Ok yeah with espn you need a provider log in as well as espn plus to get everything on the app. So I guess the same with Paramount and CBS sports but why it isn’t integrated into one app is weird. At least espn is one app.
I'm not sure why, but even last week there was a USL match that was supposed to air on CBS but got bumped to the CBS sports app. It might have something to do with when each app was created. At this point I'd like to see Paramount+ not carry sports and have all of that in the CBS Sports app.
The confusion with ESPN+ seems to stem from people thinking it's an separate channel like how ESPN2 isn't ESPN isn't ESPNU. It's not. It sort of evolved from ESPN3 which was originally a website that streamed live ESPN/ABC sports in addition to other live sports not on a regular TV channel. (In 2024, most stuff which would have been on ESPN3 years ago is now on ESPN+.) The next evolution was WatchESPN which had live streams of whatever the TV subscription had. As an example, I don't subscribe to ESPN Deportes, therefore I cannot get it via the ESPN app. ESPN+ is sort of a separate "subscribers only" section inside the ESPN app. It has a lot of niche live stuff and, as said, alternate presentations of the big events. Of course it also has the out-of-market NHL games, which confuses people because ESPN+ also has exclusive NHL games on a national basis. I can get any game on the ESPN app *except* for Columbus NHL games televised regionally since Bally Sports Ohio has those rights or games on TNT. Some of those NHL games are included with my TV subscription and others are part of ESPN+. They're working on a way to pay for linear ESPN channels without a provider and should have that this fall. Yeah... people are in for sticker shock when they realize the price. ESPN+ is also a huge content library which is part of the ESPN app, as you said. Some of the opinion shows appear later. I can also watch a huge number of 30for30 and other shows... oddly enough, the anniversary of The Junction Boys was a few months ago and I couldn't find it. You're spot-on with Peacock. NBC has the rights and just sticks the "games not on NBC or USA Network" on Peacock. Because NBC is an OTA channel, they can stream it via the app like how Paramount+ has a live stream of CBS. It's weird how Peacock doesn't have an option to authenticate a subscription for access to their other linear channels.
The most recent change is there is some stuff that's listed as ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2 that you'll now see listed as ESPN+ as well, making it viewable on ESPN+ without a TV provider. I'm assuming that's a league by league situation based on newer broadcast contracts starting to take streaming into account. I still think the way forward is each major broadcaster having their own hub. If you click on the CBS/Viacom hub you have all of Pluto TV for free. Depending on the level of subscription you have, you could end up with the Paramount+ content, then step up to Showtime, and maybe finally finish by adding CBSSN, Paramount Network, MTV, your local CBS station, and whatever other channels survive for CBS. Same goes for NBC Universal, Disney, etc. Then you have room for things like the Venu streamer that's supposed to have all the Disney, Fox, and WBD sports.
Yeah. And why that hasn’t happened already is a bit of a head scratcher. They’ve had years to work on that.
Nobody took it seriously until Covid, at the earliest. CBS All-Access existed from 2014-2021, but they made no real moves to focus on streaming until the name change to Paramount+ in 2021. Peacock was founded in April 2020, about a month after the lockdown started. NBC has had Premier League rights since 2014 and the latest extension was agreed to in 2021 when they may still not have been sure about the role of streaming vs cable/broadcast. That deal comes up after the 27/28 season and I expect that to be structured much differently than everything up to this point. ESPN+ was April 2018, but even that is only 6 years and the bigger pro leagues/college conferences have often had broadcast deals that run 7-10 years, with the current ACC deal being one that was for 15 years when signed. Fox still doesn't even have a real streamer other than Tubi which isn't a paid service.
Yes, sorry it was just me searching on my desktop piqued by your post. I didn't look on my TV connected device (in my case Apple TV). I'll report back when I check later.
CBS has picked up EFL + EFL cup rights. As has been discussed above, the actual broadcaster for specific games varies but so far every game that aired during MD1 across the various CBS platforms is available on the Paramount+ app. I'm glad rights still exist in the US but disappointed ESPN did not renew. The picture quality from Paramount+ is lower than ESPN+. Additionally, Paramount, like Peacock, often starts games seconds before kickoff and ends the stream seconds after the final whistle. I don't need a full pre-game, half-time, or post-game but like it when the stream starts with walk-out and ends a minute or two after the final whistle. Sky purchased EFL in the UK. They are showing every EFL Cup match between broadcast and stream but so far the Paramount+ app only lists a few games from Round 1 of the EFL Cup.
Everything that leaves ESPN is better off. Picture quality is meaningless when ESPN+ has a long, continued history of feeds not starting on time, sometimes not starting at all, and fairly often playing the wrong content. One week of Bundesliga play last year went until halftime before ESPN turned the game feeds on, up to that point it said the matches were starting soon.
Here’s what I had to say about P+ in the Brendan Aaronson thread: And while I’m kvetching, might as well toss in that the P+ app is trash. For sports, if the game is in progress, you can’t choose to start the game from the beginning or watch live from that point in time. Wish EFL was back on ESPN + because their interface is better and not slooooow to load like P+.
I hear people say that, but I see the opposite on every platform (PC, Google TV, Roku). The exception might be Golazo channel broadcasts on TV apps.
Hi @TheJoeGreene I’m not sure which criticism of P+ I have you’re referring to, but maybe the problem for me is I’m watching P+ via the Amazon Firestick…? So if I used something else, P+: wouldn’t be slow to load (it also often kicks me out even before loading then I have to click on the app to get back in); Would allow me to choose to start the game from the beginning - or - in progress
Fire sticks are lagging behind these days, pretty much all Amazon streaming devices and TVs are. I've talked a few people into getting the ONN Google TV device ($50) from Walmart recently and they've all said it's made their Fire TV faster. I'm not familiar with how the apps update on Amazon's platform, so it might be that the app itself is out of date. On Roku and Google TV it updates automatically in the background. I haven't been kicked out of the app in years on those platforms. I can click on almost any game in the Paramount+ app and have the option to start from the beginning or join in progress. The exception I've seen is the games on Golazo Network because that's the channel feed and not the game feed. With that said, those games (like MK Dons vs Bradford City right now) do have that option on the Paramount+ website. The only other caveat I would throw in is that there's a chance the CBS Sports app is better on the Fire platform than the Paramount+ app. That was the case with Roku through most of 2022 before the Paramount+ app started being better. CBS really needs to either put everything in the P+ app or put all sports exclusively in the CBS Sports app.
I rarely watch anything live, so ESPN+ problems described above have not affected me personally. By the time I'm ready to watch on delay later in the day, the match is complete and ready to watch on demand. ESPN now has a feature (at least when watching on a roku box) where the * button allows users to start from the beginning or play live. Again, that feature rarely applies to me personally, although I did use it today when starting the Community Shield at a time when the match was probably 3/4 through. No problems loading any app on the Roku box. I also have used a Nvivdia Shield but that box is hooked up to a TV used by other family members. I will say that week 1 of the EFL has included a lot of games, but again, the picture quality is subpar for 2024.
I'm only 2 minutes into the Bristol City-Covenrty League Cup match, but it's interesting that Paramount+ is using the BBC CWR audio feed. Given the quirks of radio time, I assume there might be some slight sync issues, but still I'll take this over what might have been stadium sounds in the past (though the internet commentary database lists a world feed commentary track for this match). On the downside, the new Sky+ deal kicked in and every League Cup match is streaming in the UK. I assume if ESPN still had the rights then perhaps the same thing would have happened in the US, although hard to say. Paramount+ has been good about streaming CONCACAF Nations League and Serie A matches and not skipping matches.
That radio feed was chock full of spoilers for all the other League Cup matches, watched that one live and had to keep muting it.
I finished that match and Cardiff City-Bristol Rovers. This second match also used radio commentary and also included spoilers, although those spoilers tended to occur early. I didn't notice many after that. I just started Watford-MK Dons. Internet Commentator Database (ICD) lists BBC Three Counties Radio (MK Dons) as providing the commentary, but so far I have only hear one voice and the ICD site lists a co-commentator. I assume this might also feature spoilers given the radio commentator pattern in the other two.
Parma vs Milan on 8/24 will be the first Serie A match ever shown on a US broadcast network. https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ne...time-with-ac-milans-match-at-parma-on-aug-24/
"Coverage will shift to CBS at 12:30 p.m. ET, when the game is scheduled to kick off." Hopefully they're smart enough to have a single, continual broadcast for people who watch the pregame show, but the "shift to CBS" phrase, especially the "shift to" doesn't give me much hope.
Yup. Paramount+ will be the exclusive home of a bonus pregame show. 1) People watching this pregame show will seamlessly transition to the game broadcast. 2) People watching this pregame show will have to exit out of it and navigate to the game broadcast within the Paramount+ app. Why am I suspecting it'll be option #2?
It probably depends on what the details of the new broadcast agreement are. The old one definitely kept CBS content off of Paramount+ but maybe the new one won't.