TV Coverage

[UND Fan]

I just get tired of people having such short memories about how "great" things used to be. I live in Colorado but I do live broadcasts for sporting events, including an FBS school. I don't defend Midco because I have a blind love for them or even any sort of affiliation. I know some of the people on the crew, but they are all freelancers who aren't tied to Midco other than during the broadcasts themselves. I defend Midco because I know more than nearly everybody on this board about TV coverage for college sports. I don't have to live in North Dakota to understand that Midco isn't forcing TV companies to put it on a separate tier. That's just idiotic to believe Midco would force itself into a place where there are fewer viewers. Midco is going to charge what it believes is a fair market price for its channels. Feel free to believe that is why prices are jumping $25 but why isn't that happening at every single cable company in MN/ND/SD? Why are there some markets that don't jack the bill for their customers but there are others that do? If you think it's because of some higher power that Midco holds, you're wrong.

UND gets $200,000 per year from Midcontinent to broadcast more games to more people than FSSN. UND also doesn't have to deal with the hassle of running its own productions which takes several full time staff members to do so. UND's exposure in the region (that's more than just North Dakota) has increased in football. UND football is expected to have more games on FCS this year than the last two years of FSSN combined. Both Midco channels and the webcast quality have been upgraded to HD, which means better viewing for a significant number of people in the region and throughout the U.S. That would not have happened in the foreseeable future had FSSN still been in operation. They couldn't afford a $25,000 graphics system that could run a penalty clock. They sure as heck aren't going to upgrade to full HD at close to $400,000 for a renovated truck.

I watched the first part of the UND football game online, watched the second quarter on my phone and then caught the second half on FCS. There are very few FCS schools who can offer up the same thing.

The deal with CBSSN for hockey sucks for UND. I'm not too happy about it myself but I understand it wasn't UND's decision so I'm not angry at them. It also has nothing to do with Midco. FSSN would have the same restrictions that Midco will. There are 8 teams in the conference, UND is just one of them. Every other team in the conference is getting more exposure. I doubt UND is happy to be giving up their deal with FCS but it is what it is. They'll figure out a way to get the exposure back up.

You may believe UND is moving in the wrong direction but you're wrong. I understand you're frustrated that the channels are not affordable in every town in the state. Cable companies can easily add channels to their basic lineup. They just don't want to do it without trying to cover the costs associated with buying that channel themselves. However, the popularity of UND sports means those cable companies try and take advantage of their customers to earn more money. The only way it should be $25 a month is if you're going from the lowest basic tier to the highest HD tier. In which case, the cable company is screwing over the customers who want to watch Midco in HD. A regional HD channel should be on the lowest tier of HD, just like a regional SD channel should be on the lowest (or at least second lowest) tier.

Thanks for your insight into the situation. You obviously have a much better understanding than the rest of us on this board.

[sprig]

I watched the first part of the UND football game online,

Did you get the Big Sky stream in HD? I did not, even though I checked volleyball from the Betty a week ago and it was in HD.

[Redneksioux]

I just get tired of people having such short memories about how "great" things used to be. I live in Colorado but I do live broadcasts for sporting events, including an FBS school. I don't defend Midco because I have a blind love for them or even any sort of affiliation. I know some of the people on the crew, but they are all freelancers who aren't tied to Midco other than during the broadcasts themselves. I defend Midco because I know more than nearly everybody on this board about TV coverage for college sports. I don't have to live in North Dakota to understand that Midco isn't forcing TV companies to put it on a separate tier. That's just idiotic to believe Midco would force itself into a place where there are fewer viewers. Midco is going to charge what it believes is a fair market price for its channels. Feel free to believe that is why prices are jumping $25 but why isn't that happening at every single cable company in MN/ND/SD? Why are there some markets that don't jack the bill for their customers but there are others that do? If you think it's because of some higher power that Midco holds, you're wrong.

UND gets $200,000 per year from Midcontinent to broadcast more games to more people than FSSN. UND also doesn't have to deal with the hassle of running its own productions which takes several full time staff members to do so. UND's exposure in the region (that's more than just North Dakota) has increased in football. UND football is expected to have more games on FCS this year than the last two years of FSSN combined. Both Midco channels and the webcast quality have been upgraded to HD, which means better viewing for a significant number of people in the region and throughout the U.S. That would not have happened in the foreseeable future had FSSN still been in operation. They couldn't afford a $25,000 graphics system that could run a penalty clock. They sure as heck aren't going to upgrade to full HD at close to $400,000 for a renovated truck.

I watched the first part of the UND football game online, watched the second quarter on my phone and then caught the second half on FCS. There are very few FCS schools who can offer up the same thing.

The deal with CBSSN for hockey sucks for UND. I'm not too happy about it myself but I understand it wasn't UND's decision so I'm not angry at them. It also has nothing to do with Midco. FSSN would have the same restrictions that Midco will. There are 8 teams in the conference, UND is just one of them. Every other team in the conference is getting more exposure. I doubt UND is happy to be giving up their deal with FCS but it is what it is. They'll figure out a way to get the exposure back up.

You may believe UND is moving in the wrong direction but you're wrong. I understand you're frustrated that the channels are not affordable in every town in the state. Cable companies can easily add channels to their basic lineup. They just don't want to do it without trying to cover the costs associated with buying that channel themselves. However, the popularity of UND sports means those cable companies try and take advantage of their customers to earn more money. The only way it should be $25 a month is if you're going from the lowest basic tier to the highest HD tier. In which case, the cable company is screwing over the customers who want to watch Midco in HD. A regional HD channel should be on the lowest tier of HD, just like a regional SD channel should be on the lowest (or at least second lowest) tier.

Thanks for your insight. Most of the smaller cable companies don't offer very many tiers of packaging. The one I speak of offers two tiers - standard and digital. And I was told, that because midco is only able to deliver their channel through fibre this year (rather than satellite like last year or years in the past like fssn) that customers would be required to have the digital tier in order to receive the midco sn channel. In this case a customer that had the standard programming package with one tv in their home would need to pay an extra $25 per month and this includes the stb rental. This is not my situation. Personally I'd be happy to spend that amount to receive und sports on tv. All I'm saying is there is people that have had access to und sports in the past that no longer will.

[nhulst]

Did you get the Big Sky stream in HD? I did not, even though I checked volleyball from the Betty a week ago and it was in HD.

I wanted to ask this same question. I thought I remembered the webcasts from Big Sky being pretty good last year, but what I got last night was horrible, not HD and very blocky (low bit rate).

[UNDColorado]

I wanted to ask this same question. I thought I remembered the webcasts from Big Sky being pretty good last year, but what I got last night was horrible, not HD and very blocky (low bit rate).

The production value was terrible on FCS last night. Midco looked like a high school production.

[Matt]

Forget the picture quality, the camera work was atrocious. Zoom in, zoom out. Pan left, then right. It was all over the place. Then when they did settle in, it was wayyyyy too close. You couldn't get a vision of how the play was unfolding because the focus was on an individual player or the ball. Hands down the worst football game production I've watched.

On a positive note, there's no where to go but up from here.

[geaux_sioux]

Yea, fire the who camera crew or have them take notes from NFL games today. HD doesn't mean you need to zoom in to see the perspiration on the QBs knuckles.

[sprig]

I wanted to ask this same question. I thought I remembered the webcasts from Big Sky being pretty good last year, but what I got last night was horrible, not HD and very blocky (low bit rate).

They were, and those I could get in HD have been good this year. Last night's stream was 4:3 SD (at least what I could get), and was dark and dingy, very poor if connected and enlarged on a big screen.

[southpaw]

I was surprised yesterday's game was not streamed in HD. That could fall on the shoulders of America One, Midco or the Big Sky Conference if they didn't purchase an HD package with America One.

As for the camera work, we do high school games that look better than that. The camera guys bailed on their shots way too quickly. It looked like every camera was caught adjusting which means the director or technical director was struggling. Running a 6+ camera setup is tough but they never seemed to get comfortable as the game went on. That indicates it was probably the first or second game for someone in an upper role.

[TheGreatSiouxNation]

Never the less the Bison can be seen nationwide thru FTA and we can not. That is the end result no matter what Midco has done for us at UND. They will reach more households in SD/MN/ and ND. Southpaw will run out of excuses pretty soon defending Midco.

[southpaw]

Never the less the Bison can be seen nationwide thru FTA and we can not. That is the end result no matter what Midco has done for us at UND. They will reach more households in SD/MN/ and ND. Southpaw will run out of excuses pretty soon defending Midco.

How many people have FTA? How many have FCS? How many NDSU basketball and volleyball games will be aired?

I will defend any broadcast system that benefits the University of North Dakota. If FSSN was doing more than three football games a year and reaching the same number of homes and converting to HD like Midco is, I would be all for FSSN. It's actually more beneficial to keep productions in house because then you have editorial control.

FSSN was good for a lower level D1 team but what Midco was offering UND was better.

[82SiouxGuy]

I can't tell you how many people have Fta but I can tell you that Fta created many und fans. And nationwide there is thousands of people using Fta systems. There were hundreds that purchased Fta systems just to watch Sioux games. Many purchased their systems from the Ralph!

This past Saturday almost any college football game could be found Fta. Including the bison game. One of the few games that wasn't available Fta was und's.

Putting 40 plus UND games, in sports like basketball and volleyball besides all 7 football games and all home hockey games, in thousands of homes in 4 states will give more exposure to more people than the games that were shown on FTA. That doesn't count the 2 half hour coaches shows that Midco is producing each week and broadcasting in all of those homes. In spite of what you believe, not a large number of viewers on FTA are going to become big fans of UND athletics. Putting those games in homes within 250-300 miles of Grand Forks is more likely to get create long term fans for a school like UND than having it on FTA.

[Redneksioux]

Putting 40 plus UND games, in sports like basketball and volleyball besides all 7 football games and all home hockey games, in thousands of homes in 4 states will give more exposure to more people than the games that were shown on FTA. That doesn't count the 2 half hour coaches shows that Midco is producing each week and broadcasting in all of those homes. In spite of what you believe, not a large number of viewers on FTA are going to become big fans of UND athletics. Putting those games in homes within 250-300 miles of Grand Forks is more likely to get create long term fans for a school like UND than having it on FTA.

But those games for the most part have already been on in these homes the past few years. Now that midco is requiring their channel being picked up full time and through a different delivery method....it will just be in less homes than the past few years.

[82SiouxGuy]

But those games for the most part have already been on in these homes the past few years. Now that midco is requiring their channel being picked up full time and through a different delivery method....it will just be in less homes than the past few years.

Not as many games were shown. Last year was the first time that 40 plus games were shown. Before that it was usually hockey and a couple of football games. More games builds fans more than a few games. Exposure for more sports is also important.

Again, Midco purchased the rights so they can build their business. One of the tools they are using is UND sports on their sports network. It doesn't make any sense to Midco to just give cable systems the UND games. That doesn't help them build their network. And they don't get their money's worth (the $200,000 they are paying UND every year) if they aren't building an audience for the entire sports channel. Building a good sports network will help build demand for the network with other cable systems, and may even help Midco build enough interest to get Direct or Dish interested. Long term, building the entire sports channel will help Midco get it more exposure, which will help UND athletics get more exposure. You keep bringing up the fact that some people can't see the games. UND is working on building things for the long term and so is Midco.

[KSSioux]

Those that are apologists for the coverage will likely see the storm about to come in a month when the coverage of hockey starts to implode the system. Trust me, I hope I am wrong on this but it is already starting to be a problem with what I have heard this last weekend and their has been nothing done to the streaming of the games on the UND athletics site that they have mentioned. To see the mass of people that are going to try to get the games on line and watch the system fall apart as we try to watch even an exhibition game I hope will stir more of a fire under folks that are sitting back and have been told to keep quiet. I have the fastest internet speeds outside of Chattanooga, TN (please bing/google it if you actually want to see what I am talking about) and I also know how to hook a computer up to a television. Unfortunately, even the coaches show caused delays. If you try to watch on an IPad, good luck because you cannot. Please do not try to run the Photon App or something like it because the UND system does not support it and the Photon App will not handle the streaming. I know that moving to D1, the Athletic Department was trying to upgrade the Football/Basketball coverage and the Big Sky system was actually pretty good, to very good, last year. Unfortunately, I hear it is not as good this year or maybe the increase in viewers also taxed that system. The UND Media Relations does need to improve things and I hope it will be done quickly for the coverage. Please take a look at the roster on the hockey team and see how many folks are on the team this year, or the past few years, outside of the three state area MidCo covers. Do you think kids actually will PAY for an internet feed rather than watch their parents sport package to see a UND hockey game that used to be on FCS? I know people think folks are just complaining, but it will have a serious effect on recruiting. Those same kids can watch many other games on BigTen Network, NBCSPN, FCS or the other sports channels in their tier. I just hope North Dakota does very well in their few games on CBSSN, because they will be extremely important to recruiting. As far as all this HD stuff that people are bragging to folks about regarding MidCo, my cable system here in Kansas has high school, and junior college football games on in HD and the coverage is far superior to MidCo.

[sprig]

In spite of what you believe, not a large number of viewers on FTA are going to become big fans of UND athletics. Putting those games in homes within 250-300 miles of Grand Forks is more likely to get create long term fans for a school like UND than having it on FTA.

And you know this how? What exactly do you know of FTA and the number of users around the western hemisphere finding UND games?

[UND1983]

Question: Why is the game not in HD on Fox College Sports but it is on Midco? Do they need to pay more to uplink(?) it via HD or something?

[82SiouxGuy]

Question: Why is the game not in HD on Fox College Sports but it is on Midco? Do they need to pay more to uplink(?) it via HD or something?

Fox College Sports does not broadcast in HD on their regular channels. Those are broadcast on SD.

[82SiouxGuy]

And you know this how? What exactly do you know of FTA and the number of users around the western hemisphere finding UND games?

Do you really believe that thousands of people in the western hemisphere stumble on UND games while surfing FTA, and then they become fans of UND athletics? I'm sure that there are people that have become fans of UND hockey after stumbling on the games. But the number is not in the thousands, and most of those fans are not fans of the entire athletic program.

[Redneksioux]

Do you really believe that thousands of people in the western hemisphere stumble on UND games while surfing FTA, and then they become fans of UND athletics? I'm sure that there are people that have become fans of UND hockey after stumbling on the games. But the number is not in the thousands, and most of those fans are not fans of the entire athletic program.

I will tell you that many people have become fans of und athletics because of Fta. And many have been able to follow their favorite sports teams because of Fta when no other options are available. Many dont know about Fta because it's not advertised but there are thousands of homes nationwide with Fta systems. And their primary purpose is generally to pick up wild sports feeds. And in the past und feeds have been probably the most relied upon Fta sports feed out there. So much that Fta feeds have been used in sports bars to show und sporting events to hundreds of fans who had no other means of viewing und sports. And it hasn't been limited to a few football games and hockey games only. Volleyball as well as men's and women's basketball were commonly shown and I will tell you that virtually any Fta viewer that had fallen in love with und hockey had the same feelings for any und sport that was available to them.

[southpaw]

Those that are apologists for the coverage will likely see the storm about to come in a month when the coverage of hockey starts to implode the system. Trust me, I hope I am wrong on this but it is already starting to be a problem with what I have heard this last weekend and their has been nothing done to the streaming of the games on the UND athletics site that they have mentioned. To see the mass of people that are going to try to get the games on line and watch the system fall apart as we try to watch even an exhibition game I hope will stir more of a fire under folks that are sitting back and have been told to keep quiet. I have the fastest internet speeds outside of Chattanooga, TN (please bing/google it if you actually want to see what I am talking about) and I also know how to hook a computer up to a television. Unfortunately, even the coaches show caused delays. If you try to watch on an IPad, good luck because you cannot. Please do not try to run the Photon App or something like it because the UND system does not support it and the Photon App will not handle the streaming. I know that moving to D1, the Athletic Department was trying to upgrade the Football/Basketball coverage and the Big Sky system was actually pretty good, to very good, last year. Unfortunately, I hear it is not as good this year or maybe the increase in viewers also taxed that system. The UND Media Relations does need to improve things and I hope it will be done quickly for the coverage. Please take a look at the roster on the hockey team and see how many folks are on the team this year, or the past few years, outside of the three state area MidCo covers. Do you think kids actually will PAY for an internet feed rather than watch their parents sport package to see a UND hockey game that used to be on FCS? I know people think folks are just complaining, but it will have a serious effect on recruiting. Those same kids can watch many other games on BigTen Network, NBCSPN, FCS or the other sports channels in their tier. I just hope North Dakota does very well in their few games on CBSSN, because they will be extremely important to recruiting. As far as all this HD stuff that people are bragging to folks about regarding MidCo, my cable system here in Kansas has high school, and junior college football games on in HD and the coverage is far superior to MidCo.

You covered several different topics all of the responsibility for improving those things falls on different people. First, the streaming of the games this weekend is hosted by a different company than what hosts the hockey games. America One Sports hosts WatchBigSky, which includes UND football, basketball and volleyball. I place the blame on America One (formerly b2) for not providing the highest quality feed possible. If the Big Sky Conference hasn't purchased a package which allows for HD streaming, then that is on them.

As for the coaches show causing delays, I can tell that Midco has upgraded their production quality. The stream I of the weekly show was streaming at 3,000 kbps and looked like a low level HD show. It was much crisper than shows in the past and even played nicely via wireless on a laptop from 2008. I'd like to think had I taken the effort to plug in an ethernet cable on my newer computer that it would have looked even nicer. Now, I imagine there aren't a lot of people streaming videos at 7:40 on a sunday evening and that there will be thousands of people accessing the stream during gameday. If there are issues with that, then that falls on Neulion the service provider. As with any sports broadcast hosting site like Neulion or America One, the school sends just one feed to the company. The company is then responsible for hosting all of the traffic. Jayson Hadju has assured us that when hockey seasons rolls around there will be adequate resources to stream the video to all of the viewers. Until I see otherwise, I'm going to trust Jayson and UND that they're taking the necessary steps.

You're likely never going to be able to watch flash videos on Apple products, just the way Steve Jobs wanted it. I'm dumbfounded why Neulion has not updated their servers to allow for the videos to be converted to a non-flash based format for easy playing on iOs devices. America One broadcasts can be watched on iOs devices so it's confusing why Neulion has not followed suit.

Give the NCHC a call regarding your point about the lack of UND hockey broadcasts affecting recruiting. That was the conference's decision not UND's. Bring that issue up with them. On a side note, I live eight hours from the nearest Big 10 team and yet their HD sports package is listed right next to ESPN. So is NBCSN, and the Pac12 network. Having a channel with standard def games on FCS a couple hundred numbers away isn't going to entice a whole lot of athletes. Midco has made the jump to HD and is working to permanently get on a sports tier with Dish and Directv. That never would have been an option with the previous setup. Had FSSN remained the broadcast program instead of Midco we would still have the exact same issues we have now. Except that fewer people would be able to watch the games. And they would all be in SD.

I agree with your point about the production quality being pretty bad this year for Midco. It surprises me because they were starting to get things together at the end of last year. A majority of the crew that operates the Midco games also worked for FSSN. Saturday was the first HD game for the crew so I'm guessing the new truck is going to take some getting used to. Fortunately, they will have a couple football games before hockey starts so they can work on the new equipment they're dealing with. If this lackluster quality of coverage continues, I would be concerned if I were UND.

[southpaw]

and most of those fans are not fans of the entire athletic program.

Neither are most "UND" fans...

[Goon]

Midco has made the jump to HD and is working to permanently get on a sports tier with Dish and Directv.

I was told by Midco this summer, that they have no intention of putting Midco Sports Network on DirecTV. Their quote was, we want to market the product to our users in the regional area. I told the person on the phone that you don't realize the shortsightedness of that comment. So, I going to doubt that...

Edited September 9, 2013 by Goon

[southpaw]

I was told by Midco this summer, that they have no intention of putting Midco Sports Network on DirecTV. Their quote was, we want to market the product to our users in the regional area. I told the person on the phone that you don't realize the shortsightedness of that comment. So, I going to doubt that...

And I spoke with a Midco rep who told me they have approached both Directv and Dish about being added. That was six months ago so things may have changed but I agree that would be shortsighted.

[Goon]

And I spoke with a Midco rep who told me they have approached both Directv and Dish about being added. That was six months ago so things may have changed but I agree that would be shortsighted.

This was a month and a half go. This person I talked to, didn't seem to grasp the concept that probably up about half of UND's fan base "isn't" in the regional area. I know what your saying though. There's going crap storm in about a month and a half when UND's fans cant watch the home games on the FCS or on DirecTV.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Goon