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Archives for January 2012

Comcast Sportsnet Northwest to Stream Trail Blazers Games

January 3, 2012 by

The deal will give fans multiple on-line options

The Portland Trail Blazers have expanded their broadcast reach with a deal with partner Comcast Sportsnet Northwest that will enable fans in remote areas of the team’s NBA-approved area to now have the option to pay to get streaming live video of games in areas that Comcast does not broadcast.

The deal involves the NBA, the Portland Trail Blazers and Comcast and will permit the cable company to have a pay-per-view streaming option for fans that are in the parts of the state that Comcast does not have broadcast rights.

The deal, which is free for a trial period that runs from Jan. 1 to Jan.11 after which CSN games will be $2.99 a game or $69.99 for the season. The team has also been streaming the games that have been broadcast by partner KGW/Channel 8 last year and has continued this year. Each game is available for $2.99.

Comcast has had some difficulty in getting some TV providers in the territory to carry its broadcasts including DirecTV, Dish Network and Charter Communications. This will now enable fans in those areas to watch games.

Fans outside of the territory have the option of subscribing to the NBA League Pass that provides TV and streaming access as well as mobile for $169. The league also offers mobile only and streaming only options.

Aside from Portland the Philadelphia 76ers and the Chicago Bulls also stream cable games for their fans. I expect that this will be a tool that other teams will use to fill in gaps in their broadcast map going forward.

Filed Under: Comcast, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NBA Tagged With: , ,

Urban Meyer: No Twitter for Ohio State Players (Update: Or Maybe Not?)

January 3, 2012 by

DOUBLE SECRET UPDATE: So was USA Today incorrect? Several media outlets (and one observant commenter, below) have now chimed in saying the Twitter ban never happened. Can we get some real reporters in Ohio please?

Our guess — Meyer probably said something like “no Twittering during this meeting.” How is it possible that nobody on the scene ever actually asked Meyer or OSU if there was an official Twitter ban? Guess it is offseason for more than just the players.

In a move sure to clinch the Big Ten championship, new head coach Urban Meyer has banned players at Ohio State from using Twitter. According to USA Today, Meyer made the announcement as part of his formal I’m-here press conference. While the effect of the ban may never fully be understood, without a doubt this is just the first in what Mobile Sports Report expects to be a year full of interesting actions involving players and social media.

The ban was confirmed, ironically, on Twitter by a Buckeyes player, Reid Fragel:

New staff new rules. No more twitter, not a big deal and probably for the better. Love our fans, love this place. Go Bucks #2012

January 3, 2012 11:05 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@Fragel88

Reid Fragel

The big question seems to be, who owns the online persona of a player or team employee — the actual human, or the entity who writes the paycheck (or supplies the scholarship)? In the Ohio State case it may just be that Meyer wants to batten down the media hatches but if you extend this kind of thinking further out to the professional realm (where some stars are already reaping extra income from their tweets) it’s probably not too long before we start hearing of contract terms or broadcast rights that include players’ Twitter posts.

Wonder if our friends at places like Public Knowledge have a take on whether or not such a move violates free-speech rights. We’re reasonably sure that the folks at Twitter are not amused. Our guess is that this battle is just starting.

UPDATE: Jason McIntyre over at Big Lead Sports supports Meyer’s move, in part by reasoning that college kids aren’t ready to handle new media. Not sure I agree, but here is his take and the money quote:

I applaud the move by Meyer. College kids who are 18-21 years old are going to make mistakes online. Not all of them can be as bright and articulate and witty as Jared Sullinger (also, it’s significantly easier to keep tabs on 13 college basketball players as opposed to 85 football players).

Hundreds of writers will follow the OSU football players, and anything remotely controversial will blow up into a story. Why deal with those headaches? What, exactly, can the program possibly gain from letting these kids use twitter? If they want to learn how to use social media, do it without all the eyeballs … after leaving school. Then the players’ screw-ups online aren’t OSU/Urban Meyer problems.

At this juncture I would say I disagree — I think hearing about the life from the player’s point of view is interesting, and adults aren’t any smarter about using Twitter than 18-year-olds. If that makes life harder for Meyer, so be it. That’s what the big bucks are for.

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, NCAA Football, Twitter Tagged With: , ,

No Chrome Browser for Mac Users Watching NBC Online

January 2, 2012 by

We are as excited as anyone about the launch today of NBC’s new all-sports network but if you want to watch the NHL Classic outdoor game on your Mac computer, you won’t be able to use Google’s Chrome browser according to an error message generated by the NBC site.

Since you probably already have either Firefox or Safari loaded somewhere on your machine it’s probably not a big deal but if you are experiencing difficulties, Mac fans, this is why. We will be watching some online to see how the multiple camera-angle things and DVR functionality work out. Let us know your impressions of NBC’s online efforts in the comments below during and after the game.

UPDATE: Watched a little bit of the game — the different camera angle thing was fun but wow, NBC, couldn’t you wait with the pop up ads? Two in just two minutes of watching. Plus, I thought the Twitter challenge and social-media window on the right wasn’t prominent enough to stand out. Think the whole thing needs a full-screen revisit before the Super Bowl.

Filed Under: Live Sports Video Consumption, NBC Sports, NHL Tagged With: , , , , ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Kindle Sales Still Burn Bright

January 2, 2012 by

Tablets the tops for Small and Medium businesses
According to market research firm NPD Group, the demand for tablets is expected to grow in the small and medium business market, which is companies with less than 1,000 employees, over the next year with Apple’s iPad leading as the most popular tablet choice.

According to the group’s SMB Technology Monitor for the third quarter 73% of respondents said that they intend to purchase a tablet in the next 12 months, up from 68% in the second quarter survey. 90% said that they plan to spend the same or more than in the previous year.

The largest firms, 501 to 999 employees, in the survey are the most likely to purchase tablets, with 89% indicating intent to purchase while in the smallest group, under 50 employees, only 54% expect to buy.

Amazon reports Kindle sales still sizzling
Amazon reported that it sold over 1 million Kindles each week of December, making it a very happy holiday for the on-line retailer. While other tablet manufacturers have struggled to gain traction in a market that has been dominated by Apple and its iPad since its introduction, Kindle has been a nice exception.

Amazon said that since the introduction of the Kindle Fire it has been the top selling product on its site for 13 consecutive weeks. It should be noted that Apple is expected to sell 61% of all tablets in the quarter but Amazon is starting to make a dent in Apple’s overall market share.

Will the next generation Android OS work in my device?
Always a good question. At first it seemed (maybe just to me) that 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, would work on any existing Android device. ICS, built to work on both smartphones and tablets, will apparently not be backwardly compatible with all current devices. The people at International Business Times have gone to the trouble of listing many of the devices that will and will not be upgradeable.

Dell steps back into the Venture Capital market
Dell has returned to the venture capital market, its second effort in this space. During the heyday of the dot com boom and beyond Dell was an active investor with its Dell Ventures effort and reached over $1bn invested at one time. It started departing the space when it sold off the bulk of its portfolio in 2005 and then quietly exited afterwards.

Well now it is back with the formation of Dell Capital Ventures and has hired Northwest Venture Partners executive Jim Lussier as managing partner and Ingrid Vanderveldt, who has experience in founding and spinning off startups as the ‘entrepreneur in residence.”

The investment effort will focus on early stage companies and Dell has not indicated what type of funding the effort will initially receive. According to the Wall Street Journal Dell will seek to eventually establish the program as its own business unit inside the company with its own resources and budget.

Microsoft’s new mobility
Will 2011 be the year that is remembered as the time when Microsoft breaks the tether of its desktop software/Windows business and embraces mobility and a more flexible software development approach as eWeek posts? If so that would make for an interesting company- you have to wonder how many solid products have been killed over the years due to turf wars dominated by the Windows team.

Cnet chimes in with a list of 5 things to look for from Microsoft in 2012, and includes its Windows 8 tablets due to the company’s decision deliver its tile-based OS rather than the Windows interface users are accustomed to. The piece also expects an increase in litigation from Microsoft towards Google’s customers for its Android and Chrome software.

This week in lawsuits
An intellectual property firm claims that Apple could make $10 per device in royalties from the vast array of Android manufacturers if it dropped its lawsuits and went the licensing route. Just over the holidays there were nearly 4 million Android activations. But where is the fun in settling? Intel and AMD once spent over $1 bn in legal fees in their dispute over x 86 technologies.

Do nice phones finish last? Or do people just not want Microsoft phones?
Is Microsoft’s lack of an intimate relationship with carriers the reason the Windows handsets have not been flying off the shelves? Well that is the position put out by former Windows Phone General Manager Charlie Kindel in a blog posting. A few interesting takes on his comments here and here. If you feel like it you can find more comments on the posting.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Dell, iPad

Sunday Sermon: Jan. 1, 1986, the Greatest Bowl Game Day Ever

January 1, 2012 by

In honor of the new year I will tell a quick story of the greatest bowl-game TV viewing day ever: Jan. 1, 1986. Of course this is subjective and relates only to my own viewing experience, which was enhanced by my fellow football-watchers, the beverages and vittles and the perfect locale. And now thanks to the stupid revenue-seeking schedule that has the few meaningful bowl games spread out until February, it may never come this way again.

The locale may have been the best part of this supreme day; we were all at our friend Grant Gardner’s condo, since he was the first among all of us to get his own place. I think we had even crashed there after celebrating New Year’s Eve: The core crew that day was myself, my one year-older brother, Grant and my two high school running mates, Tom “Floyd” Pettett and Brian “The Tool” Bartsch. And all we did, all damn day long, was sit or slump on the collection of couches in the condo basement, and watch one game after another: Cotton, Fiesta, Rose, Sugar and Orange.

I don’t specifically remember the order of the games or caring that Oklahoma would be crowned national champion after its Orange Bowl victory over Penn State. What I do remember is grooming the hair of the dog by draining multiple aluminum cans of Old Style beer, the quaffing favorite of us Chicagoland types. By sometime about mid-Rose Bowl we were all practicing the “I’m empty” move of reverse-dunking the used-up can over the back of the main sofa, where it would crash into the pile of other dead soldiers that had preceded it. Someone else would then perform the act of kindness of refilling the most recent empty hand with another full can. Part of the perfect day, you never had to get your own brew or get up off the couch.

I have a picture, which I won’t post here, of Floyd and Tool laid out snoozing on the two perpendicular couches with an oversized Old Style lamp in between them. They are in an advanced state of Old Style-consumption and bowl-game watching; I am guessing the Orange Bowl halftime was responsible for their nap-break. Sometime during the day I think I remember Grant grilling up some burgers or chili or maybe we ordered Jake’s deep-dish pizza.

I know from the picture we snarfed down at least one bag of Jewel-store brand “petite pretzels.” I am reasonably sure we had some bags of Lay’s or Jay’s chips, but perhaps not some bean dip (which is another story for hoops season). Bottom line was, we had everything we needed for the perfect day of uninterrupted football viewing: No interfering family members, an inexhaustable supply of fermented malt beverages and a perfectly timed parade of meaningful, Division 1 games to entertain us. We were all just out of college or in the process of finishing up so there weren’t yet any significant others or Jan. 2 workdays to concern us. It was just a bunch of good friends hunkered down for a full day of festive bowl watching. The likes of which may never come this way again.

Filed Under: BCS, CBS Sports, NCAA Football, Penn State Tagged With:
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