Thanks, guys. Looks like I'll be sticking with GolTV on Channel 853, right next to FSE. Actually, last night I was watching some Real Madrid TV (aka the Hugo Sanchez show) and during a few commercials, I could hear both audio tracks. Weird. Anyway, GolTV is where it's at and sattelite TV kicks cable's ass in so many ways it's not even funny. At least here in San Diego.
You know I can hear both audio tracks on GOLTVE many times also. Its quite distracting. A lot of times the Spanish track is louder then the English and I can barely make out what the English commentary is. This is more prevalent on the studio shows then it is during live matches.
Where are you guys watching GolTV at (and listening to both audios) ? You have DISH Network? Which package? Is it during the commercial breaks as well? If you're watching a Golive program (any match), then that shouldn't happen. Since many new systems are launching us, sometimes the configurations at some cable head-ends are mixed, and I would like to know exactly where the problem is to have it solved asap. If it's some Real Madrid TV program (an interview for example) it may happen that we leave the original Spanish audio in the back. Thank you. Constantino GolTV, Inc.
Like I wrote, it doesn't happen during Gol Live matches. I have noticed it on Real Madrid TV, but also on Noticias, Futbol Total, and Todo a Gol. Even if I don't hear the Spanish transmission, the English is extremely quiet and sometimes very difficult to understand. There have been times when I've been forced to turn the volume WAY up just to hear the commentary at a normal level. Then, of course, I switch channels and forget to change the volume back down. My wife just LOVES it when that happens, particularly when it wakes up the baby.
Currently in DISH Network you can only watch GolTV in English in the AT150 package. It comes in the default audio slot, that means first audio is English. You can watch it in Spanish, if you go to Menu ---> System Setup (6) ---> Alternate Audio (2) and select "Spanish". The Latino Packages only have the Spanish feed. I'm aware that many users want English as an Alternate Audio in the Latino Packages, and I've sent the information to DISH. There is a software issue there, it's not only a content or strategic decision. Anway, I've sent the info to the appropriate people at DISH. Constantino GolTV, Inc.
tex, that's hilarious. probably annoying on your end, but hilarious. constantino, to answer your question. I have Dish Latino Max, I only have GolTV on channel 853. I have the SAP on my receiver sent to English and the SAP on my TV sent to "on". I get the double audio tracks only during the commercials, which is quite the tease because I hear that, then next time there's a Golive broadcast with the "AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH" display in the corner, I'm scrambling on two remotes, changing all these options trying to get an English feed. If in fact there shouldn't be any English feeds on this GolTV well... I can live with that. another question though: I noticed last week there were discrepencies between the On Screen Guide and the actual TV. Like during the Real Madrid match, according to the Guide it was starting halfway through Gary Linkletter's Golden Boots and through Real Madrid TV. Dunno if you know anything about that, it actually might just be because of Daylight Savings Time. I'll check again this week.
OS, There is a thread about the programming guide in the Business and Media forum already. Check it out, there is an explanation on there why this happens.
I'll try to reproduce that problem here, to be able to explicitely explain it to DISH. Sorry for asking so many questions... :-( , but, is this a recurrent problem, that is, currently you are hearing 2 audios on EVERY commercial break; or is something that happened a couple of days some time ago? Thanks Constantino ps: texgator already answered you about the Electronic Guide.
No worries about qsking questions. It's nice to see somebody is listening to us. I bet ESPN would be scared to death to come on here and ask for our opinions. So I read the other thread about the Guide... I actually peruse the GolTV site and soccertv.com quite a bit. Plus, if I set the timer to record a match, I can edit it to reflect the true time quite easily. So that's cool. And after reading all the criticism about the English commentating... maybe I should just stick with the Spanish! lol Anyway, regarding the commercials, I've only noticed it two or three nights... I'll keep an eye out this weekend. Maybe it was a fluke couple days. I only noticed it during the late evening (as there's more commercials obviously) but it's definitely not all commercials. I think they might have been SA commercials. Also since I don't have much to criticize about GolTV, I do have a suggestion: Beef up the English content on GolTV.com and/or have an all-English recap show. I got GolTV for La Liga and Serie A, but I find myself more often than not checking out the SA leagues... if there was some sort of English recap or news feature, that would be immense. Just getting some backstory on some teams and players makes the games alot more enjoyable.
making a switch? I'm thinking about making the switch from DirectTV to Dish just to get Gol TV. Is it worth it? Does anyone think that DirectTV will be adding exclusive soccer content once Murdoch completes his purchase?
I just added GolTV added to my cable lineup in San Francisco, as it finally became available. After only watching for 5 minutes, I can clearly say this is the best channel dedicated to football I have ever seen. This includes having lived in South America and Europe. My highest compliments! Constantino I know you visit this forum frequently. The leagues I'm most excited about seeing is Spain and Italy. Could you advise further info on the rights GolTV holds for the Spanish and italian leagues, i.e. for how long are these rights good for, and permited to show the top matches, etc. Basically I'm already worried about losing this delightful privilege of seeing the best matches from Spain and Italy. Also how is GolTV doing overall? How does the financial future look? Is there enough funding to maintain the short and long term viability of this channel which seems to be like a godsend.
GolTV may be able to keep Serie A for a long time. But as far as la Liga is concerned, they just got lucky. ESPN Intl. were dragged into a long contract negotiation with la Liga early this season, and GolTV simply snatched the rights for the American market. If ESPN Deportes can really launch next January, and that's a big if, bet your last dime that ESPN Intl. will do its best to snatch back the la Liga rights of 2004/05 for U.S.A., in order to beef up its profile, as in its original launch plan. In short, I see la Liga as the key puzzle between two DBS carriers: DirecTV (Para Todos) - ESPN Deportes - CL/la Liga Dish Network - GolTV - Serie A/UEFA Cup/la Liga How many people will be diehard enough to subscribe to both DirectV and Dish?
If Dish doesn't get ESPN Deportes, I'd probably start watching CL games on the net rather than add Directv.
Gol TV is owned by Uruguayan media company Tenfield. Tenfield holds the TV rights to the Uruguayan League.
In case anyone didn't read it in the other thread, Gol TV is now carried by Comcast Cable on its systems in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was added as digital cable channel 618, as of 3 days ago. It is one of 18 channels on the Hispanic tier (including Fox Sports World Espanol). The tier costs about $15 per month. There is no way to get GolTV without subscribing to the entire Hispanic tier and paying the $15 per mo.
is there any reason why dish network would NOT be able to get espn deportes? i mean, there's like 5 espns on my TV right now: espn, espn2, espn news, and two "alternates" which never show a damn thing. does anyone know at this point if there's some sort of exclusive agreement between espn deportes and DirecTV? man, if dish can get espn deportes i may need to quit my day job. i heard there's a way i can make $2000 a week from home. Seriously though, you guys are more knowledgable and resourceful. Somebody figure out an email or address for Dish Network and let's start writing them now.
I don't think DirecTV will get it exclusive. The only reason GolTV went exclusive with Dish was because it was a start-up and lacked negotiating power-- if GolTV had a choice, it would rather be on all satellite and cable, but to get some carriage right off the bat, it had to cut a deal. ESPN, on the other hand, can dictate its own terms. And it does not have any incentive to go exclusive to DirectTV-- the more carriage ESPN gets for Deportes, the better for ESPN. The only problem with Dish might be if a) GolTV has a contractual right to keep Deportes off Dish during the exclusivity period; or b) Dish figures it has enough sports channels, Deportes will take up more bandwidth and it therefore doesn't want to carry Deportes. Also, even if carried on Dish, Deportes might be only on the Hispanic tier-- no option to get it as part of an "everything" subscription but need to pay extra for the Hispanic tier. I am hoping Deportes makes it to Comcast and is available on a non-Hispanic tier.
To clarify, I am not saying ESPN Deportes should not be on a Hispanic tier, only that it be available both on a Hispanic tier and a non-Hispanic tier. You are right that Comcast probably won't but I will let them know what one of their subscribers wants: GolTV, FSW-Esp and (once it's carried) ESPN Dep. available via "typical" digital cable tiers. Comcast has made references to possibly starting a digital "sports" tier, as some other cable and satellite providers have already done. So that may be the opportunity and provide the impetus to include some of the Spanish language sports channels in a non-Hispanic tier. Dish has set a precedent by making GolTV available outside a Hispanic tier, and if other providers follows (e.g., Cox in San Diego with ESPN Deportes), Comcast will have some competitive incentive to put these channels on a non-Hispanice tier. The more English speaking subscribers that complain/request GolTV outside of the Hispanic tier, the closer we will get to it happening. Programming requests, if done en masse, do get listened to. Simply put, if Comcast realizes it can make significant additional money off its carriage of GolTV and (hopefully) ESPN Deportes by marketing them to English speakers, it will happen.
I think Dish miss out a very good opportunity to target its content to its niche crowd. They could easily have offered a "soccer package" that includes: - GolTV - FSW - FSWE and charge something like $15 per month, which is very profitable to them for 3 channels. Better yet, a premium soccer package would include: - GolTV - FSW - FSWE - RAI International - TV5 - RTPi at $25 per month. And the three ethnic channels is viewable only whenever there is a soccer game, i.e. Liga, Coppa, UEFA Cup, internationals, etc. It is VERY profitable for them to offer 10-15 hours of ethnic programming per week, out of a possible 168*3=504 hours, at $10 per month. Better yet, subscribing to this package will give you a $10 discount on the MLS Shootout package, the EPL package, and the Euro 04 package, and a $3 discount on all PPV games (e.g. England x Denmark, Germany x Scotland, etc.). If they can include ESPN Deportes, all the best...
Just get the top 150 on Dish...you get FSW GolTV Univision Galavision Telemundo ESPN2 EPL Bundesliga Dutch League French League La Liga MLS Mexican League Brazil League Argentina Serie A Champions League UEFA Cup If that's not enough soccer for you... However, having FSWE would bring the Copa Libertadores...my only gripe.
I haven't had a problem with my Dishnet ATP150 GolTV. One suggestion I have though - is there anyway you can beef up the crowd noise on your broadcasts? Quite often when I've been watching Serie A or La Liga, you can't hear the crowd, which really takes away from the atmosphere. A minor gripe - I love GolTV. Thanks!
Just to add to your minor gripe... I watch GolTV on the Spanish feed and the crowd noise level is prettty low too. In fact, sometimes if there's a lull in the action I can hear the squeaking of the commentator's chairs!! I agree, being able to hear more of the ambient crowd noise would be great.
One other idea for GolTV -- not something you could implement right away but something to research and implement 6 to 12 months out. High definition is starting to gain a lot of traction. We have seen high definition soccer (MLS) on HDNet, and the Japanese (NHK) are sending high definition soccer from Europe to Japan. This new VOOM channel has high definition La Liga, but apparently the games are all taped and, from what I can tell, from last season (2002-2003). If you can buy into the Japanese (NHK) high definition feed in Spain (and wherever else the Japanese are capturing soccer in high definition), you could broadcast some of your games in high definition. The picture quality is amazing and I would pay quite a premium for high definition soccer from Europe (that is live or same day delay-- not a year old).