Versus sux

Bro Deal said:

I tried to watch some of the live coverage on Vs. There were so many commercials it was not worth it.

Yeah, I found it frustrating too. The last time I watched the Tour on VS (actually OLN here in Canada but they just take the Versus feed and stick in their own ads) was 2 years ago - I generally taped the live coverage in the morning and watched it later (either 9am or so when I'd wake up on non-workdays or evening if a work day) so I could skip commercials. In the last 2 years, I've become much more dependent on surfing for live tickers, comments on forums etc while the race is live so it's that much harder to try not to see any results or comments and watch later on ...

Bro Deal said:

I tried to watch some of the live coverage on Vs. There were so many commercials it was not worth it.

You mean you stopped watching the race because of the commercials... or you switched to an internet feed?

Maybe they had more commercials on the first day... cause they're used to it being a prologue chrono. They just love chronos at Versus.

TFF had a good idea using the Eurosport commentary audio feed on cyclingfans.com and muting the TV. You get commentary through the ads then.

Bro Deal said:

I tried to watch some of the live coverage on Vs. There were so many commercials it was not worth it.

A DVR is a great investment.

Crankyfeet said:

You mean you stopped watching the race because of the commercials... or you switched to an internet feed?

Maybe they had more commercials on the first day... cause they're used to it being a prologue chrono. They just love chronos at Versus.

TFF had a good idea using the Eurosport commentary audio feed on cyclingfans.com and muting the TV. You get commentary through the ads then.

If it gets bad enough, I will put up RAI on my desktop and stream the eurosport audio from my tablet.

thoughtforfood said:

If it gets bad enough, I will put up RAI on my desktop and stream the eurosport audio from my tablet.

I actually made a point to watch the evening recap today. Turns out JB will be there only during the third week. So, I'll check back in then. It's my morbid curiosity. Probably he'll just pitch his book. Not worth the drama.

Crankyfeet said:

You mean you stopped watching the race because of the commercials... or you switched to an internet feed?

Maybe they had more commercials on the first day... cause they're used to it being a prologue chrono. They just love chronos at Versus.

TFF had a good idea using the Eurosport commentary audio feed on cyclingfans.com and muting the TV. You get commentary through the ads then.

yep that's what I'm doing. I didn't remember so many ads in the past, unbelievable.

I understand where you're coming from with this comment, but if you think about it for a moment pro cycling fans outside of Europe should be happy with any cycling coverage they can get...

They load up the commercials so they can bring the last portion of the stage commercial free. Still sux though, but its very helpful during the mountain stages.

Great if you have a dvr. Start watching 30-45 minutes after the start and fast forward thru all the commercials

thebluetrain said:

They load up the commercials so they can bring the last portion of the stage commercial free. Still sux though, but its very helpful during the mountain stages.

thebluetrain said:

They load up the commercials so they can bring the last portion of the stage commercial free. Still sux though, but its very helpful during the mountain stages.

+1.

I'll take whatever I can get.

DVR

Bro Deal said:

I tried to watch some of the live coverage on Vs. There were so many commercials it was not worth it.

azdroptop said:

DVR

That is fine if you want to watch it later, but I presume that some want to watch it live.

Well, I am very impressed with both RAI and Eurosport. Today both channels began coverage at around 12:00 through the end of the stage.

In spite of F1 being on also.

Powerful Pete said:

Well, I am very impressed with both RAI and Eurosport. Today both channels began coverage at around 12:00 through the end of the stage.

In spite of F1 being on also.

Don't expect it to continue this way though. I think the Eurosport live coverage starts at 14:30 on weekdays and at 15:00 on weekends next week.

TheDarkLord said:

Don't expect it to continue this way though. I think the Eurosport live coverage starts at 14:30 on weekdays and at 15:00 on weekends next week.

Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. I actually have to go to my summer house to watch it - I do not have a TV in my home in Rome to save the kids from that addiction. Makes more riding time also - no worries about missing the TdF or Giro stage - I just go out and ride instead.

TheDarkLord said:

That is fine if you want to watch it later, but I presume that some want to watch it live.

Here, it's live in the morning...and there are far less commercials, actually. It's the prime time evening "expanded" coverage...expanded to fit commercials, that's so awful. I wouldn't mind so much but it's the SAME commercials, over and over and over again. I don't care how many times they tell me that SAAB was born from jets...I'm not buying one!

nns1400 said:

Here, it's live in the morning...and there are far less commercials, actually. It's the prime time evening "expanded" coverage...expanded to fit commercials, that's so awful. I wouldn't mind so much but it's the SAME commercials, over and over and over again. I don't care how many times they tell me that SAAB was born from jets...I'm not buying one!

it's only day two and those "take back the tour" and Bacardi commercials are already driving me mad...

nns1400 said:

Here, it's live in the morning...and there are far less commercials, actually. It's the prime time evening "expanded" coverage...expanded to fit commercials, that's so awful. I wouldn't mind so much but it's the SAME commercials, over and over and over again. I don't care how many times they tell me that SAAB was born from jets...I'm not buying one!

Good lord. There are more commercials in the night coverage? Is it like a one to one ratio of race coverage versus ads?

Klodifan said:

it's only day two and those "take back the tour" and Bacardi commercials are already driving me mad...

Especially the implication that they have caught all the dopers... and everyone's clean now.