And that streaming service wasn't all Turner -- it's a collaboration with CBS and the NCAA. So they'll have to produce a fresh product for Champs League. Turner's NBA streaming service is pretty reliable and high quality -- though it does this weird thing where ads and programming notes collapse the full player on a regular basis. To me the damning Turner product is their baseball playoff coverage. Poor all around.
Well, hopefully... they put it on a regular tier and stop their $15/mo on some platforms and it can still be a shell of its former self. What would they still have? SPL, rugby, AFL and ??? Yes, as bush-league as it was, I just *might* miss the FSW days. Imagine the following in HD all on one channel: NBC's level of EPL coverage (now) MLS A-League and NCAA Fridays (FSW then) Studio shows EPL FANZONE (yes!) Various South American leagues like Argentine and Brazilian Bundesliga ...didn't they even have some combination of Spanish, Italian and French soccer leagues? Someone (ESPN2?) delayed AC Milan UCL games as "Milan in Europe" matches. Really, just about the only thing FSW did not have was UCL.
Yeah FSW had quite a diverse portfolio of leagues back in the day. A lot of matches were shown on delay, but it didn't really matter because outside of EPL, soccer scores were not widely reported so there was little "spoilage".
I think we're heading for a Fox Sports portfolio of FS1 and FS2 with smaller properties and overflow pushed to FoxSportsGo. FS1 studio shows are failing, they need to push live sports to both channels. Biggest audiences getting priority.
Pregame shows can be great and must see tv when done well. On Espn for example. I haven't watched one on Fox in years. In addition, on Friday they had Wynalda and Lalas calling the games. Very soon, I'll be skiping their live games.
But they're paying for the live events anyway. If no studio shows are working you might as well show more Bundesliga, NASCAR qualifying, Big East sports, etc. NBC has done more of that with NBCSN. So much of their non-Prem or hockey studio programming was phased out.
Other than UEFA CL and occasional college sports, it seems like FS2 is a wasteland. Then again, so was ESPN2 when it started. Now, there really is no major difference between ESPN and ESPN2 programming.
ESPN2 occasionally shows MLB. http://www.espn.com/mlb/television has three games listed for ESPN2, including Sunday Night Baseball on May 28, and they haven't decided on every game they're going to show yet.
I used the tnt streaming service to watch some NBA playoffs. Very smooth and little trouble. Very important. Now I want to see how much you can stream at once for those staggered kickoffs next year.
Will the Turner team also include Shaq, The Jet, and the Chuckster as well? [emoji28] I'm kidding of course but... seriously, how successfully funny would that be?! It'd be a great way to draw viewers who don't normally watch futbol. Yeah, it's highly unlikely but I'm sure there'll be clips, spots, and/or segments with these guys somewhere talking about the Champions League... I could already hear Shaq singing the theme song of the Champions League in his own way. [emoji28] It would be brilliant!
Good info about the Digital platforms and apps. : http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/tbs-tnt-add-app-upgrades-expand-device-support/412813
An article about Univision's coverage that does not say much other than most games will be available on Unimas and Univision Deportes. They also say that "they’ll bring you every game and every moment of the UEFA Champions League." . I don't know if that means ALL of the matches including the preliminary qualifiers or if it means just starting at the round of 32 though. https://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/05...uefa-champions-league-europa-league-coverage/
In all previous contracts, the Preliminary Rounds were NOT part of the TV contract. Rights for the CL start with the Playoff Round. First 3 rounds are sold by clubs individually. I don't see that anything has changed for this new contract. As far as "All matches" is concerned, in this new world, it means streaming as well TV. While I expect Univision to take full advantage of the new staggered kickoff times starting with the new TV contract in the 2018-19 season, as well as using UniMas and UDN as their TV outlets, many matches will end up streaming. Like beIN, Fox, NBC, etc. they can say "All matches" when they utilize a streaming service. How that streaming service will look and who will have access is the big question.... SA www.soccertvblog.com
No one around here ha really mentioned this yet but rumors on other sites say that they expect most of the Champions League matches to be broadcast on TruTV and Headline news. That speculation is because they want to charge higher carrier fees for those channels. Interesting news if it turns out to be true.
That brings up bad memories....of channels showing sports events that were not carried in HD by my cable provider. While this has become less common in recent times, HLN is not currently carried in HD on FIOS. When the Major League playoffs were first added by Turner, Verizon held fast and for the first season games were only available in SD. Hopefully, with recent removals of stations by broadcasters, HLN will be added in the next year with available space not being a viable excuse.
They do this with the men's basketball NCAA tournament too. I assume more people care/watch that. Every year I have to remember where truTV is.
I made a computer file stating what channels show sports including channels I rarely watch. You should do that. By sorting Excel by channel name, you can make a list of every channel name and number you watch.
Following NBC's lead with Gold, Turner looks set to "double-dip" with paid streaming service alongside: http://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/08/...able-via-streaming-paid-subscription-service/ Not clear whether the cable aired matches will go in the streaming service (making it a true over-the-top offering). And pricing has not been determined yet. http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Global/Issues/2017/08/17/Media/Turner-OTT.aspx
Not good, but that is where things are heading. As someone in the comments section said, be careful what you wish for FOX haters.
So what I am expecting now is the worst. TruTV to focus on English teams, Unimas / UDN focusing on Real and Barca and for all other teams you have to pay for. Although Univision did say in their official press conference that they will bring you every game and every moment of the Champions League. So maybe there is a chance they stream a bunch of games on their digital platforms without the paywall.
The cable companies have wised up. They are starting to figure out how to get both the cord cutters and non cord cutters money with this hybrid scheme of showing a little on TV and forcing the diehards to pay for steaming. Turner is not airing 80% of the matches. That's 2000-2001 type numbers.