OT: Game Center Live Experience

chrewilson

Registered User
Feb 3, 2009
432
0
Ottawa
Can someone with GCL experience tell me if I an wrong here?

I read the policies as such - you do not get ANY of your market games. The direct quote on the website is this:

"To see what teams do not qualify as "out-of-market" in your local viewing area and are, therefore, unavailable to watch live with NHL GameCenter LIVEâ„¢, please check your zip code."

When I check my postal code it gives me the information of which local networks play the games for Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

Can someone please confirm that I am right in saying that being in Ottawa I will not get any of the Senators games?
 

Caeldan

Whippet Whisperer
Jun 21, 2008
15,459
1,046
Can someone with GCL experience tell me if I an wrong here?

I read the policies as such - you do not get ANY of your market games. The direct quote on the website is this:

"To see what teams do not qualify as "out-of-market" in your local viewing area and are, therefore, unavailable to watch live with NHL GameCenter LIVE™, please check your zip code."

When I check my postal code it gives me the information of which local networks play the games for Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

Can someone please confirm that I am right in saying that being in Ottawa I will not get any of the Senators games?

That is correct.
The purpose of GCL is to view OUT of market games. So for example an option for Ottawa fans living in SW Ontario.

And back on the RDS note -- by my count that's 5 of the 33 SNET-E games we lose, including tonight :( I think this is the first year that RDS has been considered a national broadcast too for GCL purposes?
 

Nairbo

Registered User
Nov 15, 2010
3,655
0
That is correct.
The purpose of GCL is to view OUT of market games. So for example an option for Ottawa fans living in SW Ontario.

And back on the RDS note -- by my count that's 5 of the 33 SNET-E games we lose, including tonight :( I think this is the first year that RDS has been considered a national broadcast too for GCL purposes?

It's even more absurd given that markets like BC, AB and SK are not bilingual. I could understand in Winnipeg where a sizable amount of the population speaks French and likely has access to RDS but neither SaskTel nor Shaw have RDS on a basic or even sports package here.

I believe you're right in that it's the first year RDS falls under national. I didn't have GCL last year but I did borrow a friend's for one game and had no issue on an RDS-broadcasted game.
 

chrewilson

Registered User
Feb 3, 2009
432
0
Ottawa
This is just a silly service. I don't have cable or satellite and therefore wouldn't get anything but CBC on a good day.

A lot of people these days are doing the exact same thing I am and do not have cable.

I am disappointed with this service, although it is the NHL so I am not surprised.

I'll just use a VPN, Proxy or other such things to get around it. Pretty disappointed about having to do the work to do that though...
 

Caeldan

Whippet Whisperer
Jun 21, 2008
15,459
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This is just a silly service. I don't have cable or satellite and therefore wouldn't get anything but CBC on a good day.

A lot of people these days are doing the exact same thing I am and do not have cable.

I am disappointed with this service, although it is the NHL so I am not surprised.

I'll just use a VPN, Proxy or other such things to get around it. Pretty disappointed about having to do the work to do that though...

Unfortunately, the regional broadcasters give more money to the NHL than individual subscriptions do. As pointed out above -- even with paying for a service to bypass the blackout you're out at most 3 bucks a game.

I fully agree with the idea that blackout restrictions are a bit behind the times these days, but that's just the way the system is and there's still money in it for the league that way. I also think that cable companies should move to a more a la carte service, especially since the primary argument against it (that niche channels won't survive) is pretty much negated by the fact that every niche channel moves into general 'reality' programming anyway these days (see Syfy, TLC, History, Discovery, Science, etc etc)
 

Senator Stanley

Registered User
Dec 11, 2003
7,579
1,684
Visit site
Bought GCL for the first time this year. I use it in combination with Unblock-US to get around all blackouts, including CBC games. I'm in Saskatchewan so Sportsnet blackouts aren't an issue but without Unblock-US you're stuck watching CBC games on CBC.ca unless of course you have cable or an indoor antenna.

Saturday was dismal at best but yesterday I watched a few other games to great results. The 360 app is a bit hit or miss but overall I'm pretty pleased.

Truthfully I wouldn't even consider paying for it without a way to circumvent the blackouts, the policy is absolutely ludicrous. Without Unblock-US, I'd be blacked out to the game tonight because of RDS; I don't speak French and I don't even have access to RDS here.

Wait, if I'm in Alberta, I won't be able to get a Sens game because it's on RDS? :rant:
 

SlapJack

Scum bag Sens
Dec 6, 2010
1,983
1,260
For all those that think the blackout policy is ridiculous, you have to remember that it is the only way to protect the big $ the league gets from TV. The ONLY reason I have cable is for hockey so if I can get my local team whenever I want plus pretty much every other game out there for 2-3 months cost of cable? No more Rogers. Of course they want to protect that.

That being said, I have no problem going around the technical limitations they impose to get what I want.
 

John Holmes*

Guest
My internet is routed through Miami...so I guess I won't get to see the game because they are playing the Panthers?

That's kind of gay. We'll see if it works. I'm on a sub dial up speed satellite connection anyway.
 

Busboy

Registered User
Jul 29, 2011
2,014
0
Unblock-us.com is a simple way around the blackouts. An extra 4.99 per month but it's worth it.
 

John Holmes*

Guest
Blacked out. Good thing we don't play Florida often. Internet connection is crap anyway. I got the radio feed to work for a few seconds, and about 4 seconds of the Leafs game before it froze up.

Good to know that its a decent app, just you need a solid connection to use it.
 

Kellogs

G'night Sweet Prince
Dec 23, 2008
3,129
16
Ottawa
The 360 app is a bit disappointing so far. Occasionally the stream buffers and even cuts out completely (switching between the home/away feeds seems to automatically fix the persistent stalling). This very rarely happens when I'm using my PC which is connected via wifi, where as my 360 is connected using an ethernet cable.
 

ReginKarlssonLehner

Let's Win It All
May 3, 2010
40,755
11,055
Dubai Marina
The 360 app is a bit disappointing so far. Occasionally the stream buffers and even cuts out completely (switching between the home/away feeds seems to automatically fix the persistent stalling). This very rarely happens when I'm using my PC which is connected via wifi, where as my 360 is connected using an ethernet cable.

Had the exact same problems and exact same solution method :laugh: It was pretty good though for an app that was just released.
 

Caeldan

Whippet Whisperer
Jun 21, 2008
15,459
1,046
I'm not happy with Android app on my tablet. Doesn't go into landscape mode, and noticed today that they also don't follow Holo UI rules so a bit hard to navigate in and out of settings. Plus for some odd reason it keeps thinking I have no internet connection periodically.

On PC as usual it's real nice.

On my phone, it's alright.

And they haven't updated the PS3 app yet for this season I don't believe.
 

TonySoprano11

It's a very delicate situation.
Apr 8, 2006
2,287
511
Hayden, ID
This is totally not a scientific answer but some guys on Reddit said they were told February 1st or "early February" by Sony reps.

That is completely unacceptable. They had how many months to get this ready?

The PS3 is my primary device to watch these games. They advertise that I can watch these games on my PS3. Having to wait til Feb speaks volumes of how far behind the NHL is on technology, and digital distribution.
 

Seerah

Registered User
Jan 22, 2013
2
0
So we just signed up for GCL after cancelling our cable. I must note, we are TML fans and live in SW Ontario. Also should point out that CBC can't be accessed through antenna from my location. So with that being said, according to GCL's website, NO leaf games are available to me in my viewing area. So obviously I need to go the VPN route. My question is once playoffs start is there anyway for me to see them based on location? Should I choose an IP in Europe instead of North America? Will that make any difference? And is that even possible?
 

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