I'm curious how big a role sports play in terms of TV's bottom line and how that will play out online.
The networks and pro leagues seem to have a very tight grip on distribution and I don't see a lot of attempts at innovation there. MLB.tv is cool but why can't I pay $2.99 to watch an NFL game on demand on my AppleTV or Boxee?
I just got done watching the MSU vs. Penn State game on "ESPN 3" on my XBox 360. I can also watch it online on my computer.
Whether you could have watched it online is anybody's guess. It seems to involve whether your ISP has cut a deal with ESPN to be able to do this, and "ESPN 3" is also clearly just sort of wedged between the licensing cracks as games seem to get blacked out at the drop of a hat. But other than some weird quality issues with the stream, it did basically work. (And, oddly, this game was also locally broadcast so I have no idea why I was able to see it.)
No commercials on the XBox 360, either. It was weird, it just puts up a screen about how the game will resume shortly. Kinda nice, actually.
It seems to be ESPN is willing to do the subscription thing, but the sports fields are so tied up in licensing snarls that it's hard to get anything through yet. But it is starting.
> Western Culture is pretty-much defined by the consumption of media. After we stuff ourselves with food we don’t need, squeeze into Hummers and SUVs we don’t need, then head down to The Mall to enjoy the sterile atmosphere of a pretend-main street in a pretend-small town, where we eat some more
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[ 120 ms ] story [ 122 ms ] threadThe networks and pro leagues seem to have a very tight grip on distribution and I don't see a lot of attempts at innovation there. MLB.tv is cool but why can't I pay $2.99 to watch an NFL game on demand on my AppleTV or Boxee?
Whether you could have watched it online is anybody's guess. It seems to involve whether your ISP has cut a deal with ESPN to be able to do this, and "ESPN 3" is also clearly just sort of wedged between the licensing cracks as games seem to get blacked out at the drop of a hat. But other than some weird quality issues with the stream, it did basically work. (And, oddly, this game was also locally broadcast so I have no idea why I was able to see it.)
No commercials on the XBox 360, either. It was weird, it just puts up a screen about how the game will resume shortly. Kinda nice, actually.
It seems to be ESPN is willing to do the subscription thing, but the sports fields are so tied up in licensing snarls that it's hard to get anything through yet. But it is starting.
Western culture != U.S.