OT: Cable, Streaming and the Future of sports TV

Earl_U 2020-07-21 17:27:27 UTC #41

Fios in Lower Bucks also not showing game on their schedule.

zambonir 2020-07-21 17:42:50 UTC #42

Yeah I think the guides are just wrong.

Take a look at the guide for tonight, does it show the Phillies playing the Nationals (i.e. the game they would be playing under the normal schedule)?

tom81 2020-07-21 17:52:21 UTC #43

The guide doesn't show any games until Friday and the game is only shows available then is via MLB Miami.

andyb 2020-07-21 18:02:04 UTC #44

Guides are just databases of programs. They are often wrong. Remember lots of these media companies are operating remotely too, so it is not easy to change these guides, especially with sporting events that are changing often.

Makes it hard to do a DVR recording of course, but more often than not they get it right by the day of the game.

Looking at the list of MLB national broadcasts it looks like ESPN has only announced the first week of the season and then selected Sunday games. Fox has announced much more of their schedule and they seem to be broadcasting on more nights and with more doubleheaders this year (Phillies-Yankees next Tuesday on FS1). MLB network will probably have 5-10 games a week also subject to blackout rules though little of that is announced yet.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp

I am probably going to skip the MLB.com package after thinking about it. Here in DC almost a quarter of the schedule would be blacked out for me (Nats and Orioles games). Hoping for lots of national telecasts.

Earl_U 2020-07-21 18:14:47 UTC #45

Schedules usually catch up in a matter of a day or two and I’ve been watching this since last Friday at least, so this is a little slow. Still, I believe this will straighten out by Friday. If not, I’ll set to record manually.

I noticed on the Sixers schedule that they are playing a game on Friday afternoon against the Grizzlies that is listed as being televised. That game is also not on the schedule but the replay on Friday night on the other CSN channel (the old CN8) is.

tom81 2020-07-21 18:21:47 UTC #46

I guess I'll just manually set a recording for the channel I think the game will come on and hope for the best. Well there is always a radio broadcast to listen to....

zambonir 2020-07-21 18:39:52 UTC #47

It was just a theory. The games are absolutely on NBCSN Philly, so if you get that channel, you are set (and if one of them was moved to national you still would be, though some of the national broadcasts still don't supersede local - such as the FS1 broadcast next Tuesday).

The only people who are out of luck as usual are the ones who live in an area where it's not possible to get the channel, but are still in the MLB.TV blackout area. And people who don't have any cable or cord-cutting provider at all.

schillingfan 2020-07-21 22:30:59 UTC #48

My one requirement was that my streaming service have NBCsports Philadelphia! I have Hulu Live right now. Changed from Fubo because they raised rates and got rid of all Turner network programming.

LegoDoom 2020-07-22 15:56:34 UTC #49

I have youtube tv and the weekend games show up as unavailable.

tom81 2020-07-22 18:33:53 UTC #50

Well Comcast's DVR doesn't have the ability to set a future recording by specify the date & time period you want to record. They only way to record something is to go to the guide and tell it to record a show, either the series or individual show. There is no way now to set it to record the games that will be on NBCSP at this time because they are not in the guide. I guess I'll have to be in front of the TV at gametime to press the record button on my DVR.

zambonir 2020-07-22 19:30:41 UTC #51

If NBCSN Philly is included in your package and you live in the area I'm sure that will change.

Tom, just tell it to record all the shows that the guide currently shows as airing between between 7pm and 11. You'll still want to check on it of course in case the whole thing goes away when they update the guide. I assume the DVR does have a standard "add a half-hour or hour" feature for extra innings? (I don't have that on my ATT Now app, alas, but it's rare I DVR sports there since everything is separate apps anyway.)

Kind of glad I'm out of market, MLB.TV is hard to beat. Never have to DVR, can use the radio announcers, can pause live or start at any inning if I missed the start. I assume even NBCSN's app/streaming for subscribers is not as good.

LegoDoom 2020-07-22 21:14:56 UTC #52

It is included and I live in the area. It's my first year cutting the cord, so I'm not sure how it will play out, but it does show up as unavailable (as opposed to not showing up at all).

andyb 2020-07-22 21:20:51 UTC #53

One small bonus is that you also get access to the NBC Sports app if NBC Sports Philly is on your streaming service. I am in DC and have NBC Sports Washington but not the plus channel. But my streaming credentials let me login to the app and watch a game on the plus channel. Pretty sure the guide is wrong in this situation, but there is a backup.

zambonir 2020-07-22 21:21:01 UTC #54

Sometimes the streaming providers just make mistakes. Might be worth contacting YouTube now to make sure you're not getting accidentally blacked out. Or you can just hope they'll have it sorted by game time.

You should also be able to activate your access to the NBCSN Philly app, assuming they support log-ins from your provider.

LegoDoom 2020-07-23 12:04:38 UTC #55

The Marlins series is now showing up as upcoming. I do have the NBC sports app (I assume I installed it when I bought PGA tour live, but not sure I've ever used it) and it shows up there as well.

I do like the way that youtube tv groups programs by interest. Hulu did it, too, but I switched over because of the unlimited DVR space and the fact that the hulu app needed to be restarted every day or two. It's amazing at how different watching tv is on a streaming service. More than half the time I don't even look at a live guide and will just surf through my interest list.

andyb 2020-07-23 12:25:39 UTC #56

Best part of YTTV is the sports team recording. Just put the Phillies in your library and it records every game no matter what channel it is on. And it pads time for extra inning games automatically because it stops the recording based on the scoreboard (all those google score apps). Gets it right 99% of the time.

tom81 2020-07-23 13:06:19 UTC #57

It does for me now too!

andyb 2020-07-23 16:53:41 UTC #58

A flicker of hope for MASN and Roots Sports NW fans?

I would not switch to AT&T, but if these RSNs sign up for one, then others may follow.

zambonir 2020-07-23 17:05:29 UTC #59

That's a good feature, I've never understood why all DVRs can't just know when a show goes over (some kind of signal or something).

That Root sports news is good for me, I live in the NW and have AT&T Now. AT&T actually owns Root so it was weird they didn't carry it. They'll never have Comcast though, which is where the Blazers are (this gets me Mariners and, more importantly, about 25% of the Timbers schedule).

I didn't realize MASN wasn't on any of the cord-cutting services. What do they have, Comcast or Fox RSNs?

Meanwhile, Phillies-Yankees on ESPN + Monday. I assume that does not supersede MLB.TV (and also not local broadcast of course, that's also what ESPN+ will presumably be carrying).

andyb 2020-07-23 17:16:23 UTC #60

In DC we get NBC Sports Washington with the Caps and Wizards on most services. MASN was on none until today. Hoping the other services add it in the next week if they are now negotiating.