ESPN America (Part 2)

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 34
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    Remember the issues seems to be caused by the NHL / AMI, not the tv channels.

    Understood.
    Hope whoever is responsible for this whole sorry farce at the NHL is currently looking for a new job. The league has been trying to grow a wider audience around the world for a long time now, for obvious reasons. The clearest example of this 'investment' is the millions spent each year putting on season opening games in Europe.
    They might as well have not bothered.
    There's an old saying here - 'the arse doesn't know what the elbow is doing'! :rolleyes:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 34
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    bamber wrote: »
    tweet from premier sport.


    NHL arrives on Premier this weekend. We aim to show as many games live as possible. Up to 10 per week. Happy days.

    Who or what is Premier?:confused:

    (ok - it's not the obscure religious channel I at first thought!)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 34
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    That's that sorted then...goodbye ESPN - hello Premier!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,142
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    How do we subscribe to them?!! Plus they dont have a HD channel do they??? Huge step backwards!!!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 34
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    sadler wrote: »
    How do we subscribe to them?!! Plus they dont have a HD channel do they??? Huge step backwards!!!

    You can do it online at their website or through SKY.

    Agree that the HD thing is a step backwards but hey - it's hockey...let's worry about that after we've watched a few games!
  • dofferdoffer Posts: 2,746
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    Bye bye ESPN
    Bye bye NHL
    That's me done!
  • The Great 208The Great 208 Posts: 982
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    doffer wrote: »
    Bye bye ESPN
    Bye bye NHL
    That's me done!

    Ice Hockey in SD with that bitrate - you must be kidding.

    Once the baseball finishes I quit ESPN - no point
  • henderohendero Posts: 11,773
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    y16amp wrote: »
    You can do it online at their website or through SKY.

    Agree that the HD thing is a step backwards but hey - it's hockey...let's worry about that after we've watched a few games!

    Given how difficult it can be to see the puck, especially on shots at goal, it's one sport that relies on HD even more than most. I wonder if the NHL is still mad at ESPN for the parting of the ways they had in N. America a few years back.

    Let's see - ESPN America needs content, the NHL should be interested in the broadest possible distribution for their sport in the UK. So do they sign a deal? Of course they don't. Maybe three years from now, Premier Sports will have a Premiership package, and will be showing all the major boxing matches, and will pick up some other gems.

    Or, they'll be a fading memory, like Setanta UK. I wonder......
  • The Great 208The Great 208 Posts: 982
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    y16amp wrote: »
    You can do it online at their website or through SKY.

    Agree that the HD thing is a step backwards but hey - it's hockey...let's worry about that after we've watched a few games!

    one live game at 3am on Saturday and two delayed on Sunday according to their website...
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,142
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    y16amp wrote: »
    You can do it online at their website or through SKY.

    Agree that the HD thing is a step backwards but hey - it's hockey...let's worry about that after we've watched a few games!

    The picture quality is awful on that channel from what ive seen on free weekends/days..

    Ive subscribed to Gamecenter now so there's no way im paying another £8 on top of the £12 ive paid for that. I already have ESPN America for Serie A so it was no extra expense watching the NHL on that channel

    A step backwards for the NHL

    Btw the NHL sold the rights for the next 5 years to the Swedish company so presumably Premier have it for the next 5 years...?
  • The Great 208The Great 208 Posts: 982
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    How much notice to you need to give ESPN to cancel?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 259
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    sadler wrote: »
    The picture quality is awful on that channel from what ive seen on free weekends/days..

    Ive subscribed to Gamecenter now so there's no way im paying another £8 on top of the £12 ive paid for that. I already have ESPN America for Serie A so it was no extra expense watching the NHL on that channel

    A step backwards for the NHL

    Btw the NHL sold the rights for the next 5 years to the Swedish company so presumably Premier have it for the next 5 years...?

    Nothing is confirmed regarding exclusive rights yet. For example who is showing NHL in Ireland. Who will show HNIC. Who will show HD. Who will show all playoffs. Premier wont be. Who has rights for Europe. Nobody knows. I reckpn ESPNA are still talking.
  • dofferdoffer Posts: 2,746
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    Just downgraded my tv package with Virgin as I won't be needing ESPN now :mad:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 484
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    NitaJez wrote: »
    Nothing is confirmed regarding exclusive rights yet. For example who is showing NHL in Ireland. Who will show HNIC. Who will show HD. Who will show all playoffs. Premier wont be. Who has rights for Europe. Nobody knows. I reckpn ESPNA are still talking.

    Setanta are showing NHL in Ireland, confirmed on their website and Facebook page. No surprise there given who has the UK rights.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 34
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    one live game at 3am on Saturday and two delayed on Sunday according to their website...

    Yep, not too exciting a start is it? And no mention of HNIC!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 34
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    Just got off the phone to Premier and have the following to report...the channel is a live sports channel so that means direct feeds from the originating broadcaster, no added content from Premier, no delayed games, no chat shows, no magazine programmes and no Hockey Night in Canada.

    The good news is that although there are only a couple of games showing up yet on websites, they confirmed games on an almost daily basis as far as their internal records show - November.

    I forgot to ask about the HD thing - maybe someone else can do that
  • The DifferenceThe Difference Posts: 21,038
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    y16amp wrote: »
    Who or what is Premier?:confused:
    sadler wrote: »
    How do we subscribe to them?!! Plus they dont have a HD channel do they??? Huge step backwards!!!

    Premier Sports is a two-year-old sports channel that was formed by one of the part owners of Setanta Sports, registered at the same Luxembourg address Setanta UK was. It was launched a few months after Setanta UK went bust.

    It is only available on the Sky platform and only broadcasts to Great Britain. It doesn't have a HD channel as you say, although it apparently has an "Xtra" channel which could come into play as an overspill channel when two events clash.

    The channel tends to be viewed as a budget pay TV sports channel, a residential subscription costs £7.99 per month or a £79.99 12 month "season ticket", and they have rights to plenty of less high-profile sports.

    Events they cover include football from the Conference Premier, League of Ireland, Argentinian Primera Division, Campeonato Brasiliero, Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, Gaelic football and hurling from the GAA, rugby league's NRL, Swedish speedway, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, boxing from the ShoBox and Hard Knocks promotions and mixed martial arts in the form of Cage Warriors and UFC Live events.

    It will be interesting to see what happens when NHL matches clash with those events that take place in clashing timeslots such as the South American football, NASCAR races and UFC events. The overspill channel might come into play a fair bit.

    This weekend, they'll have live coverage of the Anaheim Ducks v San Jose Sharks at 3am on Saturday morning, but Brazilian football and a NASCAR Sprint Cup race take priority on Saturday night/Sunday morning, as will football games from Brazil and a double header from Argentina on Sunday night/Monday morning.
    hendero wrote: »
    Maybe three years from now, Premier Sports will have a Premiership package, and will be showing all the major boxing matches, and will pick up some other gems.

    Or, they'll be a fading memory, like Setanta UK. I wonder......

    What's to say they'll be either of the above?

    It seems to me as if the people behind the channel have learned the lessons of what happened with Setanta UK and are quite happy to continue as a budget sports channel aimed at people interested in sports with sizeable minority following in the UK, such as fans of the Gaelic Games, Australian rugby league, South American football and now ice hockey. If they can make that work, as they have over the past two years with pretty much the same line-up until now, good luck to them.
  • jeffersbnljeffersbnl Posts: 4,695
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    Very very disappointed by this news, exactly what I'd feared :(

    ESPN America have failed badly on this one, I can't see Premier Sports were willing to pay massively more than they were. All we can hope is that its just a one year deal and that ESPN America are back next year.

    £8 for a few games a week, no HNIC and no HD. No thanks. ESPN America was a good deal for £10 with HD included plus the bonus of some extra football and rugby. I've no interest in the other stuff on Premier Sports.

    On HNIC- when there was the falling out - two years ago I think - didn't ESPN sign a multi year deal to take the coverage, because it was an extra they had to pay for on top of the NHL rights. In which case, it'll be no HNIC on Premier Sports. At best you'd get the games with the away teams coverage (ie US local) coverage when available, or no Canadian match ups - thats what happened when there was no ESPN deal for HNIC.

    Seriously tempted by NHL Game Centre now- especially as I can watch on PS3.
  • citytillidiecitytillidie Posts: 280
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    What is the number for cancelling ESPN
  • jeffersbnljeffersbnl Posts: 4,695
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    Can anyone with Gamecenter Live confirm whether or not they carry HNIC? Ie the full broadcast- epic intros, Coaches Corner, the works.

    Any chance of checking this weekend just gone?
  • Martin1Martin1 Posts: 8,241
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    @PremierSportsTV are you going HD any time soon the sd picture is a little poor
    @Bloodzeed in due course. NASCAR fans were worries but picture is excellent for that so would expect same for NHL.
    http://twitter.com/#!/premiersportstv
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 64
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    very shocked,very disappointed this is a massive backwards step i got sky hd mainly for nhl in hd now i can smell some cancellations coming.
    can anyone confirm the quality of game centre live through ps3 ive heard somewhere you can do this?are games in hd?can you watch hnic?thanks for any help
  • draig gochdraig goch Posts: 1,195
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    jeffersbnl wrote: »
    Can anyone with Gamecenter Live confirm whether or not they carry HNIC? Ie the full broadcast- epic intros, Coaches Corner, the works.

    Any chance of checking this weekend just gone?

    The advantages of GCL for me far outweigh the disadvantages, but here goes:

    Depending on the broadcaster, sometimes you don't get any pre-game or between-period coverage at all.
    It's replaced by a static caption and a piece of music which gets really annoying after 10 seconds, never mind a whole season.

    Strangely enough, you can usually, however, switch to the other team's local broadcast which might be showing everything...analysis, goals from other games, commercials etc.

    Sadly, this Saturday HNIC was replaced by the first option.
    The archived game doesn't have it either.

    I'm still a huge fan of GCL though, despite what I've just said I still think it's awesome :D

    The stats are mind-boggling, you can join a game live or play it from the start, there are replays of what you might have missed, a live chat room, the list goes on...
  • City2000City2000 Posts: 117
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    Well, i'm gutted about the NHL being on Premier sports. To sign a deal with TV station thats not even available on Virgin and without HD coverage is quite frankly ridiculous.

    I do have GCL though which is superb bar not getting to see the full HNIC intermissions , I would highly recommend it to anyone.
  • City2000City2000 Posts: 117
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    crank53 wrote: »
    very shocked,very disappointed this is a massive backwards step i got sky hd mainly for nhl in hd now i can smell some cancellations coming.
    can anyone confirm the quality of game centre live through ps3 ive heard somewhere you can do this?are games in hd?can you watch hnic?thanks for any help

    The picture quality of GCL through the PS3 is very good when it works, not as good as HD through ESPN but it is not far away at all. It's better than the top level stream on the PC and that is pretty good. I have had issues though including sound being behind/ahead the action, picture breakup, stuttering etc.

    I would still recommend it.
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