Jayson Hajdu

Once again, if you have had webcast issues, including constant buffering, I urge you to send us your feedback here: http://www.undsports.com//CreateTicket.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500 If you're going to gripe just to gripe, well, I can't help you there. At the end of the day, Midco, in its first year of our partnership, has delivered everything our fans had been pining for: High Definition (coming next year, one year ahead of schedule), a power-play clock, improved graphics, and a broadcast of the outdoor game. Very few announcers are universally liked. Some prefer Pat Sweeney to Dan Hammer, and vice versa. That's the nature of the business. But at some point, Midco has to be acknowledged for providing every upgrade our fans had been asking for, no? In the first of a five-year partnership, they've been a tremendously proactive partner. This is a good thing.

At the risk of being called a liar, we've actually received very few complaints about our webcasts this season. If you have had issues, I urge you to send us your feedback here: http://www.undsports.com//CreateTicket.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500

Our webcasts will be available in HD next year.

We're still awaiting the FOX College Sports and DirecTV channel lineups for this weekend, but we have been told that DirecTV will not be picking up Friday's game.

Yes.

You aren't far off base, actually. We didn't find out about the programming change until Saturday afternoon -- and we only found out when I was told by a DTV viewer that the game was not showing up in the guide. At that point, we looked into it and confirmed the change, and we immediately relayed the information as best we could via Twitter. It turns out the decision had been made sometime late Thursday. We've since reached out to the appropriate parties to ensure we get as much heads-up as possible if this happens again. If we had found out Thursday when the decision had been made, we could have at least given our DirecTV viewers a day or two to make other arrangements. By giving them only three hours notice, those viewers were basically hung out to dry.

DirecTV made the decision to pull the FOX College Sports broadcast from its Saturday lineup due to an unexpected overload of bandwidth constraints. This has happened before, and FCS was one of multiple networks affected on Saturday. Midco had literally nothing to do with the decision.

Michigan Tech no longer utilizes the same web provider as us, so you will have to purchase this weekend's webcasts through Michigan Tech's website.

Where does this stuff get started? Move along, folks. Trust me.

Correct. NESN is picking up the Midco Sports Network broadcast.

I looked into the issue some of you have reported regarding the audio not synching properly, and by all accounts everything checks out fine on the front end when the signal is sent out from Midco's uplink truck. So obviously there is an issue on the back end that needs to be solved. We had already been in contact with Midco earlier this morning, and both parties have regular communication with FOX College Sports, so hopefully this particular issue can be rectified in short order.

We will continue to webcast all home games except for UND home games broadcast by CBS Sports Network.

Yes.

There might be something to this in some cases -- the eye is now accustomed to HD, and some people may also need to adjust the settings on their televisions. But enough people have voiced issues that there's probably more to it than that in many cases. It was a part of the contract that Midco will convert to HD by the 2014-15 season, but Katie Hale has confirmed via Twitter that the conversion will actually take place prior to next season. This is very good news, and hopefully underlines Midco's commitment to delivering the best possible product for its viewers.

I have posted here several times, and will continue to do so. I can also be reached directly at jayson.hajdu@athletics.und.edu or on Twitter at @UNDSID. I'm actually quite easy to find.

Folks, I promise you, I'm not here to make excuses. What I've been reading -- and again, for the member who insinuated we were hiding or ducking, we do monitor all feedback on this site -- is that multiple people are reporting viewing problems, but multiple people are also reporting that their picture is just fine. Since I am a media relations director, not a television production specialist, I do not personally have answers for those of you reporting troubles. What I do do, however, is gather all feedback and funnel it to Midco, and then hopefully I can bring some more answers back to you. I've seen the broadcasts on Midco and I've seen the broadcasts on FCS and there does seem to be a difference between the two. When I've watched at home on Midco, it's fine. When we had the game on the televisions in the press box this past weekend, it was also fine. I'm not denying many of you have had issues, because you've certainly made that clear. But it doesn't seem to be an across-the-board issue, and we need to figure out why it's acceptable for some, unacceptable for others. As for the synching issue, we'll look into that. Since our press box monitors are muted and I haven't yet watched a replay of either game, that's not something I would not have otherwise been aware of. So again, please keep the feedback coming. Just because I don't respond to every individual post, that does not mean I'm not reading them. Our external relations staff meets every Monday morning to discuss various issues, so your television feedback will certainly be discussed today.

The conference contracted Root to broadcast the game, and Root has exclusivity on those rights. We made every effort to pick up the game for Fox College Sports, but to no avail. When you are a part of strong conferences, you are at the mercy of the conference rights holder. This, unfortunately, is not uncommon in Division I athletics. For example, FSN loses a handful of Gopher hockey games each year because of the Big Ten Network contract. If the Big Ten Network has the rights to a particular game, they have exclusivity and are under no obligation to allow other networks to pick up that broadcast.

Today's game is being broadcast by Root, which was contracted by the Big Sky Conference. This has nothing to do with WDAZ or UND.

You do realize, don't you, that this game is being broadcast exclusively by Root, which has a contract with the Big Sky Conference? I assume you do, so what exactly would you propose UND should have done to get this game into your living room? Take your rudeness elsewhere.

Just wanted to let everyone know that Associate AD/External Operations Kyle Doperalski and myself had a very productive meeting this afternoon with Mark Powell of Midcontinent Communciations. Several things were discussed, including all viewer feedback we have received regarding Saturday's broadcast. Among those issues: 1. The scoreboard graphic. This will be raised higher on the screen, and you should notice the difference during Friday's broadcast. It had been placed a little bit too low on last Saturday's broadcast. 2. Picture quality. Midco is still looking into this one. This seemed to be an issue for those viewing on FOX College Sports, who complained that the picture was too dark. Those who watched on Midco SN did not have those same picture problems, so it may be an issue on the satellite feed. I watched a replay on one of the FCS channels last night and it was indeed very dark. However, when I watched via on-demand on UNDSports.com earlier in the week, it was just fine. Some watching on FCS also complained about video and audio not being properly synched together. Again, the powers-that-be at Midco are looking into the problem. 3. Other. There were some other changes you may notice going forward. Intermission interviews will occur a few minutes earlier into the break. TV timeouts during the period will also be shorter in length (60 seconds instead of 90). Coach Hakstol will also be a guest on the post-game show immediately following each game. There is no doubt in my mind that Midco is committed to producing the best possible broadcasts for UND Athletics. This was only reinforced after today's meeting. Mr. Powell also reiterated their commitment to converting to HD for the 2014-15 season (but as I've said before, cross your fingers for 2013-14). We're also hoping to have some more good news on the television front in the coming days, but it's too premature to say anything more at this time. Hopefully you notice some positive changes as soon as Friday's men's hockey broadcast. As always, keep the feedback coming.

Consider this an experimental year. We'll certainly be open to switching to the interlocking ND next season. Hey, at least the casual TV viewer will always know where the game is being played

Your point on the announce team is important. This was their first time working together on a broadcast -- and this is not something Scott Koberinski has done for a living, either. I don't believe there has ever been an announce team that had perfect chemistry right from game one. That takes time, and they'll get there. Virtually the entire UND fan base (myself included) enjoyed Jim Scanlan's work, and rightfully so. But I bet if we watched video of his first games, they'd be a far cry from the Jim Scanlan of 2011-12.

I'll look into this.

The primary camera is actually located in the same spot (upper press box, center ice), with the same camera operator, as in recent years. I didn't actually notice if any of the other locations had changed, but I don't believe they have.

There will indeed be a postgame show each week (Manitoba game notwithstanding). Coach Hakstol will be interviewed following each game, which hadn't been a part of the postgame show in recent years.