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New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

rustedblades said:
Well, the season is drawing to a close and I believe the WCHA has failed again in it's attempts to broadcast WCHA hockey. I can't say it is worse than last year but it certianly is not any better. I watched the Bemidji / MTU game last night and it buffered every couple of minutes. I had to refresh numerous times throughout because the broadcast didn't restart after 30s or more. I just tried the same broadcast on demand and it does the same thing. Many have suggested that it has to do with the facility that is pumping out the broadcast. I would agree if it was just during the live version. I believe once it goes on demand it is all on Stretch Internet. I tried a couple of on demand BTN2GO hockey broadcasts just to compare and there is no comparison. No buffering, HD quality, awesome!
If I had to grade Stretch Internet and WCHA TV I would give them a D compared to other products I have watched this year. Just so nobody says it may be on my end, my download load speed as measured by Speedtest.net exceeds 50mbps.
As I have stated numerous times in the past, on several different forums, there are a lot of WCHA hockey fans that would love to watch the games but aren't going to spend the money for this inferior product. Many have watched once, gotten frustrated and never been back.
Cheap is not the way to go if you are serious about your product. Maybe they need to copy what the BIG boys do. I would pay a little more for a reliable product, but will struggle buying a season package next year if Stretch is involved.
I have emailed the WCHA again this year about my feelings. Like last year I have gotten no response.
Click to expand...

Interesting, there have been some hiccups this year, and I did not watch on WCHA.tv last night because I was at the game, it would seem very odd that anything BSU did would be the problem since they put on the best TV broadcast of anyone in the league through Lakeland TV. I have not experienced anything like you did last night at any point this season. I do agree that the price for a normal paying customer is ridiculous for the overall product provided but personally I have been happy this year overall because I got a media discount and its been pretty easy to watch on my tv via apple tv. It has its quirks of not transitioning between games very easily when using an apple device, but I can't complain much because I didn't pay that much compared to others. Their game pass price and other things are just out of whack with reality. The biggest problem with everything is not really knowing if the issues are Stretch or the mistakes at the universities in question. But if the on demand of last night's game at BSU is corrupted, that seems to be a problem in how the on demand game is created, and a terrible flaw. I don't know what to say because to me it feels like this might be the best product they've had so far...which after last year's debacle isn't saying much.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

Shirtless Guy said:
Interesting, there have been some hiccups this year, and I did not watch on WCHA.tv last night because I was at the game, it would seem very odd that anything BSU did would be the problem since they put on the best TV broadcast of anyone in the league through Lakeland TV. I have not experienced anything like you did last night at any point this season. I do agree that the price for a normal paying customer is ridiculous for the overall product provided but personally I have been happy this year overall because I got a media discount and its been pretty easy to watch on my tv via apple tv. It has its quirks of not transitioning between games very easily when using an apple device, but I can't complain much because I didn't pay that much compared to others. Their game pass price and other things are just out of whack with reality. The biggest problem with everything is not really knowing if the issues are Stretch or the mistakes at the universities in question. But if the on demand of last night's game at BSU is corrupted, that seems to be a problem in how the on demand game is created, and a terrible flaw. I don't know what to say because to me it feels like this might be the best product they've had so far...which after last year's debacle isn't saying much.
Click to expand...


If anyone has a chance to try the BSU vs MTU on demand game from last night or BGSU vs MTU from BGSU, I would be interested to know how they play. All are choppy and buffer for me.

I've also noticed that some of the audio timing is off on some of the on demand stuff.

Shirtless, glad to hear you've found it better, sure wish I could say the same.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

rustedblades said:
If anyone has a chance to try the BSU vs MTU on demand game from last night or BGSU vs MTU from BGSU, I would be interested to know how they play. All are choppy and buffer for me.

I've also noticed that some of the audio timing is off on some of the on demand stuff.

Shirtless, glad to hear you've found it better, sure wish I could say the same.
Click to expand...
If I get a chance j will try the on demand for Friday's game...
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

I would never subscribe to WCHATV. From all the grumblings I have heard about the product over the last few years, it sounds like it isn't worth it.
The WCHA league office has to take a serious look at changing to another provider. It sounds like a real mess.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

I had some great coverage from Marquette last night for most of the game, save for some choppiness in the 2nd that's no different that what I've seen with NHLGCL. That said, a friend over in Huntsville was trying to show the games at his bakery and was having an awful time of it — just unwatchable. Something is afoot with CDNs and such, which, yes, is a sign that you go to another provider. Why there aren't CDNs localized around the 10 member institutions is beyond me.

GFM
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

It is clear what the new WCHA is doing in its approach to streaming: It is marketing to parents and family of players by running a streaming service on a shoestring budget and banking any supposed "profits" it makes. It is certainly not marketing to the discerning college hockey fan nor competing with other conferences or options for cable-less TV programming consumer.

I was talking to a woman in a DC coffee shop and she told me her son plays for a junior league in Florida. She said she watched every game online. Sure, the broadcast quality of the streams leaves a lot to be desired, but this market doesn't care. They just care about seeing little Johnny on TV so they can tell him they watched the game the other night. They'll pay the $140 or whatever for a year pass.

On the other hand, you have discerning college hockey fans and cable cutting TV programming consumers. We know prices are completely out of whack with the actual quality of the product. If I paid $140 for WCHA.TV sight unseen and I couldn't get a refund, I would be outraged. And the $10 daily pass is still expensive as well, it doesn't nearly take advantage of the robust (IMO) on-demand and replay market. This is one reason why I like BTN 2 Go, they provide high quality replays sans commercials. I don't have to rush home to watch a game, I can go on with my life and watch the game the next morning or afternoon. Or perhaps days later.

WCHA.tv doesn't like this either, it prominently places scores and twitter feeds (providing spoilers) next to broadcasts when you first start streaming a replay. Very unfortunate. Unfortunately for the new WCHA (and its fans), there are so many free ways to watch college hockey now, even if some do include illicit streaming. Why pay $10 or $140 for a crap product when you can get a "good" value for almost free?
 
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Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

gfmorris said:
I had some great coverage from Marquette last night for most of the game, save for some choppiness in the 2nd that's no different that what I've seen with NHLGCL. That said, a friend over in Huntsville was trying to show the games at his bakery and was having an awful time of it — just unwatchable. Something is afoot with CDNs and such, which, yes, is a sign that you go to another provider. Why there aren't CDNs localized around the 10 member institutions is beyond me.

GFM
Click to expand...

What is a CDN?
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

Dirty Dream No. 2 said:
What is a CDN?
Click to expand...

Content Delivery Networks take the data from the source server (i.e., the server at Stretch that receives the stream from the arenas) and re-distribute it to customers. Rather than all of us trying to get data off of one server (or bank of servers) at Stretch's headquarters, they farm the data out to CDNs, who are presumably closer to the customer and can push the data out over smaller distances. It's a way to distribute the load. As an example, Netflix has CDNs pre-positioned around the major Internet nodes all over the place, especially those of the big Internet providers.

Since I've seen people have varying degrees of luck, I think that the issues are likely two-fold:

1. Not everyone is pushing out a high-quality stream from their arenas. I know that UAH isn't because of resource availability at our city-owned rink. This gap has closed this year, but not entirely.
2. Not every CDN is of the same quality. I would be interested to see which CDN I was seeing v. which one my friend was seeing. I know that we are on different ISPs, and CDN deals vary from provider to provider.

GFM
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

gfmorris said:
Content Delivery Networks take the data from the source server (i.e., the server at Stretch that receives the stream from the arenas) and re-distribute it to customers. Rather than all of us trying to get data off of one server (or bank of servers) at Stretch's headquarters, they farm the data out to CDNs, who are presumably closer to the customer and can push the data out over smaller distances. It's a way to distribute the load. As an example, Netflix has CDNs pre-positioned around the major Internet nodes all over the place, especially those of the big Internet providers.

Since I've seen people have varying degrees of luck, I think that the issues are likely two-fold:

1. Not everyone is pushing out a high-quality stream from their arenas. I know that UAH isn't because of resource availability at our city-owned rink. This gap has closed this year, but not entirely.
2. Not every CDN is of the same quality. I would be interested to see which CDN I was seeing v. which one my friend was seeing. I know that we are on different ISPs, and CDN deals vary from provider to provider.

GFM
Click to expand...
It would amaze me if BSU home games would be a problem for #1 on your list...they have the best production in the conference.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

Watching Northern vs Huntsville perfect so far. We'll see how BSU vs MTU is tonight. Hopefully better broadcast and better game for MTU.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

Well watching BSU vs MTU; some buffering again. Less than last night but still frustrating.
65mbps download on my end.
At least MTU is playing better
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

Watching BGSU at Alaska and the broadcast froze at the end of the second intermission. Started buffering and eventually just showed a message saying "Please Wait." Closed the browser. Signed out. Nothing seemed to work. Suddenly, it started playing from the beginning of the broadcast. Click the time bar at the bottom to get to the end, and it pops up a button saying "Play Again?" Click on Live Events and only the LSSU at UAA game is available. Click ON DEMAND, and there's the BG at Alaska game. Someone frigging archived the game before it was over. Missed the entire third period.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

I tried to watch the BSU vs Tech Saturday game this morning on demand and it was unwatchable. It was a choppy mess. Worse yet, it didn't just delay the video but it skipped over those parts so the play freezes in the D-zone, then you get a still image in the neutral zone and when the video comes back on and there has already been a shot on goal. I tried to skip ahead in the game and it takes you back to the the start.

There were eleven goals in the game and they posted 8 highlight clips of 30 seconds each, most of which started after the goal was scored and showed you a replay rather than the live action leading up to the goal. Even at thirty seconds in length they couldn't be viewed without chippy video. Last year I wrote enough complaints that they eventually refunded half of the cost. This year I've received nothing but form letters and excuses in reply. "Sorry we can't reproduce the issue you mentioned (they don't even mention what the issue was)..." No refunds of any kind have been provided. And the only thing that is "HD" about any part of this product is that the picture is rectangular shaped. I have not seen one second of game play in two seasons that was anything close to what the rest of the world would consider to be an HD feed.

I've spent my last dollar on WCHA.TV until I start reading reviews about how great the service is and how much it has improved over past seasons. For what they charge I might as well just do another road trip each year and watch the highlights on the teams' websites each week. If that makes me a "bad fan" for not wanting to watch my team every week by any means possible... oh well. Viewing a bunch of grainy, choppy video feeds isn't considered watching my team anyway.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice... I'm done.
Ryan J
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

Class Action Time! Disgruntled WCHA TV fans unite!
Must say though I had a little buffering of BSU vs MTU last night but nothing like Friday; never had to refresh. I will try the on demand version within the next day or so.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

I've had a different experience than some of the recent posters. Sure WCHA.tv has taken a small step backwards this year, but it hasn't been bad overall and I would pay again next year.

I watch the games on the 42" TV via an HDMI cable. Bemidji is probably the best feed and this weekend MTU at BSU I watched Friday night live, and Saturday night at about 10:30PM when the on demand was posted. No issues either game, good quality feed, no buffering (haven't had buffering all year that I can remember) and on Saturday I could easily jump through the TV timeouts and intermissions to watch the game on demand in quick fashion.

My only two gripes are the posting time of On Demand as in the past with other providers it was pretty quick, there have been some length delays in posting. To WCHA.TV's credit, each time I've contacted support at about 10PM ish they email back really quick and given an update on if it's processing for On Demand posting or whatever. I've always been able to watch the game the same night it aired.

My other complaint is the posting of final scores next to the On Demand video providing obvious spoilers for someone that just wants to watch the game.

I do wish we could pause live streams like we used to be able to do last year.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

I couldn't justify the full season WCHA tv deal, but did the half season deal in Dec. One of the first archived games I tried to watch was UAH vs CC, and I think that one stops 20 minutes early too - or it did. Our oldest is off to college in the fall, and if our tuition money goes to a wcha school, I'll probably do it again. Otherwise, it's off to nchc to watch the alma mater. Much more fun for me to see UAH, Ferris, LSSU,etc., than most of the rest of NCHC, but I'm basically frugal and this deal rankles.
 
Re: New WCHA TV - Will it be better then the last

The quality of streaming is certainly not perfect and at times it is unwatchable, but really most of the time it's ok. I think if the league had another option it would have been exercised by now. I do hope they continue to work to make it better, and I'll continue to watch and I think my subscription has been worth it for sure. I really enjoyed watching some of the games that otherwise I'd never go out of my way to see.
 
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