When it comes to TV outlets and American soccer....

[purojogo]

what channels do you think are better?

-ESPN2 and/or Telemundo show USMNT games, qualifiers and the odd friendly....

-On FSW, you get the odd USMNT game/friendly..... Plus FSE/FSW show once a week an MLS game... and FSW will start a show focusing on American soccer tonight, iinm, besides having MLS Wrap..... (can't stress how i wish they had this last one on FSE as well).....

-GolTV has "American SOccer" mondays, "Soccer Files" on Thursdays.....
From what i've seen, GolTV News (noticias) does a good job covering the league and US soccer (one day i was shocked LD going to LA was the first news item they showed, over anything MFL-related)..... Plus i saw the VW show, where they welcomed MLS highlights to the fold.... It's on 1h 35 minutes or so into the 2 hour show this week...... Had all the highlights, except for the KC-Colorado game, which honestly i've seen nowhere onTV....

-Telemundo has very little besides US games.....They had "titulares telemundo" showing highlights for only 2 MLS games last Sunday..... Univision, i tend to ignore as they usually pay even less attention to US Soccer related stuff, unless it's the odd MLS-related interview in Republica Deportiva....

Anything else anyone could add? And based on what you've seen around....how would you "rank" the channels? I don't feel i can do the same as i do not have access to FSW on a regular basis....

[wjarrettc]

Of course this is very subjective. Based on content only (who has what games), this is the order in which I watch these channels the most:

1. FSC (EPL, MLS, UEFA internationals)
2. ESPN/ESPN2/ABC (USMNT, MLS, UEFA CL)
3. HDNet (MLS and USMNT)
4. ESPN Deportes (Dutch, UEFA CL, some internationals)
5. WorldSportHD (La Liga, UEFA Cup)
6. Setana Pub Channel (UEFA CL, Coca-cola Championship, Internationals)
7. Telemundo/Galavision/Univision/Telefutura (Internationals and youth matches)
8. GolTV (I no longer get GolTV since I traded DISH for VOOM but I used to have it, but I'm not a big fan of Serie A or South American Futbol so I don't miss it much).

Based on Production quality, my preference for watching a game is...

1. HDNet
2. WorldSportHD
3. ESPN networks (including Deportes)
4. Telemundo et al.
5. FSC
6. GolTV
7. Setanta

[purojogo]

Of course this is very subjective. Based on content only (who has what games), this is the order in which I watch these channels the most:

1. FSC (EPL, MLS, UEFA internationals)
2. ESPN/ESPN2/ABC (USMNT, MLS, UEFA CL)
3. HDNet (MLS and USMNT)
4. ESPN Deportes (Dutch, UEFA CL, some internationals)
5. WorldSportHD (La Liga, UEFA Cup)
6. Setana Pub Channel (UEFA CL, Coca-cola Championship, Internationals)
7. Telemundo/Galavision/Univision/Telefutura (Internationals and youth matches)
8. GolTV (I no longer get GolTV since I traded DISH for VOOM but I used to have it, but I'm not a big fan of Serie A or South American Futbol so I don't miss it much).

Based on Production quality, my preference for watching a game is...

1. HDNet
2. WorldSportHD
3. ESPN networks (including Deportes)
4. Telemundo et al.
5. FSC
6. GolTV
7. Setanta

I forgot Univision/Gala/Telfutura... which i will ignore until the U-20 and U-17 (provided US qualifies-we should) start..... BUt EPL and UEFA stuff is not "American soccer" so to speak.....

[OldFanatic]

8. GolTV (I no longer get GolTV since I traded DISH for VOOM but I used to have it, but I'm not a big fan of Serie A or South American Futbol so I don't miss it much).

Well, GolTV has incredibly good La Liga coverage. I see you have WorldSport HD, but that's just one La Liga match. GolTV's coverage of La Liga is simply superb!

Based on Production quality, my preference for watching a game is...

5. FSC
6. GolTV

Are you serious when you say that? The production quality of GolTV is miles above Fox Soccer Channel. The video quality is crisp (as crisp as SD can get), audio is great, and the English commentators are now much, much better. Also, I''ll take Phil Schoen over Nick Webster or Chris Miles anyday.

Anyway, I think the original poster's comments were specific to how these channels cover "American soccer".

For this criterion, I would rank them as:

1. Fox Soccer Channel
2. ESPN2/ABC
3. GolTV
4. All other Spanish channels which actually cover American soccer

[wjarrettc]

Well, GolTV has incredibly good La Liga coverage. I see you have WorldSport HD, but that's just one La Liga match. GolTV's coverage of La Liga is simply superb!


Tis true, but with all the other soccer I watch, I don't really need to see more than 1 La Liga match a week.



Are you serious when you say that? The production quality of GolTV is miles above Fox Soccer Channel. The video quality is crisp (as crisp as SD can get), audio is great, and the English commentators are now much, much better. Also, I''ll take Phil Schoen over Nick Webster or Chris Miles anyday.


You're probably right about this. I haven't watched very much GolTV since very early in its lifetime. My impression is that they really have improved over the last 6 months or so.



Anyway, I think the original poster's comments were specific to how these channels cover "American soccer".

For this criterion, I would rank them as:

1. Fox Soccer Channel
2. ESPN2/ABC
3. GolTV
4. All other Spanish channels which actually cover American soccer

Oops, missed that. I read "soccer on American TV" not "American soccer." Considering that, I would say the best coverage of American soccer, to date, has come from:

1. ESPN/ESPN2/ABC

2. All the other networks that show USA/MLS soccer.

Prior to a couple of weeks ago, did GolTV ever cover USA/MLS soccer?

[purojogo]

Anyway, I think the original poster's comments were specific to how these channels cover "American soccer".


That is correct....

And to clarify/fix part of my earlier post... Just realized last night Fox Sports en Espa~ol does have MLS Wrap (called "resumen MLS") They'll have it next Sunday at 1PM (as the first showing of next weekend's highlights).... and since the replay i watched was late Tues/early Wed at 12:30 AM ET, i assume they will have the replay of the show next week, same day/time as well

NOw if they could only improve the show itself a bit... :)



Prior to a couple of weeks ago, did GolTV ever cover USA/MLS soccer?
I think there was coverage to a degree, but as soon as they reached a deal with Directv, the coverage grew larger:

-Starting with "American Soccer" and "Soccer files" shows once a week
-Having a lot of content in GolTV news that is relevant to USSoccer/MLS (just informed people DCU will use same lineup vs. Pumas that they did vs. ChivasUSA-I don't see any outlets caring as much)
-Their VW show (2-hour long goal highlights show) incorporated MLS higlights from week 1..... Showed all the games but KC/Colorado, which to be honest I could not see anywhere but on MLS wrap, so i guess it was very hard to get....

Since i only have had Goltv for like a bit over a month, i really cannot tell you for sure the answer to your question, but i'll say that at present you can see there is a lot of effort not to leave American Soccer/MLS behind.......

[texgator]

VW GOL...which used to be called A Todo Gol....always showed MLS highlights. But then again they also showed highlights from the Tazmanian Second Division.....and I don't think anyone would say that GolTV is deliberately trying to promote Tazmanian soccer.

[purojogo]

VW GOL...which used to be called A Todo Gol....always showed MLS highlights. But then again they also showed highlights from the Tazmanian Second Division.....and I don't think anyone would say that GolTV is deliberately trying to promote Tazmanian soccer.
No , my point is that they (VW Gol) surely do not ignore AMerican soccer (through MLS) nor do they fail to acknowledge (at least in the Spanish language feed) YAs who are involved in a given game they are showing highlights of//

OTOH, maybe it's just me, but in shows like GolTv news, it seems to me they do significant stuff to promote American soccer.... not to mention the obviously positive coverage of the shows on Mondays (american soccer) and Thursdays (Soccer files)

[ddavenport]

Agreed.