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HELP, itv is KILLING Eurosport!

British Eurosport is the ‘Home of Cycling’, with extensive cycling coverage all year round. How could we promote the channel’s experience and knowledge to capture viewers for the biggest race in the world against stiff competition from ITV?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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42 comments

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Super Domestique | 10 years ago
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Glad I'm not the only one then!

My 2 main irritations are saying so called expert 'bike stuff' (for eg gear selection) but then the comments indicating he doesn't ride much, if at all.

But that takes second place to asking Sean a question but answering it before he has a chance too!

Come back David Harmon!

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Leviathan | 10 years ago
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Why does Sean Kelly keep saying 'Pela-tone' is he plugging some kind of printer cartridges?

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andyp | 10 years ago
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'ITV isn't killing Eurosport.. ITV only shows a few races a year - and even then its only highlights.

Eurosport covers almost everything you could reasonably expect them to... and they show most stages live.'

This.

And £2.50 a month (ish) for Eurosport is nothing to pay for masses of cycling. No need for any of this satellite/cable nonsense.

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Simon_MacMichael | 10 years ago
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Learn Italian and listen to RAI commentary - fantastic insight  3

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Stumps | 10 years ago
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Just out of interest where is David Harmon ???????

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Super Domestique replied to Stumps | 10 years ago
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stumps wrote:

Just out of interest where is David Harmon ???????

During the Tour of Turkey he said he'd be off till TdF from then on.

Time off for moving house IIRC.

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Cycle_Jim | 10 years ago
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Just to note this is word for word from the YCN awards brief for British Eurosport.

Looks like some student is looking for tips for his/her project...

Not done the research like, poor show from a graphic designer!

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a.jumper replied to andyp | 10 years ago
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andyp wrote:

And £2.50 a month (ish) for Eurosport is nothing to pay for masses of cycling. No need for any of this satellite/cable nonsense.

I think it's £3/month now (minimum 12 months - £6/month otherwise) and what's nonsense is that that's only if you already spend hundreds keeping up with one of their blessed "supported" operating systems like Microsoft Windows or MacOS X. Want to watch it on an older device that you've not yet paid to upgrade, or even a current device that doesn't support silly silverlight? Eurosport goes all "computer says no" on you.

It's cheaper, easier and nicer to spend £50 on a satellite set and watch the free-to-air Eurosport Deutsch on your TV (while listening to the BBC radio commentary if you do not understand German).

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andyp | 10 years ago
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'It's cheaper, easier and nicer to spend £50 on a satellite set and watch the free-to-air Eurosport Deutsch on your TV (while listening to the BBC radio commentary if you do not understand German).'

Not if you don't want a satellite set it isn't. Why on earth would I want a satellite dish on my house?

Look - you like using satellite, I like using my existing laptop/tablet/phone, which also have other uses. And we both get great cycling on Eurosport for a pittance. That's all there is to this, really. ITV isn't killing Eurosport, and won't unless it buys into the races which Eurosport covers.

Although, I do agree that race commentary should only ever be in the national tongue of the race. There is nothing like watching Il Giro with Italian commentary, or Le Tour on Radio Tour...  3

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bashthebox | 10 years ago
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It's interesting to note how much the pro riders hate all cycling commentary. I've seen a few tweeting their disdain for the giro coverage. The Secret Pro mentioned that he thought Harmon and Backstedt were too biased.

I'm not enjoying the Giro commentary much. Kelly is just so dull, Quigley irritating and seems to miss a lot of what's going on. Not entirely sure what the answer is though. Eurosport's got pretty tiny budgets, so it's not like they can spice things up by putting people in cars to mix it up a bit with the peloton or anything.
I'd love to see a bit more honesty and outspokenness though. With Kelly you're obviously not going to be able to talk about doping, same with fucking Phil and Paul on ITV.
It's really stupid that the only ex doper that gets talked about as an ex doper is Millar, and that's because he talks about it as much as possible. The exploits of Valverde, Contador, Basso etc etc all go off without comment. Scarponi, for example, cranking out that stunning ITT performance the other day - only on twitter did I see comment that he's not looked that good since he tested positive. I'm not suggesting that you have to assume every rider's doping, but performances ought to be put in the context of what's come before.

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big mick replied to Rouleur90 | 10 years ago
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Rouleur90 wrote:

It's the like of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen that make ITV's coverage a labour. Sean Kelly and David Harmon are superior commentators in all aspects. People should fork out that little extra for far higher quality programme. ITV is a FTA channel and it shows it with lacklustre pundits.  7

I agree

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a.jumper replied to big mick | 10 years ago
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andyp wrote:

Not if you don't want a satellite set it isn't. Why on earth would I want a satellite dish on my house?

It doesn't have to be on the house - it can go hide in the garden or on the garage roof if you prefer - and it opens up a continent of broadcasting to you. Much better than Eurosport Player, which is fairly expensive and apparently has been withdrawn from Google's App Store at the moment.

big mick wrote:
Rouleur90 wrote:

It's the like of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen that make ITV's coverage a labour. Sean Kelly and David Harmon are superior commentators in all aspects. People should fork out that little extra for far higher quality programme. ITV is a FTA channel and it shows it with lacklustre pundits.  7

I agree

I think you're both crazy. Gary Imlach, Ned Boulting and Matt Rendell are living gods... and Rob Hayles is fast approaching that status. Eurosport's Kirby, Kelly and Quigley bug the hell out of me. Even Harmon has his dark patches, but I wonder if he's just being dragged down by the company.

OK, ITV's commentators (Sherwen and Keenan especially) are a bit repetitive and blooper-prone, but the pundits more than make up for it.

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