Why GCN+ Is Being Shut Down & What It Means for the Future of Watching Bike Races
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In this week’s edition, my co-host Andrew Vontz and I attempt to break down the news that the fantastic GCN+ cycling-specific streaming service is being shut down in December and dive deep into the potential reasons for this sudden ending. We also speculate on what platform, if any, will allow Americans to watch non-ASO races in the 2024 season, as well as touching on Wout van Aert's apparent plan to race the Giro d'Italia over the Tour de France in 2024 and Geraint Thomas' interesting off-season admissions.
Since recording this episode, I’ve continued to reflect on the somewhat shocking news that GCN+ is suddenly disappearing, and one of the only certainties I’ve been able to glean is that while US viewers don’t currently know where, or if, they will be able to watch the vast majority of the racing calendar in 2024, what we do know is that wherever it is, it will almost certainly be more expensive and much more ad-reliant than GCN+ was, and Eurosport/Discovery+’s continued streaming offering currently is in Europe.
Whichever way you cut it, the demise of the service will massively decrease the quality of the viewing product available to US viewers (since Warner Bros. Discovery's non-GCN+ streaming products are nearly impossible to access using a VPN) and significantly decrease their ability to simply see non-mainstream races. Considering all the recent noise around the prospective One Cycling project that aims to modernize, streamline, and ultimately monetize the top-tier calendar, the fact that a vast portion of the calendar is currently unavailable to view in a massive and wealthy market like the US highlights just how deep the dysfunction runs in the current model.
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