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Cycling on NBC

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Cycling on NBC
Also known asNBC Sports Cycling
GenreMultiple-stage bicycle racing
Directed byKelly Atkinson[1]
StarringSee commentators section
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersDavid Michaels (coordinating producer)
Joel Felicio[2] (live producer)
Production locationsFrance and other countries
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time3 1/2 hours
Production companyNBC Sports
Original release
NetworkNBC
NBCSN
NBC Sports Gold
Peacock
USA Network[3]
Release2011 (2011)
Related

Cycling on NBC is the de facto name for broadcasts of multiple-stage bicycle races produced by NBC Sports,[4] the sports division of the NBC[5] television network. This includes broadcasts of the Tour de France,[6] Vuelta a España, UCI World Tour Championships, Tour of California, USA Pro Cycling Challenge,[7] and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.

Overview

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Coors Classic coverage

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In 1985, NBC broadcast the Coors International Bicycle Classic[8] as part of its anthology program Sportsworld.[9] Greg Lewis anchored NBC's coverage alongside Connie Carpenter and Alexi Grewal.[10]

Tour de Trump coverage

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From 1989 to 1990, NBC broadcast[11] the Tour de Trump,[12] which was a North American cycling stage race initially sponsored by businessman (and later U.S. President) Donald Trump.

For the very first edition in 1989, Dick Enberg[13] anchored[14] the coverage alongside Gary Gerould and analyst Clif Halsey.[15] Greg Lewis meanwhile, interviewed cyclists after the final stage. NBC would cover at least two weeks worth of action for two hours[16] each on Sunday afternoons[17] while ESPN otherwise, provided the bulk of the coverage.

The following year, NBC announced that it would commit to airing at least six hours[18] worth of the Tour de Trump race. This time, John Tesh anchored NBC's coverage alongside Phil Liggett.

Incidentally, the idea for the race was conceived by John Tesh, who had covered the 1987 Tour de France for CBS and on his return suggested holding a race in the United States to the basketball commentator and entrepreneur Billy Packer. Packer originally planned to call the race the Tour de Jersey. He approached representatives of casinos in Atlantic City for sponsorship, and Donald Trump offered to be the race's primary sponsor and Packer's business partner in the venture. It was Packer who suggested the Tour de Trump name.

Tour de France coverage

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See also: Tour_de_France § Broadcasting, and List of programs broadcast by NBCSN

In 1999, NBCSN,[19] then known as Outdoor Life Network (or OLN) acquired the U.S. broadcast rights to the Tour de France for US$3 million. Coverage of the Tour on OLN brought substantially greater viewership to the then fledgling channel, due in part to the then-growing popularity of American rider Lance Armstrong. In 2004, where Armstrong would aim for a record-breaking sixth straight Tour de France title, OLN would devote over 344 hours in July to coverage of the Tour, along with documentaries and other original programming surrounding the event – which was promoted through a US$20 million advertising campaign.[20]

Overall, while its coverage of the Tour de France helped OLN expand its carriage to over 60 million homes, rumors surrounding Armstrong's possible retirement from racing led to concerns over OLN's emphasis on him (to the point that some critics referred to OLN as standing for "Only Lance Network"),[21] with critics questioning whether the network could sustain itself without the viewership that Lance Armstrong's presence had brought to its coverage.[22]

Carriage of the Tour de France continued through OLN's retooling as a mainstream sports channel and rebranding as Versus.[23] In 2011, Versus owner Comcast acquired a majority stake in NBC Universal, and merged its sports cable networks with that company's NBC Sports division.[24][25][26] NBC Sports would continue to carry the Tour on Versus, later rebranded as the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN).[27] The 2015 Tour de France saw its highest ratings on NBCSN since 2010, with average viewership increased to 365,000 , and stage 8 having nearly a million viewers on NBC.[28]

Beginning in 2016, NBC began to stream additional coverage via a subscription service, including replays, the commercial-free world feed, and other second screen content. This app expanded into the "Cycling Pass" service on NBC Sports Gold in 2017, which would also include coverage of the UCI Road World Championships, Colorado Classic, and Volta a Catalunya.[29][30][31]

After the discontinuation of OLN's successor NBCSN at the end of 2021, linear television coverage of the Tour de France moved to other NBCUniversal cable networks such as USA Network and CNBC. NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock would also carry all stages .[32] On February 15, 2023, NBC Sports announced that it had renewed its media rights to broadcast the Tour de France through 2029. Beginning in 2024, cable simulcasts will be discontinued, with all stages becoming exclusive to Peacock, and occasional stages simulcast by NBC.[32]

CNBC's coverage

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Main article: NBC Sports on CNBC

In 2015, CNBC aired portions of the 2015 UCI Road Cycling World Championships.[33]

In 2020, CNBC aired Stage 14 and Stage 15 of the Tour de France.[34]

In 2022, CNBC aired stage 8 of the Paris–Nice.[35]

In 2022, CNBC aired portions of the Women's Tour de France.[36]

Commentators

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See also: List_of_sports_announcers § Cycling

Summer Olympics

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Main articles: NBC Olympic broadcasts and 2008 Summer Olympics on NBC
Year Play-by-play Color commentator(s) Field reporter(s)
1988 Gary Gerould[57] Brian Drebber[58] and Davis Phinney[59]
1992 John Tesh[60] (road cycling)
Phil Liggett (track cycling) 		Phil Liggett and Mark Gorski (road cycling)
Mark Gorski (track cycling) 		Al Trautwig (road cycling)
1996 Al Trautwig[61] Phil Liggett[62] and Paul Sherwen[63]
2000 Al Trautwig[64] (road cycling)
Phil Liggett[65] (track cycling and mountain biking) 		Paul Sherwen (road cycling)
Jessica Grieco[66] (track cycling)
2004 Pat Parnell
Steve Podborski[67] 		Paul Sherwen[68] Robbie Floyd
2008 Pat Parnell[69]
Craig Hummer 		Kenan Harkin[70]
Paul Sherwen[71] 		Marty Snider
2012 Steve Schlanger[72] (road)
Todd Harris[73] (track & BMX) 		Paul Sherwen[74] (road & track)
Jamie Bestwick[75] (BMX) 		Todd Harris[76]
2016 Paul Sherwen
 Bob Roll and Christian Vande Velde[77]
Chris Doyle (BMX) 		Steve Porino[78]
2020 Steve Schlanger[79]
Todd Harris (BMX) 		Bob Roll[80] and Christian Vande Velde
Chris Doyle (BMX) 		Steve Porino

References

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