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No Chrome Browser for Mac Users Watching NBC Online

January 2, 2012 by

We are as excited as anyone about the launch today of NBC’s new all-sports network but if you want to watch the NHL Classic outdoor game on your Mac computer, you won’t be able to use Google’s Chrome browser according to an error message generated by the NBC site.

Since you probably already have either Firefox or Safari loaded somewhere on your machine it’s probably not a big deal but if you are experiencing difficulties, Mac fans, this is why. We will be watching some online to see how the multiple camera-angle things and DVR functionality work out. Let us know your impressions of NBC’s online efforts in the comments below during and after the game.

UPDATE: Watched a little bit of the game — the different camera angle thing was fun but wow, NBC, couldn’t you wait with the pop up ads? Two in just two minutes of watching. Plus, I thought the Twitter challenge and social-media window on the right wasn’t prominent enough to stand out. Think the whole thing needs a full-screen revisit before the Super Bowl.

Filed Under: Live Sports Video Consumption, NBC Sports, NHL Tagged With: , , , , ,

NFL: Thursday Night Games Average 450,000 Online Viewers

December 26, 2011 by

In case you were still wondering whether or not online access hurts regular-television audience numbers, here’s another data point to confirm that it doesn’t: The NFL said Monday that TV views of its Thursday night NFL Network games is up 8 percent over last year, while its online audience is averaging 450,000 unique views per game.

The 450,000 number isn’t broken down between viewers of the streaming coverage at NFLNetwork.com or folks watching via Verizon Wireless’s NFL Mobile app, but either way the aggregate total is impressive, and a signal that there may be even more of an appetite for NFL content than was previously thought.

With the Super Bowl slated for online streaming, it is the guess of MSR that the days of online access being a novelty have ended and now an online outlet will become the norm rather than the exception. How that plays into rights contracts and teams’ marketing campaigns is something still in its infancy, but it will be a compelling story we’ll follow closely in 2012.

Filed Under: iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NFL, NFL Mobile, NFL Network, Super Bowl, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: , , ,

NBC to Stream Super Bowl, NFL Playoffs Online

December 20, 2011 by

In a huge decision that will no doubt increase the worldwide audience for the most-viewed live event, NBC will stream the Super Bowl online along with broadcasts of the network’s Wild Card playoff games and the NFL Pro Bowl, according to an Associated Press report. Users of Verizon Wireless’s NFL Mobile app will also have access to the games, along with additional camera views and in-game replays.

Forget college games — there’s no doubt that even with its already huge TV audience, the Super Bowl would likely become the most-viewed online sports event ever, even if it’s just on a laptop or phone in the bathroom of the house hosting the Super Bowl party. Though we haven’t yet been able to find any press releases from all the participating companies we are also betting that Verizon will use the Super Bowl access in a massive way to promote its NFL Mobile app, which it has been offering free of charge to new high-end cellphone customers. NFL Mobile users currently can watch NBC’s Sunday night games live, along with Thursday night NFL Network broadcasts and ESPN’s Monday Night Football games.

For NBC, the landmark decision to make the world’s biggest TV show available online will also likely result in an advertising revenue windfall, thanks to the online opportunities now available. The move will also likely set off a hurried scramble by advertisers who will want to put together social-media campaigns before the actual game is played on Feb. 5, 2012, in Indianapolis.

UPDATE: Here’s the official NFL press release.

Filed Under: Apps, ESPN, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NBC Sports, NFL, Super Bowl Tagged With: , ,

Xfinity Develops TV Sports Remote for iPhone

December 15, 2011 by

Have you ever been channel surfing and wished that you could simplify the process and just have a set of buttons that take you to live sports or scoreboard updates? Well if you are a subscriber to Xfinity, and use Apple’s iOS mobile devices there is an application that will meet your needs.

Called the Xfinity TV Sports Remote, it is a free, downloadable app available from Apple’s iTunes store that can turn your iPhone or iPad into a remote control for your TV that enables you to just move between sporting events.

It currently is designed to work with a large number of major sports and includes NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, NCAA Football, and NCAA men’s basketball and the company said that it is working on expanding the app to support additional broadcast sports.

It serves as a remote control and not as a technology that converts the iOS device into a viewing platform but rather makes it a focused remote control that you can program to meet your sports viewing needs.

It is easy to use but does require that you know your Comcast ID or e-mail address, which I did not initially and had to look it up which was not as easy as I would have thought. Once logged-in it checks what cable box you have, what channels you have access to and then takes you to the initial set-up page.

Enables Fans to select Favorites

This page has lists of sports events being broadcast today in your area. You need to temper your enjoyment by realizing that you may not subscribe to all of those that are displayed. It shows the channels that they will be broadcast on, and that should be the clue.

You can select a league by simply tapping on its icon and that will give you a list of games, so for the NFL it will list the Thursday, Sunday and Monday games, and then on the right had side show the channel for the ones that will be broadcast in your area. Unless the NFL uses it’s flex programming of course. In each of the leagues sections, just visiting will give you current scores for teams that are playing.

It is also very simple to add favorites although one step stumped me initially. You just click the small + by a team and it’s a favorite the first time you go to the favorites section. The second time you need to go to edit to add or subtract a team, otherwise it just tells you the status of any games your favorites are playing on that day.

The favorites section will show you the time and channel that your favorite teams are playing on the current day, if they are playing that is and if it is broadcast The only limit to favorites is the number of teams available, you can favor them all if you wanted to.

Other features include the ability to select which TV you are watching and the ability to record sports on DVRs. A caution on this feature, it will preempt any other recording setting so you might delete someone else in the houses setting to record a non sports event, hard as that might be to believe.

The program will show the sports packages available in your area but you need to directly call to sign up for one- no on-line option available.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, Baseball, Comcast, iPad, iPhone, Live Sports Video Consumption, Major League Baseball, NBA, NCAA Football, NCAA Hoops, NFL, NHL, Tablets, Xfinity Tagged With: , ,

Dear NBA: Your Mobile Games Should Be Free

December 13, 2011 by


After not giving a single damn about fans during its owner-induced lockout, the NBA is continuing its slap-you-in-the-face ways by charging LeBron-type fees — $169 — for its NBA League Pass service, which lets you watch out-of-market games online or on a mobile device.

For hard-core fans who don’t want to miss that important Oklahoma City-Toronto matchup, maybe it’s a small price to pay. But for the casual fan — or the fan completely put off by not having any NBA to watch while the billionaires split up their revenue pie — having to shell out serious dough to watch the numerous boring regular-season games (especially in this hurry-up season of shame) seems like insult to injury. Why not instead embrace the moment and make mobile access free, maybe at least one game a week?

There’s no subscriber numbers available to judge how popular the League Pass program is, but it’s easy to guess that it pales in comparison to other sports services, like MLB.com or the NFL’s Sunday Ticket. In those leagues the regular season games mean something, and are for the most part entertaining. The NBA, not so much. I challenge anyone, even Bill Simmons, to recall any first quarter of any regular season NBA game, ever. So why not just make it free, and use it as a way to win back old fans or find new ones?

The number of folks who care enough to shell out $169 has got to be inconsequential to the overall league revenue pie. So why keep dinging fans for the service? Instead make it free for mobile use, and you will endear yourself to the growing young demographic for whom a smartphone may be the only way they access the Internet. Just about every study out there shows that online viewing doesn’t harm regular-TV audience numbers or season ticket purchases, so there’s no real reason to try to recoup millions in production costs when you are raking in billions as a league. Why not try at least one game a week or two a weekend? Or a “Free February” promotion after the Super Bowl, when we’re starved for live sports?

If it’s free then maybe those fans who felt abused by the lockout can justify spending some of their precious hours on earth watching Jimmer Freddete and the Sacramento Kings. But to spend $169 for the right? That doesn’t feel right.

UPDATE: The league updated its League Pass page with official prices (which weren’t available when the post was originally written). The $169 is the one-time fee for TV, broadband and mobile; there is a lower-cost package for $109 where you get to choose 5 teams and it’s broadband only. Still — too much for me.

Filed Under: Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NBA Tagged With: ,

Cisco Scoring Big in Europe with Stadium Wi-Fi, Infrastructure Deals

December 1, 2011 by

Warsaw's new National Stadium, soon to be powered with Cisco networking technology.


With a couple new deals for stadium-network infrastructure, U.S. networking giant Cisco Systems is at the start of what could be a big string of wins for its new focus on “connected stadiums.”

A Nov. 15 announcement of plans for soccer powerhouse Real Madrid to partner with Cisco to bring fan-accessible Wi-Fi and other improvements to its home stadium in Madrid was followed by an announcement on Nov. 21 of a deal for Cisco to bring a wide range of technology to the new National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, where next year’s Euro 2012 soccer tourney will kick off.

Cisco Sports and Entertainment Solutions Group SVP and GM David Holland

Though Cisco is no stranger to sports stadium deals — it helped AT&T build wireless networks inside stadiums like AT&T Park in San Francisco and Stanford Stadium, and is behind wireless efforts at facilities like Kansas City’s Livestrong Park soccer arena — the next year should see Cisco kick into full gear on its “connected sports solutions” group, headed by senior VP and GM David Holland. While free Wi-Fi is of top interest to most fans these days, Cisco’s breadth of networking smarts brings even more to the table for venue owners — including the ability to integrate voice, public safety and other data streams like ticketing and concessions into a tight, secure, single IT infrastructure.

For fans, the benefits of a connected stadium are clear: Personal access to instant video replays, the ability to order food from your seat, and the fun of connecting with fans and friends either in the venue or out on the Internet. For teams and stadium owners, a fully connected stadium not only helps make fans happier, it can also increase advertising and other revenue streams while reducing administration and cost of IT ownership.

Where Cisco has an edge over other technology providers is in its depth of offerings — not only is it the world leader in back-end routing and switching gear, but it is also among the market leaders in wireless access gear, through the expertise of its Linksys division. Unknown to most observers is Cisco’s strength in digital-display technology, which it uses in stadium situations to improve or enhance video display on screens both big and small.

Sports is something Cisco understands

And unlike other consumer-based offerings — such as its failed efforts to crack into the personal video market by buying handheld videocam maker Flip — Cisco clearly “gets” the sports fan’s desire to have better access to technology. Just read this snippet from a Cisco blog about stadium technology, which reads like something we might write here at MSR:

Picture a fan sitting in a football stadium full of tens of thousands of people getting ready for the game to begin. The stadium is roaring with noise, the team takes the pitch, and the fan uses his or her mobile device to snap a picture, capturing an iconic moment.

Like most football fans, and sports fans in general, he or she is a vibrant digital and social media consumer, and therefore tries to share that photo via a social media channel like Facebook.

However, with so many fans in the stadium desiring to do that same thing, or engage with their mobile device in another way, the strain on the existing mobile network at the game is intense. The fan finds the device has a low level of or no connectivity, and is unable to share that moment with friends, family and other fans…an inability to interact – something this fan and scores of others desire.

And going to Europe makes plenty of sense for a global powerhouse like Cisco, mainly because of the more-advanced cellular culture there. In some research we are conducting now at MSR we are finding out that most big stadiums in this country have little or no Wi-Fi access — except maybe in the luxury suites. In Europe the revolution toward fully wired fans is already in full swing, and Cisco is smart to get out in front early. It will be interesting to see how quickly these stadium deals contribute to the networking giant’s bottom line.

Filed Under: AT&T, Cisco, Facebook, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , ,
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