Will DH lose it's biggest fans?

opinion: I've watched the  first 3 races as 1 month gave me that time, Honestly the track coverage is miles better than redbull and im a huge fan of the new semi format for viewing purposes. - just for this alone i think its worth it.

HOWEVER Those two commentators are very "out of touch" - discovery/gcn have now added an option to turn off commentary and just listen to the track announcer and the Ambient sounds - which IMO is better than listening to those two dribble and repeat themselves, like guys down by 5 seconds and this comes out: " hows he going to make that up in 2 corners?" well hes F%$king not clearly. 
its seriously like they fly in minutes before the start, get mic'd up and talk rubbish for 4 hours and get straight on a plane the minute the race finishes - Get in the pits and talk to the riders/teams etc rob was very good at that so he was able to put the audience in a place where they knew the current headspace the rider was in and i think people dont even realise thats the part they miss.

I will redo my sub since they added the option to ignore those clowns.

$9 per month for a few months is fine by me. But agree the commentary is so awful. Glad to know about that option to turn it off

From what I've read in the comments on here and the other site there are a lot of people who always used to watch in the RB era who, for one reason or another, won't subscribe to continue watching.

There's a lot of talk about new viewers, but I'm not convinced it'll happen in any meaningful way. Most mountain bikers I know don't really follow WCDH, let alone cyclists from other disciplines. When it comes to attracting viewers who don't cycle at all, I just don't think they're really interested.

I know it's not likely to happen, but I'd love to see some figures at the end of the season concerning viewer figures for this year and last.

Agree it would be great to see the numbers at the end of the season. You could pay monthly and watch pretty much the entire season of racing for under 20 quid. I can't think of a single mtb related purchase for less than that in 2023 so I doubt that's really going to put off any existing fans of the sport. And by the way GCN+ doesn't seem to be cracking down on multiple logins yet 👀

Will it be bringing in new fans to the sport? Absolutely not but I doubt Red Bull and World Cup DH was doing much of that anyway.

I don’t care as much about the money, it’s a forgettable expense. Personally, the new format ruins the huge anticipation build-up to the final of seasons past. Once the Semi is over I’m ready to move along with my day.

It’s great the Juniors are getting broadcast time but I don’t watch the b-leagues of any sport, I make time for the big shows and that’s it. 
 

Seems if they truly want to build the sport they should put the Elite Finals on free to deliver the best show to the widest audience. Then, sell the bonus materials to the core fans who won’t notice the extra $50/yr among their Strava Premium, Zwift, Trailforks Pro, and other subs. 

I was happy to plunk down 50 freedom bucks for an annual subscription, but I’m also a weirdo who watches road and CX racing.

 I woke up too late (UTC -6) to watch the women’s race, so after the men’s final I watched the replay of the women’s final with the commentary off. I know it’s not for everyone, but I greatly preferred it to hearing CG scream about riders “wanting more” and hundreds of “Black Snake” references. 

Difference is RB never made any claims about taking it to the next level and all the other BS that Discovery have been spouting.

Lol. That’s literally Red Bulls whole jam.  Taking niche sports to the next level.  They are not exactly quiet about it either

I agree the commentary needs a lot of work.  Josh Carlson would kill it if they put him in the booth.  Switch him and Cedric who is pretty good as a hype man and in one on ones.  

Ambient Sound is worth every bit of $50, now how to get NFL onboard?

The coverage has been worth it IMO. In my circle of riding buddies, which is pretty big. I am probably the only one that follows UCI DH like some sort of religion, I'll stay up till whatever ungodly hour to watch it. Your die hards will watch it no matter what and pay a pretty penny for it.

I really wish some of the $$$ went to the riders though. It really is a sport where a select few make enough money to make a decent living, literally risking their lives (Last weeks race anyone?) for peoples entertainment basically.

I feel like RB made some big claims when they took over.  I guess its easy to forget all the complaints we had when RB took over.  Biggest was Rob was forced to be restrained (that ended up being a good thing) and we lost all the racers at least being shown.  Maybe no commentary but they showed them all before RB.