PSA: ESPN App Stream was Awful for Michigan Game
There have been people talking about wanting to cut the cord and I used a Firestick to stream today's game to my TV with the ESPN App via Direct TV Now.
It was horrible.
(1) I missed over half a dozen plays due to the stream freezing. I have 70MBS so it is unlikely that my internet is too slow.
(2) When the game camera was zoomed out to show a large portion of the field the picture quality was very blurry to the point where I often couldn't tell where the ball was in air on passes and field goal attempts. Continually throughout the game the picture quality was changing and even pulsating, which was an eye sore. Only had HD quality when the game camera was zoomed in for some reason.
(3) Twice seemed to lose service.
(4) The ESPN app played the same commercials over and over again. I saw the "Alabama-FSU Taylor Swift" commercial at least 30 times.........I am traumatized, even teeny boppers can't take that much TS.
I am going to probably go to Dish as I can't take the constant poor quality of streaming with the ESPN app. Just thought I would share my experience as many have talked about this as a possibility.
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:38 PM ^
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:41 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:55 AM ^
And ironically now is when they decided to start heavily marketing it. They pitched it multiple times during the game.
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:43 PM ^
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:45 PM ^
Not sure what it is but I always have issues using the Watch ESPN app on my PS4. Had a lot of issues with pausing/skipping during the Indiana OSU game. I ended up hooking my laptop up to my TV and that was much better, but not perfect. For whatever reason, the stream on my friends XBOX during all the games today worked much better.
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:48 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:14 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:25 AM ^
Saving $40 from what I was paying with a Comcast promotion and $70 from what they wanted to jack it to at the end of that. That's a lot more than a couple bucks; I can buy one of our ugly maize jerseys in just a couple months with those savings.
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:19 AM ^
Sounds like a lot of people with a streaming service used the login to use the ESPN app, which has me a bit confused. Why wouldn't you just use the main app for PS Vue or Sling or whatever you have? Especially if the ESPN app isn't working for you?
BTW, just cut the cord last week and am using YouTube TV. Worked wonderfully for me. (using website stream via Chrome)
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:26 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:30 AM ^
This makes me feel even better that I went with a Slingbox. It certainly wasn't 100% perfect, but the only time I recall it actually freezing and needing to buffer for more than a second was the blocked punt when we sat there like, "Did that just get blocked?" and then it had.
September 3rd, 2017 at 5:30 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 6:35 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:32 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 7:53 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:04 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:23 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:26 AM ^
My new TVhas a built in Roku. I forgot to set it up before the games started on Saturday. There was a very noticable delay in signing up.
I think the problem is that so many people have dumped cable ESPN wasn't ready for the server load. Fox doesn't have nearly as many games offered on their streaming service and that's why Fox was unaffected.
The stream here was amazingly clear 95% of the time but would occasionally drop to a very low bitrate. I only noticed a few occasions where it buffered, not enough to even think about going back to cable/dish.
Streaming TV is the one place I do believe ESPN is The Worldwide Leader. We'll see if the mouse gets it resolved.
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:27 AM ^
Double Posted
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:28 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:29 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:11 AM ^
The Swedish-based streaming services have upped their game. Much better quality, less buffering, less everything. No account hacks so far.
Don't forget adblocker.
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:13 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:07 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:33 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
Just throwing in I had a terrible experience when I tried to watch the game on the espn app. Or on watch espn.com . I have very fast internet and a very fast computer hooked up to a very fast router (gamer over here). Constant pauses at the beginning of plays, basically whenever the camera was moving it had a hard time keeping up.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^
Despite the U-Verse complaint upthread, my cable experience for UM-FSU was fine. And granted I was watching a game no one cared about, but the ESPN3 stream of Cal-UNC was fine too.
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:21 AM ^
One can't judge a cord-cutting experience based on one shitty company's app.
For those cutting the cord, ya' have to keep your options open and know what works. ESPN app doesn't work? Go to option B or C. For a lot of people poo-poo'ing cutting the cord, I suspect that they don't want to have to check option B or C. There's nothing wrong with that. It boils down to money vs B/C.
In four to five years I have not missed a cfb or pro football game that I've wanted to watch. Also in those three years I have developed many, consistent options. That being said, it was very rough during the Stanley Cup. I've since acquired a great option.
One thing I quickly didn't see anyone mention is a paid IPTV service. I am going to test run a well reviewed one this weekend. But who can argue $12/mo for way more channels then one would need? Or $8.50/mo for sports?
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
I have Dish Network and it's great. The four screen on on monitor feature is excellent for sports.
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^
Can that be done watching online or through their app?
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:15 PM ^