# Where'd everybody go? Tour TV viewership way down.



## ChilliConCarnage (Jun 1, 2006)

Speaking just for the U.S. audience - We all knew that the Lane-o-philes would leave, but according to this NY Times article, viewership this year has "plunged"...

"Through the first four stages, viewership of OLN's live Tour coverage has tumbled 49 percent to 207,544 people. Combined viewership of the live show and its daily repeats has plunged by 47 percent to 749,472. At the same time, online traffic at olntv.com has spiked with the addition of more video.

A further look at past trends shows that viewership for the first four days swelled by 135 percent, from 171,975 in 2002 to 403,802 last year."


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

ChilliConCarnage said:


> Speaking just for the U.S. audience - We all knew that the Lane-o-philes would leave, but according to this NY Times article, viewership this year has "plunged"...
> 
> "Through the first four stages, viewership of OLN's live Tour coverage has tumbled 49 percent to 207,544 people. Combined viewership of the live show and its daily repeats has plunged by 47 percent to 749,472. At the same time, online traffic at olntv.com has spiked with the addition of more video.
> 
> A further look at past trends shows that viewership for the first four days swelled by 135 percent, from 171,975 in 2002 to 403,802 last year."


Hey I only own one TV and I'm doing the best I can with it.


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## Squeegy200 (Dec 1, 2005)

I love to watch cyling and I've got a library of old races that I continually watch. But I was surprised at my own reaction to the first week of the tour. 

I actually found it monotonous with the sprinter stages. The formula was a breakaway of unknowns riding until they are caught by the peloton in the last few kms for a bunch sprint to the finish. 

For the first time I found myself bored and I would just check the results online later in the day to see if there were any developments. 

I didn't even watch the stage following the time trial and only found out the results the on the rest day when I looked online.


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

*some of it*

might be the actual route this year. Really only the last 10 mins or so have any interest and since they usually have that online in one form or another that might be part of the issue. I wonder if the viewership will increase once the tour hits the mtns.




ChilliConCarnage said:


> Speaking just for the U.S. audience - We all knew that the Lane-o-philes would leave, but according to this NY Times article, viewership this year has "plunged"...
> 
> "Through the first four stages, viewership of OLN's live Tour coverage has tumbled 49 percent to 207,544 people. Combined viewership of the live show and its daily repeats has plunged by 47 percent to 749,472. At the same time, online traffic at olntv.com has spiked with the addition of more video.
> 
> A further look at past trends shows that viewership for the first four days swelled by 135 percent, from 171,975 in 2002 to 403,802 last year."


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Only the "serious" cyclists are watching it now that Lance is not in it. Plus the abundance of sprinter-friendly stages is not all that exciting except for the last 30 minutes or so.


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## botto (Jul 22, 2005)

exactly. no lance and sprinters stage after sprinters stage, w/a dash of doping scandal.

i wouldn't be surprised if ratings for TdF coverage are low in France/Italy/Spain/Belgium/NLL/etc


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## snowman3 (Jul 20, 2002)

ChilliConCarnage said:


> Speaking just for the U.S. audience - We all knew that the Lane-o-philes would leave, but according to this NY Times article, viewership this year has "plunged"...
> 
> "Through the first four stages, viewership of OLN's live Tour coverage has tumbled 49 percent to 207,544 people. Combined viewership of the live show and its daily repeats has plunged by 47 percent to 749,472. At the same time, online traffic at olntv.com has spiked with the addition of more video.
> 
> A further look at past trends shows that viewership for the first four days swelled by 135 percent, from 171,975 in 2002 to 403,802 last year."


Can you post the entire article? Dang, I can't believe that only 50K+ tune in per stage. It was only 100K+ last year!! I thought it would at least be 250K-500K per stage or something like that. 

Was it really that slanted toward LA? I know people hate the Lance-o-philes, but I think OLN is doing its best to bait and switch. Give a little LA with the "Lance On", but then focus on making them fans of the new riders. They spend a decent amount of time profiling Floyd, Levi, George. They interview Floyd's trainer. They talk with Johan alot about Disco's strategy, etc. Sucks to hear that the market dried up though. I was hoping the LA crowd would convert to someone else.


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## giovanni sartori (Feb 5, 2004)

snowman3 said:


> Can you post the entire article? Dang, I can't believe that only 50K+ tune in per stage. It was only 100K+ last year!! I thought it would at least be 250K-500K per stage or something like that.
> 
> Was it really that slanted toward LA? I know people hate the Lance-o-philes, but I think OLN is doing its best to bait and switch. Give a little LA with the "Lance On", but then focus on making them fans of the new riders. They spend a decent amount of time profiling Floyd, Levi, George. They interview Floyd's trainer. They talk with Johan alot about Disco's strategy, etc. Sucks to hear that the market dried up though. I was hoping the LA crowd would convert to someone else.


Don't discount the effect the World Cup could be having. I typically watch every stage of the Tour but this past week all my attention has been on the World Cup, watching taped matches, news programs, reading online articles, etc. I haven't had time to watch the Tour and didn't feel like I was missing much with it being flat stages thus far. Now that the World Cup is over I'll be tuning in every day. With the exception of the stage in Valkenburg I think the route has lacked something as well.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

giovanni sartori said:


> Don't discount the effect the World Cup could be having. I typically watch every stage of the Tour but this past week all my attention has been on the World Cup, watching taped matches, news programs, reading online articles, etc. I haven't had time to watch the Tour and didn't feel like I was missing much with it being flat stages thus far. Now that the World Cup is over I'll be tuning in every day. With the exception of the stage in Valkenburg I think the route has lacked something as well.


good point...article from today:
http://dailycamera.com/bdc/soccer/article/0,1713,BDC_2414_4833415,00.html


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## edjhiii (Apr 29, 2006)

Now that the World Cup and Wimbledon are over and the mountains are on the horizon, maybe the competition will heat up and draw some views. There hasn’t been any real rivalry in the peloton this year. Except for the last 500 meters the race has looked like a century tour ride.


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

the daily viewership numbers don't look all that bad-I'm surprised it's pulling in that many especially without Lance. Cable channels often have incredibly small audiences. Even the news channels like MSNBC often have viewerships of a few hundred thousand. Given OLN's tour viewership, you'd think they could sell better time and get more adverts that LL Bean and a couple of others that repeat about 500 times a show...


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

stevesbike said:


> the daily viewership numbers don't look all that bad-I'm surprised it's pulling in that many especially without Lance. Cable channels often have incredibly small audiences. Even the news channels like MSNBC often have viewerships of a few hundred thousand. Given OLN's tour viewership, you'd think they could sell better time and get more adverts that LL Bean and a couple of others that repeat about 500 times a show...


Saab...made from jets....

ready, steady...GO!


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## stcanard (Aug 4, 2005)

ChilliConCarnage said:


> Speaking just for the U.S. audience - We all knew that the Lane-o-philes would leave, but according to this NY Times article, viewership this year has "plunged"...
> 
> "Through the first four stages, viewership of OLN's live Tour coverage has tumbled 49 percent to 207,544 people. Combined viewership of the live show and its daily repeats has plunged by 47 percent to 749,472. At the same time, online traffic at olntv.com has spiked with the addition of more video.


From a 2002 press release...



> ...With almost half a million viewers watching OLN for the
> 2002 Tour de France daily, July was OLN?'s highest rated month in
> primetime in the history of the network. ...


So the current numbers may be a bit of a disappointment relative to last year (we'll still have to see what the final results are with the World Cup ending and the mountains starting), but we're still double what it was 4 years ago, and at that point OLN was happy to keep carrying it for another 4 years.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

This year has been exceptionally boring. Usually there is some make or break element that is exciting to watch, such as the cobblestone section they had in the first week of last year's tour (or the previous one...I forget), or they throw in some decent hills that break things up, or they go down a wet causeway, and so on. Weren't they in the Vosges mountains for stage 7 not too long ago? This year the best they could do was the Cauberg. Big whoopie. If the course is boring, the race is boring, and no one watches. It should not come as any surprise.


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## ~David~ (Jul 2, 2006)

What happened to TV viewers is Lance, there were a lot of people who weren't really Cycling fans but just jumped on the Lance Armstrong band wagon. Lance leaves the sheep leave. Also the world cup is every year but i've never heard anyone talk about it until this year, odd don't you think?


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## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

It was a big holiday also. Don't know about a lot of people, but we were out camping and when we stayed in a hotel they didn't always have OLN! 

I guess DVR's don't get counted as viewers?


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## DeaconBlues (Jan 2, 2003)

This is the first Tour I've had the luxury of watching in four years.

Maybe if the riders were going around and around making left turns all day more Americans would watch. 

Deek


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## DeaconBlues (Jan 2, 2003)

~David~ said:


> What happened to TV viewers is Lance, there were a lot of people who weren't really Cycling fans but just jumped on the Lance Armstrong band wagon. Lance leaves the sheep leave. Also the world cup is every year but i've never heard anyone talk about it until this year, odd don't you think?


I don't think the World Cup is an annual event, btw.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup

Deek


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## wipeout (Jun 6, 2005)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Only the "serious" cyclists are watching it now that Lance is not in it. Plus the abundance of sprinter-friendly stages is not all that exciting except for the last 30 minutes or so.


Heck, even "serious" cyclists arn't watching much of the TdF-lite (including me). I might watch more when they get in the mountains, but these flat stages are rather boring. Welcome to the post-Lance era.


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## ~David~ (Jul 2, 2006)

> Heck, even "serious" cyclists arn't watching much of the TdF-lite (including me). I might watch more when they get in the mountains, but these flat stages are rather boring. Welcome to the post-Lance era.


I dunno i doubt viewership will increase by one third just because of the mountain stages although they are much more interesting. But i doubt it will be that drastic.


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

Boring??? I thought you guys were cycling fans. If baseball fans can watch their sport without falling asleep, certainly you can get through a stage of the Tour. - TF


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## vonteity (Feb 13, 2005)

ChilliConCarnage said:


> Speaking just for the U.S. audience - We all knew that the Lane-o-philes would leave, but according to this NY Times article, viewership this year has "plunged"...
> 
> "Through the first four stages, viewership of OLN's live Tour coverage has tumbled 49 percent to 207,544 people. Combined viewership of the live show and its daily repeats has plunged by 47 percent to 749,472. At the same time, online traffic at olntv.com has spiked with the addition of more video.
> 
> A further look at past trends shows that viewership for the first four days swelled by 135 percent, from 171,975 in 2002 to 403,802 last year."


Maybe it's because people are finally realizing that cable is just too damn expensive.

They raised my cable bill by $25 one month and I decided it just wasn't worth it anymore. So no Tour for me.


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## DeaconBlues (Jan 2, 2003)

TurboTurtle said:


> Boring??? I thought you guys were cycling fans. If baseball fans can watch their sport without falling asleep, certainly you can get through a stage of the Tour. - TF


No sh1t! How many three-up/three-down innings can a person take?

Give me the TdF anyday.

Deek


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Sorry, but it's boring. I still watch it, but it bores me. I've watched most of it so far, so I am qualified to make that statement. Thankfully, I have Tivo, and can forward it to anything exciting. When the high mountains start, I'll actually stay home and watch it live.


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## theFE (Jul 10, 2004)

Just another reason why we need MORE "Lance On..." episodes!



Unlike most people ou there, I'm actually enjoying the sprint stages. But, that's also what I like to do, sprint. Robbie, my idol.


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## goldsbar (Apr 24, 2002)

Snooze. I've been watching it on FF with the DVR. Breaks with absolutely no chance of making it don't make for exciting coverage. At least with Lance or some of the stars that got knocked out in the doping scandal there might be some interesting moves or the interesting "so and so almost crashed out the the tour scenario." Making the tour less vertically challenging is not a good idea IMO. If anything, make the flat stages shorter so they'll be more intense and won't require the riders to use EPO (the whole drug thing is a little circular with the way the event is setup).

Real reason = Lance and WC. Plus, OLN is up in the multi-hundreds where I live so it's not like your just going to be flipping through the channels and spot the tour.


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## Live Steam (Feb 4, 2004)

Squeegy200 said:


> I actually found it monotonous with the sprinter stages. The formula was a breakaway of unknowns riding until they are caught by the peloton in the last few kms for a bunch sprint to the finish.


Man you're some cycling fan. That's pretty much been the recipe for the Tour for the last few decades at least.


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## Live Steam (Feb 4, 2004)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Only the "serious" cyclists are watching it now that Lance is not in it. Plus the abundance of sprinter-friendly stages is not all that exciting except for the last 30 minutes or so.


I think the first week of this years Tour has been the best in recent memory. The Yellow has exchanged hands quite a few times more than usual. Breaks have succeeded. The sprints have been interesting because no one has had a clear leadout and they have been sketchy. Man, you complain about everything


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## caterham (Nov 7, 2005)

1) No Lance
2) No Jan 
3) No Ivan
4) WC soccer
5) Doping scandal backlash
6) route/predominence of stages with protagonists largely unknown to the general public
7) schizophrenic media coverage


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Interesting data. Here's where folks went:

- lance effect - no lance, no 7th win, no dance.

- no basso, no ullrich, no petacchi. The best are not present.

- just say no to drugs. Some are boycotting our tainted sport

- world cup means less tv credits

- silly tdf route. The Giro route is rated a 9/10. The TDF route is rated a 4/10 on the francois scale. No team ITT? No early TT? Only 3 mountain top finishes??? 12 sprinter stages???? Blasphemy!

- and the numero uno reason... No Kirsten Gummmmmmy.

So there. Unfortunately, this spells the end of OLN's coverage of cycling. If not next year, year after. Zero cycling. That's ok, OLN sucks and I hate them more each year. I only care that they hand the broadcasting rights over to someone else like cycling.tv.

fc


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## Live Steam (Feb 4, 2004)

Good point about the World Cup. There are only so many hours one can devote to viewing TV. Cycling and soccer have many of the same viewers. Let's see if the numbers pick up now that the tournament is over.


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

funny that people complaining about it beng boring also mention world cup. Sorry, but is there anything more freakin boring than soccer. Nothing happens. A 1-0 victory is a slaughter. The only way to watch it is to make drinking games around players falling and crying. Just once would I like to see one of those girls go across the middle for a catch in the NFL..hey, there's a way to make soccer less boring. Put in a few NFL safetys.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

caterham said:


> 1) No Lance
> 2) No Jan
> 3) No Ivan
> 4) WC soccer
> ...


hey, i kind of copied your points without reading them. :thumbsup:means I agree!!

fc


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## fringale37 (Feb 6, 2005)

I have to say after hearing about the BIG DOPING scandal I was a bit put off but once I got a good earful of TourdayFrance and more inane comments from the great Troutfish in primetime coverage I felt much more enthusiastic about this year's TDF but really it is much the same as it has been the last 2 years now that the mountains are here the race really starts.


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## OneGear (Aug 19, 2005)

stevesbike said:


> funny that people complaining about it beng boring also mention world cup. Sorry, but is there anything more freakin boring than soccer. Nothing happens. A 1-0 victory is a slaughter. The only way to watch it is to make drinking games around players falling and crying. Just once would I like to see one of those girls go across the middle for a catch in the NFL..hey, there's a way to make soccer less boring. Put in a few NFL safetys.


honestly this has been beaten to death over and over on this forum, next time a huge flame war occurs please guide yourself to the Lounge and present your worldly views. until then, enjoy the 1-0s.


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## OneGear (Aug 19, 2005)

do these surveys weigh more on live viewers or equal with the recap viewers? I watched the world cup but still made time to watch the recap at night, but then again they don't ask me in these surveys. I think one problem is the time difference, most people prefere to watch the event live, and here its 830AM eastern, and 530AM PST, so its kinda hard to be watching it live, when people have jobs and such. but that wouldn't affect the trend i guess.

i think the biggest issue is no lance, since it was sort of a game the past few years, 'will he win it again or will he break the streak?' it was more like lance against the odds then a race with many different racers. now that there are a number of unknowns, people just tune out because they don't want to know these other racers. it doesn't help that most viewers will only appreciate the last 10 mins of the race because they don't like watching the other 2. 8 hours.


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2006)

DeaconBlues said:


> Maybe if the riders were going around and around making left turns all day more Americans would watch.


LOL!!!


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## ctracer01 (Jan 5, 2006)

Gaaaaaa I Hate That Commercial


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## Mocat4 (Jul 7, 2006)

Live Steam said:


> I think the first week of this years Tour has been the best in recent memory. The Yellow has exchanged hands quite a few times more than usual. Breaks have succeeded. The sprints have been interesting because no one has had a clear leadout and they have been sketchy. Man, you complain about everything


 
Ditto! 
I don't see how this year can be classified as more boring than years past. Sure, TTT's are fun to watch but they usually lock the jersey up in one team for the first week and that to me is not as exciting as watching the sprinters fight for it day after day.

Also worth noting, are we Amercians so flush in cyclling coverage that we can afford to switch it off or FF through it? :yikes: I say hell no! I wait for this kind of coverage all year and I'm watching every dang second of it thank you very much. 

This is the 23rd TDF I've watched and I'm still tickled pink that we're getting to see a good portion of the "long boring flat stages" rather than just the finishing sprint like we saw during the CBS/ESPN lean years. We get to see aspects of the pro peleton that we don't normally see, like close-up shots of bikes/equipment, guys going back for bottles and rain gear, guys pissing off the side of their bikes, guys messing with their radios, we get to see who is talking to who, who's joking around, who's not feeling so good and hanging off the back, who's wearing what, who's eating when, why, and what, and we get to listen to P&P discuss stuff that they don't get to talk about when the racing is hot and heavy (like Paul's illustrious career in the peleton).

I lap this stuff up, as any true cycling fan would. Just as true baseball fans get off listening to the anouncers debate some obscure stat while the batter fouls off the umpteenth pitch, cycling is cycling: fast or slow, flats or mountains, on-the-rivit or just-rolling-along, I'll take it anyway they're offering it! :thumbsup:


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## thatsmybush (Mar 12, 2002)

OneGear said:


> honestly this has been beaten to death over and over on this forum, next time a huge flame war occurs please guide yourself to the Lounge and present your worldly views. until then, enjoy the 1-0s.


You got that right. Fortunatly, I have flame retardant bib shorts and jerseys.


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## goose127 (Jun 9, 2004)

*The hangover has begun*

I think everyone involved knew that there was going to be a hangover once Lance packed it in. This year, unless you are a cycling fan, there was very little promotion of the tour leading up to July, certainly not like in years past. I also think that it was not expected that the World Cup would be such a hit in the US, the ratings and attention are better than ever. 

I honestly do not know what the royal Organizers of this tour were thinking when they put together this route. so many flat stages and so few mountain top finishes. The Giro is now where near as big of an event, yet this year there was much discussion about the epic climbs and interesting stages. Not the case with the Tour, taking out the popular team time trial. I love watching cycling and have not missed a televised race this year, but I find myself very bored with this Tour. It seems like we are all waiting around for the day were something happens. 

While I think it is great that OLN has cycling coverage, OLN is far from the best channel as there are plenty of cable and even the Dish network that does not carry the channel, this only makes the sports exceptance in the US that much harder.


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## velonh (Jul 16, 2004)

I agree with francois and caterham, the loss of cyclists such as Basso and Ulrich has done a lot of damage the ratings. Many of my friends are casual cycling fans, meaning they only watch/ pay attention to the TDF. The names they recognize are all cyclist who have been associated with Lance as close competitors (Basso, Ulrich) or his long term buddy Hincapie. With Basso and Ulrich out they don’t care too much about what is going on. They weren't huge lance fans but their whole view of the peleton was shaped by lance. I think it's always good for sports when you have clear cut favorites duking it out i.e. red sox vs yankees. 

Personally I’m loving this years Tour. The cable company doesn’t carry OLN in my area but I’m getting it for the time being on the preview channel. I just hope they don’t change it to the golf or atkins diet channel too soon.


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## Live Steam (Feb 4, 2004)

I don't think I said anything about cycling being boring. I also watched quite a few soccer matches this World Cup. Nothing boring about soccer either.


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## Live Steam (Feb 4, 2004)

I'm with you. Some people don't have enough to biatch about. I hope it doesn't happen, but one day we may be wishing for more Tour coverage because the networks find they aren't getting enough viewers to make it worth their while.


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## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

*Three main reasons*

Lance is gone.

Jan, Ivan, Vino, Mancebo are gone.

Flat course for two weeks.

I don't care about the ones that are gone but I can't trust the ones that are left either. That strips my emotional involvement when watching it and without that it's just a bunch of liars riding around France. I'm still in a funk from this whole thing...RBR participation at my house is down too.


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## Sub (Feb 13, 2004)

I must be one of the few that has watched every second of it. I DVR it in the morning to catch it live as soon in the day as I can commercial free. I then record it at night to catch any extra interviews etc that they do. It has been relatively boring, but I still enjoy listening to Liggett and I always get a good chuckle out of sherwin and Roll stumbling over themselves with those big words. I think it is like watching baseball, or soccer. It's the game within the game that is interesting. I'm just happy the mountains are finaly near.


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## Spunout (Aug 12, 2002)

theFE said:


> Just another reason why we need MORE "Lance On..." episodes!


Sarcasm taken. I would watch bike racing if there was bike racing on TV. I am stuck watching the evening telecasts (when I can) and I don't even bother. 

It is just 'Cycling for Dummies' for 1h45m and then a bit of the race at the end. I truly believe that if you show the race and have insightful commentary (Phil and Paul) people will get into the flow and development of the sport.


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## brianmcg (Oct 12, 2002)

~David~ said:


> What happened to TV viewers is Lance, there were a lot of people who weren't really Cycling fans but just jumped on the Lance Armstrong band wagon. Lance leaves the sheep leave. Also the world cup is every year but i've never heard anyone talk about it until this year, odd don't you think?



World Cup is like the Olympics, once every four years.


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

*Once again Francois nails it*



francois said:


> - and the numero uno reason... No Kirsten Gummmmmmy.
> 
> So there. Unfortunately, this spells the end of OLN's coverage of cycling. If not next year, year after. Zero cycling. That's ok, OLN sucks and I hate them more each year. I only care that they hand the broadcasting rights over to someone else like cycling.tv.
> 
> fc


How are you going to get the bull riding guys to stick around without a hot chick on the telecast. Isn't that rule #1 for sports coverage, throw in a hot chick? Esp. when Kirsten was a brunette! 

Be thankful for the "boring" coverage this year. You won't have it much longer, and then we'll all be begging for it. OLN is certainly going down the tubes. Hockey, billiards and bull riding, nice. What's next, yet another poker show or some more BBQ cookoffs?


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## ttug (May 14, 2004)

*what do you all want??????*

You mean watching bunch sprints at over 45kph and seeing shoulders bumping and bikes wobbling in a huge group thats is at time a hairs width away from a totals pile up just gives you a case of the yawns?

Would it help if they were all nude? COME ON that is cool to watch. The pile up is just a hair away and those guys are gutting it all out. Thats what a sprinters stage is.


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## vanjr (Sep 15, 2005)

I am watching more than last year (got cable with OLN now!)


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## Sintesi (Nov 13, 2001)

Live Steam said:


> I think the first week of this years Tour has been the best in recent memory. The Yellow has exchanged hands quite a few times more than usual. Breaks have succeeded. The sprints have been interesting because no one has had a clear leadout and they have been sketchy. Man, you complain about everything


I'm with you. This thing is wide open and wild. There's a decent chance that the Yellow Jersey will continue to trade back and forth right through the mountains and the whole thing getting decided on the second to last day just like in 2003. 

The final week will make everyone forget the first.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Sintesi said:


> I'm with you. This thing is wide open and wild. There's a decent chance that the Yellow Jersey will continue to trade back and forth right through the mountains and the whole thing getting decided on the second to last day just like in 2003.
> 
> The final week will make everyone forget the first.


hey I'm not really complaining...just trying to account for why viewership is down. Watching the peloton draft each other for 100k isn't all that exciting for most.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

ttug said:


> You mean watching bunch sprints at over 45kph and seeing shoulders bumping and bikes wobbling in a huge group thats is at time a hairs width away from a totals pile up just gives you a case of the yawns?
> 
> Would it help if they were all nude? COME ON that is cool to watch. The pile up is just a hair away and those guys are gutting it all out. Thats what a sprinters stage is.


That is exciting....For about 2 minutes out of 2.5 hours of coverage. Now if that happened 20 times a stage it would be more interesting. The first week has been basically, tune in for the last 15 minutes of a stage, watch the peleton catch the break away, then catch 30 seconds worth of sprinting.

The tour really doesn't become a TV sport until it hits the mountains. Then there are big time gaps, break aways that get away, drama with who can stay and who gets dropped. Also add in high speeds on the downhills, some nasty crashes, etc. That's when the tour really picks up and people that are not hard core cyclists start to tune in a little more.

My wife is a perfect example. She could care less about the tour, but will watch the mountain stages with me because they are interesting. The sprint stages she could give a flip about.


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## Sintesi (Nov 13, 2001)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> hey I'm not really complaining...just trying to account for why viewership is down. Watching the peloton draft each other for 100k isn't all that exciting for most.


I was endorsing the first part of Steamy's mssg rather than the "you complain about everything" crack. 

OLN should do what CBS used to do. Just turn the whole thing into a travelogue for the French tourism industry. One day will be about the regional wine, the next about a fancy chateau, next day about cheese. Make it an Anthony Bourdain thing with lots of cigarette smoking and awesome food. The race fans will ***** but they won't turn the channel.


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## snowman3 (Jul 20, 2002)

Wookiebiker said:


> That is exciting....For about 2 minutes out of 2.5 hours of coverage. ... tune in for the last 15 minutes of a stage, watch the peleton catch the break away, then catch 30 seconds worth of sprinting.
> .


Yep. Turn on DVR, skip to end, hit high-speed-reverse till it says "5Km to go", then get your frosty beverage and bag of popcorn. I need a little foreplay of watching the peloton before I can get in the mood for a fast and furious finish though.


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## MellowDramatic (Jun 8, 2006)

I'm going to second the thought that this is actually a very exciting tour...at least it will be.

I'm a fan of breakaways, and I have a feeling more will work in the mountain stages than have worked on the pancakes.


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## gotmilk? (Nov 28, 2004)

*Glad to have the coverage*



Live Steam said:


> I'm with you. Some people don't have enough to biatch about. I hope it doesn't happen, but one day we may be wishing for more Tour coverage because the networks find they aren't getting enough viewers to make it worth their while.


 I concur. I expected a falloff after you-know-who packed it in but I love watching the Tour and have watched every minute of it if not live, then taped. I caught the spring classics and the Giro too. I am worried that OLN will think it's not a worthy program and bag it.


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## Live Steam (Feb 4, 2004)

gotmilk? said:


> I concur. I expected a falloff after you-know-who packed it in but I love watching the Tour and have watched every minute of it if not live, then taped. I caught the spring classics and the Giro too. I am worried that OLN will think it's not a worthy program and bag it.


 If they read this board they will pull the plug tomorrow. I mean non-cyclists keep saying cycling is boring. What do you think they will do if they read cyclists saying the same thing?


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## Blazin' Saddles (Feb 18, 2006)

Lance groupies are gone, but also Ullrich and Basso are out -- which were the two riders most wanted to see in the Tour this year. 

So far it's been massed sprint finishes on the flats -- McKewen and Boonen, with the breakaway being caught in the last couple kilos. Not very compelling unless you're a real cyclo-geek and understand what's going on. 

Tomorrow starts into the Pyranees and maybe we'll start seeing some drama . . . 

But there are no major Americans too watch, I mean not really -- Not anything like Lance et cie. The mass audience is just not going to tune in any more.


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## JohnSFO (Dec 21, 2005)

ttug said:


> You mean watching bunch sprints at over 45kph and seeing shoulders bumping and bikes wobbling in a huge group thats is at time a hairs width away from a totals pile up just gives you a case of the yawns?
> 
> Would it help if they were all nude?


No. God no. Well maybe Boonen but...  

I also think this Tour has been great thus far. For once it's not predictable and there are plenty of GC contenders.

Hopefully OLN/Versus will continue their coverage of the Tour (and other races) next year even with lower ratings and no Lance. While their coverage is a bit lacking at times, it's far, far better than CBS's weekly slo-mo, B&W montage-filled updates or...nothing at all/


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## Edgecrusher (Jan 12, 2006)

While I very much appreciate OLN's Tour coverage and repeat
shows throughout the day, the first week was dull. Too many flats
stages and a lot of disorganization by the teams.  

I think the TdF organizers really F'd up the 2006 version. First with the removal
of the Team TT, then the less than stellar route chosen, and basically blackmailing
the top teams to remove the odds on favorites. Is there anything the frenchies can't
F up? No. Flat stages are for one day classics, and criteriums, NOT a Grand Tour.
2 to 3 flat stages are plenty. There is nothing special about riding along at a comfy
pace all day, behind your teammates and then being led out to dash for the line.
You could teach a dog how to that, you could teach a monkey, it's robotic.
It's simple, very basic thinking. No strategy, no well thought out tactics.  

A Grand Tour should highlight a cyclists all around ability, not just one aspect.
I could care less about the sprinters, because sprinting is all they can do.
Sure they do it well, but please, sit in all day, pump out 200+ watts...then sprint
like the wind in the last 200 meters. Skill? Hardly. Talented? Most definitly, 
but only at having explosive power for a VERY short distance. BORING......
(Homer voice) in a Grand Tour.

Snooze fest so far. Thankfully today was more interesting, and it is great to see
the sprinters suffering on the climbs. It really shows their weakness, that and in the 
TT's as well. In the big Scheme, those guys are not Great Grand Tour cyclists. 
There is no real good reason to highlight sprinters almost the entire first week of the 
what is supposedly the greatest bike race on the planet. 
The whole race so far is like one big disorganized free for all, it is not shaping up to be a great TdF. 

Without clear, defined, favorites and leaders, it has become a scrambled mess of silliness and trite. Hopefully the real Tour Day France starts on Stage 11 and tactics get interesting and more professional.


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## Kenacycle (May 28, 2006)

I've been watching the ToF everyday; but honestly it is super boring. I usually just watch the first 30min and the last 45min and fall asleep in between.


Edit:
"There is no real good reason to highlight sprinters almost the entire first week of the 
what is supposedly the greatest bike race on the planet. 
The whole race so far is like one big disorganized free for all, it is not shaping up to be a great TdF. 

Without clear, defined, favorites and leaders, it has become a scrambled mess of silliness and trite. Hopefully the real Tour Day France starts on Stage 11 and tactics get interesting and more professional."

Well said! exactly my thoughts!!


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## Hozomean (Apr 4, 2005)

I am actually enjoying the broadcasts and watching just as much TDF as ever. Now that Al Trautwig has become Bobke-ized, it's fairly entertaining. Christ, if people think watching bike racing is boring, try watching a soccer game that plays out with a 0-0 score and coes down to a penalty kick. NASCAR has improved their safety so much, no one gets hurt anymore. At least so far in the tour we have gotten some exciting sprint finishes and some spectacular crashes. Just read Fred Rodriguizes account of the Erick Dekker (sic) crash.

I do miss Kristen Gumm though, the blonde version from 2 years ago.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

No Kirstin Gumm. That's gotta be it.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Sintesi said:


> I was endorsing the first part of Steamy's mssg rather than the "you complain about everything" crack.
> 
> OLN should do what CBS used to do. Just turn the whole thing into a travelogue for the French tourism industry. One day will be about the regional wine, the next about a fancy chateau, next day about cheese. Make it an Anthony Bourdain thing with lots of cigarette smoking and awesome food. The race fans will ***** but they won't turn the channel.


I've never been to Europe so I kinda enjoy that stuff...adds flavor to the race for me.


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## Bryan (Sep 19, 2004)

America's interest in road cycling will decline as the memories of Lance fade. The same thing happened with Lemond. The next thing to go will be the extensive TV coverage that we are enjoying now.


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## pianopiano (Jun 4, 2005)

*A question*

Is there not one American cyclist, or even at great prospect, that can follow in the footsteps of Greg and Lance and be a Tour de France winner?

And, I'm very happy for Floyd.
GO FLOYD!


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## Bryan (Sep 19, 2004)

piano said:
 

> Is there not one American cyclist, or even at great prospect, that can follow in the footsteps of Greg and Lance and be a Tour de France winner?
> 
> And, I'm very happy for Floyd.
> GO FLOYD!


I believe Landis is going to win this year. However, one thing Lance has that other cyclist don't is Lance is just as much of a celebrity/personality/showman as he is a superb cyclist/athlete. That in itself had as much to do with promoting cycling as did his winning races. Have you seen Floyd or Zebriski give interviews? 

Besides, _if_ anyone beats 7 straight wins, it won't be in our lifetime.


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## desmo13 (Jun 28, 2006)

Why wouldnt it be in our lifetime Bryan? I look at the streaks since in my years alive, 4's 5's and now a 7. Seems the trend is going up in number of wins.


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## tube_ee (Aug 25, 2003)

desmo13 said:


> Why wouldnt it be in our lifetime Bryan? I look at the streaks since in my years alive, 4's 5's and now a 7. Seems the trend is going up in number of wins.


You must have been watching the Tour for along time... The previous record (5) was set in 1964. There has never been a 4-time winner that didn't win at least one more, so 4 wins was the record only in 1963-1964. It'll be a decade or more before we see another 5-time winner, and 8 wins won't happen for a long, long time.

Like Cippo's Giro stage record, Lance's TdF wins will stand for decades.

--Shannon


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## ChuckUni (Jan 2, 2003)

Bryan said:


> Have you seen Floyd or Zebriski give interviews?


I think they give great interviews. It's not the normal PR coached chat that we are used to but I like it. Zabriskie is a bit slow, some might not find humor in it....but I think it's hilarious.

That said they both do much better in print. Check out the Outside mag article or the Bicycling mag articles. Both great IMO.


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## Alpedhuez55 (Jun 29, 2005)

ChuckUni said:


> I think they give great interviews. It's not the normal PR coached chat that we are used to but I like it. Zabriskie is a bit slow, some might not find humor in it....but I think it's hilarious.
> 
> That said they both do much better in print. Check out the Outside mag article or the Bicycling mag articles. Both great IMO.


I agree, both Zabriskie and Landis are pretty funny. I listened to that Audo Blog Zabriskie is doing and it is funny stuff!!!

I think Lance is a little overrated as far as his interview/showman skills go. I really think it was Nike who put him over the top like that and made him a household name. It will be interesting to see what endorsements Landis gets if he wins the tour. And if he comes back to race next year after a hip replacement, the Hype Machine will be in full force. It gives him that Comeback story that really made Lance and Lemond so popular.


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## pr0230 (Jun 4, 2004)

*Other channels*



ChilliConCarnage said:


> Speaking just for the U.S. audience - We all knew that the Lane-o-philes would leave, but according to this NY Times article, viewership this year has "plunged"...
> 
> "Through the first four stages, viewership of OLN's live Tour coverage has tumbled 49 percent to 207,544 people. Combined viewership of the live show and its daily repeats has plunged by 47 percent to 749,472. At the same time, online traffic at olntv.com has spiked with the addition of more video.
> 
> A further look at past trends shows that viewership for the first four days swelled by 135 percent, from 171,975 in 2002 to 403,802 last year."


If you look a the cover of Cycle Sport America , Ulirch Basso, Valverde, Landis, Hindcapie, and Vinakourov are on the cover... 

The only one of signigfance on the cover is Landis.... What an EMPTY win he will get if he wins.... 

As a true Philadelphia fan.... BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


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## LukeVelo (Jun 26, 2006)

I think with Lance out we were all waiting for the Ulrich/Basso showdown, with a little Vino and Valverde thrown in. Honestly, with out those guys it really has made this Tour a bit on the boring side. I'm not saying anything new here, but I'm sure without Lance a lot of Americans are not watching, the real cycling fans are watching, but in disdain. With Jan and Ivan on top form, we were all excited for some real action. Yes, it's still the TDF, but def TDF-lite.


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