Kudos to NHL GameCenter!

[Faterson]

NHL again leading the way in terms of live online broadcasts... As of right now, you can purchase all NHL games this season for only $50 (that's €39 for me) at:

https://gamecenter.nhl.com/nhlgc/secure/gclsignup

That's a great deal, considering you get to see all games, regular season and play-offs, both live or from full-length replays. Both on regular computers, as well as on tablets or smart-phones. Everything in HD.

Compared to last year, NHL has now even added PayPal as a payment option. And so, subscribing took 2 button presses for me, and was done in a few seconds. That's how things should be!

Next to that, the KHL's video site is a nightmare. Still no PayPal. And they're so clueless they are still selling "the entire season" subscription for the original full price from September, with only 9 or 10 games left in the regular season. Can they get any more clueless? I talked to KHL tech support about this about a month ago, and they said they would consider adjusting the price. Well, what are you waiting for? It's mid-January, and you expect anyone to buy a season subscription for the (very high) original September full price? By the way, good luck finding those subscription options at http://video.khl.ru/live. The site is a mess.

I'm afraid the KHL will simply not get this right before the 2012/13 season runs out.

Also, it appears not all games are offered live, which is unacceptable. I'd like to purchase the Astana vs. Slovan game next Tuesday, but it's not on the menu. What will happen to those KHL.ru subscribers that had bought the "All Slovan Games" subscription back in September? Will they now be cheated out of watching a very important Slovan away game?

Click to read more...

 

[ebis]

I agree, KHL is horrible with this. But I believe it will get better over time, the league is still young and this is the first year with 2 non-Russian speaking countries (and relatively western countries, from Russian POV). They just have to get used to it. Their youtube channel, for example, has improved a lot over the last season.

 

[VladNYC*]

Agreed. The growing pains can be frustrating at times. One can only hope that the progress The KHL has made in such little time will continue. I think this year the KHL took a big step forward with its embrace of social media, youtube and leaps into transitioning to HD for all the games. Offering games online is also a step in the right direction, but obviously there is a hiccup or two there. As a person who remembers the RSL and all that was just a few years ago, both on ice and behind the scenes, I am optimistic in the direction things are going. That said we can't be complacent. As more European teams join, their unique perspective on business and media will only help us. Hopefully we will get some German teams in the KHL soon. While we Russians have big ideas and the courage to bring them to fruition, those guys sure know how to run things the right way. A league encompassing the characteristics of Slavic Courage, German Efficiency, Scandinavian Pragmatism, and an Italian eye for style will be a thing to behold.

 

[ebis]

Agreed. The growing pains can be frustrating at times. One can only hope that the progress The KHL has made in such little time will continue. I think this year the KHL took a big step forward with its embrace of social media, youtube and leaps into transitioning to HD for all the games. Offering games online is also a step in the right direction, but obviously there is a hiccup or two there. As a person who remembers the RSL and all that was just a few years ago, both on ice and behind the scenes, I am optimistic in the direction things are going. That said we can't be complacent. As more European teams join, their unique perspective on business and media will only help us. Hopefully we will get some German teams in the KHL soon. While we Russians have big ideas and the courage to bring them to fruition, those guys sure know how to run things the right way. A league encompassing the characteristics of Slavic Courage, German Efficiency, Scandinavian Pragmatism, and an Italian eye for style will be a thing to behold.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Faterson]

As to that missing broadcast from Astana, something similar was happening last night. I was keeping an eye on onhockey.ru during the Barys vs. CSKA debacle. The game started out with 2 "text broadcasts" , but in the course of the game, picture was added, heaven knows from what TV channel. Yugra vs. Slovan was shown from Ukrainian (!) TV.

It's too bad that even when I'm ready to pay for the Astana vs. Slovan broadcast on Tuesday, I can't do it and will be forced to hang around pirate websites instead. The game is shown on no TV channel here, either, not even those obscure Czech sports channels where the KHL is hidden in Slovakia throughout the season.

 

[VladNYC*]

As to that missing broadcast from Astana, something similar was happening last night. I was keeping an eye on onhockey.ru during the Barys vs. CSKA debacle. The game started out with 2 "text broadcasts" , but in the course of the game, picture was added, heaven knows from what TV channel. Yugra vs. Slovan was shown from Ukrainian (!) TV.

It's too bad that even when I'm ready to pay for the Astana vs. Slovan broadcast on Tuesday, I can't do it and will be forced to hang around pirate websites instead. The game is shown on no TV channel here, either, not even those obscure Czech sports channels where the KHL is hidden in Slovakia throughout the season.

We hear you buddy, it sucks!

 

[ebis]

As to that missing broadcast from Astana, something similar was happening last night. I was keeping an eye on onhockey.ru during the Barys vs. CSKA debacle. The game started out with 2 "text broadcasts" , but in the course of the game, picture was added, heaven knows from what TV channel. Yugra vs. Slovan was shown from Ukrainian (!) TV.

It's too bad that even when I'm ready to pay for the Astana vs. Slovan broadcast on Tuesday, I can't do it and will be forced to hang around pirate websites instead. The game is shown on no TV channel here, either, not even those obscure Czech sports channels where the KHL is hidden in Slovakia throughout the season.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian commentators were great

 

[Faterson]

Yes, great commentary by both guys.

It was the first time in my life that I was able to listen to the Ukrainian language for an extended period of time, and it was certainly interesting. I was able to understand almost everything.

Ukrainian sounds like a variety of Russian, but with "Slovak" words thrown in. For example, I noticed that the Ukrainian word for "but" is the same as in Slovak ("ale"), whereas in Russian it's "но". Also, in Ukrainian, the word for "penalty" (player being sent off) is the same as in Slovak ("vylúčenie"), whereas it's "штраф" or "наказан" in Russian. "Штраф" sounds pretty funny to me -- whenever I hear that, I must think of Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator.

 

[ebis]

Yes, great commentary by both guys.

It was the first time in my life that I was able to listen to the Ukrainian language for an extended period of time, and it was certainly interesting. I was able to understand almost everything.

Ukrainian sounds like a variety of Russian, but with "Slovak" words thrown in. For example, I noticed that the Ukrainian word for "but" is the same as in Slovak ("ale"), whereas in Russian it's "но". Also, in Ukrainian, the word for "penalty" (player being sent off) is the same as in Slovak ("vylúčenie"), whereas it's "штраф" or "наказан" in Russian. "Штраф" sounds pretty funny to me -- whenever I hear that, I must think of Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator.

Exactly, at first I couldn't figure out the language because it sounded Russian but used Slovak words

With Russian commentary, I can understand like 60%. With Ukrainian, it was about 90%.

As for penalty, from the Russian games that I've watched, I got the feeling that it's "udalenie".

 

[slovakiasnextone]

Yes, great commentary by both guys.

It was the first time in my life that I was able to listen to the Ukrainian language for an extended period of time, and it was certainly interesting. I was able to understand almost everything.

Ukrainian sounds like a variety of Russian, but with "Slovak" words thrown in. For example, I noticed that the Ukrainian word for "but" is the same as in Slovak ("ale"), whereas in Russian it's "но". Also, in Ukrainian, the word for "penalty" (player being sent off) is the same as in Slovak ("vylúčenie"), whereas it's "штраф" or "наказан" in Russian. "Штраф" sounds pretty funny to me -- whenever I hear that, I must think of Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator.

I guess "Штраф" comes from German? Sounds like the German word for penalty Strafe.

As for Slovak/Ukrainian/Russia, I guess you could say that there´s somewhat of a continuum between the West and East Slavic languages. Slovak goes to Rusyn which goes to Ukrainian which goes to Russian...

 

[Faterson]

With Russian commentary, I can understand like 60%. With Ukrainian, it was about 90%.

Hmmm, the other way round for me. But that's because I read Tolstoy in Russian.

As for penalty, from the Russian games that I've watched, I got the feeling that it's "udalenie".

Yes, that's correct. And Russian has a very nice direct phrase that can't be easily translated into Slovak: мы удалялись. That can only be described in a roundabout way in Slovak: Nechali sme sa vylučovať. / Mali sme veľa vylúčených.

 

[Dynamo81]

Yep big Kudos to them, the NHL.com site has crashed, can't even watch any games

Money well spent for me

 

[Faterson]

Hehe... it was just a theoretical kudos on Day 1. Will be fine when they get it right. The Senators vs. Jets game had amazing, razor-sharp quality via Apple TV, but it's not the game I wanted to watch. The iPad app was down the whole evening, but it's back up & running now. I did slam the NHL in the GameCenter thread here, saying they were as bad (in fact, worse) as the KHL on Day 1.

The entire NHL.com was struggling, not just in terms of live video broadcasts. They weren't even properly updating the textual scoreboards (!!!) until the 2nd period of those first 3 games began, which I have never seen in my life on NHL.com before. The number of site visitors on opening night must have totally overwhelmed them.

And again, big kudos to the NHL for the price! I mean, only $50 (€39) for the entire season??? The KHL is totally overpriced compared to that, for no reason I can understand. The KHL would give you something like 2 months of live video broadcasts for $50. Maybe the NHL got lots more subscribers due to the low price than they had expected, and then they just couldn't handle them all.

Now, what about Grandpa Jágr with a 4-point night???

 

[SoundAndFury]

Now, what about Grandpa Jágr with a 4-point night???

And Grandpa Selanne too.

 

[Faterson]

iPad app still not working, but watching Flyers @Sabres via Apple TV now, stunning, razor-sharp picture on a 46-inch TV set. I hope the KHL will get on Apple TV (that little box that looks like a hockey puck) soon! The Sabres have just scored, 1-0.

 

[Korolyuk15]

iPad app still not working, but watching Flyers @Sabres via Apple TV now, stunning, razor-sharp picture on a 46-inch TV set. I hope the KHL will get on Apple TV (that little box that looks like a hockey puck) soon! The Sabres have just scored, 1-0.

so your gamecenter works on the apple tv? For some reason the game is blacked out here in the UK, really hope that isn't the case for all NBC games as the saturday/sunday games are the ones that I watch the most just because of the time difference

Also, out of curiosity, does the NHL Gamecenter show up on your apple tv when you have your location set to Slovakia or do you also have to change your location to US?

 

[Faterson]

Yes, Flyers @Sabres works here in Slovakia via Apple TV.

The NHL app did not show up on Apple TV's home screen until I switched the iTunes Store's region to Canada. An embarrassing oversight on the part of NHL and/or Apple. Well, never mind.

Another bug is that only 8 out of yesterday's 13 games are available right now in full-length replays from Apple TV. Just another oversight, I hope. What's nice is that those NBC games from yesterday that were blacked out for us, are available now in full-length replays on Apple TV.

 

[Dynamo81]

Hehe... it was just a theoretical kudos on Day 1. Will be fine when they get it right. The Senators vs. Jets game had amazing, razor-sharp quality via Apple TV, but it's not the game I wanted to watch. The iPad app was down the whole evening, but it's back up & running now. I did slam the NHL in the GameCenter thread here, saying they were as bad (in fact, worse) as the KHL on Day 1.

The entire NHL.com was struggling, not just in terms of live video broadcasts. They weren't even properly updating the textual scoreboards (!!!) until the 2nd period of those first 3 games began, which I have never seen in my life on NHL.com before. The number of site visitors on opening night must have totally overwhelmed them.

It has been rubbish this morning again. I guess they should charge customers more to buy better servers

 

[Faterson]

The blackouts for some live games are infuriating. I mean, there was a game that was blacked out at 3 am in the night in Europe! Yeah, I can see the millions of people tuning in at 3 in the night all around Europe on a weekday, just to be able to watch a regular-season NHL game. The NHL is just as clueless as the KHL in some respects.

On the other hand, the Apple TV app is super-convenient. I wish KHL games would become available in this way, too. For example, it's 8 in the morning now, and 6 out of 9 games played in the night are already available in full-length replays on Apple TV, in razor-sharp HD quality. The 3 remaining games are sure to be added over the next few hours. All of that for only $50 for the entire season.

This would be very useful to have for the KHL, too. Just like NHL games have bad start times for Central Europeans, because they start at 1 am or 3 am in the middle of the night, so have many KHL games bad start times for Central Europeans, because they start in the middle of work days, when many people can't watch hockey. For example, the Barys vs. Slovan game yesterday started at 2 in the afternoon.

It would be great if you could come home from work say at 6 pm, open your Apple TV (or iPad, regular laptop, whatever) and just launch that game from 2 pm, as if it was shown live in the evening. The one time I tried to do this this season, I got burned. khl.ru failed to make the full-length replay of the Slovan afternoon game available on their website -- there was nothing on khl.ru even in the late evening. I was ready to purchase the replay from khl.ru, but instead had to just read the game result from the webpage.

 

[Faterson]

8:45 am in the morning in Central Europe, 8 out of 9 NHL games played in the night already available in full-length replays. That's what I call great service. Only the last game from Edmonton still to be added. I wish the KHL were this prompt with their full-length replays!

 

[ebis]

Come on dude, stop complaining I know, criticism is the way to improve, but you are taking it to a whole new level

I am not happy with the current KHL policies either (for many reasons, starting with the lack of broadcasts, inability to pay with non-Russian credit cards, absurdly bad camera work like the one in Astana...)

But they ARE improving, like I said, check their youtube channel for example and compare it to the channel they had just a couple of months ago. Give it some time, the league is still young.

 

[Faterson]

Sorry, I see no improvements whatsoever in the KHL between September 2012 and January 2013. Not in terms of online broadcasts, not in terms of replays, and definitely not in terms of the YouTube channel. It's a total mess. I was looking for highlights of the Barys vs. Slovan game, at least, and of course they aren't there. Also, there's a total lack of organization in the KHL YouTube channel, so good luck finding a specific game there. Utter fail.

 

[ebis]

Sorry, I see no improvements whatsoever in the KHL between September 2012 and January 2013. Not in terms of online broadcasts, not in terms of replays, and definitely not in terms of the YouTube channel. It's a total mess. I was looking for highlights of the Barys vs. Slovan game, at least, and of course they aren't there. Also, there's a total lack of organization in the KHL YouTube channel, so good luck finding a specific game there. Utter fail.

 

[Faterson]

Thanks, that's better than nothing, but I wasn't looking for the super-shortened English-commentary clip.

I was looking for the "usual" (but not always, as we can see) 5-minute or 6-minute highlights clip, with original Russian (or no) commentary. And I still can't find it there.

The organization in the KHL's YouTube channel is non-existent. Something reasonable would be, for example, setting up a "playlist" for every game day, so that you could easily locate a specific game. The way it's now, it's a total jumble of highlights of individual goals, hits, player interviews, Russian or English highlight clips all mixed up.

 

[ebis]

Thanks, that's better than nothing, but I wasn't looking for the super-shortened English-commentary clip.

I was looking for the "usual" (but not always, as we can see) 5-minute or 6-minute highlights clip, with original Russian (or no) commentary. And I still can't find it there.

The organization in the KHL's YouTube channel is non-existent. Something reasonable would be, for example, setting up a "playlist" for every game day, so that you could easily locate a specific game. The way it's now, it's a total jumble of highlights of individual goals, hits, player interviews, Russian or English highlight clips all mixed up.

The youtube channel is actually probably the only thing working properly. If you want those short English highlights, there is a separate playlist for that. If you want the longer Russian highlights, there is a separate playlist for that too (actually, this game is the only one I can think of where the English version was posted before the Russian one - I bet that the Russian one will be added today). There is also a playlist for "Daily Updates" etc.

And even when everything fails, you can always just search the channel for games, like on any other youtube channel. I really don't see your problem with their YT.