I just realized that we don't have a thread on HBO/TNT. If we do, I missed it. Anyhoo: Good: HBO Max broadcasts start on time. There's enough time for proper pregame and postgame shows. The PbP guy seems respectable. The studio show for the women's games in New Zealand seemed a little crowded at times with too many people, but it wasn't a huge mess. Bad: There's no DVR controls. If you pause, you can either resume or jump to live. My phone doesn't seem to want to do HBO Max PiP. (I get it as part of a promotion, so subscribing via a TV provider and using another app is out of the question.) Good: Headed up to the first game on TNT is nothing but movies. The pregame show will start on time. Heads up: I get east coast and west coast feeds of TNT. When they simulcast, the west coast feed is typically a few seconds ahead of the east. I can see why they don't simulcast games. They want people to subscribe to both. It's totally understandable why they don't, but it'd be nice.
When they first got the rights they originally claimed that *all* games would be on HBO Max regardless of whether they were also on TNT. They now apparently claim that their rights deals with TV providers don't allow that and they're "working to change that in the future."
Interesting. "Streaming vs linear rights" is the phrase that comes to mind, but normally that's for different companies. It's why the Star Wars movies are on TNT, but stream on Disney+ while other Star Wars shows are on the various Disney channels. TV providers can be finicky though. There was a USMNT vs Mexico match, I think in 2005, that was on Labor Day weekend. Due to NCAA football on ESPN and ESPN2, the game was live on ESPN Classic. Because the TV providers were convinced that ESPN Classic was for rebroadcasts, only a limited number of live sports could air on ESPN Classic every so often. We're seeing the same thing with HLN in 2023. CNN really wants to change the format of that channel, but since some providers insist there be live stuff, that's why HLN simulcasts the CNN morning show.
It seems they got that simulcast issue fixed for the SheBelieves Cup. (The TV info is there. It's just a hot mess since it's dark-on-dark.) https://www.ussoccer.com/all-matches Edit: The graphics at that link may vary depending on your device and browser.
And I just read that WB/Discovery has rights to the US Open Cup. So...more for HBO Max? It'd be killer if some of these games were on TNT, but I highly doubt they would be. (And why games can't be on TBS? It's essentially like saying ESPN has the rights, but they can't be on ESPN2.)
USA vs Mexico will be on TBS and HBO Max. Hopefully more will be like this, although I can see the (greedy) reason why they're not. Turner wants people to subscribe to both.
I really like how clean their production is. There's no ticker, no annoying PiPs of the coach standing on the sidelines talking to the commentators, no overly huge graphics taking up valuable real estate, etc. It really does remind me of the early days of Fox Sports World. I remember when Sunday AM EPL games were on PPV. Those also had a clean presentation. I remember ESPNU (of all channels) having some summer UEFA tournaments maybe 10-15 years ago and actually struggling a bit to see the score bug. It was that small. Some channels could learn a bit or two. It's miles, MILES above when they had UEFA CL coverage. "Oh, let's bring in a former NBA player because he's a soccer fan." The biggest complaint I've seen is that some games are exclusive to HBO Max, which is obviously on the level of Paramount+ or Netflix. Here, I have yet to find out how to pause a game and resume without skipping to live TV. I'm grandfathered in to a package that includes HBO Max at no additional fee and I'll hate to see this offer end and I'm sure it eventually will.
Some of you will like this: For the US-Mexico game, my U-Verse TBS and HBO Max are just about synched. TBS is maybe 1.5 seconds or so ahead of HBO Max. (HBO Max even is showing the TBS logo on the score bug.) It probably helps that it's a pure simulcast.
WBD launching WBTV ad-supported streaming. Looks like another FAST service is showing up. I do wonder if the HBO Max specific soccer content might start showing up on WBTV at some point, maybe even as a place to show reruns of the TNT games at some point.
https://www.ussoccer.com/all-matches October 17th USMNT vs Ghana. So far, it's only in Spanish. Does anyone know if there's plans for English-language TV?
I have come to the conclusion that the logic for producers in the US is illogical logic. Fox insists on putting their guys on UEFA broadcasts even thought it's clear that the guys barely watch European football. Meanwhile TNT has an English guy doing USA games instead of a US announcer. I get that TNT doesn't have Strong, JP, or Phil (all of whom would work for me on US broadcasts). And I understand that guys like Jon Champion, Adriane Healey, and Ian (last name escaping me--old age) from ESPN were all based with ESPN for a long time. But I do prefer a US (American English) voice for the US.
We've had SAP for a while. They even figured out how to do "natural stadium audio" during COVID. Why in the heck can't they figure out: US voices for one audio channel or app or whatever. World feed for alternative commentary.
It seems... live sports on Max will be $9.99/mo extra. https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/19/media/max-sports/index.html And just like those who know have said...a la carte is always more expensive per unit than a pre-determined bundle.
I'll enjoy it for free until then, and hopefully it gets added on to my free account via AT&T internet.
It's my understanding that grandfathered Max accounts with AT&T stay in the current price tier. Mine is connected to my Internet 1000 account. I'm fully expecting to lose 4K access when that tier gets introduced. If my understanding is right, it could be $30/mo for 4K and sports. https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/12/23680672/max-hbo-4k-hdr-price-increase Well, nobody ever said the rights to distribute live sports content was low-cost.
Has MAX been carrying the national team games that have been on TNT or TBS recently? The original deal announcement was that it would have all of the games regardless, and then when it started, there was some contractual reason it couldn't, but then maybe that was sorted out? I don't subscribe, so can't check. The original announcement also said that about half of the games would be streaming-only, but it seems like a strong majority have been carried on the linear channels. All four MNT and WNT games in September were/are on TNT, though there is nothing yet listed for English coverage of the MNT October matches. Is it the case that the streaming-only games in this deal will only be on the $9.99 sports tier? I'm not interested in subscribing to MAX at this time, so I stick with the Spanish coverage when WBD goes streaming-only.
Max could potentially run someone $30/mo with 4K and sports. Considering that Netflix cracked down on password sharing and Disney is headed that way...the advantage of a la carte over a bundle is rapidly disappearing. If the traditional TV providers can make a cloud-based DVR system where specialized equipment isn't needed (DirecTV Stream), then maybe they won't go away entirely. I think Spectrum has something like this. I think. The way I interpreted the original announcement: The majority of games would be on Max with "some" games on TNT. The way I interpret that? Games on TNT would not be on Max. It was an either/or situation...not both.
The Bleacher Report add-on seems to be just for TNT / TBS games. In other words, it's not clear of the soccer games would be exclusive to the BR add-on.
Quote from the original press release: "HBO Max will live stream more than 20 United States National Soccer Team matches each year. TNT or TBS will televise approximately half of those matches – all simulcast on HBO Max – with the remaining matches being exclusive to the rapidly growing streaming platform." This has proved inaccurate in two respects. At least some of the TNT/TBS games have not been on the streaming platform, though I don't know if the most recent ones have been, since I don't subscribe and can't check. And TNT/TBS have shown much more than half of the matches. This new sports tier is supposed to have all TNT/TBS live sports for any sport, so that means all of the USNT games in this package will be streamed, but it is unclear if all or even any of the USNT games will remain available on the regular MAX service. Thank you NBC/Telemundo for giving us another option.
I cannot shake my sneaky suspicion we people who get Max included with other AT&T products are about to lose 4K and sports. Luckily TNT/TBS are common channels. I get Univision, Unimas and Universo in SD and Galavison in HD. I get a local feed of Telemundo in HD, but I've never actually investigated what it shows.
The USWNT will finish their year vs China in December on... TruTv. December 5th at 8pm ET from Frisco.
https://gizmodo.com/max-live-sports-streaming-bleacher-report-mlb-nba-games-1850911983 Get ready for WB to double-dip in your pocket. Of course, what Max/Netflix/Paramount/Disney+ want to do is kill off the Hulus, YTTVs and Fubos of the world.