Pac 12 network / direct tv (PACN now on fuboTV streaming)

[Buffs35]

Both DTV and Dish, and probably cable, have their merits. For those of you that made the switch to watch the Buffs, I applaud your dedication. For those of you that haven't, I completely understand - especially when the product on the field hardly entices excitement. My disappointment is that the Pac-12 network, nationally, is a cute little regional channel compared to its competitors. Can I watch the Buffs at the local sports bar when I go on vacation or travel for work? Nope. Hell, can I watch the game with friends in a Boulder or Denver sports bar? 99% of the time, no. Can a potential recruit, especially in the Midwest or on the east coast, tune in to see what they might be getting into? Likely not. If and when the Buffs get back to their winning ways, will most voters have access to live coverage of our games? Doubtful.

Making a deal with DTV is potentially bad for business, at least in the short-run. But how detrimental is it in the long-term to remain the little brother at the table with regards to market share? And for those that point out we are making more money per school, or that it's not fair that DTV is low-balling us - in the words of Tommy Lee Jones from the Fugitive: I don't care. Don't tell me about the labor, just show me the damn baby already.

 

[BlackNGold]

Another good article discussing unbundling and what it could do to the industry.

WSJ

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Both DTV and Dish, and probably cable, have their merits. For those of you that made the switch to watch the Buffs, I applaud your dedication. For those of you that haven't, I completely understand - especially when the product on the field hardly entices excitement. My disappointment is that the Pac-12 network, nationally, is a cute little regional channel compared to its competitors. Can I watch the Buffs at the local sports bar when I go on vacation or travel for work? Nope. Hell, can I watch the game with friends in a Boulder or Denver sports bar? 99% of the time, no. Can a potential recruit, especially in the Midwest or on the east coast, tune in to see what they might be getting into? Likely not. If and when the Buffs get back to their winning ways, will most voters have access to live coverage of our games? Doubtful.

Making a deal with DTV is potentially bad for business, at least in the short-run. But how detrimental is it in the long-term to remain the little brother at the table with regards to market share? And for those that point out we are making more money per school, or that it's not fair that DTV is low-balling us - in the words of Tommy Lee Jones from the Fugitive: I don't care. Don't tell me about the labor, just show me the damn baby already.

Who are the Pac 12 Network's competitors? SEC Network? Big 10 Network? Sure the SEC Network may have signed a much larger deal with ESPN and have a broader fanbase due to the nature of the conference, but I think specific conference networks are only popular to fans of teams in said conference.

Why can't you watch the Buffs on vacation or traveling for work? I was in CA for the CU/CSU game last year and was able to watch it at a "Fire and Ice" Mongolian Grill, which isn't even a true sports bar. Why can't you go somewhere in Boulder/Denver to watch the Buffs games? I'm pretty sure there are multiple bars in both cities that are dedicated to CU game watch on Saturdays.

Have access to live coverage of our games? A lot of hyperbole in this entire post. How are USC, UCLA and Oregon affected by this? The TV networks don't have anything to do with it. The nature of our conference being almost exclusively PST, is what messes with people on the East Coast. A P12 Night game doesn't start until 10-11 pm on the East Coast. That's the real issue.

 

[EddieCrowder]

Last Labor Day weekend I was at my place at Lake Texoma, there are 10 bars and dining establishments within 15 miles by land, and another 7 or 8 by water and the number that has Dish is a big fat ZERO. If I didn't have XBMC and a mobile hotspot I would have missed the game (In hindsight would not have been that bad)

Who are the Pac 12 Network's competitors? SEC Network? Big 10 Network? Sure the SEC Network may have signed a much larger deal with ESPN and have a broader fanbase due to the nature of the conference, but I think specific conference networks are only popular to fans of teams in said conference.

Why can't you watch the Buffs on vacation or traveling for work? I was in CA for the CU/CSU game last year and was able to watch it at a "Fire and Ice" Mongolian Grill, which isn't even a true sports bar. Why can't you go somewhere in Boulder/Denver to watch the Buffs games? I'm pretty sure there are multiple bars in both cities that are dedicated to CU game watch on Saturdays.

Have access to live coverage of our games? A lot of hyperbole in this entire post. How are USC, UCLA and Oregon affected by this? The TV networks don't have anything to do with it. The nature of our conference being almost exclusively PST, is what messes with people on the East Coast. A P12 Night game doesn't start until 10-11 pm on the East Coast. That's the real issue.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Last Labor Day weekend I was at my place at Lake Texoma, there are 10 bars and dining establishments within 15 miles by land, and another 7 or 8 by water and the number that has Dish is a big fat ZERO. If I didn't have XBMC and a mobile hotspot I would have missed the game (In hindsight would not have been that bad)

Now that I think about it, The Showdown last year was on FS1, not P12 Network, so that's why I was able to get it in CA. I apologize to Buffs35 for that comment.

 

[Highlander]

Last Labor Day weekend I was at my place at Lake Texoma, there are 10 bars and dining establishments within 15 miles by land, and another 7 or 8 by water and the number that has Dish is a big fat ZERO. If I didn't have XBMC and a mobile hotspot I would have missed the game (In hindsight would not have been that bad)

Now that I think about it, The Showdown last year was on FS1, not P12 Network, so that's why I was able to get it in CA. I apologize to Buffs35 for that comment.

But FS1 is carried by DirecTV, so not sure EC's example is relevant here. I do agree I wished I had missed it myself.

 

[EddieCrowder]

hahaaa I didn't even go and look for it, the previous year I had to sit and watch on the laptop so I just did the same again this past yr. I need to pay more attention to what network is airing what. The Island Bar and Grill would have been bikini loaded on a Friday Night,... Mrs C would not have been amused.

But FS1 is carried by DirecTV, so not sure EC's example is relevant here. I do agree I wished I had missed it myself.

 

[Buffs35]

Now that I think about it, The Showdown last year was on FS1, not P12 Network, so that's why I was able to get it in CA. I apologize to Buffs35 for that comment.

No apologies ever necessary. My posts are usually poorly drafted and long-winded.

 

[Highlander]

hahaaa I didn't even go and look for it, the previous year I had to sit and watch on the laptop so I just did the same again this past yr. I need to pay more attention to what network is airing what. The Island Bar and Grill would have been bikini loaded on a Friday Night,... Mrs C would not have been amused.

This year's labor day weekend game is @Hawaii at 11pm MT. Regardless of what channel it is on in 2015, I will be DVRing it and watching it in the morning...

If I were you, that may be a great time to be at the Island Bar and Grill and surrounded by bikinis :thumbsup:

 

[Highlander]

Apologies to BNG if this was in his two links that I haven't reviewed yet, but 5G cellular service by 2020 throws a whole different wrench in to this thing.

If I can get 10 Gbps to my tablet within the next 10 years, it makes me rethink the need for home data in addition to debating home cable when that time comes.
http://www.cnet.com/news/how-5g-will-push-a-supercharged-network-to-your-phone-home-and-car/

 

[EddieCrowder]

That will be a Nooner here in TX, the place will be loaded with Sooners, Aggies, and Longhorns (Mrs. C is an alum) and Hell of a lot of bikinis. I can usually bribe a barkeep $20 0r $30 to put CU on a TV where I can see them on the rare occasions they have been on a network other then the PAC 12 Network

This year's labor day weekend game is @Hawaii at 11pm MT. Regardless of what channel it is on in 2015, I will be DVRing it and watching it in the morning...

If I were you, that may be a great time to be at the Island Bar and Grill and surrounded by bikinis :thumbsup:

 

[skibum]

I actually dropped dish at the end of January.

I have a roku with Amazon prime, netflix, hulu+, slingtv & an ota antenna + tivo. I paid for the extra news/information and sports tier on sling.

Excluding amazon prime (which we paid for before they added video streaming, and would continue to keep for the free shipping anyway), all in it's $45/month.

For that, we get (and actually watch) all the ESPN channels, universal sports (skiing), food network, cooking channel, travel channel, amc, hgtv & diy. There are a bunch of other networks available, but I don't watch them. The minimum package to get the channels I want from dish was running me $69, on dtv/local cable providers it was more.

I have to use the remote to switch tv inputs to go between the cable and ota channels, but other than that there's no reconnecting, reconfiguring the network, logging on to anything, it's all seamless with one interface.

The only fly in the ointment is P12, but I've figured out how to buy an online feed from the P12 (hint: P12 international, vpn & a cc with an overseas billing address), and I'm hoping that by the time football season rolls around that they will have added P12 to the slingtv line up. If not, I'll deal with the complicated login process once a week for 13 weeks. Unlike some, I won't watch a pirate stream.

 

[dply]

That will be a Nooner here in TX, the place will be loaded with Sooners, Aggies, and Longhorns (Mrs. C is an alum) and Hell of a lot of bikinis. I can usually bribe a barkeep $20 0r $30 to put CU on a TV where I can see them on the rare occasions they have been on a network other then the PAC 12 Network

You mean a midnighter?

 

[MiamiBuffs]

People are confusing the Sports packages versus TV/Entertainment consumption model on a broader scale. Some studies show that only about 20% of the households care about sports programming but that programming accounts for a huge portion of the cost of cable packages. A la carte services are here and will be growing stronger - the impact on things like Pac 12 networks are still unknown.

A la carte Link.

My guess would be they'll either cave and offer it directly thru a box like Apple TV, WiiU, Xbox. Or, if for agreement reasons they can't directly, then maybe they'll apply pressure on Dish to have it added to SlingTV.

From your link

CONSUMER REPORTS - Three things that have traditionally kept people tied to cable: sports, kids' programming, and addictions to shows such as Game of Thrones that were only available with a pay TV service. But all that's starting to change.

My kids (9 and 11) do 90% of their TV watching now thru Netflix on the WiiU. They are not interested in the paytv channels that come from DTV. They like being able to call up whatever they want and watch it from the beginning.

 

[MiamiBuffs]

Who are the Pac 12 Network's competitors? SEC Network? Big 10 Network? Sure the SEC Network may have signed a much larger deal with ESPN and have a broader fanbase due to the nature of the conference, but I think specific conference networks are only popular to fans of teams in said conference.

Why can't you watch the Buffs on vacation or traveling for work? I was in CA for the CU/CSU game last year and was able to watch it at a "Fire and Ice" Mongolian Grill, which isn't even a true sports bar. Why can't you go somewhere in Boulder/Denver to watch the Buffs games? I'm pretty sure there are multiple bars in both cities that are dedicated to CU game watch on Saturdays.

Have access to live coverage of our games? A lot of hyperbole in this entire post. How are USC, UCLA and Oregon affected by this? The TV networks don't have anything to do with it. The nature of our conference being almost exclusively PST, is what messes with people on the East Coast. A P12 Night game doesn't start until 10-11 pm on the East Coast. That's the real issue.

Im not interested in any of those channels except for the P12 network. Much like most people in Alabama are probably only interested in the SEC Network.

Buffalo Wild Wings has the P12 Network and they have a lot of locations.

 

[MiamiBuffs]

I actually dropped dish at the end of January.

I have a roku with Amazon prime, netflix, hulu+, slingtv & an ota antenna + tivo. I paid for the extra news/information and sports tier on sling.

Excluding amazon prime (which we paid for before they added video streaming, and would continue to keep for the free shipping anyway), all in it's $45/month.

For that, we get (and actually watch) all the ESPN channels, universal sports (skiing), food network, cooking channel, travel channel, amc, hgtv & diy. There are a bunch of other networks available, but I don't watch them. The minimum package to get the channels I want from dish was running me $69, on dtv/local cable providers it was more.

I have to use the remote to switch tv inputs to go between the cable and ota channels, but other than that there's no reconnecting, reconfiguring the network, logging on to anything, it's all seamless with one interface.

The only fly in the ointment is P12, but I've figured out how to buy an online feed from the P12 (hint: P12 international, vpn & a cc with an overseas billing address), and I'm hoping that by the time football season rolls around that they will have added P12 to the slingtv line up. If not, I'll deal with the complicated login process once a week for 13 weeks. Unlike some, I won't watch a pirate stream.

Can you have multiple TVs with sling at low cost center?

Im waiting for Longmont Utilities to finish the Fiber installation in my neighborhood. Once its up and Im connected Ill be dumping CenturyLink's DSL and probably DirectTV for the package your describing above.

 

[Highlander]

Can you have multiple TVs with sling at low cost center?

Im waiting for Longmont Utilities to finish the Fiber installation in my neighborhood. Once its up and Im connected Ill be dumping CenturyLink's DSL and probably DirectTV for the package your describing above.

Sling TV is just a single source at a time right now.

 

[skibum]

Sling TV is just a single source at a time right now.

Sort of. There is a back door through the network provider apps.

Say my wife is watching something on the cooking channel through the sling app on roku on one tv. I can watch ESPN through the watchESPN app on roku (or chromecast) on another tv or on watchESPN app on my tablet or phone, but I can't watch it on the sling app.

 

[InTheBuff]

The scenario that Eddie describes is the only one in which DTV is a better product than Dish. I don't blame him for sticking with DTV given his circumstances. If I wanted to watch the Broncos and lived in another city, I'd probably want DTV as well. Luckily, I never miss a Broncos game because I live in Colorado.

And now I have the P12 network and pay 2/3 of what I paid DTV. I'm very happy with my decision.

is this 2/3 the cost of what you paid for DTV only for the next 12 months (new customer promotion) or is that after the promotion ?

 

[Deleted member 807]

Sort of. There is a back door through the network provider apps.

Say my wife is watching something on the cooking channel through the sling app on roku on one tv. I can watch ESPN through the watchESPN app on roku (or chromecast) on another tv or on watchESPN app on my tablet or phone, but I can't watch it on the sling app.

My wife hates fighting with technology to make it work.
The solution you lay out is attractive based on cost savings but seems expensive based on holding my wife's hand to navigate back doors, work arounds, and various tech updates.

 

[dply]

holding my wife's hand to navigate back doors

This is why you marry a Greek woman.

 

[Deleted member 807]

This is why you marry a Greek woman.

:lol:

 

[EddieCrowder]

Ouch,.. I did get that backwards, Looks like it will be the Golf Cart and not the boat and Cedar Mills first 1/2 home for the second and not the Island, I would hate to make a 15 mile run in the boat at 4 am

You mean a midnighter?

 

[skibum]

My wife hates fighting with technology to make it work.
The solution you lay out is attractive based on cost savings but seems expensive based on holding my wife's hand to navigate back doors, work arounds, and various tech updates.

My wife hates, hates, hates fighting with tech too. She's vetoed many, many cheaper tv options over the years. Neither one of us wants to ever talk about the htpc disaster of 2010 again, but she sure brings it up anytime I want to change up our media options.

She loves the roku. It's like a tv version of a completely uncluttered iphone or ipad.

If you're looking for a show or movie on netflix, hulu, amazon, etc, it has a search function that searches across all providers and then you click on the one you want to watch - it even shows and compares prices so you can pick the cheapest option if it's content your subscription doesn't cover. If she wants to watch live tv on one of the cable networks, she just uses the slingtv roku app. She normally watches her ota network shows on hulu, but can switch the tv over to the tivo on the very rare occasion that she wants to watch the show when it airs live.

I have been shocked at how enthusiastically she's embraced the roku.

Literally the only complication is that only one person can watch/use the slingtv app at a time. There's only one of her, so if she's watching it/wants to watch it I let her, and then I figure out how to watch what I want on another screen (9 times out of 10 this is as easy as launching the ESPN app).

In other words, she's not impacted by the one slingtv stream limitation; I am, and I don't mind dealing with it on the rare occasions when it comes up.

Of course, if you have kids that watch their own tv, it could get more complicated somewhat quickly,

 

[Highlander]

My wife hates, hates, hates fighting with tech too. She's vetoed many, many cheaper tv options over the years. Neither one of us wants to ever talk about the htpc disaster of 2010 again, but she sure brings it up anytime I want to change up our media options.

She loves the roku. It's like a tv version of a completely uncluttered iphone or ipad.

If you're looking for a show or movie on netflix, hulu, amazon, etc, it has a search function that searches across all providers and then you click on the one you want to watch - it even shows and compares prices so you can pick the cheapest option if it's content your subscription doesn't cover. If she wants to watch live tv on one of the cable networks, she just uses the slingtv roku app. She normally watches her ota network shows on hulu, but can switch the tv over to the tivo on the very rare occasion that she wants to watch the show when it airs live.

I have been shocked at how enthusiastically she's embraced the roku.

Literally the only complication is that only one person can watch/use the slingtv app at a time. There's only one of her, so if she's watching it/wants to watch it I let her, and then I figure out how to watch what I want on another screen (9 times out of 10 this is as easy as launching the ESPN app).

In other words, she's not impacted by the one slingtv stream limitation; I am, and I don't mind dealing with it on the rare occasions when it comes up.

Of course, if you have kids that watch their own tv, it could get more complicated somewhat quickly,

I am fully convinced I will be doing this in the near future, just not quite yet. I'm hoping Sling TV creates a landslide change in the 12-24 months. Even if it doesn't by then, I will pull the trigger anyway.

Our kids so rarely watch live TV, it's not really a concern. I put an Xfinity box in their play room, turned it on 2-3 times for them myself, and they never proactively do it themselves. Between Netflix, Amazon Prime, our Plex collection, and at that time adding Hulu to it, I don't think they would even notice.

 

[Buffnik]

What's clear to me is all of this is too confusing with too many providers that are unable to offer everything I want on their own.

It's worth an extra 50 bucks a month to me if it means I get what I want while avoiding the need to learn to navigate a bunch of different things.

I'm glad I read through this thread, though. It made my decision easy: CenturyLink if my home gets access to its highest speeds or Dish if I'm off that grid. Comcast has been such a pain in the ass that I'm done with them.

 

[You Assholes]

My wife hates fighting with technology to make it work.
The solution you lay out is attractive based on cost savings but seems expensive based on holding my wife's hand to navigate back doors, work arounds, and various tech updates.

Mods, please move this to the guilty pleasures thread. Tia.

 

[skibum]

I am fully convinced I will be doing this in the near future, just not quite yet. I'm hoping Sling TV creates a landslide change in the 12-24 months. Even if it doesn't by then, I will pull the trigger anyway.

Our kids so rarely watch live TV, it's not really a concern. I put an Xfinity box in their play room, turned it on 2-3 times for them myself, and they never proactively do it themselves. Between Netflix, Amazon Prime, our Plex collection, and at that time adding Hulu to it, I don't think they would even notice.

I think the real trick to making it work is getting your wife hooked on using netflix, amazon prime and hulu to watch her tv shows before you switch over. If she's already used to using those apps on her tablet by using them to watch her shows, "oh, it works the same way but just with this remote?" makes the sell very, very easy. (Unfortunately, step one is getting her a decent tablet in order to get her used to watching tv via the various apps - it will pay off, you will save money in the long run - I want my sports on a 96" big screen, surprisingly to me she's happy watching downton abbey on a 9.7" ipad)

 

[SuperD]

It's probably more of a cadillac option, but I recently upgraded to triple play on Xfinity and instead of taking their X1 equipment package (which I've heard mixed reviews on) I picked up a Tivo Roamio and a Tivo Mini for the bedroom and I've been very happy with it. I get full DVR functionality in every room, 6 tuners and more DVR storage space, unified search and season pass functionality across TV and streaming services (Xfinity OnDemand, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), full live TV streaming to my iPad or phone as long as I'm on a Wifi network like I'd get with Dish's Hopper, and the ability transfer DVR'd programs to my tablet or phone.

There is a fairly high initial cost for the equipment and you still need a subscription fee for the guide data for the main tuner (unless you pony up for the hefty fee for a lifetime subscription), but you start to make up the gap fairly quickly when you figure in the cost of Comcast's perpetual equipment fees, particularly if you are no longer getting a promotional break on the equipment. Plus I haven't had to deal with any of the frustration I've heard of from some of my friends with the X1. Hell, I'm so averse to Comcast's equipment fee's I even paid the ridiculous cost to buy the X1 modem outright as well (really annoying they don't have a router-less version available). I already had my own modem but there is apparently only one modem that works with their voice service. That'll be a quicker payback though since Comcast just upped the cost of the modem fee despite the fact every customer is essentially hosting a free Wifi hotspot for them.

 

[jahbrahakala]

Wilner - DTV & P12Ntwk

Pretty sure this isn't in the thread...

some numbers on DTV and the PacNetwork from a series Wilner has started on the subject:

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/colleg...al-future-what-a-directv-deal-would-be-worth/

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/colleg...-comparing-tv-revenue-to-the-sec-and-big-ten/