imagine it was ever massive, it's going to be down to 4 figures at the very most I would have thought after this debacle.
Cancelled my Discover+ yesterday. £31 a month is too much. I only watch cycling and I'm not interested in any of the other sports.
Nobody in the UK wants to watch Shitty American Basketball, NFL or Baseball. They haven’t a clue about Cycle racing .
I'm a Canadian and I agree, I'm sick and tired with American Sports and the "we are the best country" attitude. My DNA is from Europe.
American here from New Orleans living in Toulouse France...I definitely agree! 💯
I know people who do watch NBA, but I do get your point. In the end TNT is a US company, or owned by one, so I bet the rights for these for them is minimal. I have to say the TdF no longer being on ITV is sickening as it will prevent those who aren't that into cycling at least getting a look at it, and potentially getting into the sport off the back of it.
I think cycling at a professional level in the UK is going backwards fast. First the Tour de Yorkshire went, then Sky pulled out to be replaced as opening the team by INEOS (and have been thinking backwards ever since), and now this. At first having only a BT Sport subscription for rugby and football I was happy when I suddenly didn't have to pay extra to watch cycling (as Eurosport was then added), but the price hikes looks like Discovery/TNT are going up to complete against Sky. I bet on a few years this week falls apart as I don't think this will work for cycling.
Apparently in the UK from next year TNT are getting the rights to the 6 Nations rugby union so they're obviously targeting what is currently on free to air TV. As I said I don't think this works for cycling I don't think it will help rugby union either.
I'm one of those people who simply don't pay the money they ask for. Be it football, icehockey, UFC, or bike racing. As long as people do, we will keep seeing mad price hikes and insane money made in sports. Lot's of free UA-cam content that can sustain me anyways.
TV coverage and TV money is destroying sport in general. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects team sponsorship. Lower viewing figures will see sponsors abandoning teams.
If only it was possible to download VPN software and use it to watch for free in another english speaking country...
There are DNS spoofing services that work just as well.
Cycling IS too expensive! And screw anybody that disagrees! Bikes that are how much? I can’t get a decent pair of shorts or a jersey for less than $100?! Shoes for $400? All you money baggers saying that it’s not expensive, just buy 105, just shut up already.
think you hit the nail on the head, being screwed by bike brands, bikes the same price as a car, and maintenance the same, the straw that broke the camels back, self inflicted by greed
You sound like someone that wants a Porsche but wants to spent the same amount as a fiat. But I agree it is a little too expensive overall. BUT you are NOT a professional and do not need the best gear. You can spend 1-2000$ on a bike and that’s perfectly fine. And yea I would drop the extra money on a bib because sometimes you can’t just beat quality. But saying screw anybody that disagrees makes you look like a child. Sorry if that hurts your feelings(but not really)
…if you are persuaded to buy the cycling gear.
I don’t have a cycling jersey or jacket. I use sales and buy sports t shirts and jackets. UA is my favourite.
Await sales to buy one pair of Giro Cycling shoes and cleats….£50. One pair mtb shoes from sport shoes….£39.
One pair mtb shorts and one pair Altura trousers. £70 in total. Avoid the snobs.
In Australia we get free to air coverage on most of the classics, monuments and all grand tours on SBS (Special Broadcasting Station). The only major sport not free to air is association football (old man term) baseball and other American sports, although the NFL is free to air. Pretty lucky in this subscription age.
Shocking news, and I won't be subscribing to the new channel. If they had a model just for cycling as you suggested, then I would however pay for that.
They did but they moved cycling out of the lower tier into the higher one.
I stopped when GCN+ closed. Eurosport and D+ were too expensive.
its out outrageous, nearly all my cycling friends have cancelled their subscriptions
Cancelled my subscription the minute I got the e-mail
Me as well.
Like many others, I’ve just cancelled my Discovery plus subscription. Paid £6.99 per month all winter and hadn’t had time to watch Alula, Tour Downunder, CX etc… so they were getting my money for nothing. But at £30 per month? No thanks. I can afford it. But it’s not good value, so I’m out.
Wildest increase I've ever seen, I wonder if they'll blink when they see that noone is watching?
no one watches cycling anyway
Warner Bros don't care about cycling. They couldn't make enough money out of it. Capitalism is in deep crisis and we're all just getting chewed up by the big monopolies now.
There doing the same in America I no longer watch college or pro football, baseball or basketball. price of food and trying to hang on to my house. Watch cycling tape delay couple hrs.. So sad for younger generation. I'm 57 remember when everything was basically free
Was considering a discovery+ subscription recently for the cycling, definitely won’t be now. I’ll stick to the short highlights on UA-cam (if they will still be available). Thanks for raising the issue.
I love watching the big tours but it’s dead at £31 it will go same way as WRC this is a terrible day for cycling
As far as I’m aware, we don’t even have an option to pay to watch cycling coverage in Australia. It’s the limited and ad filled SBS coverage or nothing. Big races are generally covered but a small fraction of what we used to have through GCN+.
Tiz time to watch elsewhere
iykyk
It always was. Giving money to companies like WBD goes against my principles.
They need to split the sports channels up instead of lumping them all together. It’s like going to the shop to buy some milk but you have to buy a trolley full of shitty fast food as well.
American racing is also at an all time low. Gravel is the replacement for road and crits. There are still crits but field sizes are anemic and races fewer and fewer
I’m 50 this year, on our group rides here in Michigan, I’d say the average age of our groups is 40…..probably 40+. It’s a sport (life style to me) that is not introduced to youth. If you can’t “arena” the sport you can’t make money so it has no capitalist market. It’s like art. I’m happy to be 50 and had that some older guys showed me the life style. It will disappear because there is no money in it.
GCN plus got me into watching bike racing. I feel like I was give a cheap hit to get me hooked into the sport. Now having to pay so much a month 😅 I never knew how good I had it.
i only watch CX, XCO and DH on Discovery+, nothing else, i'm not paying £31 for that. The CX season is almost over i'll cancel my sub after that.
One thing if TdF goes to TNT, I hope we'll still get the funeral home adverts every 5 minutes like we did with ITV4 in the afternoon....😀
It’s not just cycling or a few other fringe sports, this has happened to the entirety of the foundation of society and when we look around everything is in a very bad state as a result, we need a revolution to reestablish an order that worked for society
time to sail the high seas! and a bottle of rum
ahoy matey, let us raise the jolly roger together and sail the seas as free men!
It’s really difficult as I’ve always watched cycling since the 1980’s I’ll pay no other choice but I’ve consolidated so I now don’t have Netflix or any of the others but…I do pay for UA-cam premium as it’s brilliant value for my streaming music and add free videos
Yes a massive blow. I started watching the Tour in the 80's on Ch4 which got me into cycle racing, and more recently I've loved sitting for hours listening to commentary and watching the scenery, esp in the mountain stages plus the obvious excitement of the race. I'm way beyond racing myself so watching has been great, but £31 a month.....no hope of paying that. One bit of fortune is that I pay for a VPN to watch Italian TV, and the Giro will still be watchable live on Rai 2 I hope. I'm wondering if the Tour will be on French TV where I will be able to watch but not understand.
Agree re cricket and F1. Gutted to hear no TdF on ITV4 this year 😢
TdF will still be shown on ITV this year but not from 2026 😢
@@darylv49 I understand it’s just the highlights being show this year,not the live footage then nothing at all next year.
Such a horrific price gouge. I'm working part tine as I transition to full time early retirement so I stream almost every race which appears on Eurosport. I don't have Netflix, Prime or any other subscriptions. Having gone from 20GBP a year with GCN+ to 7 pcm with Eurosport, 30pcm is incomprehensible. As you so rightly said, like most cycling fans I have no interest in watching cricket, tennis or football so there is no added bonus for me.
I'm currently looking for "friends/family" to share my subscription with to share the financial load as the thought of losing the big one day races like the monuments or classics. I think TNT have messed up and will lose more than 60% of their current subscribers and a net loss from this action.
FYI, I live in Canada so watching a race live is not financially sound.
My Mum will miss the skiing too
Greed... sick of it.
Sorry to see this … D+ is still only 6€ per month in Germany, no notification that my so would assume the rest of the continent is similar. But I sense a storm coming…
It’s just in the UK, Eurosport is still going to be available in the rest of Europe.
Same for those that also like 2 wheels and an engine. Hundreds of hours of free coverage of BSB and WSBK all gone to subscription.
I'm out..... will just not watch cycling anymore live. UK cycling seems to just get worse and worse. It's nearly done. British cycling need to do something or they won't be needed soon!
No free option to watch the Tour de France is just outrageous. I look forward to the spring classics and grand tours. I just couldn’t afford to pay for it at £30
It is a shock, David, thanks for reporting on this. And yes, UA-cam is my go-to for all things cycling, with a handful of websites and still clutching some magazines and books, love reading. And I have UA-cam Premium as a nod of appreciation to UA-cam and the no-ads does enhance the user experience, not to sound like a sales brochure. And racing comes in ten-thousands forms these days, no? I just read at Velonews that Phil Gaimon has set a big record up a climb in Hawaii and cool, good for him and cookie power. And I'll enjoy watching his video about it. And we can only wonder when Keegen is flying to Maui. It's my favorite soap opera, As the Cycling World Turns. 😀
Man if only they had a UCI channel a 10$ a month or something.
UCI don't own the races.
Unfortunately David you are absolutely correct-basically the only sport I watch apart from the Olympics is cycling. I used to watch MotoGP on Eurosport-but the BTSport bought the rights to it and I would have to subscribe-but to get BT Sport being a Virgin Media customer I would have to take their top sports package to be able to add BT Sport-having absolutely NO interest in football I don’t subscribe so apart from going to watch the occasional race live I don’t get to see any racing. Looks like I will be going to France for my Tour fix!
I felt like I'd taken a punch to the gut when I read the terms. I've been a Eurosport fan since the early days when you could get it for free over analogue satellite, but have subscribed and paid for many years. The commentary and studio team are at the best in the field of sport and I would miss them dearly if I didn't cough up the money.
Duffers must be turning in his grave. :(
Everybody go get those dodgey fire sticks ✅😂
Just booked for 4 of us to drive over and watch the Superprestige CX races at Middelkerke in February and even with the entry ticket, fuel and Eurotunnel it’s only just over £50 each. Means an early start but sure to be a great day.
100% agree that watching a race is awesome, I’ve been at a few cross races over the winter and the atmosphere is great. Really welcoming, community vibes. Maybe there’s more people at the amateur end can do to grow the sport again though - I get travel is expensive, but a few amateurs commentating some local races live would be great to see on UA-cam. No TV rights to worry about and engages the younger generation
This maybe of interest for those who are considering TNT sports .
From what I've read ( and please correct me if im wrong ) you can get TNT sports slightly cheaper via -
EE & BT broadband customers £20.
Virgin Media package ( unsure what that means ) £18.
EE mobile account £20.
Also as most of the cycling is between March & September & there is no annual contract you could pay just for 6 months installments & then cancel in September.
Still a massive increase from what we were previously paying . These are just my random thoughts for those considering TNT sports.
A few of my mates have dodgy boxes for watching TV on. They get every single sky channel plus more, in both HD and UHD for a single one off payment of £112 for the year 😮. I sometimes go around to watch the football and F1 live. And that’s what it’s come down to now and they only have themselves to blame. I know what I’m going to do 😉
Also, due to less viewers, the sponsors will start to pull out and the downward spiral will fully begin.
Terrible news, I loved Eurosport as it currently is/was. Can't afford £31 a month!
Yes cancelled D+ a few months ago, but was hoping to re-subscribe when the racing starts but wont be now at that price. Highlights are ok on UA-cam but not the same. Lantern Rouge sums up the main points but will miss watching grand tours in full.
I've watched nearly every stage of every Tour for 35 years straight on ITV's highlights... maybe watch the good stages live in the background while 'ahem' working. Genuinely gutted that this will no longer be a defining feature of Summer, it was one of my most favourite things in the world.. .the best event of the best sport in the world as I'll tell to anyone who's listening. At the same time, I'm not paying some soulless MegaCorp a penny to watch it on subscription. Very sucky.
If, as seems highly likely, this leads to a significant drop in the audience for the sport, I can't imagine the sponsors of teams will be thrilled at the diminishing exposure they are getting. Cycling operates on a very different funding model compared to football etc and this can only discourage sponsors for whom TV exposure is the principal benefit.
Growing up in the 80's riding a road bike in the UK was quite a niche thing to be doing. With, Tour highlights being all the cycling ever broadcast, cycling had little profile. All leading to little interest in bikes. Never thought we'd head that way again.
I would recommend a first time spectator to goto a criterium or track race, as they will see more action and have more idea of what's going on vs a long road race where they will be in and out of the car chasing the peleton and finding new areas to park and spectate every few minutes
Why are they doing it to UK and Ireland only? Price increase does not apply to 50+ countries.
possbly using us as a test bed to see the reaction before rolling out to other countries? I am puzzled to be honest.
Can't blame Discovery+. They're just following bike brands, wheel manufacturers, bike clothing companies and bike parts manufacturers. They've all been ripping off cyclists for years.
Welcome to cycle viewing in the USA
Be interesting to understand WB's stance on why this pricing is only for UK/Eire, while EU remains as is? But yeah - another "walk with your wallet" from me. There's price increases and then there's price increases..
Cost us in NZ beyond $75NZD (£34) per month for Sky, and we get bugger all events. Wish UCI (or whoever owns the cycling events) did something similar to F1TV, and just had a global subscription service
I live in Canada, cycling costs a small fortune to watch, I cancelled years ago.
As a Canadian, I find that the American companies are a major problem with these price hikes, booo America Greed.
Shame, cycle racing was one of the few sports left on the TV that I still watched but not paying £31 a month to watch it. I appreciate you get more sports than just cycling for that but just not interested enough in the other sports to justify the cost unfortunately .... just cancelled subscription with Discovery+ like many others here
Discovery+ is 5,99€ per month here in Germany. Why the heck is it 30£ a month in UK!?
it was GBP 6.99 in UK on discovery+ , which DIDNT include football,but now moving to TNT where you have to buy Premium package which includes Premier League football
This has just been announced. The price for discovery+ app was £6.99 a month. In February it is going to be £30.99 a month.
They desperately need subscribers to pay for the expensive football rights. Cheap illegal streaming boxes have become very popular...
Can you get the English commentary on the German Discovery+?
I appreciate that watching cycling live is free but it would be cheaper to subscribe to that greedy service TNT. I'm sorry but that was just a silly thing to say regarding just travelling to France, Spain, Belgium... thats just realistic at all for pretty much every body.
GCN+ was the best thing since sliced bread. This is definitely the end of a dream for most cycling fans. Now only a limited audience will get to watch it. Its definitely a sad time for UK cycling fans.
can we watch for free using a VPN to makes us appear as non UK based viewers?
So true in what you say. We've been subscribers at seven quid a month for the last few years, but we aren't going to support over-paid prima-donna footballers. Cancelled subscription to Disc+ today.
Totally agree, rubbish pricing and bundling David, cycling fans have been shafted. It seems these decisions have been made in boardrooms in America and not with a great understanding of the UK market for cycling fans. I’m sure TNT will see the viewing figures and make a change but that might take a few years yet. The Tour should definitely be on terrestrial TV. I do disagree that cycling fans only want to watch cycling though. Football, rugby union, cricket, athletics are all appealing for me, I’m sure many of your viewers have a second or third sport and many cyclists come to the sport after trying others. £31 x12 = £372… you could plan a good Tour de France trip with that and watch it on the roadside with great food and wine close by. Anecdotally, the price of watching football in a PL stadium is going up and up (most expensive is now £141 for Arsenal and £160 at Fulham) and it’s all on Sky/TNT. Six Nations tickets are £120-£200 but it’s on BBC/ITV. Centre Court tickets at Wimbledon start at £105 but it’s on BBC. Lord’s is £90-£175 to watch England vs India tests and as you point out cricket is in a participation rut and on Sky (with excellent coverage).
Basically taking us back to the early eighties and World of Sport. Greedy bar stewards. Now, to start brushing up on my Flemish ready for Opening Weekend...
I might be missing out on lots of content but I only pay the TV licence fee, no other subscriptions whatsoever, but I’m totally happy with that.
All I ever watch are channels like David Arthur, GCN etc. That is plenty good enough for me.
In my country,health and safety regulations have put organisers off holding races due to regulations and costs
Like others, I have no interest in watching other sports alongside cycling, so paying £30 a month is a non-starter 😢 Incidently the annual cost is more than my car insurance AND the combined cost of gym membership for my wife and I. Crazy!
Greedy, money making companies always ruin any sport they get their hands on and sadly it is now the turn of cycling
I find that the American companies are a major problem with these price hikes, booo America.
We have antisiphoning laws for sports in Australia. Some does get paywalled. SBS is a national free to air that has the TDF until 2030 but who knows what will happen here as cycling isn’t considered a home sport. Warner Brothers Discovery are the parent company and are apparently launching HBO Max here. This could be a victim. But £31 is AUS$60 is very expensive with only cable TV approaching this so the market simply wouldn’t support it and the service would fail.
You make a great point in the video. I grew up watching the TDF. It inspired me to ride bikes. How do we inspire this generation?
Isn't HBO Max available in the UK? Hope they will still have cycling coverage here in France in 2025.
Cancelled D+ sub yesterday - feel like I and the sport are being screwed so yet another big company can make more money. will still watch all the races i can, just elsewhere
But when people pay the fees then it encourages these companies to price like this .
When our local channels lost the cover for F1 and gp it was easy for me to stop watching the sports and do other stuff
Bike racing isn't free in real life, unless one happens to fly past your front door, or there is a crit in your area; unless there are ways of travelling abroad to Belgium, France, Spain, Italy etc. that I'm not aware of🤔
Exactly. Silly comment he made.
Hi David, just been watching your video Cycling Fans Just Screwed. I have some good news for you! I upgraded my Discovery+ subscription to Premium £30.99, had second thoughts think an offer might be available at my next payment date mid February so cancelled it. Part of the cancellation process was an offer of 50% reduction to £15.49 for 7 months. That´s much more like it.. happy with that! See how it goes until mid September. Be slightly careful though as the £6.99 monthly renewal was renewed to £3.99 for me from mid Feb yet I was charged £27.00 immediately which wasn´t reimbursed. So I ought to have waited to cancel the day before my next monthly payment was due. Apart from that, hopefully you can do even better than I did! Cheers for your videos postings I like to view and give a thumbs up 👍.
Much of the same here in Canada. Flobikes is the only option. $205/year or $40/month to watch. Absolutely gross. I might pay $40 for one month to watch the tour, but the whole year cost, no thanks.
You could see this coming from a mile off. Arguably cycling coverage has had its Golden Era over the last ~5yrs. Both with Eurosport & GCN+. Niche channels with high retention and a committed used base. WB looked on with envy. The buyout and subsequent dismantling is pure avarice and asset stripping. They won't care.They're going to do the same to rugby by snaffling the SixNations.
I have already succumbed to paying for TNT for the MotoGP and UFC coverage, but this is a pretty shit move all round. So much is split into individual subscriptions and it just seems to be getting worse.
This is really bad for the sport in the UK. Understand why they would put the prices up a bit this year but that’s a proper shame.
I predict this will backfire as advertising dwindles due to a lack of audience willing to pay £30/mo. Then, they will reduce it to £25, hoping that fans won't notice the overall increase but enjoy a perceived discount. That will work for a few weeks until they drop it down to £15. 🔮
Cynical move by Discovery. They chewed up GCN+ and spat them out, they bought up Wheeler Dealers and wrecked that too (I'm a petrol head as well as ex 1st. Cat rider) and now this.
They're everything that's bad about Corporate America, buy up all your stuff, wreck it or simply price you out of it.
Interested to know what will now happen to Eurosport which is part of your Virgin or Sky package. Will they simply pull it, so you're forced to consider paying to stream it? At £31 a month, that's a **** off from me.
I think it will just vanish from Virgin. Not seen anything yet from them though. Will probably cancel my Virgin TV package at the same time though.
Yes it'll just go from Sky and you'll need to cough the £31 pm
In the UK and Ireland, Eurosport as we know it will be no more. It will be rebranded under TNT Sports which will become the new subscription service at a cost of 30 odd quid a month.