NBC Sports Gold Cycling Pass Super-Serves' Fans Throughout Tour de France

NBC Sports Gold Cycling Pass Super-Serves' Fans Throughout Tour de France Expanding to other races, service targets fans who have a cable subscription and those who don't By Karen Hogan Ketchum, Senior Editor

Monday, July 17, 2017 - 1:23 pm

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As the Tour de France enters its final week, cycling fans can catch every minute of the action on NBC Sports Gold Cycling Pass, a direct-to-consumer product geared specifically to cycling's avid fan base. And, after the yellow jersey has been awarded to the victor, Cycling Pass will continue to cover more than 25 races through June 2018.

At NBC Sports, we've been catering to and keeping cycling fans in mind for some time, says Portia Archer, VP, direct-to-consumer services, NBC Sports Group. This year, we're excited to continue offering a bundle of cycling events, including the Tour, and also expand what we're offering for the Tour de France itself this year. We're offering more hours than ever before; we will literally have every pedal of the race available from start to finish on NBC Sports Gold this year. It's much more cycling than has ever been available for cycling enthusiasts and fans to consume.

Throughout the Tour, NBC Sports aired a record 280 hours of race coverage across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports Gold and NBC Sports apps. The Peacock's coverage on NBC Sports Gold expands on its broadcast offering for fans who may not have a cable subscription but want to watch cycling events like the Tour de France or for fans who simply want additional coverage beyond what's on TV.

NBC Sports Gold is intended to super-serve fans, explains Archer. If you have a subscription to television through a television provider, that's great: you can watch it on television, and we'll give you more than what you can get on television. It super-serves that audience: those who subscribe and have a television package, as well as those who do not.

NBC Sports Gold's Cycling Pass was unveiled earlier this month, just prior to the 2017 Tour de France, joining existing Rugby, Track and Field, and Pro Motocross direct-to-consumer products. Premier League Pass will be available in time for the 2017-18 season, and all offerings are powered by NBC Sports' Playmaker Media.

Before the Grand D part in D sseldorf, Germany, Cycling Pass subscribers received stage-by-stage descriptions, a breakdown of the top contenders, and the best of the 2016 Tour de France. Once the peloton hit the road, Cycling Pass expanded to provide live-streaming video of every stage, including more than 30 hours of bonus HD-video coverage; full-stage video replays, including highlights, stage recaps, and rider interviews; GPS race tracking; and plenty of maps, elevation profiles, rider bios, and live results and standings.

NBC Sports is taking the Tour de France world feed, including the commentators, for Cycling Pass, which means that Cycling Pass coverage will differ slightly from the linear feed available to cable subscribers. For the first time ever, fans with Cycling Pass will be able to watch every single stage of the Tour de France live; the coverage is also offered commercial-free.

That will enable us to add additional hours and to cover more of the race, says Archer. That's where we get into the ability to have every stage that's produced - pedal to pedal, start to finish.

Cycling Pass - available for $39.99 on Apple iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Chromecast and online - is organized by easy-to-use tabs: Feed for news, Track for GPS, Standings for rider standings in every jersey category, Riders for detailed rider information, and More for additional data about the Tour and NBC Sports' coverage.

We want to make cycling available to fans wherever they like to watch, whether that's desktop, mobile iOS, Android, Roku, or Chromecast connected devices, says Archer. We're happy if they enjoy the coverage that's available exclusively on Gold. We're also happy if they are watching it on linear and accompanying that with the second-screen experience.

LINK:	http://www.sportsvideo.org/2017/07/17/nbc-sports-gold-cycling-pass-sup...
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