TV Coverage

[fightingsioux4life]

First I don't think we have any say in the league at all (ex: TV deal and scheduling)

2nd who ever neotiatd th tv deal for the nacho honestly would get hosed at a used car dealer ship

3rd if this is a first rate league why do w have a 4th rate tv deal?

Relax. The NCHC had to start someplace. As the league gets established (and it won't take long), it will have more leverage in the future to negotiate a better deal. Give it time, it will work out in the long run.

[jdub27]

First I don't think we have any say in the league at all (ex: TV deal and scheduling)

2nd who ever neotiatd th tv deal for the nacho honestly would get hosed at a used car dealer ship

3rd if this is a first rate league why do w have a 4th rate tv deal?

1. UND has one vote, the same as everyone else.

2. How much leverage do you think a startup college hockey conference actually has?

3. How does it compare to the WCHA's TV contract? And other conferences outside of the B1G?

[DamStrait]

Jayson, I hope you are still monitoring comments to your post - Big Sky TV has a very nice feature - it can be streamed natively on an iPad - will UND Insider be able to do the same from the outset for Men's home hockey games this season? Thanks

I'm all for engaging in discussion on here if we can leave the name-calling (different post) and conspiracy theories out of it. The person I talked to was not affiliated with Midco, nor were they trying to "sell" UND's "media people" on anything. I merely asked in casual conversation, out of my own curiosity, about FTA and its prevalence in this day and age.

Believe me, the last thing I want to do is rehash the exact same discussion every month about the television situation. I would guess most of you feel the same way. No, it is not ideal in its current incarnation, but how many collegiate television situations are? It is an extremely fluid landscape but we are committed to making the best of it. Not just now, but going forward.

There are some on here (and elsewhere) who continue to presume that we as an athletics department -- the paid professionals whose job it is to operate in the best interests of our University and our student-athletes -- don't value maximum exposure. That we apparently are content to have fewer games on national television. That we aren't concerned with losing hockey viewers who previously watched us on FCS. This is utterly preposterous.

Over the past six years under Brian Faison:

• A relationship has been established with FOX College Sports (available in more than 50 million homes) that has provided live national broadcasts of not just UND men's hockey, but also UND women's hockey, football, men's basketball, women's basketball and volleyball.
  
• A partnership has been formed with Midco Sports Network that not only provides us with a regional broadcast stronghold, but ever-important financial stability. Further, as we begin just year two of that 5-year partnership, Midco has already addressed some of the biggest macro (high definition) and micro (penalty clock) issues that many fans have had with our broadcasts over the years.
  
• Midco has also committed to produce and broadcast North Dakota Hockey with Dave Hakstol, the first men's hockey-specific show we've had in at least 20 years, if ever (my time here dates only to the mid-90s so I don't know if there was a Gino Gasparini show). This show, along with UND Sports Extra and UND Insider Weekly, provide us with no fewer than three weekly television shows.
  
• Significant resources (financial and manpower) have been committed to widening and improving our online coverage. This ranges from live events (webcasts that include all men's hockey, women's hockey, football, men's basketball, women's basketball and volleyball home games, as well as select soccer, baseball and softball games) to original programming (Through These Doors, Opening Drive, etc.). This has also included the continued development of mobile apps, now and going forward.
  
• The state and regional radio network has been significantly expanded.
  
• If the exposure discussion goes beyond the traditional realm, our student-athletes have been featured prominently by Sports Illustrated, TSN, CBC, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, ESPN the Magazine, Los Angeles Times and more. Truthfully, many of these opportunities simply fall into our lap. But quite often, we must aggressively pitch and pursue them. That is our job.
  

Yes, fewer men's hockey home games will be available on national TV this year. Unfortunately, that was the cost of business associated with forming a first-rate men's hockey conference. Do we as a department find the loss of those games ideal? Of course not, but that doesn't mean that we will stop trying to eventually reclaim that full national footprint. We are hopeful it will prove to be a shining example of one step backward to take two steps forward. As with anything, these things take time.

This athletics department is certainly never beyond reproach, and it is the fans who serve as our checks and balances. That is a good thing.

But I would hope that the bullet points above serve as evidence that this department is anything but ignorant when it comes to matters of exposure.

[gfhockey]

so the ag school gets college gameday to come there and we cant have a decent tv contact

lolz

[Shawn-O]

so the ag school gets college gameday to come there and we cant have a decent tv contact

lolz

I saw that. Wow, that is huge...hats off to them.

[jdub27]

so the ag school gets college gameday to come there and we cant have a decent tv contact

lolz

While that is huge for them, it has absolutely zero to do with this conversation.

[UNDvince97-01]

While that is huge for them, it has absolutely zero to do with this conversation.

Zero.

Nothing.

[Matt]

The costs of not moving up with them just continue to grow... exponentially.

[UNDColorado]

A win today would be huge!

[Matt]

A win today would be huge!

It would be. A TV audience watching a premier FCS matchup with UND on top would go a long way.

[UNDColorado]

Montana State on Altitude Network (upper 600's on directv) at 1 MTN. I ma interested to see how their backup QB looks.

[Truthseeker]

As I recall, the reason two broadcast cameras and the TV control room were added to the Ralph had multiple functions. To provide uplinks of hockey which were to then be manned by students in Communications. It was to provide the students with some real world Broadcast experience. It would seem that that concept has been "lost" over the years.

Why wouldn't the University allow those two cameras to still be "manned" by students and sent to the uplink as was originally intended?

Giving their students the chance to be involved in a small two camera production each game would be "priceless". It would also give the FTA crowd a piece of the action. Admittedly it wouldn't "hold a candle" to the quality Midco Sports adds to their broadcasts . The Ralph is pre-wired so several outputs can be sent out of the facility.I also know that the two cameras at the Ralph are not HD. So what? Neither the students or the FTA crowd would care if there is a image of the action. Before I get "blasted" here over my idea, it should be known that I have over 33 years in Film and Video production, 25 years of it in Broadcast.

I say put the students back in the action and kill two birds with one stone.

[sprig]

FCS is a destination channel. People don't stumble on that channel often. CBSSN is a channel that people can easily scroll to and suddenly find NCHC and UND info.

Good grief

[darell1976]

so the ag school gets college gameday to come there and we cant have a decent tv contact

lolz

And what moron is going to yell, chant, or have a sign that says Sioux Suck (or some reference to UND). If they did it at a National Championship game its bound to happen during gameday. Now if they chant "we want Bama" that will be hilarious.

[Sodbuster]

And what moron is going to yell, chant, or have a sign that says Sioux Suck (or some reference to UND). If they did it at a National Championship game its bound to happen during gameday. Now if they chant "we want Bama" that will be hilarious.

They"d better change it to "we want A&M".

[Blackheart]

As I recall, the reason two broadcast cameras and the TV control room were added to the Ralph had multiple functions. To provide uplinks of hockey which were to then be manned by students in Communications. It was to provide the students with some real world Broadcast experience. It would seem that that concept has been "lost" over the years.

Why wouldn't the University allow those two cameras to still be "manned" by students and sent to the uplink as was originally intended?

Giving their students the chance to be involved in a small two camera production each game would be "priceless". It would also give the FTA crowd a piece of the action. Admittedly it wouldn't "hold a candle" to the quality Midco Sports adds to their broadcasts . The Ralph is pre-wired so several outputs can be sent out of the facility.I also know that the two cameras at the Ralph are not HD. So what? Neither the students or the FTA crowd would care if there is a image of the action. Before I get "blasted" here over my idea, it should be known that I have over 33 years in Film and Video production, 25 years of it in Broadcast.

I say put the students back in the action and kill two birds with one stone.

Yes!

[Sodbuster]

They"d better change it to "we want A&M".

Never mind.

[82SiouxGuy]

Posted this 24 hours ago, and no official response from our UND spokesman?

A simple yes ,no, impossible, or we are thinking about it would be a fine answer. Silence is actually rather insulting.

Their job description does not include posting on fan forums 24 hours a day/7 days a week. It's Sunday, and they had a football game yesterday. Jayson will probably address your question when he gets a chance during the regular work week. Insulting? Get over yourself.

[dmksioux]

Posted this 24 hours ago, and no official response from our UND spokesman?

A simple yes ,no, impossible, or we are thinking about it would be a fine answer. Silence is actually rather insulting.

Do you expect UND officials to respond to a fan message board on weekends at your every question. If you want a response I recommend you contact the appropriate University official directly via email. We are fortunate UND officials choose to post here but by no means should we demand answers on a Non-UND website.

[Snake]

Posted this 24 hours ago, and no official response from our UND spokesman?

A simple yes ,no, impossible, or we are thinking about it would be a fine answer. Silence is actually rather insulting.

In order to ensure they will actually read your question you should try emailing them instead of posting on a fan forum.

[Jayson Hajdu]

Posted this 24 hours ago, and no official response from our UND spokesman?

A simple yes ,no, impossible, or we are thinking about it would be a fine answer. Silence is actually rather insulting.

If you would like the courtesy of a response, whether it is here or via email or Twitter, try a halfway-courteous approach next time. It's worked for a lot of other posters here. If you do that, you will find I'm a rather accessible chap.

If you want your question ignored, rudeness is a pretty safe way to go.

Have a nice day.

[sprig]

As I recall, the reason two broadcast cameras and the TV control room were added to the Ralph had multiple functions. To provide uplinks of hockey which were to then be manned by students in Communications. It was to provide the students with some real world Broadcast experience. It would seem that that concept has been "lost" over the years.

Why wouldn't the University allow those two cameras to still be "manned" by students and sent to the uplink as was originally intended?

Giving their students the chance to be involved in a small two camera production each game would be "priceless". It would also give the FTA crowd a piece of the action. Admittedly it wouldn't "hold a candle" to the quality Midco Sports adds to their broadcasts . The Ralph is pre-wired so several outputs can be sent out of the facility.I also know that the two cameras at the Ralph are not HD. So what? Neither the students or the FTA crowd would care if there is a image of the action. Before I get "blasted" here over my idea, it should be known that I have over 33 years in Film and Video production, 25 years of it in Broadcast.

I say put the students back in the action and kill two birds with one stone.

This sounds like a good suggestion in spite of the impatient post that followed.

[Truthseeker]

I would like to ask forgiveness for my impatientce yesterday. To Jayson first, then from the rest of the site members. For reasons I will not get into yesterday was a bad day! After I read Jayson's job description on the UND site, I thought that this was part of his Social Media duties.

I hope all of you will enjoy a great week,

Thanks

[Jayson Hajdu]

As I recall, the reason two broadcast cameras and the TV control room were added to the Ralph had multiple functions. To provide uplinks of hockey which were to then be manned by students in Communications. It was to provide the students with some real world Broadcast experience. It would seem that that concept has been "lost" over the years.

Why wouldn't the University allow those two cameras to still be "manned" by students and sent to the uplink as was originally intended?

Giving their students the chance to be involved in a small two camera production each game would be "priceless". It would also give the FTA crowd a piece of the action. Admittedly it wouldn't "hold a candle" to the quality Midco Sports adds to their broadcasts . The Ralph is pre-wired so several outputs can be sent out of the facility.I also know that the two cameras at the Ralph are not HD. So what? Neither the students or the FTA crowd would care if there is a image of the action. Before I get "blasted" here over my idea, it should be known that I have over 33 years in Film and Video production, 25 years of it in Broadcast.

I say put the students back in the action and kill two birds with one stone.

A couple of thoughts on this:

*While I was employed in the athletics department at the time, it was at the undergrad/grad student level, so I was not involved in any of the planning for the arena or its broadcast capabilities. So I do not know whether this was ever the plan or not. I don't recall ever hearing that to be the case prior to your post, but that doesn't mean it's not true.

*While it does appear to be a nice idea in theory, if I can be completely frank here, there is no way this would fly with a fan base as demanding (and I use the word in the most complimentary way) as ours. Having seen so much vitriolic criticism from some fans over the years of professionally-run broadcasts (Midco, FOX Sports North, CBS, NBC, ESPN, etc.), I find it hard to believe our hockey viewership would tolerate some of the hiccups that often come with a student-run broadcast and the production quality. You would demand better, and rightfully so.

*On the FTA front, again just being completely frank, it would make zero business sense whatsoever for a broadcast or digital media partner such as Midco or Neulion (our web provider) to allow us to provide a FREE to air option. In fact, if my memory is correct, REA stopped publicizing those coordinates approximately six years ago (though I could be wrong on the exact timeline).

In a perfect world, an athletics department would be completely self-sufficient and we could offer free broadcasts over every possible medium to 100 percent of our fan base. But it just doesn't work that way, because we have bills to pay too.

[Jayson Hajdu]

I would like to ask forgiveness for my impatientce yesterday. To Jayson first, then from the rest of the site members. For reasons I will not get into yesterday was a bad day! After I read Jayson's job description on the UND site, I thought that this was part of his Social Media duties.

I hope all of you will enjoy a great week,

Thanks

Actually, it's not. I come here whenever I have a few free minutes to see what's being discussed. If I can contribute, I do. But even if it were a part of my social media duties, that wouldn't necessarily mean those duties require me to be on call 24/7 and I hope fans understand that.

Again, I don't think many fans would accuse me of being hard to find. I post here under my real name. My email address (jayson.hajdu@athletics.und.edu) and phone number are published at UNDsports.com. I frequently engage with fans on Twitter via @UNDSID. You can also find me on a pair of live chats every weekend throughout the entire hockey season. So if someone asks me a question and it's not answered right away, it's probably because I'm either tending to some other duties (which are many), or I'm enjoying a little time off with my family as anyone else would.

Having said that, no part of my job description mandates that I tolerate rudeness. I've said this here before and I'll say it again: as long as the conversations are civil and polite, I'll have all kinds of time to interact with you folks. It's one of the most enjoyable parts of my job. In a professional sense, it provides me with a forum to not only provide information, but to provide accurate information where needed. From a personal standpoint, it allows me to talk UND Athletics, which is my passion as much as it is yours. After all, I was a student before I was an employee, a fan before an administrator.