My take.
Somewhere near the end of the 20th century, I watched the first races on the then terrestrial Eurosport signal. David Duffield was the "man" behind the microphone, and the peloton driven by the "nuclear" power efficiently rushed through the roads of the old continent...
It was free then. For two main reasons:
- Any costs of my cycle race watching were covered by my parents, so I wasn't even aware of them
- Eurosport (like most of the media world) was then a media fully financed by advertisements of its partners and sponsors
Some 20 years later, the media space has become something completely different. I, as a convinced economic liberal, defended this new situation and still defend it "to the bones" because in these turmoils, the ones who profited was always - me and you. Cycling races, reports, personal experiences and adventures have become ultimately available in what is now that huge media ecosystem – social networks, You Tube, Vimeo, Eurosport player, GCN+ etc……..
Heroes became, along with those in the professional peloton, people like Leal Wilcox, Sofiane Sehili, Lachlan Morton, Ted King, Peter Stetina, Colin Strickland and many others.... And we all enjoyed it. At some point, we started to take it for granted.
So granted that we have become spoiled like hell. With bicycles that we pay insanely for and devices that we don't need we pay even more, we have forgotten what we once lacked the most. We forgot so much that we remembered it only when we lost it.
The death of GCN+ is not accidental nor is it the fault of "big daddy" Discovery ltd. nor the "grandfather" Warner Bros. Inc. It's your fault. Cyclists. Simply, most of us thought that the availability that is now gone, was not even worth that money!
Therefore, do not cry. Don't blame capitalism or the big American boss! They had the product. We didn't want to pay him more. And the money disappeared…….
Now we only have Eurosport. At least pay that so we can avoid the same thing again……
And don't forget. Share the road.
Zvonko Čubrić
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