ESPN + is a joke

[upperdeck]

No idea if this is public, but what kind of service life do companies forecast for the back-end processes/equipment?

In manufacturing, generally nobody would forecast more than 20 years life - by that point the equipment needs to be fully paid off since new technology will have made it obsolete. The result is instrumentation is often cut to the bare minimum required (and often beyond that..) - because the cost of electrical and instrumentation are often more than half the total project cost. Often a brand new operation looks like a bunch of headless chickens running around, because things which could have been automated are being manually processed since the instrumentation didn't make the final budget cuts.

Not knowing much about the business of streaming, my totally uninformed guess would be they expect things to last way less than 20 years - with the result being they are holding things together with duct tape and bubblegum (and poorly compensated squirrels) because the instrumentation to make things run smoothly is too costly to justify for that short a service life.

PS - I realize we're way off topic from Syracuse basketball, but I'm fascinated by this discussion here.

yes and that is what is happening for tons of these companies especially ones that grew very fast.

Streaming eliminates some of the hardware issues and pushes them to software which does not always make life easier either.

 

[shandeezy7]

I liked last night's production. It was obviously the radio broadcast with the in-house videoboard feed. I like Matt Park on p-b-p rather than a random ACC Network announcer. And I like the extra descriptiveness of the radio broadcast vs. a TV broadcast. Plus, seeing the video board feed and some of the promotions and dance team made me feel more like I was at the game. It's a nice feature, and it saves the huge cost of having an additional crew there.

Lol yeah I love missing entire plays because they are showing a Taco Bell logo or a replay in the middle of a play going on.

 

[Dcuse]

It was clear what was happening. There was no real tv broadcast there. They used the radio feed of Matt Park and Jim Satalin who were calling a radio game...having to keep describing things they would not have to describe on a tv broadcast. My guess is that a tv crew did not show up ... and the school was doing as best it could on an emergency basis. Hey, at least it was on the air. A few years ago, you'd all be griping that it was not being televised.

My ESPN+ bill just tripled. I pay extra now to watch games so why can't I see the game and not some Taco cartoon? If this was a one time thing then I get it.

 

[Todd23]

Lol yeah I love missing entire plays because they are showing a Taco Bell logo or a replay in the middle of a play going on.

I am not saying it is perfect, but that was a one-time thing when Syracuse hit 70 points for the promotion to take effect. I didn't enjoy missing a play, either.

 

[JustPherU]

ESPN+/accnx is to provide access. To do it at the level of the normal services you wont be getting it for $10 a month given the volume of games. This is the equivalent of 15-20 yrs ago when a random game we got to watch for $40 on a one off where half the time it didnt work at all.

they are doing half a dozen sports on this thing any given night all over the country so these locally produced efforts to not have glitches is a reach.

I mean youtubeTv is doing 15 games a weekend and now 8 weeks in has had major issues 4 of the 8 weeks. And they are using the actual feeds that go OTA.

if everyone wants to pay 2-3x more a month I am sure we could get a few less glitches.

An additional issue is that the apps we are watching these things with are all different. With old cable you had a couple boxes and then the feed goes to the TV.. now you have multiple ways to get it to the TV and every TV handles it differently even within the same brands. Too many variables..

throw in Wifi is not as consistent and its a wonder it works at all.

What issues has YoutubeTV had? I just swapped at beginning of football to YouTube and have had no issues watching all the NFL games.

 

[Cusefan95]

yes and that is what is happening for tons of these companies especially ones that grew very fast.

Streaming eliminates some of the hardware issues and pushes them to software which does not always make life easier either.

Totally agree - going to software can make things easier in the short term...I have yet to see it as a long term benefit. Plus because long term software issues are now known, there's a huge temptation to cut those costs up front and go with the cheapest software option available - then you don't even get the short term benefit while the long term miseries remain.

As this discussion progresses, I'm becoming steadily less hopeful sports streaming is going to improve by leaps and bounds over the next few years.

 

[Ozone!]

In an area we are supposed to be elite in the production looked like a 9th grade class project.

Was hoping to hear Devo once again on the mic and don’t get me started about Matt Park

Yes, the production was very poor quality, a High School student techie could have done better! Also missed Devo!

 

[shandeezy7]

I am not saying it is perfect, but that was a one-time thing when Syracuse hit 70 points for the promotion to take effect. I didn't enjoy missing a play, either.

That wasn't the only time a play was missed. It happened multiple times when they were showing replays on the video boards while action was happening on the court.

 

[MSOrange]

That wasn't the only time a play was missed. It happened multiple times when they were showing replays on the video boards while action was happening on the court.

And I had looked down for a minute when the Canisius player got hurt in the first half. The way Matt Park was talking, it sounded very serious, but we didn't see a replay or any of it after he got hurt.

 

[Jeremy L.]

It was clear what was happening. There was no real tv broadcast there. They used the radio feed of Matt Park and Jim Satalin who were calling a radio game...having to keep describing things they would not have to describe on a tv broadcast. My guess is that a tv crew did not show up ... and the school was doing as best it could on an emergency basis. Hey, at least it was on the air. A few years ago, you'd all be griping that it was not being televised.

As somebody who works in professional basketball in the media field and is a major part in the television broadcast, this actually isn't the case.

There is a dedicated crew for in-arena (what you see on the centerhung aka videoboard/jumbotron). These are hired out by the arena, so these would be freelance employees for the athletic department (or some part of the university). That includes game directors deciding what goes on the board, Event Pres (EP) Managers that build out the entire show (contests, music, lighting, etc.) and then cameras filming.

NBA League Pass does something similar where you have the TV broadcast (Regional Network broadcasting) and during commercial breaks, it cuts to the in-arena feed so you can see cheerleaders, dance cams, etc. Gives you the feel you're actually inside the arena and I use it to gather ideas for our home games.

So if there was the replay in the middle of the game, or Taco Time displayed on your TV, it's because that's what the directors were taking inside the arena. So it's not that crews didn't show up, it's because that ESPN used the in-arena feed to broadcast the game vs. putting on a full blown production (probably because of the soccer game as somebody mentioned).

And to set the record straight for people that may have issues with the in-arena atmosphere at the Dome (contests, videos), that is solely on the EP Director and how they build out their show


Edit: I'm also more than happy to answer questions about things that happen in-arena (contests, hype videos, etc.) that you want to ask!

 

[jgeorge322]

When they started shaking us down for the money they are we should have access. We’re paying for a service that advertises this product, we pay for it and get a substandard product, this is a valid gripe. If you went to a theatre and the film was in backwards would you do something about it or continue to watch the movie?

honestly, the product is good enough for me. i think its a throw in with my youtubetv monthly subscription.

 

[hplare]

ACCX but obviously out of Newhouse. Every timeout cutaway went to S on an orange bg. No sound. The few special inserts, a feature on the BB managers, tossing shirts, dance team, etc. all soundless. Can't imagine who was directing.

Play coverage was good. The game itself exposed problems. Canisius was on the move on their O. We have to move more . Seems like waiting for Judah to decide what to do. Judah and JJ have to look and see options when they drive. JT open constantly in the corner. We will miss Jesse's center play this year and the points there and ability to pass in and kick out. Young team with great potential who hopefully will grow quickly.

 

[Brooky03]

ACCX but obviously out of Newhouse. Every timeout cutaway went to S on an orange bg. No sound. The few special inserts, a feature on the BB managers, tossing shirts, dance team, etc. all soundless. Can't imagine who was directing.

Play coverage was good. The game itself exposed problems. Canisius was on the move on their O. We have to move more . Seems like waiting for Judah to decide what to do. Judah and JJ have to look and see options when they drive. JT open constantly in the corner. We will miss Jesse's center play this year and the points there and ability to pass in and kick out. Young team with great potential who hopefully will grow quickly.

It was mentioned in the other thread, if I got this right, that they were essentially using the feed that goes to the screens in the Dome. So, when the jumbotron shows Taco Time, our TVs show Taco Time.

Edit: *this thread* now lol

 

[RF2044]

Watched the game about half an hour behind. Chose the “start from beginning” option
Every time I fast forwarded 10 seconds it restarted the broadcast from the very beginning. How hard is it for them to get this right? How many billions of dollars is Disney worth?

Also, what poor production quality of the game. I realize that isn’t an espn issue but rather a local one. I’m trying to watch an actual basketball game but I cant see what going on because a low budget TACOS TACOS TACOS graphic plasters the screen for 30 seconds

Happens a lot.

I generally cast the broadcast to a TV, but every time my phone goes to sleep it starts the broadcast over. Happens a couple of times a game. Not as often as you are suggesting, but seems like a dumb glitch that could easily be avoided.

 

[TexanMark]

I had a great technological experience with ESPN+ last night. (Not the quality of the so-called "production" of the game.) I normally watch using ACCNX but when I clicked on the game about 15 minutes late last night it gave me the option of ESPN+, ACCNX, or ESPN+ from the beginning. I'd never used ESPN+ from the begining before, so I clicked on that (I have an ESPN+ account). It was great. It started from the beginning, it let me FF ahead through timeouts and halftime, and it even let me pause it and switch over to my linear TV to watch some of the SU soccer game. I continued to go back and forth between the 2. I never tried that with ACCNX. I had no problem with the audio and not once did it revert back to the beginning like the original poster of this thread said happened to them.

Yup I have YoutubeTV and I had three options to view too

BTW, I was disappointed that Devo wasn't the analyst. Jim Satalin is fine but Devo seems more real with his insights.

 

[bnoro]

My ESPN+ bill just tripled. I pay extra now to watch games so why can't I see the game and not some Taco cartoon? If this was a one time thing then I get it.

How did your ESPN+ bill triple? I've been paying the same amount now for like 5 years?

I'd pay $50 a month for ESPN+ with how much I use it. Hockey, CBB, CFB, UFC, it pays for itself a million times over.

 

[djcon57]

NBA League Pass does something similar where you have the TV broadcast (Regional Network broadcasting) and during commercial breaks, it cuts to the in-arena feed so you can see cheerleaders, dance cams, etc. Gives you the feel you're actually inside the arena and I use it to gather ideas for our home games.

Mentioned in the game thread last night. NBA League Pass Commercials/Halftimes are approx. 10000000% better than normal NBA Halftimes.

Lady spinning plates on head vs Some old NBA guy mumbling clichés for 15 mins

 

[Bayside44]

IDK, I thought the game was fine. It was a little goofy in a totally harmless way but I wasn't expecting Jay Bilas Saturday night quality.

 

[SanDiegoCuse]

I just can't believe the feed may have been worse because of a soccer game. Eeks.

I expected it to not be ESPN normal quality but things like the Taco Time logo flashing while Canisius drains a three or the feed completely going dead when a player was injured was just bizarre.

 

[Eric15]

Lately when I try to log-in to the ESPN app, I often get an error message saying I have too many devices that are currently streaming on there, and it doesn't let me connect to the game I want. So I thought maybe my password was stolen, so I've changed it multiple times, and I still have the same issue.

 

[M2MPrinciples]

IDK, I thought the game was fine. It was a little goofy in a totally harmless way but I wasn't expecting Jay Bilas Saturday night quality.

Same. I'm used to tuning out announcers on these local/regional broadcasts because they rarely have anything useful to say. Some of that's on them, but the bigger thing is that ESPN or whoever is producing it rotates crews, so nobody gets to see the team regularly enough to provide good insights. Tim Welsh seemed to call a lot of games towards the end of the JB era, but he was pretty unremarkable (IMO).

 

[cuseincincy]

It did remind me a bit of the local access streaming we get for high school football games. Though I solved the biggest football streaming/casting issue by showing my buddy how to full screen his video on his phone before he casts. I was in the just happy to have a feed at all category. Devo is already better than Satalin.

 

[Col. Bleep]

The worst part of the production was all the silent time without any sound.
That makes me think that the only mics they had were the ones being used for PBP.
Obviously in you're running an in-arena feed you don't need to mic the arena.
The crowd hears it naturally.
But if there's a TV use being made of the feed they should consider adding an ambient sound source for the TV feed.

 

[upperdeck]

Lately when I try to log-in to the ESPN app, I often get an error message saying I have too many devices that are currently streaming on there, and it doesn't let me connect to the game I want. So I thought maybe my password was stolen, so I've changed it multiple times, and I still have the same issue.

they have a set number of devices an acct can use. once you login on more than a few it looks around to see where they are at.. If you use your phone to cast and are on cell it can be an issue because it cant tell if you are in the same location.. its better with wifi devices at home since normally it sees the same IP.. But there still is a limit on devices.

 

[Bayside44]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/11/09/espn-streaming-service-2025/