July 2, 2010 — Where to watch the 2010 Tour de France
The only cable TV channel you'll need to watch the Tour de France in the US and Canada for the next five years is Versus.
The cable broadcast network won the contract to continue televising the race after this year; they're either very lucky or no one else wanted it.
Ratings have dropped since the days of Lance Armstrong, but apparently Versus programmers see enough interest out there to continue scheduling 14 hours of coverage a day beginning July 5 and running through July 27 (last year was 16 hours).
The five year deal with Amaury, the owners of the Tour de France, was reported to be $27.5 million over the five-year period.
Despite its relatively low price, MarketWatch reported, it's still a risk as “second tier” sports such as ice hockey and cycling have dropped in ratings. More successful are pro football, college basketball's March Madness and (I don't get either of these) golf and NASCAR.
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