Is it possible to receive ESPN INternational in the US with a satellite dish? On their web site,they say you need a decoder to unscramble the signal and that it's illegal. Just wondering if it's possible. With the right techie I would think it is. I keep jonesin' for more games when they tell you what's coming up next for the international audience only. With all the great games going on, one game a week isn't enough.
Can you cite where it said it's ILLEGAL? which web-site, which page? There have been lots of arguments on grey-market DBS, i.e. subscribe thru' a Mexican relative/friend, using a Mexican address, but you can't cite an American Federal law that says subscribing to foreign service is ***ILLEGAL***. I can assure you, such a law does NOT exist. The real issue is that Sky Mexico or GLA aren't licensed to sell its service to American residents. If they knowingly do so, they would risk lawsuits from the American DBS and/or rigth holders. That's why you must be subscribing from Mexico. And if they know that you are really in the U.S., they would shut your receiver off. But as consumers, - there is no law PROHIBITING an American to subscribe to foreign DBS - you sign no contract with any American DBS that if you get DBS, you must get it only from DirecTV, Globecast, Dish Network, TARBS, SPT, German TV, etc. In other words, you have the freedom to buy service from whoever you like, even from a foreign provider. Just like you have the freedom to buy Viagra from a Tijuana Farmacia at a much lower price and bring it back the States for personal consumption, instead of buying it from an American phamacy. So how is it illegal?
Can you cite where it said it's ILLEGAL? which web-site, which page? I found this info at www.international.espn.com/intl/english/index.jsp under the FAQs it says you must be a licensed broadcaster in the US to receive their signal. I don't know the law,and don't claim to, but it seems that it would be hard to track down individuals with decoders in the US receiving their international signal.
Here's the exact passage from the website. Q: "I have a decoder/satellite/antenna, how can I access ESPN’s International Signal ? Or… Can I get a decoder to see ESPN International?" A: "You must be a licensed broadcaster to receive the ESPN signal. ESPN's signal is encrypted (scrambled) and decoders are not sold or authorized for individual satellite or decoder owners." The word "authorized" suggests that lawyers might be brought into play here should someone be receiving the ESPN international signal without permission. And I would assume that, with rights issues sold by the various US leagues they show, even more lawyers might be interested in making sure that ESPN-International is not available stateside.
And that also applies to signals including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News and ESPN Classic. This paragraph has nothing to do with ESPN International signals. It means you can't get the signal from ESPN directly. Only if you are a licensed broadcaster, i.e. cable company, DirecTV, Dish Network, C-band provider, etc. You can pull down ESPN's signal. For example, ESPN transmits ESPN Intl to South America on NSS806 and PAS9, using PowerVu encryption. Only the PowerVu receiver of a broadcaster (e.g. cable companies in South America, GLA, Sky Mexico, etc.) can be authorized to decode such signals. If you are an individual in South America with a PowerVu, ESPN won't authorize your receiver. On the other hand, as a consumer, you must get authorization from GLA or Sky, NOT ESPN, to receiver ESPN Intl, even if you live in Latin America. Is that normal? yes, ESPN, as a wholesaler, only sells to retailers (DBS, cable), not to consumers. They don't want to compete against their own customers (cable companies, DBS) for customers (end users). How many home viewers in the U.S. get the ESPN USA, ESPN2, ESPN Classic signals directly from Bristol? None. How many home viewers are getting ESPN USA, ESPN2, ESPN Classic from a broadcaster? tens of millions.
ESPN Deportes ESPN just announced plans to launch ESPN Deportes, a Spanish language network in Q3-2003. See link below. It looks like that they will pick up content (i.e. soccer games y mas) from ESPN Int'l. This, too, may re-open the MLS for Spanish language broadcasts in the US, too! Could be really good for soccer fans in the US! http://www.hispanicad.com/cgi-bin/news/newsarticle.cgi?article_id=10949
I don't understand all these excitement about ESPN Deportes. Folks, ESPN doesn't purchase the USA rights for 8 games in the Champions League, or the USA rights for La Liga. The ESPN International rights are for Pac Rim, Latin America, and other places on the globe, but NOT USA. If ESPN wants to cover 8 CL games in the U.S., they certainly can pay for the U.S. rights of 8 games and put them on ESPN2. The simple truth is that the lack of interest in America does not warrant televising 8 games in the U.S., whether it's in English or in Spanish doesn't matter. You mean Latinos living in the U.S. would watch the extra CL games in Spanish (on ESPN Deportes) but not in English (on ESPN2)? If CL games doesn't draw on ESPN2, why do you think they will draw on ESPN Deportes? ESPN tried to make 5 extra games available in the past, on ESPN Extra, an experiment that failed miserably. I would believe it when I see it. Until I actually see 8 CL games on ESPN Deportes, all these talk are just wishful thinking...
ESPN purchased exclusive rights to the Champions league when they signed the current deal. Setanta had to sign an aggrement with ESPN and TEAM before they could offer Champions League games. Setanta is showing up to four or five games per match day. TSN in Canada will be showing three games on match day four. I think all of this indicates that ESPN can show as many games as they want to this year. I know that other contracts do not work this way, but I think the CL contact always has. When ESPN added ESPN Extra, they didn’t sign a new contact. They just started showing additional games. When new contracts are signed in Europe, there will be two TV stations with the rights in each country. They could decide to do the same thing outside Europe, but I doubt it. Since ESPN already shows a large number of games in most places, I don’t think UEFA will feel they need to add a second provider. Back in 1995 or 1996 when ESPN started talking about a Spanish language sports channel, they indicated that it would contain all the soccer that they were able to offer. I believe that ESPN Deportes will have at least four games per match day if ESPN still has the rights to the Champions League. I know many people that will not watch a soccer game in English because the say its boring. I work with someone that has Fox Sports en Espanol, but not Fox Sports World. He loves soccer, but almost never watches a game in English. If people that live in Latin America want to watch 8 Champions League games each match day, then why would that change if they move to the US.
Setanta sublicenses the games from ESPN. It can be either 1) ESPN has already paid for "all you can eat buffet" to UEFA, thus pocket the Setanta money themselves. In other words, they didn't pay an extra dime to get extra revenue from Setanta. 2) ESPN pays to UEFA based on # games. The cost of the extra # games is just passed to Setanta, i.e. ESPN pays UEFA for 4 more games, Setanta foots the bill. which is more likely? I think it's (2). If it's one, i.e. ESPN has already paid for maximum (any) # games, profits for sublicensing to other carrier is just gravy, ESPN could easily have sublicensing to as many carriers as possible to maximize profit. I can easily think of other carriers that would be interested in the games: TV5 USA, InDemand, etc. Afterall, CL is not a product that ESPN cares about in the U.S. As far as TSN is concerned, Canada is a totally different market. ESPN USA's only interest, or lack of interest, is the American rights. How many games TSN is interested in to totally up to TSN. while more likely, they paid for those additional games. Remember, when they cut back from 2 games to 1 game last season, they did it for "business" reason. What business reason are they talking about? - ratings? CL or cheerleaders or strongest men all suck in ratings, i.e. ad revenue is minimal - production cost? ESPN has to produce the game for the worldwide distribution anyway (PacRim, Latin America, Canada, etc.) So what's left?
Let’s remember that soccer games do not stop for commercials. This is one of the biggest problems for ESPN. Because of the limited number of ads that ESPN can run during a soccer game, they make more money on just about anything else. ESPN owns about 40% of TSN. This was the only way for ESPN to get into Canada due to Canadian laws. Every Champions League game on TSN is produced by ESPN. I believe that ESPN holds the Exclusive rights to the CL everywhere outside of Europe (including Canada).
"soccer games does not allow ad" is an oooooold model of thinking. If you have any chance to watch a South American broadcast, there are lots of ads during the game. They just overlay ad crawlers with game actions for 45 minutes. Even in Canadian broadcast, the CTVSportsNet broadcast of EPL on Saturday, there are two ad spots in each half, by putting the game action into a much smaller window while showing the ads. If you give any soccer diehard immigrant in the U.S. the choice of - watching Valencia vs Basle, Inter vs Lyon, AEK Athens vs Real Madrid, Spartak Moscow vs Barcalona, Auxerre vs Arsenal, Man U vs Olympiakos, Juventus vs Newcastle this past week on ESPN2, but games overlaid with 10 in-game ads (the CTV SportsNet style), or - getting none of these games in the U.S. the choice is obvious. Soccer does not allow ads is an excuse for 1990, when TNT broadcasted the world cup but cut into ads from the game, but not for 2002. Broadcasters have invented a lot of ways to show ads during the game. That's true, TSN's CL broadcast is produced by ESPN. But the point is, the # games Canada wants is totally independent of the # games USA wants. I have said this many times. ESPN owns the exclusive rights does not mean they own any # games for every market. What they have done is simply - buy 1 game (the min.) for the USA market - 2 games for the Canadian market - 8 games for the Latin American market - 4- 6 games for the Asian market, etc.