Archive for Streaming

The live-stream app Meerkat went live on the Android market today. It’s still in Beta form, so things may not be perfect just yet, however as TechGraphs overlord David Temple explained over a month ago, Meerkat — and Periscope — both offer a new way to broadcast video.

Meerkat’s rules page doesn’t clearly define what you can or can’t stream as it is more of an outline of features.

Once you jump into the legal area of their terms of use one can see the company strictly prohibits broadcasting copyrighted material — as do the content creators. HBO has already sent out takedown notices to people streaming the new Game of Thrones season via Meerkat, though perhaps the company is in the takedown notice mood. Other creative minds have gone the opposite way and are embracing Meerkat. Entertainers such as Jimmy Fallon, Snoop Dogg and Jim Gaffigan are sprinkled among Meerkat’s leader-board in order for them to be easily found. If you are so inclined to follow them on Meerkat, expect a push notification when they begin a new broadcast.

Within each cast there is a chat room for interaction between viewers and the broadcaster. One of the pillars of Meerkat is the ability to cast in the here and now, however the company has also added ability to schedule a future broadcast. The quality of the available casts seems to be dependent on the the strength of the caster’s internet connection. In my brief experiences those doing in an office or home setting have had a quality better than Vines — even with their new 720p broadcasts — however what I assumed to be 4G/LTE connections stuttered and froze from to time. Part of it could be the app is still in Beta or it could be that the heavy bandwidth required to stream is too taxing on user’s non-WiFi networks.

These are urky broadcasting rights waters we’ve waded into. From takedown notices, muted streams on Twitch.tv due to music rights to being wary of narcs taking you down in person for an illegally stream boxing match, the gap between producers and end-users appears to be widening.

(Header image via Meerkat)

The landscape of television programming availability is constantly shifting. Though some networks and cable providers have been giving end users a difficult time, NBC is shifting more freedom towards their cable subscribers. The broadcast giant has now made their NBC Sports Live Extra app available on both AppleTV and Roku boxes, allowing those with qualified cable plans to view NBC covered sports ranging from the PGA Tour to English Premier League action.

Allison Moore, general manager and executive vice-president of TV Everywhere (NBC Universal) was quoted:

“This launch demonstrates NBC Sports’ ongoing commitment to provide added value to loyal fans who can now have more access to the live sporting events they love. Customers love our Apps on iPhone and iPad and we can’t wait for them to experience what we can offer on Apple TV.”

On the Roku side of things, Moore went on to say:

“As we have seen with the success of the NFL and the Olympic Games, real-time sports programming with a cross-device reach is a crown jewel in NBCUniversal’s ever-expanding TV Everywhere initiative.”

While these moves fail to address cord cutters, at least a major content provider is paying attention to the desires of their existing customers. It may not bring anyone who has already parted ways with their cable bill, but it just might keep a few more sports fans in the NBC fold. With other traditional content companies attempting to embrace new broadcast media, namely Cablevision’s recent partnerships with Hulu and HBO Now, it appears as though the old dogs are trying to learn new tricks.

(Header image via Roku)

The NFL has been gracious enough to stream the draft itself for the past few years and 2015 is no different. The stream for the draft is an NFL.com exclusive and they are boasting a record setting 53 hours of coverage between April 30 – May 2, though not all of their content is available online. Owners of an XBox One can access the draft through the app, however authentication is required. On the NFL Youtube channel, the first round picks will be uploaded, but if you’re looking for more information before the first pick is announced, there is no shortage of other sources.

For standard coverage such as pre-draft boards and predictions, the normal Sports Illustrated, Fox, ESPN, Yahoo! and CBS sites do the job, however for someone who is looking to put something on in the background, 120 Sports is the place to go. We’ve taken a look at 120 Sports in the past, however they warrant another go with their impressive schedule of events. The 120 Sports site is already indexed with videos of player information, evaluations and look-ins. Their full press release can be found here, though the following are some of the highlights.

– Beginning on Sunday, April 26 a mock draft sets the tone for the rest of the week as the four-hour event will have insight from former players, scouts and experts.

– The next event isn’t until Wednesday, April 28, however it should be worth the wait as at least five NFL prospects will have exclusive interviews. Some of the scheduled interviews are projected first-rounder Dorial Green-Beckham as well as Ameer Abdullah and Devin Gardner.

– Once the actual draft kicks off, 120 Sports continues to offer programming as a second screen to the NFL.com broadcast. Pre-draft as well as backstage interviews with players are on the docket throughout the three day event as are fan interviews.

Available on mobile for iOS and AppleTV as well as Android and Chromecast, 120 Sports offers plenty of ways to stay up to date on the draft for those without a cable subscription. Seeing such an extensive amount of programming from a non-TV entity is perfect for cable cutters. Hopefully they’ll do the same with the upcoming MLB draft.

HBO, despite attempts to draw a larger consumer base via the still-new HBO Now streaming platform, seem set on alienating some of those very same new consumers. As stated in the terms of service, HBO NOW is available and designed strictly for United States residents, though numerous Canadians, European countries and Australia have circumvented the geo-locking HBO has placed on their product. At least until a few days ago, when The Sydney Morning Herald reported receiving emails from HBO warning of the potential for service to be cut off as soon as tomorrow. Rather than get payment in exchange for a service — a pretty basic concept — HBO seems to prefer receiving nothing.

From the above link, the following is an email sent to an Australian HBO Now user:

Using a virtual private network (VPN) to trick the HBO NOW service into believing the the customer is located within the U.S. is apparently akin to pirating. If HBO is threatening to punish people who already pay for their service, it is curious to see them complain about online leaks when they take away a viable option for people to lawfully watch their shows.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Netflix, who also has strict terms of service regarding location, but is yet to actively target consumers. The streaming giant did limit the mobile — specifically Android — based geo-locking tricks, however Netflix spokesman Cliff Edwards said as long as the consumer can be verified in the correct location, they company will not block legitimate VPN usage. In an email Edwards wrote “There’s been no change to our VPN policy.” In a separate appearance, Edwards claimed “Detecting VPN usage is like playing a game of whack-a-mole.By their very nature, it’s difficult to tell how many people are bypassing geofilters.”

HBO NOW’s launch was disappointing even before this with their initial exclusive Apple partnership, but to see them go after paying customers, despite being out of the country, is shocking. If a foreign cord cutter isn’t allowed to pay for the standalone HBO programming, only one option remains and it involves the consumer getting what they want with HBO receiving zero payment.

(Image via HBO)

Major League Baseball’s MLB.TV is the longest running streaming sports platform of its kind. The mobile version, MLB At-Bat has been tasked with keeping up with new versions of Windows, Macs, and most types of mobile operating systems (sorry Windows Mobile users). It is no easy feat and MLB Advanced Media deserves some recognition. The streaming service has had its flaws, but MLBAM just sent out an update to their apps, including compatibility with the upcoming Apple Watch. Released yesterday, MLBAM was gracious enough to give a free two day trial on the Android, Fire OS, iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch platforms. No signup or auto-renewing fee, just a simple choice of which game(s) you’d like to watch.

The features new to this year’s version are things such as pre-game lineup notifications — strictly on the iPhone for now though — which is great for daily fantasy players, as well as a much needed revamp of the Android and Fire widgets. The full list of updates and additions can be found directly on the MLB website, however another feature worth highlighting is for 7-inch Android or Fire tablet owners being able to feature your favorite team. By selecting a specific club the app will showcase scores, news and video. If any of you are fans of multiple teams, the condensed game option is also available during the trial so you can catch up on each game’s signature events.

For those on the fence about purchasing MLB.TV for the first time — or even renewing it as last season there were major bugs early on — this is the perfect opportunity to preview the system at no charge. Each operating system’s apps are compatible with Google’s Chromecast,  Amazon’s FireTV and Fire Stick for straight forward broadcasts from your device to the television. With 24 games to choose from and zero sign up required, watching live baseball has never been easier.

(Header image via MLB)

It should be no surprise to hear online viewing is on the rise, but just how dramatically it has risen is another matter. According to the latest Global Web Index poll — where it sampled 16-64 year-olds in 32 different countries — 55% of sports fans watched a sporting event online (a clarification email went unanswered when the question regarding Roku boxes and like counting for broadcast, online or both).

The ESPN network and self-proclaimed “World-Wide Leader in Sports” did just that, with 30% of the polled users saying they watched a sport on ESPN3/WatchESPN. The second place Eurosport grabbed 18% of the online market. Of the previously mentioned 55% of online watchers, half of them tuned in using a laptop or computer. One in three used a mobile phone and one in five caught sports action on their tablets. In addition to ESPN’s stream viewing, their website also led the way with 20% of sports traffic heading their way on computers, 13% via mobile phone and was tied with Eurosport at 10% on tablets.

Despite the growth, standard television broadcasts still dominate the viewing market. The polled field averaged almost an hour per day of streamed content — not just sports — whereas they stated watching 2.78 hours of TV broadcasts. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that 18% of sports fans are now paying for online streams. The popularity of streaming platforms such as MLB.TV and Fox Soccer 2Go et al has certainly played a significant role in the rise of paid subscriptions and keep in mind this chart does not display some of the incredible viewing numbers esports attracts.

(Source and graphic via GWI)
(Header image via Twitter)

After getting a sneak peek at Sling TV back in January at CES, many people were excited for the potential it held. At the time is was an invite-only system and only five major network channels signed up — ESPN, Food Network, TNT, TBS and CNN — but now the system is live and now has even more channels.

There is a free seven day trial period to test both the opening price point of $20 per month for the “Best of Live TV” service out on its own or even the add-on packages. The previously listed channels plus ESPN2, Adult Swim and the Disney Channel are available for the opening price point, but the extra channels include even more options.

The three channel lineups for an additional $5 each on top of the normal $20 monthly cost from Sling are Sports Extra, News & Info Extra and Kids Extra, with the channels on each shown below.

After putting in your information to register, Sling shows you a welcome screen as well as listing the service compatibility. CES had a running version of Sling on an Xbox, but the picture below is accurate in saying it isn’t available just yet. The Android app is available, but it will have to be side-loaded. The computer version of Sling works quite well and hopefully the mobile will soon be on par with it.

Sling shows channel category options in the form of an “All Channels” sidebar and once a selection is made, upcoming programs are shown along with their start times on that particular channel.

The quality of the broadcasts is up to the consumer, allowing you to select how much bandwidth and thus what the video looks like. On the highest setting neither the video or audio ever stuttered, however the quality seemed to move from the 1080p to about 480p despite my WiFi signal remaining constant.

For cord cutters, Sling TV is about the best option around for live entertainment. If you’re on the fence, I strongly suggest taking advantage of the seven day trial to experience it firsthand.

GoPro will launch a channel for Roku box owners this spring, displaying content specifically from GoPro users. This expands the partnership GoPro already has in place for content viewing with Xbox, Virgin America and LG to bring streaming content to users.

Roku, who has already sold over 10 million devices as of September 2014, has set the pace with streaming channels at over 1,800. The GoPro channel will include featured content, crowd favorites as well as the option of finding out which version of camera took the footage. Much of the content will be user created, says Adam Dornbusch, Head of Programming at GoPro:

“GoPro content is unique in that it emotionally resonates with a global audience. The GoPro channel will make it simple for Roku customers to watch GoPro originally-produced and “best of” user-generated content on their televisions at home. We are excited to bring the world of GoPro to Roku customers as they are one of the most engaged customer bases when it comes to the amount of streaming content they view.”

With programs already in place ranging from news, sports, music, education and more, Roku’s expansion into the world of user generated content makes sense. Given the growth of GoPro over the years — for both professionals and amateurs alike — and the reach of Roku, this partnership should continue the expansion of both companies as well as benefiting customers with more entertainment options. What a time we live in for someone to film themselves with a GoPro while flying a drone modeled after the Millennium Falcon.

(Header image courtesy of the GoPro Facebook page)

In another step in the right direction for cord cutters, 120 Sports, the company that launched live streaming sports news, analysis and previews has expanded from mobile versions to include AppleTV. Supported by Sports Illustrated and working with MLB, NHL, PGA, NBA, NASCAR as well as a slew of college conferences, 120 Sports is a free service for sports fans without cable packages.

While the AppleTV compatibility is new, both iOS and Android versions have been available for over six months. The company boasts 10+ hours of live sports coverage every day, starting at 8 am eastern. On the app versions you can search for popular previous broadcasts via the Catch-Up hub or go to the Trending section to see what is on the rise, though to follow a specific player or team you’ll have to be using the app, not the AppleTV version.

With an indexed and searchable on-demand system, 120 Sports offers a ton to consumers. The ability to follow specific teams, leagues or even national teams is a great feature as well.

A slight knock on the app is that if a team, Queens Park Rangers for example, may not be popular enough, it isn’t even searchable. Clubs such as Arsenal, Man City and United and others are all searchable and able to be followed, but it appears as though only the big teams can be found.

It doesn’t need a login for the website version, however it does utilize your Google Play or App Store email for the mobile versions. Despite lacking live sports events, the highlights from 120 Sports alone make it well worth the download. Seeing the expansion to the television sets instead of mobile only is great progress as well.

As the reach of streaming services continues to grow ever further, the competition to offer streaming options increases — from Amazon-owned Twitch.TV to MLG.TV, YouTube, or even Azubu.TV. Now, Dailymotion is throwing its hat into the ring. With the announcement of Dailymotion Games, the new platform aims to tap into the massive professional and casual stream market.

According to their press release, gaming content already accounts for 180 million video views per month on Dailymotion as well as 11 million unique viewers monthly. The latest addition to the esports streaming scene offers a similar function to existing services including a chat box, user-controlled commercial breaks and an app for both iOS and Android is already available. The official website still says the product is in Beta, however hundreds of channels are already live and ready to be watched.

For doubters questioning if someone can make a living merely streaming a game, Winter, a teamless player who primarily streams StarCraft II, recently answered this on Reddit. He cites a $60,000 income in 2014 — between ad revenue from his stream plus donations — before taxes are accounted for. Given that he does not compete at the professional level and has won a mere $600 in prize money from competitive tournaments in his career, his stream generates more than a livable wage.

Considering the fact StarCraft II is, at best, the fifth most watched game behind League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Hearthstone, clearly streaming services and those who use it will be constantly searching for the best platform. It remains to be seen if Dailymotion can knock Twitch off of their pedestal as the leader of streaming services, though more competition can only be a good thing.