Champions League Matchday 2 viewing experiences

[Cassano]

Did anyone catch when midgame Derek Rae says, "There is an update in the Arsenal game, but I won't comment on it for those that are planning to watch it later", and while he says that, the graphic pops down from the scoreline showing the Arsenal game score.

Then, before the start of the second half, they showed the rest of the day's scores at the half, but not showing Real-Kiev's score because it was to be shown later. Then they take away the graphic and do a close-up of the scoreboard in the stadium showing every score, including Real's!

[dustcowpoke]

It didn't matter to me because I was only going to be able to view the ones on ESPN, I didn't mind because I don't have Setanta.

I'm so happy they continue with the Euro announcers, and the Heineken commercials are good.

Overall good experience.

[Visca...]

It didn't matter to me because I was only going to be able to view the ones on ESPN, I didn't mind because I don't have Setanta.

I'm so happy they continue with the Euro announcers, and the Heineken commercials are good.

Overall good experience.
You don't need Setanta to watch Madrid vs. Kiev. ESPN Classic is showing it right now, hence why Derek Rae tried not to give the score away, but the screen spoiled it.

[catenaccio_L'pool]

... hence why Derek Rae tried not to give the score away, but the screen spoiled it.
That's exactly why I'm not going to bother with Levski vs Chelsea, but will only watch Bremen vs Barca...I had no idea that there is a Champions League review show on Espn on Friday, before Smith suggested it as an alternative to actually watching (the destruction of ) Levski...

[Cannon]

That's exactly why I'm not going to bother with Levski vs Chelsea, but will only watch Bremen vs Barca...I had no idea that there is a Champions League review show on Espn on Friday, before Smith suggested it as an alternative to actually watching (the destruction of ) Levski...
The CL highlight show was ok last time but they had the sound screwed up for many of the games so all you could hear was the stadium sound with no commentary (some might see that as a plus;) ).

[Kryptonite]

Once again, they showed the Real score. Next part of the ticker said "This game is being shown LIVE on ESPN Deportes." The next screen?? "Catch this game next on ESPN Classic." :rolleyes:


On a second note, it was pretty damn good to watch a game on Setanta (Celtic-Copenhagen). The graphics covered -maybe- 1/32nd of the screen.

[TarheelJTK]

Once again, they showed the Real score. Next part of the ticker said "This game is being shown LIVE on ESPN Deportes." The next screen?? "Catch this game next on ESPN Classic." :rolleyes:

I saw that. That was rather poor from ESPN. I'm glad I wasn't planning on watching that match. It would seem so simple to not include something on the ticker that is going to be shown next.

[blackjack]

There was one point where they pulled up the graphic promoting the Press Pass show and its Spanish equivalent. It took up more than half of the screen, and completely blocked the view of the ball and the players near it. I damn near threw something at the TV. They really need somebody who cares about and enjoys watching soccer to watch and critique their broadcasts. I don't think their mistakes are malicious, I really think they just don't understand that watching soccer is different from watching any other sport. We want to see the ball at all times, we don't want to know the results of the games that are going on simultaneously if there is the chance of seeing them later, and we don't need the damn ticker.

[Kryptonite]

I saw that. That was rather poor from ESPN. I'm glad I wasn't planning on watching that match. It would seem so simple to not include something on the ticker that is going to be shown next.

I was watching at the local Fado and had something to do after, so it didn't really matter to me.

But it's the same "ESPN stupidity rule" applying. Cover up the bottom of the screen.

[Kryptonite]

There was one point where they pulled up the graphic promoting the Press Pass show and its Spanish equivalent. It took up more than half of the screen, and completely blocked the view of the ball and the players near it. I damn near threw something at the TV. They really need somebody who cares about and enjoys watching soccer to watch and critique their broadcasts. I don't think their mistakes are malicious, I really think they just don't understand that watching soccer is different from watching any other sport. We want to see the ball at all times, we don't want to know the results of the games that are going on simultaneously if there is the chance of seeing them later, and we don't need the damn ticker.

What you said.

Baseball and football can nicely present that stuff because there's a lot of regular built-in stoppages. In baseball, they'll show the pitcher looking at the count, doing the signs, and have time to flash some stats on the side of the screen.

In football, there's numerous posession changes, timeouts, officials timeouts, injuries, etc. More than enough time to promote upcoming programs, show stats, etc.


Sidenote -- Press Pass is generally a non-US program, yet the complaints seem to be coming from the US. I wonder if:

a) there's a way to have those boxes NOT pop-up on ESPN2 US
or
b) the TV viewers watching on ESPN in the other countries complain as much.

After all, why are we, in the USA seeing advertisements for SportsCenter Mexico?

[joebloe888]

After all, why are we, in the USA seeing advertisements for SportsCenter Mexico?

That's because SportsCenter Mexico airs todos los dias, en vivo y en directo on ESPN Deportes in the US and ESPN DOS in Mexico.

[stockmanjr]

I'm watching arsenal/porto now..I'm interested in why there is only one announcer calling the match.Was the game on itv or sky in the uk? I thought if it was on either they would just take the british feed not what seems to be an international feed? I love having setanta :-)
Cheers

[joebloe888]

I'm watching arsenal/porto now..I'm interested in why there is only one announcer calling the match.Was the game on itv or sky in the uk? I thought if it was on either they would just take the british feed not what seems to be an international feed? I love having setanta :-)
Cheers

UEFA/Team Marketing AG require ALL video broadcasters around the world to take the international feed with English-language commentary track regardless whether they use the commentary track or not.

ESPN Latin America and ESPN Australia/New Zealand (ESPN2 US/TSN Canada simulcast) take the international feed but do not use the commentary track

There is no justifiable reason for Setanta to spend extra money to pay for the ITV or BSkyB feed when Setanta Sports USA only goes to 40,000 subscribers.

[stockmanjr]

UEFA/Team Marketing AG require ALL video broadcasters around the world to take the international feed with English-language commentary track regardless whether they use the commentary track or not.

ESPN Latin America and ESPN Australia/New Zealand (ESPN2 US/TSN Canada simulcast) take the international feed but do not use the commentary track

There is no justifiable reason for Setanta to spend extra money to pay for the ITV or BSkyB feed when Setanta Sports USA only goes to 40,000 subscribers.
Right I understood that it's a common feed just with different graphic overlay's.Hence why the arsenal/porto match had nothing on the screen besides the same uefa banner's you see around the world. I was just sort of surprised they didnt take the ITV/sky commentary since they usually take the sky commentary when they cant show the match they are showing in ireland. or a match that is being shown on delay..It's still great coverage :)
Cheers!
Cheers!

[HDSports]

I wish Setanta would just use the international feed for all their UCL games, since there are no graphics on the screen to give away scores of the other matches, and the announcer didn't refer to any other matches (except for the already completed CSKA-Hamburg game, which was played over two hours before any of the other matches). The other two games they showed were feeds from SkySports, but the score updates were handled quite differently. The second match Setanta showed (Real Madrid-Kiev) had an information ticker appear at 18 and 33 minutes of each half. I was a thin line at the bottom of the screen, and alerted the viewer that score updates were coming, so it could easily be blocked from ones line of vision. On the other hand, the third Setanta match had "goal alerts" that just popped up without warning (part of their interactive service that allows switching between multiple games) and would have spoiled other games had I not watched it last (because Setanta was showing Celtics-Rangers game between the second and third games, I used that slot to watch the Benfica-Man Utd match). All in all, I was lucky to get through all four matches without a spoiler...again, I wish Setanta would show the international feeds all the time, and then I would view those matches first before watching any of the ESPN2 broadcasts.

[el mero mero]

So I check tvguide today, Chelsea vs. Sofia, what the ********?
No Barca-Bremen, or Inter-Bayern, this epl bias on espn 2 sucks. Crappy internet streams for me i guess.

[GutBomb]

barca/werder bremen is on espn classic at 5:00 PM EST

[el mero mero]

i only have regular cable, no need to spend over $100 on tv a month

[Visca...]

So I check tvguide today, Chelsea vs. Sofia, what the ********?
No Barca-Bremen, or Inter-Bayern, this epl bias on espn 2 sucks. Crappy internet streams for me i guess.
I see what you're saying. Barca vs. Bremen and Inter vs. Bayern seem like a more entertaining match to watch (on paper at least) than watching Chelsea rip a new one on Levski Sofia.

[GutBomb]

well, the match is available so if you want it, subscribe to a service tht gets it and quit bitching. you can get directv for $40 a month and get espn classic with that. for an additional $15 you can get setanta too. and you'd have tons of champions league then.