NESN OT: NESN production issues (audio, video, graphics, programming)

talkinaway

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Mar 19, 2014
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How can they not have an app?

I loaded NESNgo onto my iPhone awhile ago, and opened it for the first time today after reading this...wow. It's more bare bones than I thought - it's only a portal to get a live feed (if you have a participating provider).

You'd think they'd set something up with links to the articles they already have on the main site, and scores/standings from the 5 leagues with teams in the Boston area, along with some info on local college sports. Nope.

I'm glad to hear they're changing things up. Graphics have been a disaster for the past 2 years, and that weird "Watertown audio" effect just seems unprofessional in 2018.
 

chizzler

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I loaded NESNgo onto my iPhone awhile ago, and opened it for the first time today after reading this...wow. It's more bare bones than I thought - it's only a portal to get a live feed (if you have a participating provider).

You'd think they'd set something up with links to the articles they already have on the main site, and scores/standings from the 5 leagues with teams in the Boston area, along with some info on local college sports. Nope.

I'm glad to hear they're changing things up. Graphics have been a disaster for the past 2 years, and that weird "Watertown audio" effect just seems unprofessional in 2018.
Lol. Local stations have apps. Their normal website is so hard to navigate with things constantly loading. Horrible website.
 
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s3antana5757

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Feb 15, 2014
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Just a general question here on NESN/NESN Go. We're going to be out of town for the holiday weekend, and I'm wondering if you can watch the game in it's entirety on the app or online? Does it have to be live? I would appreciate any advice or guidance on how to watch the games this weekend. Thanks in advance.
 

Fenway

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Just a general question here on NESN/NESN Go. We're going to be out of town for the holiday weekend, and I'm wondering if you can watch the game in it's entirety on the app or online? Does it have to be live? I would appreciate any advice or guidance on how to watch the games this weekend. Thanks in advance.

As long as your cable provider has you living in New England ( except Fairfield County, Connecticut) you can watch NESNgo anywhere on the planet. They don't offer archived replays like NBC does you simply get whatever NESN or NESNplus is airing.
 

s3antana5757

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Feb 15, 2014
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As long as your cable provider has you living in New England ( except Fairfield County, Connecticut) you can watch NESNgo anywhere on the planet. They don't offer archived replays like NBC does you simply get whatever NESN or NESNplus is airing.

This is helpful thanks.
 
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Fenway

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NESN hopped on to HD very early in the game went it first came out.

Yes, they did but now 4K presents challenges.

4K would require the gutting of the Watertown studios and the production trucks. Game Creek Video has invested millions in a full conversion to HD and now they have to do it again.

Game Creek Video - Trucks

Some of the newer trucks are 4K ready but the thinking in the US is to hold off until 8K which has been rolled out in Japan.

Then you have the transmission of 4K signals

ATSC 3.0: The Next Major Broadcast Standard Explained | Digital Trends

ATSC 3.0 Comes To Chicago, On A Full Power Station | Radio & Television Business Report

On top of that, the cable and satellite distributors have to clear bandwidth - Xfinity is slowly killing off SD channels to clear room but 4K is a data hog.

Canada is much further ahead than the US because Rogers and Bell own both the truck company and distribution centers. When the Leafs come to Boston the games are done in 4K.

Dome Productions’ mobile production vehicles
 

JRull86

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Jan 28, 2009
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Oddly enough NESNgo doesn't use the ticker.
NESN shouldn't either.

I know we've had this discussion before, but honestly why do they insist on it? They can use a different graphics package for in game stuff for the Red Sox, since they tend to cram stuff into the ticker. Hockey doesn't need that.

And if their only other reasoning is for showing the out of town scores, run it during intermissions. No one curious about the score of the Leafs/Habs game going on concurrently is going to wait for it to scroll by on the bottom of the screen. They are going to check their phone, and get the answer in 10 seconds max.

It's stupid, pointless, and outdated. i don't get why they hang onto it.
 

talkinaway

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Mar 19, 2014
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NESN shouldn't either.

I know we've had this discussion before, but honestly why do they insist on it? They can use a different graphics package for in game stuff for the Red Sox, since they tend to cram stuff into the ticker. Hockey doesn't need that.

And if their only other reasoning is for showing the out of town scores, run it during intermissions. No one curious about the score of the Leafs/Habs game going on concurrently is going to wait for it to scroll by on the bottom of the screen. They are going to check their phone, and get the answer in 10 seconds max.

It's stupid, pointless, and outdated. i don't get why they hang onto it.

Playing complete devil's advocate, the only reason I can think of is for "NESN-at-the-bar"...but even that's a little sketchy. The only time you need a banner like that is when the volume is on mute and the audience isn't really interested in the "main program".

I hate the newish "over the goalie" ads much more...they're obtrusive and annoying, which is exactly what they want so that you notice them. Maybe my brain will block them out after awhile, but I -knew- they were going to mess around with ads in that spacewhen they did that "NESN 30 years" logo about 4 years ago.

That said, it's still better than what ESPN did during the World Cup of Hockey, with virtual ads on the boards that were different than the in-stadium ads. Okay idea in theory, awful idea in practice, because whenever players snowed the boards, the original ad would pop through, like a glitch in the Matrix.
 

Fenway

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NESN had problems with the feed from Vancouver but they were caused by the distributor that NESN uses - Comcast/NBC Universal in Colorado The signal came into Watertown fine and left fine but then NESN loses control of it.

NBC can provide local insertion of ads that NESN could never do and they do the same for Cox and Spectrum. They are also doing this for numerous other RSN's. It also means NESN needs fewer staffers in Watertown but that is another kettle of fish. BTW the ticker is inserted in Colorado which is why you don't see it on NESNgo.

Tonight in Vancouver we used a truck from NBC's vendor in Pittsburgh, NEP, and it was the same truck in used in Calgary and Edmonton.

milwaukee_brewers.png


The truck provides 2 feeds - one directly to NESN in Watertown with the virtual ads behind the net and another to NHL.tv without the ads.

Capture.PNG


upload_2018-10-21_1-28-26.png


There have been major issues behind the scenes at NESN as Tom Werner continues to look for ways to cut costs. I could not talk to you 2 years ago about why there were audio problems at home games - now that the court case is over I can.

NESN Broadcast Technicians Benched For Unionizing

Informational Picket - IBEW Local 1228 Broadcast Technicians

I get my health insurance through NBC and Comcast has been very good to me since I signed up with them to work the NHL on OLN. Nobody knew in 2005 that OLN would become NBC Sports. I still work as a contractor for NESN but usually on the road. This is a brutal business now and it is what it is.

When John Harrington ran NESN he took care of the workers as his Dad drove a streetcar on the old MTA. Papa Jacobs is also very fair as he grew up in blue-collar Buffalo. 15 years ago NESN was the BEST RSN in the US to work for - now it is the worst and it is all because of a man who became wealthy producing Cosby and Roseanne.

John Henry is starting to make changes as he knows firing Don Orsillo was a major blunder.

It will take time to undo the damage.
 
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Fenway

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I want to stress the people working at NESN Watertown during a Bruins or Red Sox are very talented - but they have no idea what the finished product looks like for viewers at home. NBC/Comcast has developed a local commercial insertion system that can change by NEIGHBORHOOD using zip codes.

Crew people who work events in Boston are highly regarded on network productions - and most RSN's report that feeds from TD Garden and Fenway are at the top of the industry.

We KNOW that NESN's hockey graphics are the among worst in the NHL but that is what upper management wants. Only AT&T is worse in Pittsburgh and Vegas. For baseball, NESN's graphics are much better



It is what it is
 

smithformeragent

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Sep 22, 2005
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What motivation do the decision makers at NESN have to change the product? It’s not as if the customer has options and can watch on another network if they want. It’s a captive audience.
 
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Chief Nine

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What motivation do the decision makers at NESN have to change the product? It’s not as if the customer has options and can watch on another network if they want. It’s a captive audience.
I want to stress the people working at NESN Watertown during a Bruins or Red Sox are very talented - but they have no idea what the finished product looks like for viewers at home. NBC/Comcast has developed a local commercial insertion system that can change by NEIGHBORHOOD using zip codes.

Crew people who work events in Boston are highly regarded on network productions - and most RSN's report that feeds from TD Garden and Fenway are at the top of the industry.

We KNOW that NESN's hockey graphics are the among worst in the NHL but that is what upper management wants. Only AT&T is worse in Pittsburgh and Vegas. For baseball, NESN's graphics are much better



It is what it is


This begs the question, when does the Bruins TV contract come up for renewal? I know you’ve mentioned that the other channel carries the Celtics so that’s likely not an option. What else would be out there? None of the local networks would or could carry the Bruins. So does that leave something like NBC 10 or whatever it’s called as one of the few options?

Seems like with nothing short of starting a new channel there are very few options
 

Chief Nine

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May 31, 2015
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What motivation do the decision makers at NESN have to change the product? It’s not as if the customer has options and can watch on another network if they want. It’s a captive audience.

They don’t have any motivation and it sure shows unfortunately
 

BNHL

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Dec 22, 2006
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NESN had problems with the feed from Vancouver but they were caused by the distributor that NESN uses - Comcast/NBC Universal in Colorado The signal came into Watertown fine and left fine but then NESN loses control of it.

NBC can provide local insertion of ads that NESN could never do and they do the same for Cox and Spectrum. They are also doing this for numerous other RSN's. It also means NESN needs fewer staffers in Watertown but that is another kettle of fish. BTW the ticker is inserted in Colorado which is why you don't see it on NESNgo.

Tonight in Vancouver we used a truck from NBC's vendor in Pittsburgh, NEP, and it was the same truck in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

View attachment 148571

The truck provides 2 feeds - one directly to NESN in Watertown with the virtual ads behind the net and another to NHL.tv without the ads.

View attachment 148573

View attachment 148575

There have been major issues behind the scenes at NESN as Tom Werner continues to look for ways to cut costs. I could not talk to you 2 years ago about why there were audio problems at home games - now that the court case is over I can.

NESN Broadcast Technicians Benched For Unionizing

Informational Picket - IBEW Local 1228 Broadcast Technicians

I get my health insurance through NBC and Comcast has been very good to me since I signed up with them to work the NHL on OLN. Nobody knew in 2005 that OLN would become NBC Sports. I still work as a contractor for NESN but usually on the road. This is a brutal business now and it is what it is.

When John Harrington ran NESN he took care of the workers as his Dad drove a streetcar on the old MTA. Papa Jacobs is also very fair as he grew up in blue-collar Buffalo. 15 years ago NESN was the BEST RSN in the US to work for - now it is the worst and it is all because of a man who became wealthy producing Cosby and Roseanne.

John Henry is starting to make changes as he knows firing Don Orsillo was a major blunder.

It will take time to undo the damage.
The Vancouver audio was the worst I have ever heard. The commentators were coming out of the wrong speakers and the center speaker was silent. I was going back and forth with the Dodgers game to make sure it wasn't my AVR. It wasn't.
 
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