You gotta love the web – it’s made way for entrepreneurs to out maneuver the media giants and deliver cool content to a global audience. And now we can watch our fave pro races live thanks to the guys at Cycling.tv – yes I said “watch”!
We’ve had a bunch of letters from fans recently asking when, where and how we can watch pro racing from Europe on tv. Fans in the US can tune in for OLN’s weekly broadcasts, some live and some not, readers in the UK can follow along on EuroSport, and us Canadian sods are forced to watch pro bull-riding because OLN Canada is only aware of one bike race from France each summer…
But fear not – help is here – at last!
Cycling.tv is broadcasting pro racing from Europe to almost anyone with a broadband internet connection – via the web!
They’ve been broadcasting since January 2004 (although the idea has been in the works since ’99), but due to various issues – primarily computer limitations on my end – I’ve been unable to take a closer look. Then a press release landed last week…
PRESS RELEASE
Cycling.tv the world leading broadband TV Station for cyclists has a superb
line up for February and March with some great Belgian semi classic races
going live and free to air. The first race is the Belgian season opener the great semi classic, Omloop het Volk live the 26th February.
"Unfortunately with Omloop het Volk we'll have to charge a small Pay to View
fee of $10 dollars. This is for reasons out of our control." said Cycling
Television Managing Director, Simon Brydon.
-----------------
Wow – that’s quite a promise – at last I can actually watch pro bike racing live - ! It seemed to good to be true. So I called up Simon Brydon, the Cycling.tv managing director to chat and see if there was a catch.
Behold – The Bike Race!
First – it is true – those of us with a broadband internet connection can tune this Saturday and Sunday to watch the run-up to the Northern Classics - Het Volk and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Saturday and Sunday. Some races a free to view – like K-B-K, while others will cost a small fee - like $10 for het Volk.
The picture quality that I’ve seen has been great – as long as you’ve got a pretty new computer with a decent cpu, you should enjoy seamlessly streaming video and audio from the races. The picture size depends on your broadband connection – in my case, using a 1mb adsl line from my local isp, the viewing screen is 4 inches wide x 3 inches high. Their technology automatically measures your internet speed and then delivers the programming at a suitable data rate for your connection. The formatting of their interface is a little clunky, but they’re working on it.
Some blackouts are in effect – usually in the country of origin since the race will be broadcast on television in those countries.
Content wise they’ve got a lot on tap for 2005 – starting this weekend and on through the season at most of the major races. The actual schedule will be settled as events get closer, but these guys are committed to bringing fans race coverage anywhere there is a high speed internet connection.
How It Works
This looks so easy, you just know it’s gotta be way more complicated… The actual live feeds originate with the tv station broadcasting the race in each country. Cycling.tv streams the feed into their production facility in London, adds their own commentary, and then shoots it to the world wide web. Depending on the event, will even have tv crews at the race capturing their of feeds.
Some cool features include full screen pictures by clicking the button just below the small 4 x 3 window and open it.. The button is marked TV Mode and it removes the TV Station controls. TV Mode works on all PC, but not on Macs - yet.
The new Player due out soon has Fast forward and rewind.
More Than Just Races
Simon also told me: “We also have some great behind the scenes action coming. Our film with Team Barloworld Valsir should be very exciting. It was
filmed at the Tour de Langkawi and showcases a team under pressure as they
seek success in order to develop, grow and chase an opening to go Pro Tour
should such a window exist. We also hope to have a superb Giro documentary this year. As well as talking live feeds from satellite we also produce a lot of cycling events, etc and we are more than happy to work with race organizers and national federations to help showcase their events.
In addition to live races, they offer a growing library of race highlights and cycling features and documentaries for 24/7 viewing.
Why Do It?
When I asked this somewhat obvious question, Simon replied: “We started because we were TV people and yet we could watch never ending garbage but never cycling. If we felt this way then imagine how the rest of the world felt. We had two options, move to Belgium or do it ourselves. While the former was attractive it would have been a very selfish decision!”
"For cycling fans I think that 2005 will be a great year for watching racing."
Simon added, "OLN seem to have committed more to our sport this year than they have for several years, we've already had some great coverage on cycling.tv with our daily highlights from Qatar for instance, and we've also
got a terrific Spring and Summer schedule lined up. This can only be good for
the sport and its development in all fields."
Thanks Simon – we at PezCycling salute your entrepreneurial spirit – and I for one look forward to sipping my morning coffee at about 7:00 AM here on the west coast, relaxing in the pj’s, and watching the pros cycle their butts off this Saturday morning.
Check these guys out and let ‘em know what you think – this could be the best thing to happen to pro cycling coverage since… well, since PEZ…
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