Eurosport - is it worth it?

[postman]

There are lots of repeats. I've watched the Barnsley circuit races about four times this week!

 

[postman]

There are lots of repeats. I've watched the Barnsley circuit races about four times this week!

 

[Dayvo]

If you're just interested in cycling, probably wouldn't justify the cost and the annoying and relentless showing of adverts.

There's too much motor sport for my liking, and bloody equestrian events, but it's included in out TV package so doesn't cost any extra.

I prefer Norwegian Eurosport compared to the ITV equivalent channel on the box here, it's just jingoistic and biased.

There are a few cycling channels you can stream, I believe, you just have to surf a bit to find them: this is one of them, but I think you may need to subscribe. http://www.cyclingfans.com/live_race_coverage

 

[Dayvo]

There are lots of repeats. I've watched the Barnsley circuit races about four times this week!

Yeah, don't labour the point, Stan.

 

[roadrash]

i signed up for it early on in the year , i find it suits my needs , once signed up you can use it on multiple devices , pc phone tablet etc, its always a fight for the tv in our house so i put eurosport player on my hudle tablet then micro hdmi lead to the tv upstairs, plus you get more cycling than just the grand tours ..... i like it

 

[Vapin' Joe]

A massive yes from me. It's worth it for Sean Kelly alone, Sherwin might have been a pro cyclist but his punditry would make you believe he'd only ever ridden a few sportives.

 

[ColinJ]

I wouldn't pay for the privilege of watching loads of adverts.

That does annoy me - ads or subscription, yes, but not both!

The answer to the question is that Eurosport is great for cycling, so 'yes'! ITV4 is getting better, but there is still a lot more on Eurosport. If your only interest is what they show on ITV4, then 'no'.

I only started with it for the cycling coverage but found myself watching sports I had never heard of such as biathlon. (What a crazy sport - ski cross-country flat out to exhaust yourself and get your heart rate way up, then stop dead and try to shoot straight between heartbeats!)

 

[coffeejo]

I don't have the means to record so does it have an "iplayer" feature or do you have to watch it live or not at all?

 

[ColinJ]

They keep updating the apps and website so the functionality changes, but certainly until recently the apps were 'live' streaming, but the web player could be wound back up to 3 hours. I am not on my laptop now, but will check that later to see if it is still possible.

Eurosport often keep a 'video library' of coverage of many events for a week or two, so it is possible to watch those recordings as and when it suits you. Annoyingly though, they have sometimes missed out recordings of some stage race stages!

I would take out a month's subscription and see what you think. If you like it, then save money by getting an annual 'pass'.

 

[ColinJ]

Oh, and they usually broadcast stages live, with a couple of chances to watch highlights in the evenings, or before the next day's coverage. One day classics get retransmitted several times.

Highlights editing is poor compared to ITV4. They show a chunk, go to an ad break, and return to a later point in the race without explaining what happened in between!

Watching the videos can be the best way because you can skip the ads and wind through boring bits e.g. on long sprint stages where nowt much happens until the end.

 

[Asa Post]

I don't have the means to record so does it have an "iplayer" feature or do you have to watch it live or not at all?

As @ColinJ says, the last 3 hours are automatically available. This allows watching as if it was live, but also lets you skip over the adverts.

 

[ColinJ]

As @ColinJ says, the last 3 hours are automatically available. This allows watching as if it was live, but also lets you skip over the adverts.

Which reminds me ... If you are doing that, start watching at least an hour after transmission starts otherwise you will catch up and have to then watch live, complete with ads and boring bits. Don't start more than 3 hours after transmission though or you will miss the start.

I have never found a way to record off Eurosport player other than to video the screen, which is a pretty crap way of doing it! Somebody somewhere probably provides software that would let you get in at a very low level to bypass the copyright protection, but the EP software is designed to stop you doing that.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

I don't know how anyone can complain about the adverts on Eurosport, ITV4 is the most annoying channel I've ever watched for the length of their breaks.

 

[roadrash]

you dont have to watch live, you can rewind three hours on the eurosport player as mentioned above , also it will be available to watch in its entirity under the videos section a few hours after broadcast , these videos are available to watch for seven days after the event

 

[phil_hg_uk]

@coffeejo you could sign up for a months pass and see what you think.