Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Freewheeling => Racing => Topic started by: MattH on 20 February, 2021, 10:08:38 am
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Just a heads up that GCN have expanded their "race pass" offering to include a load of films. So in addition to being able to watch a whole load of racing either live or catch up - for example UAE tour starts tomorrow, Tour de la Provence is sitting there to watch, as is a load of CX and older races. Kuurne Brussels Kuurne coming up, plus Le Samyn, Strade Bianche (mens and women's for both), Paris Nice etc. All ad free.
They've also got commissioned a load of one hour plus films, with more promised. These can be documentaries - e.g. an in depth look and interview with Colnago, or looking at individual top level cyclists, to record attempts (hour record on an ordinary) or adventure type films. Riding Tour de France stages with 1903 equipment. Climbing a mountain in Chile with bicycles in order to do a 300km descent to the coast - with all the acclimitisation etc needed to do that. 80 days to cycle around the world. They are aiming to put 24 new ones of these up this year.
It's pretty good stuff, and on offer at £19.99 for a year if you get in before the end of February. We'd been happy with that for the racing alone, the extras are a nice bonus.
https://welcome.globalcyclingnetwork.com/gcnplus_en
https://plus.globalcyclingnetwork.com/browse
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What platforms are they on?
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Android and iPhone, plus you can just use a web browser.
I use the Android app, plus Chrome on a MacBook. Both stream to a chromecast connected to my telly.
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Their own app/website
As Matt says, their introductory £20 for the race pass plus some interesting docs (I liked Mark Beaumont's RTW two partner) is a good deal.
[XP]
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Very closely linked to Eurosport which is no bad thing.
Unfortunately there seem to be some licensing issues with some, especially Belgian , race organisers. This applies equally to Eurosport of course. I think it might be the “ Flanders Classics” organisation.
If I didn’t subscribe to Eurosport App I’d definitely be signing up.
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Mark Beaumont pinched one of my Legend segments when he did that Shortest day thing with Hank. The start point of their ride is 7 miles from here and boasts my favorite cafe stop, not least because the 7 miles home are downhill.
(https://i.ibb.co/hDrnQfh/20200711-144855-01.jpg) (https://ibb.co/f4ZK6vB)
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I’m already subscribed to Eurosport as there’s an app for the Amazon firestick. I’ll see if there’s a GCN app also. The Eurosport subscription was due to run out this month but because of covid, they’ve given me a few extra months free.
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Very closely linked to Eurosport which is no bad thing.
Unfortunately there seem to be some licensing issues with some, especially Belgian , race organisers. This applies equally to Eurosport of course. I think it might be the “ Flanders Classics” organisation.
If I didn’t subscribe to Eurosport App I’d definitely be signing up.
Excellent news, the licensing issues seem to have been resolved- Nieuwsblad is going to be on the Eurosport/GCN feed.
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And with KBK on Sunday, it's going to be a busy (horizontal) weekend!
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Just for interest, the Holding Company that in simple terms “owns” Eurosport, also now has the controlling interest in GCN.
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I don't think they've been hiding the Eurosport link; at least on their race coverage it's the same presenters and Eurosport logo is present.
They have just added GCN + to the Amazon app store, so it now works on Fire TV without needing to dig out the laptop or phone :thumbsup:
Android TV is supposed to be imminent too.
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Thanks MattH for the heads up.
Me and a couple of others I alerted, have signed up to the £19.99 GCN+ before yesterdays' deadline.
Apart from anything, it's worth it for not having adverts :thumbsup:
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Looks like they had a bit of a 'mare with the K-B-K coverage.
We'd like to extend our deepest apologies for the technical difficulties experienced during today's stream of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. This isn't the service we promised, nor the one we want to deliver. We're going to look into the root of the issue to try and ensure that something like this doesn't happen again
Probably best to check your infrastructure can cope with an uplift if a lot of folks take up an offer.
I've signed up - £20 isn't much in the grand scheme of things; seems like good value (above notwithstanding).
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Looks like they had a bit of a 'mare with the K-B-K coverage.
We'd like to extend our deepest apologies for the technical difficulties experienced during today's stream of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. This isn't the service we promised, nor the one we want to deliver. We're going to look into the root of the issue to try and ensure that something like this doesn't happen again
I got in from my ride, turned it on, intending to rewind and watch from the start of coverage, and found I'd only missed 20 minutes, but there was only 15 k to go. At the time, I thought it was a rewind limit, so I just watched the whole of the women's race first instead, and the men's race was normal on a full replay afterwards.
For the Flanders Classics races, what I heard was that FC had contracted IMG (or someone) to sell the rights on their behalf, IMG asked for a substantial increase over the previous price, so Eurosport/GCN didn't bite, and it's now a game of brinksmanship, between not selling the rights at all, and not having the races to show.
If that's right, we won't know whether other races missing off the list (notably Gent Wevelgem and Amstel Gold) will be shown or not until shortly before the race.
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After much hype from GCN the app has appeared for Amazon fire stick. When I go to activate the app, it shows me a code and directs me to a link to enter that code. The link just sends me to their app on my I pad and I seem unable to activate it on my fire stick. Very frustrating, I am assuming teething issues.
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Cancel the above now seems to working. :facepalm:
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GCN also have various documentaries: we've enjoyed https://plus.globalcyclingnetwork.com/watch/colombia-an-andes-adventure - Jenny Graham and Simon Richardson cycling in Colombia; and one about ex-pro Connor Dunne attempting some 500 mile ultra race in Ireland.
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I signed up for a one-month subscription to this the other day, to binge watch some Mark Beaumont and Jenny Graham epics.
Firstly, a comment on the tech:
I was using the GCN+ app on the Amazon Firestick thing plugged into the back of my TV.
The app installed fine, but getting it to register against the account I'd set up on the PC was really klunky.
The TV displayed a 6-digit code you had to enter into a web page on your PC.
This code changed every couple of minutes.
The web page you were directed to would re-direct to a slightly different page every time you tried to visit it!
Sometimes, there was a box to enter the code, which would then fail. Othertimes, the page had no such box.
It took me over 30 mins to get it to finally work.
Then, the search function is useless.
When I searched 'Mark Beaumont', it produced half a dozen hits, including both episodes of the Cairo-Cape Town thing I wanted.
But these were links to only the 2-minute trailers, with no way to get to the actual episodes.
It failed to find the actual episodes.
The only way to find the actual episodes was to manually trawl through the 'category' listings.
But on to the actual content:
It was really superb.
The Mark Beaumont Cairo - Cape Town episodes really gave a sense of the adventure and the landscape (I've done several trips in Southern Africa, not onna bike.) I recognised several of the roads and crossings: I particularly liked the Kazungula Ferry. I like the way Mark's videos are quite warts-and-all, showing lows as well as highs.
The Jenny Graham episodes I watched were her 1000k training ride for the cancelled TCR, and her ride of the Pan Celtic. She really seems utterly irrepressibly cheerful in the face of anything!
All of these episodes really caught the true sense of what long 1000k rides are like, with the constant focus on food and rest!
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ends 19th Dec
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Bugger.
How do I watch the tour now :(
J
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Him: Warner Bros have shutdown GCN+ 😭
Me: what why???
Him: Streaming platforms are all struggling.
Me:HOW WILL WE WATCH THE TOUR
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I'm quite happy with the ITV4 coverage of the races they show.
Would be good if they picked up some of the other races.
But for other stuff we did use paid-for GCN+ and free S4C.
Probably won't bother/lose interest cos I'm not paying for one of the big channels.
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Drat
How much is Eurosport these days?
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Drat
How much is Eurosport these days?
Discovery + nowadays https://get.discoveryplus.com/gb/watch-entertainment-and-sport?snb=4 (https://get.discoveryplus.com/gb/watch-entertainment-and-sport?snb=4). Unhelpfully, the website fails to mention what is included in the 'Basic' and 'Standard'
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According to here: https://support.discoveryplus.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360018960398
There are 3 different discovery+ plans you can choose from:
Basic
Stream our on-demand catalogue, plus the following live channels: Animal Planet, Discovery, Discovery History, Discovery Science, DMAX, Food Network, HGTV, ID, Quest, Quest Red, TLC, and Turbo.
(This plan was previously called Entertainment).
Standard
Stream everything included with the Basic plan, plus sports content: Eurosport 1 & 2, cycling, tennis, snooker, motorsports, and the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
(This plan was previously called Entertainment & Sport).
Premium (incl. TNT Sports*)
Stream everything included with the Standard plan, plus TNT Sports: UEFA Champions League and Europa League matches, Premier League games, Premiership Rugby, MotoGP, boxing, UFC, WWE and more.
I think Standard would be enough if you want cycling. Costs £7 a month.
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From 40 quid a year, to €6 a month. Would it still include all the cycling documentary content? It's not just about watching the races, but things like the Jenny Graham stuff.
I think I don't care enough about the races to worry about spending money on this one.
There's too many streaming companies out there now, It's very infuriating.
J
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I'm quite happy with the ITV4 coverage of the races they show.
Would be good if they picked up some of the other races.
Didn't their deal with the Amaury Sports Organisation finish this year? Unless they've done a deal with Warner Bros for a regional feed.
I heard that ASO were going the same way as the Olympics and offering European rights, effectively cutting National broadcasters out.
Will be interesting to see what the WB/TNT/Discovery/Eurosport/GCN entity does.
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Didn't their deal with the Amaury Sports Organisation finish this year?
Whoops, I hadn't heard about that.
Hope something can be sorted out that isn't too expensive
BBC coverage of the Olympics, World Champs etc is dire.
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Much more than GCN then. Arsebiscuits :facepalm:
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Time to sign on for Welsh language classes, as in one article I've seen, S4C has a contract for the TdeF up to 2025.
TBH, I can pick up the names of teams and riders on S4C anyway, and most of the interviews are in English or have sub-titles.
The situation seems to be changing fast, mind.
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BBC coverage of the Olympics, World Champs etc is dire.
The BBC don't make the coverage either of those, until now they've taken the feed from the host broadcaster. In future though, Discovery bought the entire Olymoic European rights and are providing much less to National broadcasters (in some countries, nothing at all).
Host for the Tour is France TV, for the Olympics it will be Olympic Broadcasting Services, for the Worlds, I think it's FIFA's Host Broadcasting Services.
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The BBC don't make the coverage either of those, until now they've taken the feed from the host broadcaster. In future though, Discovery bought the entire Olymoic European rights and are providing much less to National broadcasters (in some countries, nothing at all).
Host for the Tour is France TV, for the Olympics it will be Olympic Broadcasting Services, for the Worlds, I think it's FIFA's ::-)Host Broadcasting Services.
Yup, I realise they don't do the filming.
But they just bung it on air live for hours with very little effort at editing it to produce a highlights programme in the way ITV4 did. I don't (shouldn't) have time to sit and watch 5 hours of live bike racing!
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Didn't GCN do similar, with the added disincentive of Sean Kelly and Carlton Kirby? Or is Eurosport? Whatever, without a decently edited highlights show with dedicated commentary I'll not be watching it.
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The BBC don't make the coverage either of those, until now they've taken the feed from the host broadcaster. In future though, Discovery bought the entire Olymoic European rights and are providing much less to National broadcasters (in some countries, nothing at all).
Host for the Tour is France TV, for the Olympics it will be Olympic Broadcasting Services, for the Worlds, I think it's FIFA's ::-)Host Broadcasting Services.
Yup, I realise they don't do the filming.
But they just bung it on air live for hours with very little effort at editing it to produce a highlights programme in the way ITV4 did. I don't (shouldn't) have time to sit and watch 5 hours of live bike racing!
You seem to have an unusual definition of dire.
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You seem to have an unusual definition of dire.
In my defence, I explained that I do not have time to watch an entire stage or race live, so I prefer a highlights show hopefully with informed commentators.
When the BBC did a highlights show for the olympics, it was guesswork as to if or when there would be cycling included.
This years world champs coverage was good, but very comprehensive so I still needed to skip big chunks - caught a lot on catchup though.
I'm not a great fan of the GCN "highlights" show either. Clips of the race coverage, with the result that it could jump from 100km to go to 50km to 5km with no warning!
Each to their own, I know a lot of folks would watch full live coverage of all 21 stages of the TdeF.
We have be fortunate to have had the choice so far.
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I'm not a great fan of the GCN "highlights" show either. Clips of the race coverage, with the result that it could jump from 100km to go to 50km to 5km with no warning!
So what do you want from a highlights show, then? My husband and I prefer GCN's method, as described, because it gives a sense of the overall flow of the day, to Eurosport's "show the last 20km (or whatever) with little sense of what happened to get there".
I guess we'll be heading to Discovery+. What has been good is that we could just pay for what we wanted to watch, rather than more expense giving us things we are not interested in.
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Didn't GCN do similar, with the added disincentive of Sean Kelly and Carlton Kirby? Or is Eurosport? Whatever, without a decently edited highlights show with dedicated commentary I'll not be watching it.
The GCN+ race coverage is provided by Eurosport. In UK, Eurosport's live coverage is now streamed by Discovery Plus. If you are a BT or EE Broadband subscriber, Discovery Plus is free (along with TNT, which was formerly BT Sport).
GCN's other stuff will continue on YouTube, and they have a new (or at least revamped) website at https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/
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But they just bung it on air live for hours with very little effort at editing it to produce a highlights programme in the way ITV4 did. I don't (shouldn't) have time to sit and watch 5 hours of live bike racing!
Do ITV make a highlights show, I thought they had rights to show the host's highlights reel with their own commentary?
What you as an end viewer get to see is wholly down to what the rights holders allow the broadcasters to do.
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Do ITV make a highlights show,
Well they did - in the evening, so it was edited highlights and included discussions and interviews.
Presenters like Ned Boulting and David Miller, and assorted guest pundits.
ITV4 picked it it when channel4 stopped.
In addition ITV4 had full coverage live during the day for the TdeF and IIRC TofB and Vuelta and some other races.
(Well as full as possible - the filming sometimes only starts after the break of the day has formed!)
It has been our preferred method of watching for years, which is why I am disappointed it may not continue next year.
Anything else we have sporadically watched on paid-for GCN+, and again disappointed if we lose that.
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For the past few years ITV4 have only done full live TdF coverage at weekends; the weekday shows start later so's we can be infuriated by Them telling us all about the frantic action to get in the day's futile break which we don’t get to see chiz.
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the weekday shows start later so's we can be infuriated by Them telling us all about the frantic action to get in the day's futile break which we don’t get to see chiz.
I thought that was because the filming paid for by ASO didn't always include the early part of the stages, so there wasn't anything to show??
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the weekday shows start later so's we can be infuriated by Them telling us all about the frantic action to get in the day's futile break which we don’t get to see chiz.
I thought that was because the filming paid for by ASO didn't always include the early part of the stages, so there wasn't anything to show??
Given that GCN used to provide flag to finish coverage of the tour. I don't think so.
J
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I'm sticking to my theory, viz. TV's Jeremy Wade has something on the controllers at ITV4 meaning if they don’t screen a set number of repeats of “River Monsters” every week he'll spill the beans, or put an alligator gar in their jacuzzi.
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Do ITV make a highlights show,
Well they did - in the evening, so it was edited highlights and included discussions and interviews.
Presenters like Ned Boulting and David Miller, and assorted guest pundits.
ITV4 picked it it when channel4 stopped.
In addition ITV4 had full coverage live during the day for the TdeF and IIRC TofB and Vuelta and some other races.
(Well as full as possible - the filming sometimes only starts after the break of the day has formed!)
It has been our preferred method of watching for years, which is why I am disappointed it may not continue next year.
Anything else we have sporadically watched on paid-for GCN+, and again disappointed if we lose that.
Yes, but I don't think they don't make the highlights package, they add all the presenters and comms around it. The issue with sports like cycling is that there are only a few production crews that know how to do it properly, so the end product is dependant on the quality of the feed the broadcaster is given.
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Yes, but I don't think they don't make the highlights package, they add all the presenters and comms around it. The issue with sports like cycling is that there are only a few production crews that know how to do it properly, so the end product is dependant on the quality of the feed the broadcaster is given.
Whatever, the ITV4 offering is/was far superior to any other highlights programme available, and something the mildly interested (and those who have to go out to work) can enjoy.
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Oh no. Is it Orla now with no alternative? ::-)
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I get Discovery Plus* for spring cycling until end of Vuelta... So £7pm, for part of the year only.
*Best through D+ website direct, rather than D+ through Amazon Prime - where implementation is woeful.
(should also declare an interest in D+ tennis tournaments - e.g. Aus/French open live in evenings, or watch whole replays of completed matches whenever)
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Whatever, the ITV4 offering is/was far superior to any other highlights programme available, and something the mildly interested (and those who have to go out to work) can enjoy.
Agreed
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I have had a GCN subscription for a few years. When I moved house at the end of last year could only get service on my phone. Couldn't login to TV or PC. Numerous messages to the help desk - they wanted me to disable ad-block, spyware and anti-virus software and turn off the firewall. I cancelled my subscription with 9 months remaining and didn't get a refund. I took out a Discovery+ subscription and now watch cycling through Eurosport. At least I might get a few months refund for a subscription service I am no longer able to access fully.
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So that'll be the end of ad/shitvert free live and on demand cycling then >:(
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So that'll be the end of ad/shitvert free live and on demand cycling then >:(
Wait, the pair for 6 euro a month subscription also comes with ads ? Ffs
J
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My std D+ £6.99pm (EuroSport) live coverage was advert free on a PC, AFAIR.
edit.
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My std D+ £6.99pm EuroSport live coverage was advert free on PC AFAIR.
I'm just getting links to randy coppers ::-)
The no ads were one of the most worthwhile things about GCN+
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Just got a refund for my GCN subscription of just over a fiver...
J
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The PBP film has just gone up on GCN+. Watch it while you can.
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GCN+ had fabulous long distance documentaries, and lost lanes mini adventures.
I can't see those on Discovery+ when I do a search.
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That’s because they are not there. So far the GCN team don’t know what will happen to the documentaries.
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The PBP film has just gone up on GCN+. Watch it while you can.
Very good, brought back some memories. Didn't realise Jack Thurston rode PBP this year.
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GCN+ had fabulous long distance documentaries, and lost lanes mini adventures.
I can't see those on Discovery+ when I do a search.
You mean those included in these many playlists? https://www.youtube.com/@gcn/playlists
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No, there are a lot one hour specials - travelling around the world, recreating old races, slow cycle touring (lost lanes), builders and riders profiles etc. A huge volume of work that stunned me when I saw how voluminous it was in such a short time.
There's a lot on youtube, but not the same stuff.
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Well, until 19th December they're here (https://plus.globalcyclingnetwork.com/films). GCN have committed to keeping access to everything that doesn't belong to Warner Brothers, so I guess this page will be retitiled. Those that aren't GCN's own copyright will presumably be available on Discovery Plus at some point.
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They've disabled all methods to pay for a subscription, so anyone not already a paying member may have missed their chance, at least in the short term.
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Oh no. Is it Orla now with no alternative? ::-)
I don't mind Orla and her mangled vowels. Almost carries off the cocktail dress and DMs look, but not quite.
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Orla rocks.
J
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Looks like all of the GCN+ film content has been moved to the GCN YouTube channel.
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Looks like all of the GCN+ film content has been moved to the GCN YouTube channel.
Have they? Can't see anything there except the trailers which were always there.
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Looks like all of the GCN+ film content has been moved to the GCN YouTube channel.
Have they? Can't see anything there except the trailers which were always there.
YouTube is horrible. The easiest way to find them is through the GCN website and the Videos drop down menus https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/tag/gcn-documentaries (https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/tag/gcn-documentaries)
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Still puzzled. I just get trailers on that link, and if I try to click through to one of the full films, it just redirects to the ‘GCN+ to close’ page.
Perhaps it’s different if you were once a GCN+ subscriber - I never was.
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No, I was a subscriber and can only see the trailers for the GCN+ specific films.
The ones that I can see on youtube are the ones that were always there; shorter adventures and features.
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Interesting. The films were all there earlier in the week, but they have now all been replaced by trailers (which is a bit pointless if the trailer doesn't point to anything). Maybe something more is coming?
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I would hope so - it'd be a shame to lose them, though I wonder if WB would be looking to put them as on-demand content for subscribers to Discovery+.
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I can't imagine GCN would put the videos behind a WB paywall that they are unlikely to benefit from. On YT at least they'd get paid per view, and would get the reputation and circulation benefits for themselves.
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But as WB own the content, they may want to add it behind their paywall to encourage people to subscribe to Discovery+ with teasers on YT, just as GCN did.
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The new race season has started, and so we've subscribed to Discovery+, watching on the FireTV stick but subscribed on the website as I'm not sure if you can watch on anything or if it's limited to your FireTV stick if you subscribe via Amazon. No difference in price, so just went direct.
Watching the Women's Tour Down Under on demand, there were no adverts on the first stage, whereas watching the Dakar prologue (which was also on Eurosport) there were advert breaks (which could be fast forwarded through, unlike say CH4 or ITV catchup), so I guess it could go either way as we get into the busier part of the season.
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Once you've subscribed to Discovery+ you can watch on anything that has the app. I've got it on my smart TV (LG), Firestick, tablet, phone and laptop (website rather than dedicated app). Always best to subscribe via the website rather than a dedicated service (Google, Amazon, Apple TV etc) and you can log in to the app on any platform using the same login details.
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Yes, I did it via the Discovery+ website and have it on several devices. I couldn't see if that was possible if I just did it via Amazon.