This calls for a [THREAD] /1 https://t.co/C4kI3mva5v
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Eurosport is the best cycling broadcaster in any language I speak, in part because they’ve been doing it forever: https://t.co/qB963kpMib /2
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
While it may *feel* like NBCSN’s been around forever, it’s only existed since 2012. And even then, almost exclusively ASO events. /3
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
There’s a reason for this: /4 (and maybe a mini-Inception thread here? IDK let’s see how it goes)
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
A network of firearms infomercials and the occasional XC ski race called Outdoor Life Network got US TdF TV rights back in 1999. /5
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
To say the deal went well for them initially is an understatement. (photo from @velonews) /6 pic.twitter.com/v5IJLN3Fim
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Outdoor life became OLN, made 344 hours TdF/Lance-related coverage in ‘04 & spent $20mm pitching it. https://t.co/ntbf09tuRR /7
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Here’s a commercial (w/Jason Lee of “Mallrats” fame) that really conveyed the flavor of the whole thing https://t.co/mUOZKNkRHW /8
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
…aaaand as you might expect ratings immediately shat the bed when Lance left in ‘06 https://t.co/RNJuL6qdeu /9
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Turns out cult of personality is a poor introduction to a complex and byzantine sport. Who knew? /10
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Actually, Eurosport did. @inrng has a good summation Eurosport in that era—but I’m getting ahead of myself. https://t.co/GcvAVNWUd9 /11 pic.twitter.com/pmP0gi8hzV
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
I shouldn’t be too hard on OLN—they had classics & daily live GTs. That I didn’t fail out of #college watching it all was remarkable. /12
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
There was a even a @BobkeRoll show that recapped pro cycling events SportsCenter-style, but I’ve never been able to find it. /13
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
But the bulk of their time & cash always kept after the #TdF & chasing that Lance dragon. /14
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
ANYWAY, OLN rebranded as Versus, briefly bought NHL rights to compete w/ESPN, alienating cyclists even further: https://t.co/T4yQUpbR0P /15
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
When Comcast (which already owned Versus) bought NBC, Versus became NBCSN as you know it now. /16
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Despite the changes—and like, holy crap, things have changed—the NBCSN product has the look & feel of Lance-years OLN. /17
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
This is (IMHO) largely because it’s the same faces and the same people in charge. No need to name names. /18
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Given the cozy relationship with Lance, the collapse in ratings post-Lance, the everything post-Oprah, things would change. You’d think. /19
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
As I have been known to quip, this is why I write code for a living. /20
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Back to Eurosport, tho—throughout all this, they’d been doing pretty much the same steady, inexpensive, but serviceable work. /21
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
No Jason Lee, no Lance Chronicles—just good rotation who can talk for 3hrs straight over a not-always-exciting (or even visible) sport. /22 pic.twitter.com/24HaDhlns3
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
In terms of cost/quality, it’s literally 2 dudes in a room. But as @rouleur notes, 2 dudes w/DS’s cell phones. https://t.co/ypNIrl7OlY /23 pic.twitter.com/H3hMNWC9Fg
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
ES is also notable in that despite cycling’s fragmentation into a zillion idiot fiefdoms, its the one place to see every single event. /24
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
I honestly don’t even know who the US Giro broadcaster is anymore. Fubo? BeIN? The Ghost of Universal Sports? /25
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
This constant presence gives ES institutional knowledge that exists nowhere else. They know last year’s race because they were there /25
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
And fans know they can tune into ES next year because the network was there this time around. /26
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
And this is what’s cool about ES—even w/fat(ter) cash from an acquisition, they’ve stuck to bread/butterhttps://t.co/cMabA5z6TF /27
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Rather than make a Cyclysm™, they’ve sent their commentators to races, and put out reporters to get half-a-dozen interviews post-stage. /28
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
I wouldn’t call it “cheap” exactly, but just crew, talent, and a stylish table. And it makes a huge difference. https://t.co/kUAPhT9JMc /29
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
They’ve also tried new stuff—Lemond on Tour, on-the-bike previews from J-A Flecha, #HTRWW (web only, but still) /30
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
It’s content that aimed at someone who might want to watch cycling, not at appeasing the executives that had to pay for it. /31
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Even if VPN+ES weren’t the easiest way to watch cycling in US, @BriSmithy picking apart wind direction by KM would make me seek it out. /31
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
How much of Eurosport’s cycling bump came from viewers outside the EBU? Not sure. No data to even hazard a guess. /33
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
But it’s pretty clear that theirs is a model that works (even if, as that @inrng article notes, it works for fans better than sponsors) /34
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
And if you’re not at least emulating it, you can’t rely on invisible lines of broadcast rights to protect you from losing viewers to it. /35
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
Whether this matters to NBC—whose business model seems to be setting gigantic sacks of money on fire—is unclear https://t.co/gmmiqqaWB6 /36
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
But at the end of the day, someone has to pay. And @Eurosport seems to be proving when you do it right, the fans are more than willing /FIN
— Cyclocosm.com (@Cyclocosm) September 27, 2017
This is bang tidy. Thanks, Cosmo.