Outdoor Life rides on Tour
Cabler replacing ESPN coverage
On top of the $3 million, the 20-million subscriber network will spend more than $800,000 each year to produce the 23-day long, 2,000 mile-plus race.
When Outdoor Life Network begins televising the Tour in 2001, it will spell the end of ESPN's 10-year reign as the event's lead broadcaster. ESPN pays roughly $400,000 per year for the race.
OLN will air two hours of live Tour de France each morning of the race. The web will then repeat the morning's action in the afternoon and offer recaps and features of the race at night.
Fox Sports Net, a corporate sibling of OLN, will air a half-hour wrap-up show each evening of the race. OLN is owned by Comcast Corp., Cox Communications, Fox and MediaOne.
Hourlong specials
In addition, OLN has purchased time on CBS to air three one-hour specials, one on each weekend of the race. OLN will sell the ads in the CBS specials.
With coverage on OLN, Fox Sports Net and CBS, American viewers will be able to watch more than 150 hours of the Tour de France beginning in 2001. In 1999, ESPN and broadcast partner ABC ran 35 hours of coverage.
"Between the three networks and the promotional horsepower that we'll throw behind the Tour, it will be a bigger success in this market than it has been to date," said Roger Werner, CEO of OLN.
Building U.S. interest
The success in this year's Tour by American Lance Armstrong should help to build American interest in the event, said Peter Englehart, OLN's senior VP of programming and production.
Armstrong was a member of the sole U.S. team -- the U.S. Postal Team -- to compete in the Tour this year. Englehart expects additional American teams to enter the race by 2001.
OLN also features coverage from a number of championship cycling events.
"The Tour really cements our position as the dominant provider of cycling programming on TV," said Werner. "The Tour de France is the Super Bowl of bicycling."
