FSN/Sinclair/regional sports network streaming

[umphrey]

Is the bally sports app working for anyone? It hasn't worked once for me--I used the Fox sports app regularly for 3 years.

 

I have a workaround for brewer games; but bucks games are a problem...not that I would have needed to see them last night

 

I use it through a Roku. As i posted on here, some issues with initial login but eventually it worked fine.

 

Funniest thing I've noticed watching this way is the ads. It cuts away from the normal ads that would be on during commercials and goes to their own I guess Sinclair ads. So, you think no Gruber so that's a good thing. However, it's basically the same 3-4 ads every commercial for like a month now. And they're not even real commercials, it's just advertising for other (I guess) Sinclair owned channels like Stirrd(spelling?), Tennis channel, etc. Half the ads are for Ring of Honor wrestling on one of these channels and for tennis channel. So, essentially they're making no ad revenue off this route. The model makes no sense.

 

I feel like a lot of companies decided they need a streaming service to keep up with the times but don’t bother to figure out ad revenue logistics. Anyway they probably treat it like an internal startup - lose money now, make money someday.

[Greenleaf1]

Seems like with the Roku app, they made a change this weekend. On Saturday I watched the game after it was over and was able to fast forward through commercials.

 

On Sunday, I also watched after the game was over and they cut out all the commercials and replaced them with just one Stirred ad or whatever it's called that you can't fast forward through and is REALLY long. If you fast forward past the end of a half-inning, as soon as you hit play you're forced to watch the ad, and the ad is much louder than the game, so I had to watch that ad like 17 times on Sunday.

 

Bally app is terrible.

[greeg35]

Just got it going on my Roku. Thanks! (I think..."get more on stir!" )

 

Edit: the other thing I'm not liking is their bottom line, it sucks.

[bjkrautk]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/sinclair-bally-sports-rsns-look-140029958.html

 

Sinclair is working on a direct-to-customer streaming service next year, which would be why they don't particularly care about being removed from streaming cable providers.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/sinclair-bally-sports-rsns-look-140029958.html

 

Sinclair is working on a direct-to-customer streaming service next year, which would be why they don't particularly care about being removed from streaming cable providers.

 

Except that they are going on a year now being removed from many providers, and like many in this thread have mentioned, a lot of fans have already moved on. Sinclair dropped the ball by not having a DTC option available for this baseball season. There are tons of DTC streaming options out there, so it isn't exactly reinventing the wheel technology-wise. Of course, Sinclair is an absolutely terrible company, so that isn't surprising.

[patrickgpe]

seems stupid to be giving up all of the potential revenue this season for something that is coming down next year. Also there may not be a baseball season, so good luck getting people to get your app next year to watch a sport that may not happen. Rather people are getting locked into other providers to watch baseball now. Technically if they were letting the cord cutters watch, they would still be getting revenue next season as people would most likely keep the service during a potential strike, rather than nobody signing up for a service that provides no content. its a dumb business plan.

[MrTPlush]

If they don't want their service and still have Bally on streaming services it makes a lot of sense why it doesn't exist this year. Why would the streaming services agree to one year deal that is just going to tick off their consumers once that year is done?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

If they don't want their service and still have Bally on streaming services it makes a lot of sense why it doesn't exist this year. Why would the streaming services agree to one year deal that is just going to tick off their consumers once that year is done?

 

That's the problem, though. It is available on ONE streaming service, and that particular service is most likely not only the most expensive, but also least popular of all of them. I would think it would make sound financial sense for Sinclair to make the product that they are trying to get in front of peoples' eyes easy to get. I know if I were an advertiser, I'd be extremely upset that Sinclair is still charging a good chunk of change for ad time, yet they have made it so thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of fans don't have access to a product they want to watch.

[Jimbo]

My 80-year old father is stuck in assisted living and laments his inability to watch the Brewers. My brother is more tech savvy than I and found him a streaming service. Last week my dad watched a Brewer game from his couch first time in two years, so it works for him so far. I haven't attempted it myself.

 

http://www.webplayer.host/live.php

[Underachiever]

I was traveling for work two weeks ago, and I sat in my hotel room watching the Brewers play the Dodgers from the Bally app on my little iPhone for seven innings(!). Then I came to the realization that I was actually in Los Angeles and could watch them on the full-sized tv in my room. And you expect me to navigate these various streaming services? Not a chance.

[MrTPlush]

If they don't want their service and still have Bally on streaming services it makes a lot of sense why it doesn't exist this year. Why would the streaming services agree to one year deal that is just going to tick off their consumers once that year is done?

 

That's the problem, though. It is available on ONE streaming service, and that particular service is most likely not only the most expensive, but also least popular of all of them. I would think it would make sound financial sense for Sinclair to make the product that they are trying to get in front of peoples' eyes easy to get. I know if I were an advertiser, I'd be extremely upset that Sinclair is still charging a good chunk of change for ad time, yet they have made it so thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of fans don't have access to a product they want to watch.

 

I think they are really betting on their direct to consumer with the integrated betting/games to be their ticket to financial success. I don't think they really care to add streaming service contracts in the short term that will hurt their service long term. Their service could work...could, but I think it has an uphill battle. The success will depend on the in-app stuff because they can't price the service too high or it won't make any sense to buy. Since it is essentially targeted at cost conscious people (going with Hulu TV instead of Cable for example) it won't take much for people to balk at the price. It could be a brilliant plan if people really buy into the in-app stuff though.

 

Should be interesting to see how it goes.

[rickh150]

Haven’t heard but Can’t believe that TV ratings are up... Considering the poor offense but even more the number of usual Brewer TV fans not able or willing to pay to watch. Several I know are simply not following the team in any way, much different than past years.

[Invader3K]

Today I can't bring up the Bally Sports Wisconsin feed on that service that starts with a U. Can get the Cincinnati feed jusf fine, though. I'm hoping this is just a one day glitch and not a permanent change.

[BrewCrewForever]

The insanely low volume on the Bally app is becoming super annoying.

[Oxy]

I haven't been happy with ATT TV. I've had both Hulu and YouTube TV the last couple of years using the same internet service(s) and both just plain worked better with fewer buffer stops or just plain not working for minutes at a time. It takes way too long to load as well. Signing up for the service was also a major pain in the behind. It hasn't quite been bad enough to cancel altogether, but I'll certainly be looking to jump ship ASAP. When I'm watching on my computer, I've found that it almost always works better to use the 1st party website (espn.com, mlbnetwork.com, tntdrama.com etc.) and then sign in with att tv as the provider than to go through the actual att tv service. For some reason I haven't tried that with Ballys and the Brewers, but hopefully that will work better as well.

[bork]

I've been reading up on some of the Sinclair/Bally changes. It appears they have deals in place to begin their own streaming service with 11 NHL and 16 NBA teams next year. Rumors are it will be $23/month.

 

MLB is trickier. While they have broadcast rights to 14 teams, they only have streaming rights to 4 of them. And Manfred wants MLB to maintain some control and ownership of any streaming. But it does appear that Milwaukee is one of the 4 teams that Sinclair owns the streaming rights to.

 

Then there is the crazy amount of debt that Sinclair has taken on and rumors that the Diamond Sports division that runs the RSNs may file for bankruptcy. This could lead Fanatics to buy them, whom MLB already owns part of due to their merchandise deal. They also have merchandising deals with NHL and NBA. Fanatics could also buy other RSN from NBCUniveral and AT&T. This could lead to a service where you can watch sports, buy merchandise and tickets and bet on the game, all in one place.

 

Bottom line is that whatever comes over the next year, likely isn't the final form this will take.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The astronomical growth of Fanatics scares me. You are already seeing quality of their products suffer as they gain more of a monopoly on the market. I predict the bottom is going to fall out of that company at some point, simply because they are flying too close to the sun with non-battle tested wings.

[patrickgpe]

I hate that they have a monopoly on the lockerroom merchandise. its poor quality and seems to be undersized. Its the only brand that a XL doesn't fit perfectly on me.

 

That being said, if I can stream the brewers for 23 bucks a month and cancel after the season, I would be all for that.

[stoutdude04]

I hate that they have a monopoly on the lockerroom merchandise. its poor quality and seems to be undersized. Its the only brand that a XL doesn't fit perfectly on me.

 

That being said, if I can stream the brewers for 23 bucks a month and cancel after the season, I would be all for that.

 

Yea, I would most likely ditch cable at that point as well.

[bork]

I think that's going to be the balancing act. Can Sinclair/Bally/Fanatics make enough money on streaming when the cable money starts drying up?

[JackNicholson1974]

23 bucks a month is pretty steep, for Brewers only. If you are buying this, then you are dumping cable, I presume you might be looking to get Bucks games and then there are Badger games. Could easily run you $50 a month for all of those. and if you live in a market with MLB NHL and NBA, plus a college team on Bally, wooo boy. I honestly dont know if I would pay $23 a month for Brewers only.

[bork]

I think the idea is that it would be one monthly fee for everything on the app, not paying for each sport.

[patrickgpe]

It’s 20 bucks or so to go from YouTube or Hulu to direct tv stream. Granted why have 2 services for the same amount of tv rather than one. If this goes down I’d probably keep sling and add this and be a little ahead from my plan of changing from sling to direct tv for baseball season