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ESPN’s British Open Coverage Scores on Cable, Internet, Mobile

July 24, 2012 by 2 Comments

There must be an algorithm somewhere to write the inevitable press releases for broadcasters after any big event now, that begins with “record viewership” and then plugs in the terms online and mobile. ESPN’s coverage of the British Open last week and weekend certainly fits in, with big gains in just about every measurement category, including a 140 percent growth in the amount of live coverage watched on ESPN’s mobile and online platforms.

But — it could have been a lot bigger. Remember, ESPN limits its mobile access to people who pay for cable plans from Verizon FiOS, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, and Comcast. How much bigger could the audience be if ESPN allowed non-cable subscribers the right to see things with a one-time fee? (Right now, the WWL’s answer to that is it’s not gonna happen.)

One guess is that since ESPN added Comcast to its list of approved cable-contract partners whose customers get access to all WatchESPN and ESPN3 content, the jump in online viewership was probably a given since the Comcast deal added about 40 million potential new viewers to the number that could see ESPN’s online streams. Even without any new partnerships that number should easily grow again next year, when ESPN should have support for Comcast customers with Android platforms, who were shut out this year.

I still think that ESPN could vastly improve its online coverage of big events, especially golf, by mimicing the excellent presentation done by the folks at the Masters. Right now the event coverage like the British Open is lumped in next to every other thing that ESPN covers, which as you know is quite a lot, so the experience dims. It would also be great to have an integrated chat/social experience on the same screen, so you could perhaps talk golf smack to friends and other fans without having to switch between multiple screens. I’d add in a window to keep track of the excellent ESPN Majors fantasy game, and my online golf experience would be complete. Well, we’d need the TigerCam too. But I’m not greedy.

ESPN Press release on its awesome British Open numbers.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, British Open, ESPN, ESPN3, Golf, PGA, The Masters, Tiger Woods Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Honda Debuts Aha, Vast Sports Programnning Options Including Olympic Content

July 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Honda has introduced its new in-dash connectivity system. In addition to music and news options, the system provided by Aha will offer vast sports programming choices.

Available via a smartphone application, the system will act as a “conduit to a wealth of cloud-based media,” according to Aha.

Content is pre-selected via the smartphone app. It’s controlled via voice commands and as well as in-dash and steering wheel-based controls after your phone is connected.

Honda’s also developing an EV-centric version of the service, which will be available in upcoming versions of the Fit EV and Accord Plug-in Hybrid. The apps will be available for both iOS and Android.

According to an Aha spokesperson, sports programming in 2013 Honda (and Subaru models, soon), will include mainstays: ESPN, Fox Sports, Fox Deportes, SI Olympic and podcasts from partners such as CBS, Shoutcast and NPR.

Addditional niche sports programming will include: Puck Nuts, Download The Line, Surf Talk Radio and Poker Road among other content. During the Summer Olympics, sports Twitter feeds will be curated and featured.

For additional information, visit: http://aharadio.com

James Raia is editor and publisher of www.tourdefranclife.com

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Olympics Tagged With: , , , ,

ESPN Mobile and British Open App Fail at Live Video, Audio Coverage for Some Platforms

July 21, 2012 by 5 Comments

Sunday Update: After deleting and re-installing the British Open app things seem to be working better. We can get a live commentary show and a live link to WatchESPN (which we can’t watch because we are on Android — see below). The Open’s own radio is working, with the great BBC commentators, but the Open app’s link to ESPNRadio isn’t working. The ESPNRadio app, however, is working today so if we need to we can go native for the final round. Original Saturday post follows.

Before the British Open started we were impressed by the online and mobile options for viewing and listening to live coverage of the year’s third golf major. But after trying and failing to connect in several fashions Saturday, we’re less than impressed with the mobile performance from both ESPN and the Open’s own app.

On the ESPN side, the online live version of the TV broadcast worked fine, as long as you can remember to enable pop-ups for your browser (we spent a frustrating minute clicking on the screen to no avail before we saw the little pop-up warning in our Chrome browser and enabled the WatchESPN window). As a paying Comcast subscriber I expected to also be able to watch the coverage live on my Android smartphone, but when I loaded WatchESPN there was no Comcast option for authentication.

After a couple frustrating auto-replies from ESPN help I finally got an answer from “Jack” in customer support that says Comcast Android users are still second-class citizens. As in, no mobile video for you!

For Comcast XFINITY subscribers, WatchESPN is available for use on the following mobile devices: iPhone, iPod and iPad (must have OS 4.0 or later).

The WatchESPN application is not yet available in Android devices for Comcast subscribers, but we will be launching the service soon.

Maybe I’m a harsh judge but this is kind of unacceptable for a company like the WorldWide Leader, which presumably has lots of programming assets at its beck and call. I thought I might be able to do an end-around by using the Open’s own app, but even as the third round leaders were early on the back nine, the app’s audio and video coverage were “off the air,” with no explanation. From what I can tell it might be a problem in that the app has live coverage via the BBC for viewers in the UK, but if there is some way to switch to US-available coverage here, I can’t find it in the app. On the good side, the app has great archived video, which works superbly like a well-edited midday highlights package.

ESPNRadio worked well in my car, but the Open broadcast also didn’t work on the Samsung Stratosphere Android handset from Verizon that I have. Again, I suspect there was some issue with the Android handset not being supported by the necessary Comcast authentication. We are emailing ESPN folks now and will relay a better answer if we get one.

The bottom line is, out of the three majors so far this year the folks behind the British Open online coverage, namely ESPN, are in third place. The Masters is far ahead of all tournaments, with its solid multiple-camera options, and its good performance in online and mobile platforms. While the U.S. Open had fewer choices, its delivery and access were also far superior to the muddle that was the ESPN/Open app arrangement for the British Open. Plus, ESPN’s online menu of British Open options was mixed in with all the other things the WWL was showing on its online menu. I get it, ESPN’s got a lot going on. But is it so hard to wall off the British Open selections on a separate page? And maybe include all the other golf-related stuff there? Too many times it seems like ESPN doesn’t get it right when they are covering individual events, and the British Open is one of those times.

While I understand and respect ESPN’s decision to base online access on whether or not customers have a valid cable contract, the whole what-is and what-isn’t online for ESPN is still muddled, and the point failures for the Open are proof that ESPN still needs to figure out what its priorities are in the online/mobile space, and how it can make it less confusing for people to figure out how to get access. The fact that I, as a paying Comcast subscriber, couldn’t get access on an Android phone, should have been something ESPN called out beforehand, not buried in a support email after the fact. And I think event organizers should take a harder look at who they sell coverage rights to, if the digital access is going to be so constrained. Just seems like it’s harder than it needs to or should be.

Miss the round? Here are the highlights courtesy of the Mothership:

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, BBC, British Open, Comcast, ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, Golf, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, PGA, The Masters, Tiger Woods, US Open, WatchESPN, Xfinity Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Dear Nike: Where’s My EveryShot TigerCam?

July 20, 2012 by 3 Comments

As cool as it is to be the editor of the greatest new sports-biz publication, I can’t pass up the opportunity to apply for the newest job in the golf-social-new-media business: Editor and commentator for Nike’s new EveryShot TigerCam website. As you guessed, this is an Internet location (also available in app form) that shows, every weekend, a full but time-edited version of Tiger Woods’ entire round of golf.

Cool, right? Don’t you wish it really existed? Me too.

After missing out on all but a few minutes of British Open coverage Thursday I had to settle for ESPN’s SportsCenter highlight package and was left hungry for more. Very specifically, I wanted to see more of El Tigre, other than just his amazing out-of-a-divot shot that had ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi screaming like a child when he showed the slow-mo to Tiger afterwards. I wanted to see every drive, every middle iron, every lag putt and maybe get some in-between-holes comments from the man himself.

Why hasn’t Nike, or ESPN, or the PGA, made this happen?

Look — I understand that there are a whole lot of “other” golfers out there who are worth watching. Some of them even win majors. But for me — and all the millions of golf fans who drive up TV viewership whenever Eldrick is in contention — watching golf is all about Tiger first, and everyone else second. I’m not even going to try to explain it, though a fellow fan I met at the Olympic Club during the recent U.S. Open put it best when we both talked about how we became hooked years ago when we watched Tiger blow up the golfing world at the 1997 Masters.

“It was transformational, what he did then,” said my new pal, as we watched Tiger miss a birdie chance on 17 during his Friday round at the U.S. Open. “I haven’t been able to stop watching him since.”

It’s not just me — I have heard many paid golf commentators on TV note this year that yeah, when he is on, there isn’t a better golfer in the world than Woods. Maybe not ever. So — in this day and age of multiple, cheap, easy broadcasting production platforms why in Nike’s name isn’t there some service that, especially for majors, does a quick turnaround and give us a speed-edited complete recap of Tiger’s rounds?

If the folks at Nike want to give me a call I have some great ideas how to make this happen, but basically if you have one editor/producer (this would be me, because I thought of this) and a couple kids just out of school who have camera/FinalCut skilz, you would just follow Tiger around all day and then spend a couple hours each night editing the footage down to just shots and some quick, YouTube-worthy commentary and graphics. Charge five bucks a tournament for viewing, and I bet you would make as much as Tiger does when he’s winning.

(It would sure beat the over-produced “video” section on Woods’ own website, where as of Thursday night the newest stuff is Tiger at… The Greenbrier. Yuk.)

This could scale to other golfers who might be individually interesting — Bubba Watson comes to mind, or maybe long-drive fans would pay a buck a weekend to see every tee shot from Alvaro Quiros. It’s not like it would cost a lot to try. I understand there may be some rights questions but why not give it a test and agree to split the revenues amongst those who have skin in the game now, like the networks and the Tour?

The bottom line is — there is a whole lot of “content” out there every weekend that simply gets lost because of the old model of golf coverage, which is a highly produced show with some guy in a trailer deciding which golfers you should watch. And that’s so 1997, and not in a good way. It’s time to let the fans decide who they want to watch, and how much of that golfer’s round they want to see. C’mon Nike, PGA, and networks. Make my EveryShot TigerCam (the domain is even still available!) a reality.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, British Open, CBS Sports, ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, Golf, Nike, PGA, Tiger Woods, WatchESPN Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

ESPN keeps the Pedal Down with Summer Soccer Broadcasts

July 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

Fresh off strong viewership numbers from the recently concluded Euro 2012 tournament ESPN will be broadcasting a series of international club matches over the next three weeks, with the first match coming last night with the Seattle Sounders vs. Chelsea FC (sorry I missed it).

The matches have a very interesting mix of teams with three teams each from the English Premier League, Major League Soccer, two from Italy’s Serie A, and one from Spain’s La Liga and the Scottish Premier League.

As is to be expected the broadcasts will be all over the networks properties and all but one will be on its ESPN2 channel, while also showing the matches on ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes channels as well in most cases.

The rest of the broadcasts are:
Tue, July 24 10:30 pm ET Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Tottenham Hotspur ESPN3
Wed, July 25 6:30 pm ET Liverpool FC vs. AS Roma ESPN2/3 ESPN Desportes
Sat, July 25 1:00 pm ET Liverpool FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur ESPN2/3 ESPN Desportes
Sat, July 25 6:30 pm ET Chelsea FC vs. AC Milan ESPN2/3 ESPN Desportes
Tue, July 31 7 pm ET NY Red Bulls vs. Tottenham Hotspur ESPN2/3 ESPN Desportes
Thur, August 2 10:30 pm ET Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Madrid ESPN2/3 ESPN Deportes
Wed, August 8 8 pm ET Real Madrid vs. AC Milan ESPN2/3 ESPN Deportes
Sat, August 11 1:55 pm ET Real Madrid vs. Celtic FC ESPN2/3 ESPN Deportes

This will be a nice fill in until the major European leagues start up in a month or so. The premier League starts Sat. August 18th while the La Liga starts the following day.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN3, FoxSoccer, MLS, Soccer Tagged With: ,

Watching Golf this Week: The Open Championship, aka The British Open

July 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Are you ready for the third major of the year? It all kicks off Thursday morning at one of the stranger-named courses, Royal Lytham & St. Annes (not St. Anne’s), which its own website describes as “It is not a conventionally beautiful golf course, surrounded as it is by suburban housing and flanked by a railway line, but it has a charm all of its own.” Never you mind. This is the British Open, aka The Open Championship, and it’s all about history. With Champions at the course named Seve. Tom Lehman, Gary Player, and most recently, David Duval in 2001.

And best of all, golf when you wake up in the morning here in the U.S.! If you want to watch the Open Championship this weekend you best have a cable subscription with ESPN (and really, who doesn’t in the sports world). If you want to watch online or on your mobile device, you need a cable sub with the WatchESPN qualifying carriers: Verizon FiOS, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Comcast. This tourney is four days of wall to wall ESPN coverage, including ESPN radio, probably a bunch of SportsCenter from the Open broadcasts… starting at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, to catch all of Tiger and Phil, who are going out early.

And who will win it? Odds on favorite is, of course, the man who would be back: Tiger Woods. If he plays all four days like he played the first two days at Olympic, Tiger will be tough to beat — he’s even been seen working on his infamous “stinger” shots. Lurking in the gorse is Phil Mickelson, who is way overdue overseas — and had himself a few nice sub-70 rounds at the Scottish Open last weekend as a tuneup.

What about the local lads — guys like Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, who reign atop the world standings but have zero majors between them? Of the two I like Westwood’s chances since he always seems to be in it at the end, while Donald tends to disappear. Maybe like Darren Clarke last year, this is Westwood’s time. As a dark horse I like a guy who I saw live for the first time at the U.S. Open, and marveled at the style of his swing: Former British Open champ Louis Oosthuizen. Go join the MSR group on the ESPN fantasy golf game if you want to show your own picking savvy.

In case the Open isn’t enough golf, there is also a PGA Tour event this week, the incredibly ignored True South Classic in Madison, Mississippi, as well as the fun-to-watch American Century Classic from Lake Tahoe, where celebs and athletes from other sports show off their golf prowess, or lack thereof (see Barkley, Charles). We will include TV times for those tournaments as well, below.

Our final pick? We say Tiger gets off the major schneid. Here’s where to follow the action:

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSIP

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, July 19 — ESPN, 4:30 a.m. — 3 p.m.
Friday, July 20 — ESPN, 4:30 a.m. — 3 p.m.
Saturday, July 21 — ESPN, 7 a.m. — 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 22 — ESPN, 8 a.m. — 1 p.m.

RADIO
ESPN RADIO (check local channels)
Thursday, July 19 — 7 a.m. — 1 p.m.
Friday, July 20 — 7 a.m. — 1 p.m.
Saturday, July 21 — ESPN, 9 a.m. — 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 22 — ESPN, 8 a.m. — 12 p.m.

Radio broadcasts will also be available through the Open app, at TheOpen.com, and at
ESPNRadio.com.

ONLINE
This is long, but worth it… what follows is the entire ESPN lineup of content from The Open:

The Open Championship on ESPN Digital Platforms
WatchESPN
All Open Championship programming on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from affiliated providers Bright House Networks, Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon FiOS TV.

ESPN.com
News, blogs and columns from ESPN.com national columnist Gene Wojciechowski and senior golf writers Farrell Evans and Bob Harig.
“Digital Drive,” an exclusive ESPN.com program hosted by ESPN the Magazine columnist Rick Reilly, will be produced each day.
“CoverItLive” live chat with Michael Collins throughout the championship.
“Red Light/Green Light” with Collins each day, examining pin placements on selected holes.
The ESPN Golf Cast application, which offers an easy-to-use interface with scoring, “CoverItLive,” video and social media elements.
Best Ball Majors, the latest installment of the ESPN Best Ball Challenge.
Interactive leaderboards and live scores.
Extensive video content, including highlights, analysis, clips from SportsCenter and press conferences.
Photo galleries, podcasts, live chats, SportsNation polling.
Mobile WAP site.
Spanish-language highlights and coverage on ESPNDeportes.com.

ESPN3
ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network will carry ESPN’s telecast of all four rounds of The Open Championship. An additional feed will have live coverage of the 1st & 18th Holes, plus player interviews from the practice range, highlights and features. Trey Wingo and Jim Kelly will share the host role, with analysts Jane Crafter and Kim Thomas and reporter Mark Donaldson. Former Open Championship winner David Duval, who is competing in the event, also will serve as an analyst while not on the course.
ESPN3 also will have a Spanish-language feed with ESPN Deportes golf announcers Francisco Aleman and former LPGA pro Silvia Bertolaccini as well as the International View from the BBC/World coverage and alternating coverage of holes 8, 9 and 10.

ESPN Mobile
Live mobile video simulcasts of ESPN’s Open Championship telecasts on Thursday-Sunday will appear on ESPN Mobile TV. The Best of The Open Championship programs for the first, third and final rounds and Thursday’s The Open Championship Today programs also will be simulcast.
News, highlights and a leaderboard will appear on the ESPN mobile Web and there will be Open Championship Insider content, news and columns, scoring alerts for top players and video shot packs for select golfers.

PGA SHOT TRACKER
No Shot Tracker at the British Open, but it will be online for the True South Classic.

FACEBOOK PAGE
Get yourself close to the Claret Jug at The Open’s Facebook page.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW
The Open’s own Twitter feed.
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend. You may also catch her video reporting debut this weekend. Go Stephanie!
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

TOURNAMENT APP
Powered by video mavens at Ooyala, the Open’s App has everything you want in a handheld device app. iPad, iPhone and Android. You will still need the ESPN contract to view live video, though.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
The Royal Lytham & St. Annes has its own website, and there is good stuff on the PGA site as well.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Darren Clarke.

WHY IS IT CALLED LYTHAM & ST. ANNES?
Because the two towns of Lytham and St. Annes-on-the-Sea grew together and formed one seaside resort. And they dropped the “sea” bit. According to Wikipedia.

FEDEX CUP LEADERS
1. Tiger Woods, 1,952 points
2. Zach Johnson, 1,920
3. Jason Dufner, 1,849
4. Hunter Mahan, 1,654
5. Bubba Watson, 1,617

See the full standings for the FedEx Cup points list.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Luke Donald; 2. Rory McIlroy; 3. Lee Westwood; 4. Tiger Woods; 5. Webb Simpson.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

TRUE SOUTH CLASSIC TV
Thursday, July 19 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, July 20 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 21 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 22 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

AMERICAN CENTURY CLASSIC TV
Saturday, July 21 — NBC, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 22 — NBC, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, British Open, ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, Facebook, Golf, Golf Channel, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, PGA, Tiger Woods, Time Warner Cable Television, Twitter, Verizon Wireless, WatchESPN, WatchESPN Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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