I just saw a link in the comment sections in part 2 of Steve Goff's interview with Jason Levien: http://thebiglead.com/2015/12/18/dc-united-abc-tv-comcast-jason-levien-tom-hunt/ It says that DCU local broadcasts will move to Channel 7 rather than CSN for 2016. Does anyone know if this link is correct? If it's correct it's a big deal as United will dramatically increase its TV reach to people such as millennial chord-cutters (my wife and I included!), and immigrants who don't subscribe to cable. The picture quality is much better for over-the-air broadcasts than cable too. (1080p vs. 720p or 1080i)
It will be a trade-off. The pickup of those who have dropped cable will be offset by those who live outside the core of the metro area and can't pickup the over the air signals.
I'm not sure that's an even trade, is it? I'm pretty sure no Comcast customer north of Howard county gets ABC7, which is probably cutting out 1 Million people? I doubt there are even 300k non cable customers. What is the ABC7 coverage like in NOVA? I assume it's widespread. So basically this means I might as well go buy a Union scarf for Christmas, since it's a shorter drive to Chester and I can't watch on TV. Oh well, at least now I can go back to cutting my cord and save some money.
That's not technically what it says, it could be news channel 8 or one of the digital substations, not actually channel 7 - it just says a WJLA station If it's actually 7 and they show DCU instead of the college football or Indy racing or whatever it is that ABC is carrying, great - but if it's 7.3, not so great since there are many people (like me) who cannot pull that signal in at all. I can now get Ch 8 on DirecTV but maybe some cable systems do not (like Maryland systems probably). Last time we were on NC8 I did not get the channel and I was pissed because I rarely saw a DCU game and couldn't watch games when I got home from the stadium, etc.
I didn't know NC8 was part of WJLA. We used to get it in the Baltimore area-- not sure if Comcast still carries it there since I haven't lived there in a wihle. But NC8, being on cable systems, makes much more sense for the team than a broadcast station, IMO. Unless, as you say, they are going to show the games live in primetime-- but that seems unimaginable to me.
If it's shown on both cable newschannel 8 and 7.3, that's a win. Back when I had cable, newschannel 8 was included. The 7.2 and 7.3 OTE channels are also HD and high-powered.
I'm not seeing NC8 on my FIOS up here, but that's not surprising. I'll have to double check when I'm not supposed to be working.
Approximately 83% of Americans are part of a household that pays for cable (source: http://www.ibtimes.com/forget-cable-cord-cutting-83-percent-american-households-still-pay-tv-2081570). Extrapolated to our metro are of 5 million, that works out to 800,000 people who don't have cable. However, not all of those 5 million area residents are equally likely to be or become DC United fans. As we all know, soccer fandom is slanted towards Gen X, Millennial, and younger (just stating a fact... not hating on boomer soccer fans as you all rock since you became fans on your own when soccer was hard to find and your peers would mock you for it) Chord-cutting is much more prevalent within younger, highly educated, urban demographics... the exact same demographic that is a primary factor in increases in MLS popularity. Over-the-air broadcasts on 7.3 (along with cable channel 8 for cable viewers) would enable DC United to reach one of its rising bread-and-butter cohorts. They'd be able to better market themselves to a group that is most likely to join all of our wonderful fans in selling out the new Buzzard Point stadium. I'm also excited since I'm at the older edge of that demographic
Nobletea, check out this website: http://antennaweb.org/ It's a guide about how to aim an antenna to best pick up a specific signal. You may need to invest in a durable rooftop antenna to get ABC 7. My parents live south of Elkton and my dad has two separate antennas, one for Baltimore and one for Philadelphia. He gets both cities' high-powered stations crystal clear. Depending on where in Harford County you live, you might be able to get ABC 7 since it's high-powered.
Yeah, but of that 800,000, how many of them are within signal range of WJLA? And I think TV is getting to the point that the only thing that matters is who many eyeballs you capture, and how much revenue you get from that-- attracting fans to the stadium is less of a concern than it used to be, IMO-- particularly when your stadium is going to be small. All semantics and finer disagreements aside, I'm just cranky about it because I probably won't get to see my team.
If it's on NC8, I'd be OK. If it's on 7.2 or 7.3, well, DirecTV doesn't get those. And there's no fiber on most of Capitol Hill, so streaming is right out. So it'll seem quite ironic to me how I can live within a mile of the stadium and yet have absolutely no way whatsoever to watch a DCU game on TV.
Dude ... just put one of these on your roof. You'll get DC United games and North Korean morning cartoons ...
Yeah what would be super nice, is if ALL games are on NC8 and 7.x, with select games simulcast on ABC7 when possible. Any thoughts on how this impacts away games? Does NC8 have personnel to send? Is this the end of DJ? He was a CSN employee, right?
Not in my experience -- really old house = stone/plaster walls rather than drywall. Our house might as well be a Faraday cage. Even our home WiFi is awful, no matter where we put the hub.
There is a plus to modern shoddy construction. Anything can go through it's walls, electromagnetic waves, fists, sound...
Obviously you need to wire your house. Run coax and ethernet along the walls in little plastic conduits and paint them to match, then buy wifi extenders to put on each floor. You can get that all done one night after dinner, no problem.
I guess I won't be watching any matches next year. I'm in the Hampton Roads area and I doubt I get those channels.
When I saw the news, I was excited the team was making money and disappointed at the same time because this does kinda sorta suck. It always felt like HTS/CSN were a part of DC United and the channel is part of the region and not a "local" channel like WJLA. Then I read Goff's piece and FFS, this ********ing front office. Also, ******** Sinclair. 677955274133667840 is not a valid tweet id
http://www.blackandredunited.com/dc...nited-wjla-abc-television-multiyear-deal-2016 Sounds like it's possible that other locations will be showing the game.