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Tag: Tour de France

  • Prime Video strikes deal with France Télévisions as streamers forge unlikely alliances

    Prime Video strikes deal with France Télévisions as streamers forge unlikely alliances

    PARIS: Streaming is making for some unlikely bedfellows. After Netflix’s recent tie-up to carry TF1’s linear channels in France, Amazon Prime Video has now inked a landmark pact with France Télévisions. The move brings the public broadcaster’s full arsenal of content—France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Info—onto Prime Video in France, available to all subscribers.

    The partnership opens up access to preview and replay programming, exclusive content and marquee events including the Tour de France, Women’s Euro, Women’s Rugby World Cup, plus drama, docs, entertainment, kids shows and rolling news.

    “With this unprecedented distribution method, our group is taking a historic step toward strengthening the visibility of its public service offering,” said France Télévisions president & CEO  Delphine Ernotte Cunci. “It allows audiences to rediscover the richness of france.tv in new digital environments.”

    “Following Max, Paramount+, Ciné+OCS, Universal+ and MGM+, alongside 43 additional channels, we are delighted to have reached this agreement and to be able to make France Télévisions’ extensive catalog available to all our Prime customers in France,” added Prime Video France general manager Christophe Deguine. “We are constantly looking for new ways to expand the quality content offering to our customers and confirm Prime Video as the number one entertainment destination

    As streamers across the globe cosy up to traditional broadcasters, eyes now turn to India. Netflix is already showing Sony’s evergreen cop drama CID.; JioHotstar is the home of HBO, Peacock and other global players. 

    Could a wider wave of streamer-broadcaster tie-ups be on the cards with Netflix, JioHotstar, Z5, SonyLiv  or Prime? Watch this space.

  • Warner Bros. Discovery saddles up for Tour de France with a high-tech

    Warner Bros. Discovery saddles up for Tour de France with a high-tech

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is shifting gears for this year’s Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, promising wall-to-wall coverage powered by tech, talent and turbo-charged storytelling.

    Starting 5 July, the world’s most iconic cycling race will stream live across every stage on WBD’s streaming services – Max, HBO Max and discovery+ – alongside traditional coverage on Eurosport and TNT Sports. That’s 3,320 km of pedal-powered drama, served in 20 languages across Europe and Asia, with exclusive rights in 44 territories.

    And the peloton doesn’t stop there. The women’s race – the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift — gears up with nine stages and 1,165 km of action, beginning 26 July. It marks the longest race yet on the UCI Women’s World Tour.

    Joining the broadcast caravan is recently retired French cycling legend Romain Bardet. Swapping saddle for mic, Bardet will ride alongside the action as WBD’s newest motorbike reporter for stages 11 to 15. “I’m throwing myself into the unknown,” he said, “but I’ve got the experience and team to bring new insight to fans.”

    He’s part of an all-star commentary squad, including Tour de France veterans Jens Voigt, Adam Blythe, Alberto Contador, and studio anchors Orla Chennaoui, Robbie McEwen, and Ashleigh Wilmot, among others.

    For cycling purists and super fans, WBD is rolling out a game-changer: a new quad screen feature. It lets viewers track breakaways, the peloton and the grupetto simultaneously using real-time footage from motorbikes, drones, and helicopters. It’s tactical, immersive, and perfect for armchair analysts.

    Also back in action is WBD’s award-winning Curve studio with its arsenal of mixed reality tools — think virtual wind tunnels, inclinometers for brutal climbs, and even a digital team bus to unpack race strategies in forensic detail.

    And just in case fans need more than live races, there’s Cycling Africa – The Rise of African Pro Cycling debuting 20 July. The original film features stars like Chris Froome, Biniam Girmay and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio ahead of the historic 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda.

    Ad dollars are racing too, with record commercial investments from brands including Zwift, Whoop, Škoda, Lidl and Velux. Expect bespoke campaigns and in-broadcast storytelling to match the race’s pace.

    With the men’s field headlined by Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, and the women’s peloton packed with firepower from Kasia Niewiadoma to Demi Vollering, this year’s Tour is shaping up to be an all-out sprint for cycling supremacy.

    In the saddle or on screen, WBD is making sure fans don’t miss a turn of the wheel.

  • Eurosport and GCN gear up for Tour de France 2021 coverage

    Mumbai: The iconic bike race speeds back onto screens this summer as the crème de la crème of cycling come together to battle for the yellow jersey. Capturing every stage, every sprint and every climb, Discovery-owned broadcaster Eurosport and its Global Cycling Network (GCN) are all set to live-stream 2021 Tour de France for viewers in more than 60 markets across Europe and Asia.

    With total exclusivity in 35 markets, Eurosport and GCN will offer live, on-demand and ad-free coverage of every stage of Le Tour via its digital platforms the Eurosport App and GCN+. For the first time, Discovery’s global streaming service discovery+ will also show all the action via Eurosport with Eurosport 1 also offering live broadcasts of every stage, it said in a statement.

    Eurosport and GCN’s international experts Sir Bradley Wiggins and Alberto Contador will offer LIVE insights to viewers in the UK and Spain respectively. Eurosport and GCN will bring fans closer to their favourite riders with a unique view of the action as its ‘Brad on a Bike’ feature returns for 2021 with Sir Bradley Wiggins and Bernie Eisel reporting live from the heart of the peloton. GCN+ will also offer subscribers exclusive content and original documentaries, both online and via the GCN App.

    Expressing his excitement about the upcoming event, Eurosport’s SVP – content and production, Scott Young said, “With the Grand Départ just days away, we are gearing up for the most comprehensive coverage of the Tour de France anywhere by harnessing the full power of Eurosport, GCN and discovery+ to excite and entertain viewers everywhere.”

    “We are looking forward to having Brad and Bernie back on the bike, offering viewers an innovative and unique insight to life in the peloton, as well as dissecting the drama of each stage through our local analysis and highlights shows. This year, the action does not end at the Champs-Élysées, and with the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 following just a week after we find out who takes home the yellow jersey, there is so much racing and so many stories to look forward to over the coming weeks,” Young added.

    The exclusive coverage begins on 24 June, before stage one begins from the French city, Brest – on 26 June.

  • Tencent Sports to digitally stream TdF 2018 in China

    Tencent Sports to digitally stream TdF 2018 in China

    MUMBAI: Tencent Sports, China’s leading online sports platform, has announced on 4 July that it will digitally stream the exclusive Tour de France (TdF) 2018 live in China. The one year deal signed in 2017 has been renewed for 2018 as well.

    TdF 2018 starts on 7 July and concludes on 29 July. Tencent will use its PC and mobile platforms including Tencent Sports, Tencent News, Tencent Videos, Tiantian Kuaibao and Penguin Live Stream to provide live streaming, on-demand highlights and special reports about the event.

    Similar to 2018 deal, Tencent Sports had signed a contract with Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) to exclusively broadcast the 2017 TdF on its platforms in China.

    ASO president Jean Etienne Amaury said, “We are delighted to have Tencent Sports as the official digital media partner for 2018 Tour de France and believe they are going to help more Chinese cycling fans have access to the event,” according to ytsports.cn.

    Tencent Sports operation general manager Zhao Guochen stated that they will use the strengths of Tencent Sports to help bring attention to the Tour de France in China to new heights.

    Tencent said it will upgrade its presentation for this year’s Tour adding features such as expert analysis from former riders.

    ASO’s deal with Tencent comes after it extended its television rights contract with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV this week through to 2021.

    In India, DSport will broadcast the live action of Tour De France 2018.

  • CNN to air defining moments of the year

    CNN to air defining moments of the year

    MUMBAI: CNN will on three consecutive days beginning 30 December offer a look back at 2006; from the stories that dominated the news agenda and an in-depth review of how CNN reported these stories in its award winning style. Defining Moments 2006 uses comment and analysis from CNN’s international correspondents to reflect and go behind the stories that as the year draws to a close made 2006 such a memorable one.

    Conflict shaped much of 2006, and Defining Moments charts the increasing tensions in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon and Iraq. The abduction of two Israeli soldiers as broken by CNN’s Anthony Mills on July 12th marked the beginning of round the clock coverage of the Israel-Hezbollah war that dominated global news for a month.

    The special looks back at the events that took place from within Israel and Lebanon as well as the countries connected to the conflict during that volatile time. CNN also documents the 7/11 Mumbai train bombings which killed nearly 200 innocent people, features spiralling violence between Sunnis and Shiias in Iraq, witnessed through the eyes of CNN correspondents on the ground in Baghdad and across the Iraqi nation.

    From insurgents and rocket attacks to the nuclear club with two potentially new members; 2006 saw CNN’s Dan Rivers reporting live from a tense Korean border. The programme relives the unfolding of both North Korea and Iran’s nuclear ambitions as reported throughout the year.

    On a lighter note, 2006 is also remembered for such stories as the delisting of Pluto as one of our planets, the football World Cup, more dope than cycling at the Tour de France and the bowing out of the internationally loved Andre Agassi from the tennis circuit. The special revisits these stories and shares the highs, and lows, that characterised 2006.

  • Tour de France kicks off on Ten Sports on Sunday

    Tour de France kicks off on Ten Sports on Sunday

    MUMBAI: Ten Sports, the world’s number one sports channel for south Asians, will telecast live action from Tour de France, arguably the toughest sporting event of the world.

    This year’s Tour de France assumes special significance as it will be the first time after seven years that a new rider will have the honour of wearing the yellow jersey. After an emotional farewell last year, the legendary American cyclist Lance Armstrong will hand over the crown to a new rider following his retirement.

    The 93rd Tour de France starts on 2 July from Strasborg in neighbouring Germany, and will be made up of a prologue and 20 stages, covering a total distance of 3,600 kilometres. The Tour finishes at Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday 23 July. The cyclists will have only two days of rest in between – on Mondays 10 and 17 July.

    The break-up of the 20 stages are nine flat stages, four medium mountain stages, five mountain stages and two individual time-trial stages. Ten Sports will be there to bring action everyday from the scenic French urban and countryside as the riders are tested with extreme conditions.

    Except for the first three stages of the Tour that clash with the live coverage of India in the West Indies, the remaining 17 stages will be live on Ten Sports, with the coverage starting at 6 pm from 5 July onwards. Complete coverage of the first three stages will be telecast at 3:30 am and 11:30 am IST the following day.
    After its absence last year, the prologue (of seven kms) time trial returns to make the shorter time trial specialists happy. The prologue will be held at Strasborg today 1 July.

    Among the favourites to follow in the footsteps of Lance Armstrong are the 32-year-old German Jan Ullrich of Team T-Mobile, who won the race in 1997 and has already sounded a warning to his rivals by winning the Tour of Switzerland this year; Italian Ivan Basso of Team CSC, considered by none other than Armstrong as the rider most likely to take over his crown, and Alejandro Valverde of Spain, who has won two titles this year.