OT: Thoughts re: future of internet streaming
Just curious to hear the thoughts of others on what you expect to happen with the future of streaming sports on the etherwebz. I'm asking primarily because I'm often frustrated with the quality of live streams (especially the not-quite-legal ones) and don't want to shell out for a cable package that I can't afford and wouldn't use outside of watching my sports teams. I can easily find and download episodes of the handful of shows I watch, but obviously it's not that important to watch them live.
I'm sort of ok with my plan for watching Michigan games, as I have a friend's password for WatchESPN and for BTN (quality could sometimes be better, but usually it's fine), and many games are broadcast nationally on ABC so I can get good quality with my antenna. However, it's much harder to consistently find decent streams of my NFL team (I live out of state and their games are rarely nationally broadcast; won't mention names because you guys will make fun of me). The NFL has some new package in which you can pay a reasonable fee to watch replays of the games, but you have to wait until Sunday Night Football is over to watch the early games. I'd be ok paying for this service if I could watch the game right after it's over, but waiting that long is too much. On top of that, the NFL seems pretty gung ho about cracking down on illegal streams.
What do people think about the future of streaming?
Why is streaming quality usually still so lousy (esp. for the illegal streams)? Other than learning about firstrowsports (I used to use Justin.tv, which is generally inferior) and learning to use google chrome with adblock, my streaming experience has hardly improved in the last 5 years. Shouldn't technology be better and cheaper by now? Will it improve over time? Will the NFL crack down even more on illegal streams? Will the NFL offer more reasonable methods to watch games as an alternative to their Season Ticket plan?
August 16th, 2013 at 7:29 AM ^
Didn't notice that it was available for Windows. I'll certainly give XBMC a shot, thanks
August 15th, 2013 at 5:28 PM ^
I do not agree that streams did not improve. They improve and will improve as server costs fall down (=major cost for streaming is HW). What is problem is the more and more agressive ads. I hope some autoregulation will work here.
Btw. the firstrow has new proxy website for UK: firstrow.org
August 16th, 2013 at 9:46 AM ^
If you combine Apple, Google, and Microsoft's market capitilizations you're either slightly north of $1 Trillion dollars, or pretty darn close.
All three have tried to negotiate a-la-carte programming deals, and failed. Even with their financial resources and technical expertise, they still haven't been able to crack a-la-carte programming.
It's just not possible at this time; everyone in the current chain of distribution (providers, content producers, etc.) is making too much money. Granted there are outliers who may be struggling, but if you're in the current basic cable distribution framework, chances are you're doing pretty well.
You're going to see an increase in the number of distribution fights like the one between CBS and Time Warner that's going on right now. As the number of video subscribers cut the cord (a small number, but growing) networks are going to fight over a smaller and smaller consumer base. The Cable/TeleCos will keep increasing prices until they can't. And then they'll start capping the monthly GB usage consumption to combat over-the-top programming coming from Netflix and other streaming services.
Physical access is still king, and always will be.
On the topic of providers, here's an interesting statistic -
"AT&T and Verizon dominate a wireless industry that is already heavily concentrated – more so than the auto, oil, or banking industries. The largest two wireless carriers control almost 70 percent of industry revenues, compared to the top two auto makers controlling 35 percent, the top two oil firms controlling 25 percent and the two largest banks controlling only 20 percent of their industry revenues. This state of affairs is bad for consumers, and it is bad for the vendors and service providers who make up the wireless ecosystem."
Source - http://www.fiercewireless.com/node/249151/print
To combat rising access costs, I have a grandfathered unlimited data account from Verizon that I use as my primary internet connection (I tether my iPhone to a router that provides Wifi access to other devices at my residence), and a Slingbox stationed at my parent's house to sling TV to my Macbook in my apartment. I buy my phones at the unsubsidized price, off contract to retain my unlimited data account through Verizon.
Additional reading - http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Telco-Astroturfers-Use-Fake-Amazon-Reviews-To-Suppress-Criticism-125174