Espn+

[HerdBot]

You do realize that the feed shown on ESPN3 and now ESPN+ usually comes from KVLY/VNL? The only difference is that when VNL goes to a commercial break, ESPN cuts to a commercial cloud service that only shows ESPN commercials.

Yep. KVLY spends a ton of money producing it and then ESPN gets it for free and gets paid by subscribers and sells advertising. Dog shit deal. ESPN plus will get a fraction of the viewers as ESPN3. Meanwhile they pay insane money to the power 5 schools to broadcast their stuff which makes their conferences rich and then ESPN passes on the cost to cable companies. Screw ESPN plus.

[THEsocalledfan]

Yep. KVLY spends a ton of money producing it and then ESPN gets it for free and gets paid by subscribers and sells advertising. Dog shit deal. ESPN plus will get a fraction of the viewers as ESPN3. Meanwhile they pay insane money to the power 5 schools to broadcast their stuff which makes their conferences rich and then ESPN passes on the cost to cable companies. Screw ESPN plus.

Gabe, I very much appreciate the venom as it is very justified. It is a crappy deal for NDSU. But what is the alternative that will have the same reach as ESPN+? It is still ESPN which by itself increases reach even if not ESPN3. Pluto TV? That is about the only thing I could think of, but it still is not ESPN and not sure that would have the same reach. The goal should not be just to provide a platform to fans, but hope to get a few curious eyes watching them when they are strolling through games.

On top of that, with the rapid cord cutting, we may get to the point where ESPN starts providing its core content as the ultimate "skinny" bundle with all the networks, etc. If that happens, ESPN+ not such a bad place to be. The market is a mess right now and no on knows what is going to happen. I don't see NDSU having great options without risking a massive decrease in exposure.

[Christopher Moen]

Yep. KVLY spends a ton of money producing it and then ESPN gets it for free and gets paid by subscribers and sells advertising. Dog shit deal. ESPN plus will get a fraction of the viewers as ESPN3. Meanwhile they pay insane money to the power 5 schools to broadcast their stuff which makes their conferences rich and then ESPN passes on the cost to cable companies. Screw ESPN plus.

Yes, and part of that "ton of money" you are referring to in regards to KVLY/VNL is money they spent to NDSU to have the rights to broadcast the football games. This is similar, but on a much smaller scale, that ABC/ESPN, NBC (Notre Dame games) and CBS pay to P5 (and sometimes G5) conferences for the rights to broadcast their games.

In regards to "ESPN gets it for free," I'm not sure that's 100% true. If money is exchanged, chances are ESPN is paying KVLY/VNL for their feed. NDSU has already received their money regardless due to their deal wit KVLY/VNL.

We also have to remember that ESPN paid the NCAA huge amounts of money to broadcast Championships, which includes the FCS Playoffs. These types of deals, along with their bigger contracts with P5 Conferences, NBA, NFL, etc. is a huge reason why they are hemorrhaging money. How does a smart company stop that? Increase cash flow and cut back on spending. Based on how many personalities have been fired over the past few years, I'm guessing ESPN is has already cut back as much as they can. Gotta make more money, and ESPN+ is a smart move on their part. This is where we are moving as streaming becomes more prevalent than cable/satellite TV.

Yes, it sucks not getting something for free, but $5/month or $50 a year isn't that bad. For us who don't live in the KVLY/VNL broadcast area(s), we would only have Bison All-Access for home games and hopefully away games would have a streaming option to watch. All of which would cost more than what ESPN is offering.

[roper1313]

For those of you who want to take ESPN+ for a test run. Sign up and follow the Fargo Little League team. Only two games away from Williamsport!!


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[HerdBot]

Gabe, I very much appreciate the venom as it is very justified. It is a crappy deal for NDSU. But what is the alternative that will have the same reach as ESPN+? It is still ESPN which by itself increases reach even if not ESPN3. Pluto TV? That is about the only thing I could think of, but it still is not ESPN and not sure that would have the same reach. The goal should not be just to provide a platform to fans, but hope to get a few curious eyes watching them when they are strolling through games.

On top of that, with the rapid cord cutting, we may get to the point where ESPN starts providing its core content as the ultimate "skinny" bundle with all the networks, etc. If that happens, ESPN+ not such a bad place to be. The market is a mess right now and no on knows what is going to happen. I don't see NDSU having great options without risking a massive decrease in exposure.

I contend with a fraction of the viewers, it's not really the same and the reach and eyeballs are much less. Fans outside of the area will have to do as much research to learn how to do ESPN plus as any new platform.

With technology evolving, I would be reluctant to jump into anything long term. Who knows next week Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or anything could pop up.

If fans have to pay a monthly rate, I would much rather that money goes to the conference and is divided up by the teams or to invest into future broadcasts, mobile apps, or other technologies.

[THEsocalledfan]

I contend with a fraction of the viewers, it's not really the same and the reach and eyeballs are much less. Fans outside of the area will have to do as much research to learn how to do ESPN plus as any new platform.

With technology evolving, I would be reluctant to jump into anything long term. Who knows next week Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or anything could pop up.

If fans have to pay a monthly rate, I would much rather that money goes to the conference and is divided up by the teams or to invest into future broadcasts, mobile apps, or other technologies.

Agree the eyeballs will go down short term; but what about long term? And right now, in 2018, what other national platform would you advocate? I don't see any other options right now and they'd be wise to see how this plays out, while cursing ESPN.

[EC8CH]

If ESPN is going to start charging for their stream they better fix their bandwidth issues. MNF was always a buffering mess to the point of being unwatchable. Thankfully the Bison replays were always smooth but big time live national events almost always buffered for me and it was definitely an issue on their end.

[oldmantutters]

I contend with a fraction of the viewers, it's not really the same and the reach and eyeballs are much less. Fans outside of the area will have to do as much research to learn how to do ESPN plus as any new platform.

With technology evolving, I would be reluctant to jump into anything long term. Who knows next week Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or anything could pop up.

If fans have to pay a monthly rate, I would much rather that money goes to the conference and is divided up by the teams or to invest into future broadcasts, mobile apps, or other technologies.

This is fucking ridiculous. For the conference to invest or partner with a technology company would cost more than $5/mo. and the product wouldn't be anywhere near as good/available as ESPN. On top of that, IF there were any money leftover (hint: there wouldn't be) it would be NDSU subsidising other schools in the MVFC. Take the extra $10/mo. that you'd pay someone else and use that to support NDSU.

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[Bisonator98]

If ESPN is going to start charging for their stream they better fix their bandwidth issues. MNF was always a buffering mess to the point of being unwatchable. Thankfully the Bison replays were always smooth but big time live national events almost always buffered for me and it was definitely an issue on their end.

This. ESPN3 was a joke many times. If people are going to be paying they damn well better be getting a better product.

Just another reason ESPN is going in the toilet.

[HerdBot]

Agree the eyeballs will go down short term; but what about long term? And right now, in 2018, what other national platform would you advocate? I don't see any other options right now and they'd be wise to see how this plays out, while cursing ESPN.

I think we need to see how it evolves and get ready to make a move. ESPN plus could be a huge bust or it could be a monster. First you have to decide if the goal is to generate revenue or get maximum exposure.

Right now the options are smaller but the way technology is advancing, we know there will be some great options out there.

I think Pluto has some crazy good potential. It's available on all platforms so it's easy to find. The Big Sky was the first confernece to jump on it and all their games are broadcast live and they broadcast replays around the clock. What's cool is it's got a traditional looking program guide and all the sports stuff is grouped together. The Big Sky is right next to Fox Sports, World Poker, and kickboxing. Now the Big Sky has partnered, it could open up some some opportunities

Here are some interesting stats.
ESPN PLUS - 200K subscribers (as of june, not sure how accurate though)
PLUTO - 10 million active users https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/plut...-active-users/