jarthur31 Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 NFL Games go online. The NFL has dipped its toes into live streaming video of games this year, beginning with Thursday night’s opener, the New York Giants’ 16-7 victory over the Washington Redskins. Only prime-time games shown on NBC — primarily on Sunday evenings — will be streamed over the Internet, on nfl.com and nbcsports.com. The league for several years has sold online streaming video subscriptions to overseas viewers, but this is a first in the United States. The NFL considers this a one-year experiment, and will be measuring the Web audience and TV ratings to see how one affects the other. “Does it cannibalize, or is it incremental?” Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s senior vice president of media strategy and digital media, told the Wall Street Journal. “Does it make sense to use it to go out and build new products and new businesses?” Major League Baseball has been successful selling paid subscriptions to MLB.TV, which streams out-of-market ballgames on demand. And live streaming of NCAA Tournament basketball games in March is a big online hit for cbssports.com, though that has the advantage of attracting a workday audience with games showing during the daytime. Thursday night’s online presentation was interesting, but it wasn’t anything that would make someone abandon his television screen. There was “picture in picture” presentation, and a choice of four camera angles, but the broadcast would stop and start enough times that it became hard to watch. Some fans whose work or family schedules conflict with watching NFL games on TV will no doubt like the convenience of the online option. With all the time-shifting features of TiVo and digital video recorders, will there really be much of an audience for online viewing in households that own a television? I don't know where the writer gets his last thought there but there are many people who don't have the Sunday Ticket but do own television sets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOBILLS78 Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 NFL Games go online. The NFL has dipped its toes into live streaming video of games this year, beginning with Thursday night’s opener, the New York Giants’ 16-7 victory over the Washington Redskins. Only prime-time games shown on NBC — primarily on Sunday evenings — will be streamed over the Internet, on nfl.com and nbcsports.com. The league for several years has sold online streaming video subscriptions to overseas viewers, but this is a first in the United States. The NFL considers this a one-year experiment, and will be measuring the Web audience and TV ratings to see how one affects the other. “Does it cannibalize, or is it incremental?” Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s senior vice president of media strategy and digital media, told the Wall Street Journal. “Does it make sense to use it to go out and build new products and new businesses?” Major League Baseball has been successful selling paid subscriptions to MLB.TV, which streams out-of-market ballgames on demand. And live streaming of NCAA Tournament basketball games in March is a big online hit for cbssports.com, though that has the advantage of attracting a workday audience with games showing during the daytime. Thursday night’s online presentation was interesting, but it wasn’t anything that would make someone abandon his television screen. There was “picture in picture” presentation, and a choice of four camera angles, but the broadcast would stop and start enough times that it became hard to watch. Some fans whose work or family schedules conflict with watching NFL games on TV will no doubt like the convenience of the online option. With all the time-shifting features of TiVo and digital video recorders, will there really be much of an audience for online viewing in households that own a television? I don't know where the writer gets his last thought there but there are many people who don't have the Sunday Ticket but do own television sets! I wish the league would partner with the cable companies to offer pay-per-view games. Obviously the league is happy with Direct TV, which I can't get (damn signal!). And why offer streaming games only on Sunday nights and only on NBC? I just wish they would find a way to get more games to more people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 I wish the league would partner with the cable companies to offer pay-per-view games. Obviously the league is happy with Direct TV, which I can't get (damn signal!). And why offer streaming games only on Sunday nights and only on NBC? I just wish they would find a way to get more games to more people. Same here. I'd be all over PPV football on cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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