Ahh, this is where it becomes a sticky situation. We have, for a while now, provided b2 with a copy of our feed. When we are at games, we have a full production crew, usually 10 to 15 people (this weekend we will be lucky to get 7 or 8, and even then some of us are driving 3.5 hours to be there), where as B2 shipped RPI a computer and some instructions on how to plug it in to the wall.
For a lot of the mens home games what you see on B2 is actually RPI TV. When RPI Athletics signed the first contract, RPI TV had no means of streaming ourselves, and we were happy to work with them as it was really the only option for us or athletics. One thing to note is that it only covered Men's Hockey and football. To the best of our knowledge, it did not contain anything that made it exclusive either.
The original contract was for three years, and expired in 2009, at which point they penned a new contract that covered all sports ("RPI Athletics to offer extended coverage") and did contain an 'exclusivity clause.' The real kicker is that they never discussed this with us before they signed it, even though we had just gotten several thousand dollars in funding to setup our own streaming solution.
After a bit of, perhaps 'heavy handed finagling' I was able to meet with 'somebody' from RPI Legal Counsel and get a review of the contract with the goal of getting it modified or rewritten to remove the exclusivity granted to b2. The contract does allow for this, for both an exception, or for RPI to decide to cancel it at any time it would be 'convenient' for them to. The stumbling block we have run into with them though is that they seem, for an unknown reason, to 'really love B2 and the service they provide,' and are not willing to push B2 for an exception for us. I do think that having a partnership with B2 is good, as it enabled them to cover games that we are unable to be at (even though with a bit of up front work and investment, we could provide a better solution at higher quality with
less work for them for games we can't have our crew at). But for the games that we are there, which are usually the games that are the most popular and in demand, we are not able to provide our superior and cheaper streaming solution. I think they are under the impression that everybody is super happy with the service the B2 provides, and they are unwilling to jeopardize that. I think if they knew how disappointed most fans actually are, they would reconsider pushing for contract modification.
We have continued to provide the feed that we put tremendous effort into to B2 because, even though the compression quality and streaming is very poor, it is still far superior to what it would be as just a single coaches camera. We do this as it is in the best interest of fans, even though we are under no obligation to.
So there you have it. That is the whole B2(/A1) issue in a nut shell (I am not longer an officer of RPITV, therefore my views do not officially represent the views of RPI TV as a whole...aka I can say what I want
).
Any other questions, feel free to ask
.
So, feel free to send your comments to Kevin Beattie and Jim Knowlton (emails available at
http://www.rpiathletics.com/staff.aspx? also feel free to CC or BCC
rpitv@union.rpi.edu and
mackek2@rpi.edu as I don't get rpitv emails anymore..). Tell them how poor quality b2 is. Let them know how often the stream cuts out, or audio isn't working. Tell them you wish it were easy to watch it on linux. Heck, tell them you wish it was easy to watch with any computer. Tell them you would like to see a solution where you could easily watch it on your tv without a computer (I have a solution that would only require a tiny little $60 box). Tell them you would like to watch it from your smart phone, or ipad or other devices. Tell them you think RPI TV can do a better job, and that you would rather send your money to us and athletics instead of b2.
