Red Cast Really Sucks

[MotherPucker]

I was flipping through the Comcast sports channels today and came across a Minnesota High School game that was worth watching.  They had excellent announcers, full replays and multiple camera angles with great coverage of the puck.  they never lost the play and they were always full of commentary and analysis as the game went on.  This was a high school game and it outdid most any of the college streams I have experienced.

[Trotsky]

I was flipping through the Comcast sports channels today and came across a Minnesota High School game that was worth watching.  They had excellent announcers, full replays and multiple camera angles with great coverage of the puck.  they never lost the play and they were always full of commentary and analysis as the game went on.  This was a high school game and it outdid most any of the college streams I have experienced.

Then again, if it was a school like Edina it probably has a bigger hockey budget than most colleges.  

[billhoward]

Then again, if it was a school like Edina it probably has a bigger hockey budget than most colleges.  

Don't some Minnesota schools have two varsities and a couple JV teams?

[Rosey]

I have absolutely cut back my spending on Redcast due to the quality issues.

Same here: no Redcast for me this year, or next year, or the year after, etc. until the quality and availability improves substantially.

Fundamentally, the AD suffers from the same delusion that most of the rest of academia has: that price and cost are somehow causally connected. There is no such connection: something can cost a great deal and be worth absolutely nothing to anybody, or something can be much cheaper to produce than its sale price if it is in high demand. All price vs. cost can tell you is whether something is economic to produce or not.

[Ben]

I don't believe it's has been mentioned elsewhere, so here's another reason.

[Rita]

I don't believe it's has been mentioned elsewhere, so here's another reason.

Ben,
Actually, this isn't something new. In the past when games have been on CBS college sports (or whatever they call themselves now) the games have been "blacked out" on the internet due to them not having some sort of feed sharing agreement like Cornell does with TWC.

[sockralex]

When North Dakota played at Cornell in 2010 they took the feed from a network.  It was the best quality video they've ever had.  The next night it was back to dissapointment.  Unfotunately all I do is complain.... write in campaign to change providers?  If we can organize for a t-shirt we certainly can organize something to get our voices heard.  Occupy Lynah?  Something!! In the end it will come down to money and I don't think anyone has enough of it right now to change a thing.

I tried researching Redcast a bit and it seems like they run off a company called Sidearm Sports so the thing is much bigger than just the video.  Looks like they run everything for the athletic department from a website perspective.  They have a large client list so I would be surprised if we weren't the only school buying their video and having all these complaints.  Maybe they should be the target of our fury?

[Ben]

I don't believe it's has been mentioned elsewhere, so here's another reason.

Ben,
Actually, this isn't something new. In the past when games have been on CBS college sports (or whatever they call themselves now) the games have been "blacked out" on the internet due to them not having some sort of feed sharing agreement like Cornell does with TWC.

::doh::

I'm not too surprised about this, but is there some way for exiles to watch?

[Aaron M. Griffin]

I don't see why Cornell, the ECAC, or the Ivy League do not negotiate agreements with national television networks so that alumni and fans do not have to tolerate subpar coverage from whomever provides the RedCast coverage. The SEC in football and Notre Dame have negotiated agreements with networks. I assume that in the Northeast that a network would gain appreciable ratings if it aired Hockey East and ECAC games each weekend. Why networks like NBC Sports or CBS Sports do not dole out coverage based upon region, like it does for collegiate football, I know not. Also, the reluctance of CBS Sports to allow for online streaming via gameday passes or an online subscriptions makes no business sense. The B1G has managed to create its own network. BTN plans to air B1G Hockey games starting in 2013-14. That will bring more attention to college hockey and increase the audience pool for other networks to air games from the other "major" conferences (Hockey East, NCHC, ECAC). I would be fine with watching Cornell hockey on network television even if it was relegated to The Ocho. It would be less painful than dealing with RedCast. (Aside, I still have not been able to get the Dartmouth game video. If anyone has video of the Bardreau OT goal, I'd love to see it...finally).

I think that the Ivy League should consider a network of its own much like BTN (I say that mostly in jest).

[Aaron M. Griffin]

However, the downside of relying upon national networks that have not yet learned the culture or landscape of college hockey is that they produce promotions like this that imply clearly that Harvard-Yale is a men's ice hockey rivalry in addition to a football rivalry.

Cornell-Harvard is the preeminent Ivy League-hockey rivalry, at least according to both Cornell and Harvard.

[Willy '06]

What about something like a Kickstart campaign to improve the service? We all plug in what we want and how much we'd pay, and maybe that will get someone's attention. If the Athletics Department doesn't cooperate, then we push it to the  Development Department. I think they could actually turn it into something good if they saw it as a fundraising tool.

[marty]

Aside, I still have not been able to get the Dartmouth game video. If anyone has video of the Bardreau OT goal, I'd love to see it...finally.

 Here you go!

I'd love to know why the band sounded out of tune during the broadcast.  Perhaps there is a delay which along with audio compression and processing causes this issue.  (I noticed it during the game and in the DVR replay.)

[Rosey]

I don't see why Cornell, the ECAC, or the Ivy League do not negotiate agreements with national television networks so that alumni and fans do not have to tolerate subpar coverage from whomever provides the RedCast coverage.
...
I assume that in the Northeast that a network would gain appreciable ratings if it aired Hockey East and ECAC games each weekend.

I'm going to go out on a limb and take a wild guess that Ivy League hockey would garner fewer viewers than Ivy League football, which itself is competing for the title of most "They still have that??" responses. You and I like it, but it is simply delusional to think that there would be enough interest from the public to justify anything short of a huge donor stepping up year after year to PAY some cable network to broadcast our games.

I believe a competent internet streaming operation could be profitable or at least break-even, which is where we should focus our efforts. TV is a slowly-dying medium anyway: by the time cable broadcasters are begging to carry our games, no one will be watching anymore.

[RichH]

I don't see why Cornell, the ECAC, or the Ivy League do not negotiate agreements with national television networks so that alumni and fans do not have to tolerate subpar coverage from whomever provides the RedCast coverage. The SEC in football and Notre Dame have negotiated agreements with networks. I assume that in the Northeast that a network would gain appreciable ratings if it aired Hockey East and ECAC games each weekend. Why networks like NBC Sports or CBS Sports do not dole out coverage based upon region, like it does for collegiate football, I know not.

I'll ignore the fact that collegiate football is IMMENSELY more popular than collegiate hockey on a national level for a minute.

I'm not sure I'm following what you're suggesting by this part of your post.  Are you looking for a regional sports network to provide an "ECAC Game of the Week" type of thing? Judging from what I've followed, TWC Sports has been doing an admirable job at showcasing NYS college hockey, given what they are.  NESN used to feature some ECAC games, and picked up Quinnipiac games regularly in recent years.  They've always been pretty HEA-centric, given that the network is Boston-based.  Here's a list of the games they're broadcasting: http://www.nesn.com/2011/11/2012-hockey-east-broadcast-schedule-on-nesn.html

If what you're suggesting is that a regional sports network take over for what Red Cast is trying to provide, which is live video broadcasts of every home game, I don't know any regional sports network that would commit the time, effort, and resources to one or multiple ECAC teams.  NESN doesn't even do that for BU or BC.  We've already discussed that Cornell probably loses money on the whole Red Cast venture, why on earth would a TV network want to buy into that?  For what? A few dozen of us loyal Faithful?  Cornell simply doesn't have the unaffiliated regional sports fan following that U. Minnesota has.

IMO, you're completely overestimating the popularity of college hockey & ECAC Hockey in general, and Cornell Hockey specifically.  I consider us lucky that ESPN & ESPN2 still air the Frozen Four games. I'd be willing to bet the ratings are very low compared to just about any mid-season NCAA basketball game.

[Beeeej]

I consider us lucky that ESPN & ESPN2 still air the Frozen Four games. I'd be willing to bet the ratings are very low compared to just about any mid-season NCAA basketball game.

At least up through 2008, even the title game had never achieved higher than a 0.9 rating (1996, Colorado College vs. Michigan), a 1.04 cable rating (2002, Maine vs. Minnesota), a 3 share (1996, Colorado College vs. Michigan), and 899,000 households (2002, Maine vs. Minnesota).

By comparison, regular season college basketball games on ESPN this season have averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.363 million households.

Cornell vs. New Hampshire men's hockey Frozen Four semi-final in 2003?  0.1 rating, 0.1 cable rating, 0 share, 109,000 households.