Lots of salvos blasting away at the Tour of Calif TV coverage on the Velonews "mailbag" site.
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9538.0.html
Until I read the above, I didn't realize that the 1-hr, 1:00 AM ESPN2 coverage was a straight media buy, courtesy of Amgen. That changes my own critical tune considerably. Cycling gets such poor ratings in the US that no network wanted it, so Amgen stepped up to the plate and produced the show themselves, then bought the time on ESPN to air it.
A very bold move by Amgen, and very supportive of cycling. Without Amgen's largesse, we would have gotten zip on TV.
The race was evidently a huge success, the biggest spectator event in Cali since the Los Angeles Olympics. Perhaps next year a network will step up and carry it. If not, I'm sure the Amgen crew learned a lot about bike racing and will improve.
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