GCN+ closes What are the alternatives?

[Paulatic]

I’m still waiting for the 3 month offer. Checked all junk folders and have been in touch with support.
Now we have 2 peeps say no adverts and 1 says adverts and @rualexander tells me there’s no confusion.

MVdP certainly displayed some power today.

[deliquium]

My GCN+ sub runs out in Feb 2024. Have not had a refund as yet - but got an email from GCN+ on 14/12/2023 stating the refund is imminent and with the 3 month free discount code for discovery+

GCNTODPLUSUK-A6UCLEQ2U (redeemable until 31/12/2023 - for me at least)

I invoked that yesterday to see what it looked like, to familiarise meself pre 19/12/2023 as posted previously.

Watched a repeat of last weekend's CX race on discovery+ new sub - no adverts just like the GCN+ version

Today, watched on discovery+ the womens' CX at Herental - again no adverts and exactly the same as the GCN+ feed

So far so good!

Plus there's a real benefit with the discovery+ version on my desktop Mac = in that it's way easier to adjust the size of the app window to get rid of the clutter below the actual visual window

Will watch the mens' Herental in a mo

ps also works fine and dandy on the iPad and iPhone too - NO adverts yet. But not watched live thus far

[TrevA]

[

Who led you to believe that?
Discovery+ has ads, I've tried it, some of the on demand races don't seem to have any, others have some, and some have quite a lot.
All the live streams have ads (Eurosport 1 and 2 for the cycling).
See here https://support.discoveryplus.com/gb/An ... /000004067

In the 6th post of this thread @TrevA says

Yes, all of the cyclocross, all of the Spring Classics, all of the Grand Tours, and all of the minor races that you get on Eurosport. It’s the same coverage as Eurosport without the adverts.

Why is there this confusion?

Well, he's wrong, there are adverts.
There's no confusion, it says they have ads on all their plans on the page I linked to above.

I’m not wrong. There are several feeds for each race - the E1/E2 feed has adverts, as it’s the one shown on the TV. the Digital feed does not have adverts. I’ve been watching cycling on D+ for a year now, I always pick the digital feed and there are never any adverts. If you are getting adverts, you’ve picked the wrong feed. It’s subtle but the E1/E2 feed will show either E1 or E2, and the digital feed will not.

Here’s a screenshot of the coverage of the Mol cross on 22/12/23. You can see one feed for the women’s race says E1, and the other doesn’t . Pick the one that doesn’t say E1 and there will be no adverts.

[rualexander]

Well if you're right that'll be great but many races seem to have only one feed, and I did say that some had ads and some didn't seem to have ads.

Also the D+ website says this :

Also will there be any incentive for them to continue having ad free streams now that GCN+ for which being ad free was a major selling point has been closed down.

[MrsHJ]

Has anyone found a general code to trial discovery+ for those of us who haven’t had an email from GCN with an offer or do we need to contact somewhere to get a code?

Nb I take it we need the standard £6.99 a month plan as that’s the one that mentions cycling. No documentaries I assume- watching those in the background whilst working on a long report was a real pleasure.

[rualexander]

I too haven't received the email from GCN with the three month trial code for Discovery+

I took out a one month subscription last month to try out Discovery+ and subsequently cancelled it as there's not much racing I'm interested in on just now. I will probably go back in the springtime.
But meantime I received a confirmation email of my cancellation which included the following :

If I reactivate my sub and continue I won't get ads in the on demand content, but if I don't reactivate now but come back later on, then I will get ads in the on demand content

I don't understand this because there are ads in some of the on demand content I'm seeing at the moment anyway.

[TrevA]

Well I’ve just watched a certain Mr Thomas Pidcock race at Namur this afternoon and I didn’t see a single advert, nor did I for yesterday’s race.

The Standard Plan gives access to several Discovery-owned TV channels, which do have adverts, as do the E1 and E2 channels. I wonder if that’s what they are referring to? The Digital Cycling feed does not have adverts. I’ve watched every cross race this season and the only time I’ve seen adverts, is when I’ve clicked on the wrong feed by mistake.

[mjr]

The Digital Cycling feed does not have adverts.

Yet. Wait until after GCN has completely closed and they don't need an adless feed for it.

[TrevA]

The Digital Cycling feed does not have adverts.

Yet. Wait until after GCN has completely closed and they don't need an adless feed for it.

I’ve seen your cynicism over on Cyclechat, now you’re bringing it over here too.

[mjr]

The Digital Cycling feed does not have adverts.

Yet. Wait until after GCN has completely closed and they don't need an adless feed for it.

I’ve seen your cynicism over on Cyclechat, now you’re bringing it over here too.

Experience more than cynicism. Warner Brothers would love to do to cycling what Sky did to football.

[st599_uk]

Yet. Wait until after GCN has completely closed and they don't need an adless feed for it.

I’ve seen your cynicism over on Cyclechat, now you’re bringing it over here too.

Experience more than cynicism. Warner Brothers would love to do to cycling what Sky did to football.

Not just cycling, they own the European rights for the Olympics, US and French Open Tennis, most Winter Sports, Le Mans and have 11 territories for Wimbledon.

The only reason some of these are available in the UK free to air is that they're required on Freeview and WB don't meet the criterion.

[Mcdors]

I watch on my iPad, phone and Apple TV box. There an option to have foreign commentary or just ambient sound when watching the racing, if Carlton Kirby gets on your nerves.

If true this has made my day as I like to listen to European races with native commentary. Not had anyone confirm this before. Have you actually tried it?
I had assumed I might have to do some VPNing at best or just not get this at all at worst. Thanks!

[Paulatic]

I watch on my iPad, phone and Apple TV box. There an option to have foreign commentary or just ambient sound when watching the racing, if Carlton Kirby gets on your nerves.

If true this has made my day as I like to listen to European races with native commentary. Not had anyone confirm this before. Have you actually tried it?
I had assumed I might have to do some VPNing at best or just not get this at all at worst. Thanks!

Yes it’s true. Just like the GCN app but choosing ambient or your chosen language is now button right. Used to be top left of screen.

Also I can confirm as @ TrevA says no adverts

[TrevA]

I watch on my iPad, phone and Apple TV box. There an option to have foreign commentary or just ambient sound when watching the racing, if Carlton Kirby gets on your nerves.

If true this has made my day as I like to listen to European races with native commentary. Not had anyone confirm this before. Have you actually tried it?
I had assumed I might have to do some VPNing at best or just not get this at all at worst. Thanks!

Yes, I’ve tried it. If watching on an iPad or phone, there’s a little speech balloon in the bottom right corner. If you click on that you can choose a different language commentary or ambient sound.

[kylecycler]

Just used the discount code sent by GCN+ on the 19th (with the refund notification). Followed the link in the email, entered the code, so that's the first three months free (applies to the Standard package so that includes the cycling plus motorsports except Moto GP). Will be £6.99 per month after the three months are up.

Had to be redeemed before midnight tonight, though, so if anyone still hasn't, they'll need to be quick (I nearly forgot!)..