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OT - Can you Watch the Sabres if you Ditch Cable, Direct TV, etc.?

That Aud Smell

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That Aud Smell Hall of Famer

That Aud Smell

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Contracts. NBC paid the NHL essentially 100M$/year for hockey. I'm not sure there are enough hardcore fans that would pay $160/yr for hockey (for their local team); it would require 600,000-ish, right? It would seem like 20,000 per team wouldn't be that hard to find, but then you're going to much of the sponser $$ and casual fans.

 

For TV, it's essentially the same thing. The content providers must figure that getting a "guaranteed" money from all the cable companies is better than hoping enough people will seek out your product and pay some fee per month to watch. There are, however, many stations that put shows on the web, but always a few days later. I suspect that goes back to sponser $$ as well.

thanks. those would be good reasons -- simple economics. i reckon i'm waiting on the current structures between league and broadcast networks to be a bubble that pops. but as long as advertisers will foot the bill, it won't happen.
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SwampD Hall of Famer

SwampD

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My understanding is that it's not a true HD picture. Also I wouldn't get any of the national games or playoff games. So it would be a pretty flawed solution.

If it's not true HD, it's perty darn close. It much better than what Cablevision offers.

 

I didn't consider the national games. And being in Brooklyn, you would also be blacked out from ten (this year) local games. Of course, you could always just watch all of those 48 hours later. Just don't check the scores or read this board so you don't find out who won and spoil it.

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MattPie All Star

MattPie

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If it's not true HD, it's perty darn close. It much better than what Cablevision offers.

 

I didn't consider the national games. And being in Brooklyn, you would also be blacked out from ten (this year) local games. Of course, you could always just watch all of those 48 hours later. Just don't check the scores or read this board so you don't find out who won and spoil it.

 

It's not true HD, but seems to be a somewhat lower bitrate 1080p. Not as good as "real" HD, but way better than Center Ice was (on Comcast). I'll say this: I'll *never* get Center Ice again. Even if I had cable I'd still get gamecenter, the picture and features are that much better than CI.

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LGR4GM Hall of Famer

LGR4GM

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If it's not true HD, it's perty darn close. It much better than what Cablevision offers.

 

I didn't consider the national games. And being in Brooklyn, you would also be blacked out from ten (this year) local games. Of course, you could always just watch all of those 48 hours later. Just don't check the scores or read this board so you don't find out who won and spoil it.

See I am in the black hole of hockey the nearest team being Nashville but I am on the edge of the Carolina coverage so I'd miss 4 games a year? The issue for me is the playoffs.

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nfreeman Hall of Famer

nfreeman

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If it's not true HD, it's perty darn close. It much better than what Cablevision offers.

 

I didn't consider the national games. And being in Brooklyn, you would also be blacked out from ten (this year) local games. Of course, you could always just watch all of those 48 hours later. Just don't check the scores or read this board so you don't find out who won and spoil it.

 

I usually watch the games a bit delayed via DVR, but almost always the same day. Waiting 48 hours wouldn't work for me.

 

And WHEN the Sabres make the playoffs this year, I sure as shootin' am not waiting to watch the games.

 

Which leaves me stuck paying way too much for TV...

 

It's not true HD, but seems to be a somewhat lower bitrate 1080p. Not as good as "real" HD, but way better than Center Ice was (on Comcast). I'll say this: I'll *never* get Center Ice again. Even if I had cable I'd still get gamecenter, the picture and features are that much better than CI.

 

So if you run it through a 50+-inch TV, it looks like a regular HD game?

 

My complaints about DirecTV notwithstanding, I will say that for the past few years, every game on CI (other than most of the games involving 2 Canadian teams) has been in HD, with a good HD picture -- and for the last 2 years, we've been able to choose between the home team and away team HD feeds.

 

Has anyone compared the DirecTV CI HD picture on a big-screen TV to the gamecenter picture on a big-screen TV?

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TrueBlueGED Hall of Famer

TrueBlueGED

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Personally I'm a big proponent of actually switching between satellite and cable every year. Threatening to switch will get a good deal, but not as good as the new customer promos in my experience. Contracts have gotten in the way only once or twice as the company you're going to is generally willing to pay the ETF.

 

Eleven, I think you can transfer the subscription, but you may have to pay for installation if you don't already have a dish at your place.

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biodork First Liner

biodork

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I usually watch the games a bit delayed via DVR, but almost always the same day. Waiting 48 hours wouldn't work for me.

 

And WHEN the Sabres make the playoffs this year, I sure as shootin' am not waiting to watch the games.

 

Which leaves me stuck paying way too much for TV...

 

 

 

So if you run it through a 50+-inch TV, it looks like a regular HD game?

 

My complaints about DirecTV notwithstanding, I will say that for the past few years, every game on CI (other than most of the games involving 2 Canadian teams) has been in HD, with a good HD picture -- and for the last 2 years, we've been able to choose between the home team and away team HD feeds.

 

Has anyone compared the DirecTV CI HD picture on a big-screen TV to the gamecenter picture on a big-screen TV?

 

Not sure if it'll hold as you continue to scale up, but on my 37" screen I've found the feeds from DirecTV CI and GCL (via Roku, connected by HDMI cable) to be quite comparable. A lot will depend on your internet speed, though.

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nfreeman Hall of Famer

nfreeman

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While we're on the topic: has anyone moved a Dish subscription? We are consolidating homes, and have no need for both her Dish subscription (a year remains on the contract) and my cable (no contract). Can we just move her dish to my house?

 

You'll have much bigger consolidation issues than this one to deal with, my friend.

 

Not sure if it'll hold as you continue to scale up, but on my 37" screen I've found the feeds from DirecTV CI and GCL (via Roku, connected by HDMI cable) to be quite comparable. A lot will depend on your internet speed, though.

 

Good info. Thanks.

 

Here's another question: how often (if ever) does the GCL stream get interrupted/need to buffer/other streaming glitch? Is it pretty much like any other Roku channel?

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biodork First Liner

biodork

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You'll have much bigger consolidation issues than this one to deal with, my friend.

 

 

 

Good info. Thanks.

 

Here's another question: how often (if ever) does the GCL stream get interrupted/need to buffer/other streaming glitch? Is it pretty much like any other Roku channel?

 

I'd say it's probably comparable... sometimes the signal is a little funky when I first connect, but usually it evens out after a few seconds and continues normally for the duration of the game. Last season was the first I used it, though, so Swamp may have more reliable input in this regard.

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MattPie All Star

MattPie

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Here's another question: how often (if ever) does the GCL stream get interrupted/need to buffer/other streaming glitch? Is it pretty much like any other Roku channel?

 

Yeah, once in awhile. And sometimes it'll temporarily drop down to a lower bitrate. It looks like upscaled DVD at that point and the sounds isn't as crisp.

 

On my 52" LCD, it looks "good" most of the time. You can see a difference between it and and an NBC OTA game, but it's not significant enough that I get upset. Although if you're getting all the games in HD via Direct TV, you might stay there. But, isn't there a trial or archive that you can access for free to test yourself? All you'd need is a laptop that you can connect to your TV.

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SwampD Hall of Famer

SwampD

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You'll have much bigger consolidation issues than this one to deal with, my friend.

 

 

 

Good info. Thanks.

 

Here's another question: how often (if ever) does the GCL stream get interrupted/need to buffer/other streaming glitch? Is it pretty much like any other Roku channel?

You are never going to mistake GC for CI on direct TV. I would only get CI if I had DTV. Unfortunately, Cablevision only offers 1 game a night in HD. The rest are in ND (no definition).

 

I rarely get glitches wi GC.

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biodork First Liner

biodork

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I appreciate that. But I need an answer to the actual question.

 

I would assume you can... I know DirecTV lets you move your service, so I don't see why Dish would not, assuming you have somewhere a new dish could be installed at your house.

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billsrnofuntopay Prospect

billsrnofuntopay

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I am out of market but used gamecenter for the first time last season. I used my PS3 mostly but my cpu on occasion. I was fairly happy with the picture quality but it wasn't real HD. I live in the NYC area so all the Rangers, Islander and Devils games were blacked out. I couldn't get gamecenter to work with a blocked out VPN (I was probably doing it wrong). I used another source to watch most of the blacked out games. Overall I was slightly disappointed that I paid so much for the service and I couldn't watch probably 20% of the games due to blackouts of national coverage/local teams. With that said I signed up again for this year. Also no pregame/postgame which always annoys me.

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biodork First Liner

biodork

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I am out of market but used gamecenter for the first time last season. I used my PS3 mostly but my cpu on occasion. I was fairly happy with the picture quality but it wasn't real HD. I live in the NYC area so all the Rangers, Islander and Devils games were blacked out. I couldn't get gamecenter to work with a blocked out VPN (I was probably doing it wrong). I used another source to watch most of the blacked out games. Overall I was slightly disappointed that I paid so much for the service and I couldn't watch probably 20% of the games due to blackouts of national coverage/local teams. With that said I signed up again for this year. Also no pregame/postgame which always annoys me.

 

Me, too -- all I can think is there's some broadcast rights agreement that keeps them from sharing it, but I hate how the feed drops just seconds after the game is over. Postgame on WGR is decent, but I'd like the option to watch the show.

 

Thanks. Trees--I have to worry about trees.

 

http://www.mydish.com/redirects/promotion/dishmover/

 

and from here:

http://www.allamericandish.com/dish-network-faqs.html

 

3. How do I know if DISH Network is available in my area?

DISH Network is available anywhere within the United States with a clear view of the southwestern sky.

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