Closed Doors Live Streaming, the verdict.

[DA Baracus]

I wish a lot of the commentators weren't so dull. Seems that some of them have the same playbook of cliches and say things in the same way.

I want some partisan stuff! I want a bit of humour instead of bland chat. I know the job isn't easy and that they are all volunteers, but in my view, should streaming somehow stick around for domestic fans (although as noted I can't see how that will happen) then the 'product' needs to be a bit more interesting. I can see fans being in the ground making a huge difference to streams though, and probably even the commentators.

[johnnydun]

9 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

I can see fans being in the ground making a huge difference to streams though, and probably even the commentators.

Yes, definitely a lot more "apologies if you picked up the bad language."

[Francesc Fabregas]

I've purchased streams for most Championship clubs this seaon and the offering, on the whole, has been very decent. I think Greenock Morton's has been the best - the multi-camera set-up works well at Cappielow and Gerry McDade and Andy Ritchie have fine chemistry and are well informed. As a neutral, it's very important to find that sweet spot between good play-by-play commentary, strong analysis and "having a laugh" and I feel the pair achieve that. Queen of the South, Ayr United and Raith Rovers are good too, and I think Kieran Mooney at Alloa Athletic has a bright future in broadcasting ahead of him. Heart of Midlothian's stream, of course, has been good to watch too, albeit a little pricey.

I was a bit disappointed with Dundee's set-up, especially for a club of their size and when compared to their peers, and thought it all seemed a bit cheap. They start broadcasting about five minutes before the match starts and there are no video packages during the interval. The commentary is fine, right enough.

The stream I enjoyed least was Arbroath's. I think the commentary would, at best, be described as "an acquired taste", with the pair more content on having a chat with each other about nightclubs than calling the game. The high point of the game was Queen of the South turning around a two-goal deficit and "Fermer Innes" convulsing. Then the stream cut out with about 15 minutes left. I know some people really like the Arbroath TV commentary but it just was not for me!

On the whole, I think a lot of the clubs in the Championship and Leagues 1 and 2 deserve a lot of credit for their streams over the course of the season. I don't think some of them would have every contemplated broadcasting their matches in the past and they've stepped up.

 

[Scary Bear]

I’m not sure there are quite enough questions or enough adequate responses to eek out the nuances.

If i can get back into stadiums I would definitely do that for Saturday home games. For midweek games, I would much prefer to watch the games online. I would probably watch more away games if I could watch online.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Scary Bear

[AlbionMan]

53 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

I’m not sure there are quite enough questions or enough adequate responses to eek out the nuances.

If i can get back into stadiums I would definitely do that for Saturday home games. For midweek games, I would much prefer to watch the games online. I would probably watch more away games if I could watch online.

Irrespective of the quality of the picture, the commentary or even the football on show it is a piss poor alternative to going to the ground to watch a game. The quicker government  stops hiding behind a wall of fear and opens up communities the better.

[LeodhasXD]

I'm part of the new school of get games broadcast. Available everywhere.

We've all learned that a) nothing compares to being in the stadium b) if you can't get into a stadium a stream is better than nothing.

For some clubs the investment on the streaming side is quite sizable and they'll not want to have that possible revenue stream cut off.

Stenhousemuir's chief executive I'm sure came out in support of continuing streaming. Certainly it's my hope to continue an Alloa TV product whether it's geoblocked or not. I might even look for a VPN sponsor if that's the case. 

If you're in the Championship next year your games will be broadcast online. The BBC have the nonexclusive rights for the friday night games. The clubs have already sold their rights to the betting companies in partnership with Pixellot. Outwith the UK and Ireland but we all know where they'll be available. You might aswell compete for some of that audience.

The rest of us whose games aren't worth selling television rights for are a much more interesting proposition.

[CALDERON]

I've enjoyed watching the games a lot more than I thought I would, partly due to the team playing well, but even when we've been pish, I've got quite worked up about it.  Dan Armstrong's corners have prompted at least a couple of warnings about the volume.

Fair play to all clubs for getting this up and running.  Morton TV was my personal favourite, I thought the commentators got the mix between objectivity and partisan bias absolutely spot on.  I find most others fall slightly on the wrong side of either, in my opinion.

Only one I didn't pay for was Hearts TV, but thankfully the wonders of IPTV picked the game up.

 

 

[parsforlife]

I’m surprised people liked Morton’s set up.  Yes they have different angles but the transition between is very jumpy and they didn’t really follow play as such, just skipped to the camera for that area of the pitch.

There’s been a few horror shows with pixellot the main culprit.  I would describe the overall quality to be tolerable, but I’ll be back in the ground ASAP. It’s really a poor way to watch games. 
 

[munro7]

I'm part of the new school of get games broadcast. Available everywhere.
We've all learned that a) nothing compares to being in the stadium b) if you can't get into a stadium a stream is better than nothing.
For some clubs the investment on the streaming side is quite sizable and they'll not want to have that possible revenue stream cut off.
Stenhousemuir's chief executive I'm sure came out in support of continuing streaming. Certainly it's my hope to continue an Alloa TV product whether it's geoblocked or not. I might even look for a VPN sponsor if that's the case. [emoji23]
If you're in the Championship next year your games will be broadcast online. The BBC have the nonexclusive rights for the friday night games. The clubs have already sold their rights to the betting companies in partnership with Pixellot. Outwith the UK and Ireland but we all know where they'll be available. You might aswell compete for some of that audience.
The rest of us whose games aren't worth selling television rights for are a much more interesting proposition.

Once restrictions are lifted isn’t there a real chance that income could seriously deplete anyway though. Instead of 4 or 5 people paying to stream a game individually you’ll get one doing so and the rest meeting there to watch it together?

[Highland Capital]

My take on the streams I've watched - 

Arbroath - I liked it.  Perhaps if I had to listen to 'Fermer' every week he'd start to grate but I enjoyed it.  Camera was fine as I recall and I liked the way they had a interview pre-match and at half time with someone who'd been at both clubs (Paul Sheerin in our case).

Dunfermline - I thought it was fine.  Commentary was alright as well even when it was just one guy on his own.

Dundee - Again seemed fine to me.  

Raith - Really good.  Good commentary, multiple camera angles and replays. 

Ayr - Commentary was good but the camera was a bit low for my liking.

Caley Thistle - Absolutely rubbish.  The Pixellot camera is a bit better now that it's manually controlled but it's still poor.  You know the commentary is bad when Iain Auld is a breadth of fresh air.  Andy Bannerman is a Wikipedia-obsessed, annoying-voiced bore who seems to take pride in his unpopularity.  The radio silence from the club is also really grating.  It used to be said that ICT were a professional club with a Highland League attitude but given that Nairn County and Buckie Thistle have outdone us this season when it comes to coverage (even if the latter's commentator shouted 'Oh jings!' at every opportunity).  Even more frustrating given that the club have the capabilities to do a really good broadcast and a media team willing to do it.

Haven't watched QOTS yet and I didn't sign up for Hearts or Morton (too expensive).  Also didn't watch Alloa's due to Pixellot.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Highland Capital

[Homer Thompson]

7 hours ago, JAR said:

Matches are much better with a crowd & that includes away fans to give it more atmosphere. Most people don't travel home & away so there is probably a market for streaming games the next day or after 5pm if the authorities will allow it. 

This has always been allowed. Im not sure, though, that there will be much of a market for it once crowds are allowed back in. Most clubs will produce highlights and most, if not all fans, will know the score at the end of the game. I cant see there being that many fans who want to pay just to watch the full 90 minutes the next day.

1 hour ago, parsforlife said:

I’m surprised people liked Morton’s set up.  Yes they have different angles but the transition between is very jumpy and they didn’t really follow play as such, just skipped to the camera for that area of the pitch.

There’s been a few horror shows with pixellot the main culprit.  I would describe the overall quality to be tolerable, but I’ll be back in the ground ASAP. It’s really a poor way to watch games. 
 

This. Certainly not saying their coverage was bad by any means but I thought the same as you about the transition between cameras.

If there was a "most improved" award, Morton would be an absolute shoe-in.

[Stoo61]

5 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

I wish a lot of the commentators weren't so dull. Seems that some of them have the same playbook of cliches and say things in the same way.

I want some partisan stuff! I want a bit of humour instead of bland chat. I know the job isn't easy and that they are all volunteers, but in my view, should streaming somehow stick around for domestic fans (although as noted I can't see how that will happen) then the 'product' needs to be a bit more interesting. I can see fans being in the ground making a huge difference to streams though, and probably even the commentators.

Absolutely. An opportunity was missed I think. Should have had folk just ripping into the opposition and generally being partisan as you say! Would have made the atrocious football a lot more palatable. 

[Otis Blue]

I'd like it to continue.  OK I understand that it might detract from the atmosphere a bit if it reduces the size of some of the bigger away supports.  But as others have said travelling to watch games with the highland sides if you follow QOS, Annan, Stranraer (and vice versa of course) is a bit of a trek especially in the winter months.  Also (shouldn't really admit this but .....) I'm starting to get on in years a bit now and feel the cold weather these days so the prospect of sitting outside for two hours in the middle of winter on a baltic day wearing 16 layers of clothing and looking like the Michelin Man and shivering uncontrollably by full time is starting to lose its attraction - compare it with sitting in the same seat in  September in short sleeves.  So on really shit winter days I'd probably happily pay the entrance fee to watch the game from home and the club wouldn't lose the income.  Why not look after the fans.  Of course the powers that be in Scottish fitba would much rather the paying customer suffered - it is part of the Scottish psyche after all.

Generally the streams have been OK (we know we're not dealing with national broadcasting network quality here) and the commentators have been decent too - apart from the fermer at Arbroath and the lad at Inverness.

[Scary Bear]

I’d forgotten about that commentator at Inverness. He was very enthusiastic. A male Sarah O.

[grumswall]

I’d forgotten about that commentator at Inverness. He was very enthusiastic. A male Sarah O.

Just imagine his delight when Inverness beat County (grrrrr) though.

[Mexico]

Most clubs have done ok and it’s evolved into something perfectly watchable at most clubs.

It’s obviously no substitute for the attending a game but it’s been alright really.

The only issue I had was that utter w****r than commentates for ICT that passes off subjective opinion as absolute fact every 2 mins.

[vikingTON]

9 hours ago, CALDERON said:

Yeah, I think a streaming pass dependant on post code/certain number of miles away from ground would be a good idea.  I guess its easy enough to circumvent, however, same as the "overseas" services that exist in normal times. 

If it's an individual link sent to the email of a registered season ticket holder then I don't think it would be too easy to circumvent, and relatively easy to sanction if they got caught with forfeiting their season ticket.  

Perhaps opposition clubs could facilitate streaming purchases and links for away fans as ST holders as well, but selling streams to the general public should be a non-starter. 

[Homer Thompson]

31 minutes ago, virginton said:

If it's an individual link sent to the email of a registered season ticket holder then I don't think it would be too easy to circumvent, and relatively easy to sanction if they got caught with forfeiting their season ticket.  

Perhaps opposition clubs could facilitate streaming purchases and links for away fans as ST holders as well, but selling streams to the general public should be a non-starter. 

An individual link would be a pain to setup and a nightmare to support when everyone forgets their link every week. Its also not really enough, you'd still need some kind of authentication and if you're going to do that then an individual link is pointless. Restricting the initial purchase based on location would be far easier

A streaming season ticket with some kind of geo-restriction is probably the only way to come close to providing a service to fans who wouldnt normally come to games without losing actual bums on seats, but its far from fool-proof

[HoBNob]

Providing that clubs still stream after this season, just use a VPN. 

I've lived in the south of England for most of the past 7 years and I've been using a VPN to watch games for the majority of it, fairly guilt free aswell. I'm not about to do a 10 hour journey to the football every weekend and it was still getting money into the club. 

[Waspie]

Obviously really missed getting to games but I've really enjoyed the streams. Living a fair distance from Alloa I don't get to as many games as I'd like. This season the only matches I haven't seen were Livingston in the League Cup group stage and Hearts away first time around when I felt the price was just too high. Being able to watch Alloa every week, even in a season when we are going to be relegated, has been one of the few good things about the past year. While there were technical issues at times they became increasingly rare as the season went on and some of the comms and punditry were really impressive. 

If it was possible to maintain I'd definitely keep watching online when it wasn't possible to get to the game. I'd be happy enough for streams with no comms if clubs were keeping it going but putting a bit less resource into it.