Streaming Video

[joecct]

Those of you know I have been begging CCT for a live video feed of games from Cheel. I've been told the reason they can't do it is a bandwidth problem.

Well, along comes this company D3Cast (http://www.d3cast.com/procast.php) that will video your games for $1,995 per game. They say they primarily focus on Northeast D3 schools (from the looks of the video it looks a lot like NESCAC).

C'mon Tech, open the horizons and work out the bugs! We are, after all, a technical college, and should be able to solve technical issues!

I, for one, would be willing to pay $5 - $7 / game to watch.

Hint: It is strongly rumored that another D3 school along Rt. 11 will be webcasting their hockey games this season.......

[Drew]

Ok maybe they don't do the entire season, but they should do the SLU(t) games and the playoffs at the minimum.

[chuck]

Ok maybe they don't do the entire season, but they should do the SLU(t) games and the playoffs at the minimum.


The RIP and Cornell games might have some draw as well...

I'd pitch in up to 7 or 8 bucks to watch a game.

[scottcomstock]

I can see why Clarkson wouldn't want to do videocasting itself: we (alumni) would be fighting for bandwidth with students who are Hellbent on using the available bandwidth for P2P and BitTorrent. I know Clarkson has a packetshaper, but encryption and port jumping will almost certainly render it useless. It would be problematic at best.

D3Cast would be an excellent solution, but among other things, there may be implications vis-a-vis the Time Warner TV contract: they may have right of first refusal for webcasting, may want it restricted to areas they don't cover with their broadcast, or may not allow it at all. Has anyone been in contact with Athletics about this? I'd like to send a letter about this if someone else hasn't done so, or offer help if someone has.

[ursaminor]

Those of you know I have been begging CCT for a live video feed of games from Cheel. I've been told the reason they can't do it is a bandwidth problem.

Well, along comes this company D3Cast (http://www.d3cast.com/procast.php) that will video your games for $1,995 per game. They say they primarily focus on Northeast D3 schools (from the looks of the video it looks a lot like NESCAC).

C'mon Tech, open the horizons and work out the bugs! We are, after all, a technical college, and should be able to solve technical issues!

I, for one, would be willing to pay $5 - $7 / game to watch.

Hint: It is strongly rumored that another D3 school along Rt. 11 will be webcasting their hockey games this season....... So it would take from about 300 to 400 paying customers for them to break even. I wonder if there would be such an audience on a regular basis at a school the size of Clarkson (or RPI). There may indeed be such interest for your games against SLU, RPI, or Cornell, but I doubt it for Quinnipiac, Princeton, etc.

[Brett Gobe]

I can see why Clarkson wouldn't want to do videocasting itself: we (alumni) would be fighting for bandwidth with students who are Hellbent on using the available bandwidth for P2P and BitTorrent. I know Clarkson has a packetshaper, but encryption and port jumping will almost certainly render it useless. It would be problematic at best.

D3Cast would be an excellent solution, but among other things, there may be implications vis-a-vis the Time Warner TV contract: they may have right of first refusal for webcasting, may want it restricted to areas they don't cover with their broadcast, or may not allow it at all. Has anyone been in contact with Athletics about this? I'd like to send a letter about this if someone else hasn't done so, or offer help if someone has.
I'm pretty sure the university blocked all torrent streams on campus as well as all p2p file sharing programs. Not 100% on this but I am 95%.

Going along with what Ralph said, a break even number is $35910 for a season's worth of 18 home games. At 7 bucks a game you would need 5130 viewers for the season or 285 subscribers per game. That seems high to me and I think 285 for the SLU game would be tough to get. Even tougher to get considering these games are on Tuesday this year. So while personally I would love to watch streamed games at home and would pay to see them, we are in the small minority in this case.

[chuck]

I think it just may be doable if the other schools work with tech on it. Broadcast the high interest games (SLU, RPI, Cornell). I may be willing to pay up to $10 for one of those games, I suspect others will too. Then 200 viewers are needed, and don't forget the other schools fans will be watching too. Then if each school was able to solicit a couple of advertisers that number of 200 viewers could be further reduced. It's worth looking into, in my opinion.

I'm ignorant on this, but could the alumni committee pitch in a few bucks in case there weren't enough viewers to break even?

[joecct]

B2 Networks (http://www.b2now.com/) televises the USHL, AHL, UHL, and ECHL games for a fee. Some of the USHL cities are fairly remote, even by MidWest standards. See how they do it and copy the model.

There is a solution that is out there.
Partial credit is available........:)

[Ron]

Clarkson actually considered this several years ago before the technology was really there for streaming video. It's important to realize that Clarkson actually has a good portion of the expenses covered on this thanks to WCKN, as Clarkson is one of the few schools that has an on-campus cable television station.

The majority of the costs for something like this doesn't revolve around bandwidth, but around the infrastructure to put together a production, and actually most of that is in place. Clarkson would just need to pick up a media server, and determine the right about of bandwidth for it (which is less of an issue on weekend / game nights).

At donations of $10, I bet Clarkson could cover the costs pretty quickly. As Brett helpfully pointed out to me over IM, there is the issue of quality and that a volunteer organization would be running it, but it's a start right?

Maybe at the least we could get WCKN to put all of the games on YouTube.

-Ron

[scottcomstock]

Clarkson actually considered this several years ago before the technology was really there for streaming video. It's important to realize that Clarkson actually has a good portion of the expenses covered on this thanks to WCKN, as Clarkson is one of the few schools that has an on-campus cable television station.

Unfortunately, with the advent of the Time Warner contract, WCKN has been pushed aside: TWC has right of first refusal of broadcast of all men's games. They don't take all of them, but they more than likely take all of the "big" ones (SLU, RPI, etc.). Any webcasting efforts would have to involve both parties. I can't speak for WCKN, but I think they'd be receptive. However, I have no idea how TWC would react to such a proposal.

See: Clarkson Integrator on TWC contract (http://www.clarksonintegrator.com/media/storage/paper280/news/2003/02/17/CampusNews/Honor.The.Past.Or.Advance.Into.The.Future-372869.shtml?norewrite200608101216&sourcedomain=www.clarksonintegrator.com)

That contract, by the way, expires this year.



Maybe at the least we could get WCKN to put all of the games on YouTube.


Does YouTube accept videos of that length (2+ hours)?

[Ron]

I didn't see anything in there about webcasting v. broadcasting. I wonder if there's a significant difference or if that language was laid out in the contract. It also appears that TW needs to notify six months in advance which games it wants to cover, so I would assume WCKN would have a pretty stable schedule to work with other wise.

Funny enough, TW took some of the big games, then pulled out at the last minute. Clarkson v. SLU in Canton being the notable one. I'm sure WCKN would love the exposure, even if TW took the big ones.

In the end it's all about the money. It'll be interesting to see how Clarkson handles the renewal of the contract, which I'm sure talks are probably just warming up for.

A quick glance at YouTube shows that they have a "Director" program (http://www.youtube.com/director) which allows people to upload videos of unlimited length and apparently it's free to legitimate content owners. Might be a very cool option. Imagine them getting the entire backlog of their games on the net.


Unfortunately, with the advent of the Time Warner contract, WCKN has been pushed aside: TWC has right of first refusal of broadcast of all men's games. They don't take all of them, but they more than likely take all of the "big" ones (SLU, RPI, etc.). Any webcasting efforts would have to involve both parties. I can't speak for WCKN, but I think they'd be receptive. However, I have no idea how TWC would react to such a proposal.

See: Clarkson Integrator on TWC contract (http://www.clarksonintegrator.com/media/storage/paper280/news/2003/02/17/CampusNews/Honor.The.Past.Or.Advance.Into.The.Future-372869.shtml?norewrite200608101216&sourcedomain=www.clarksonintegrator.com)

That contract, by the way, expires this year.



Does YouTube accept videos of that length (2+ hours)?

[scottcomstock]

I didn't see anything in there about webcasting v. broadcasting. I wonder if there's a significant difference or if that language was laid out in the contract.

Usually, contracts of that type (especially nowadays) will have that kind of thing laid out. Regardless of the contract's language, either WCKN or TWC will almost certainly want a say, if it's their video going out over the Internet -- regardless if it's YouTube or live webcasting.

This also begs the question of who actually owns the games -- conventional wisdom would say Athletics. However, I'm not a lawyer and the legal issues in this area can get rather sticky.

Regardless, over the weekend, I will be writing a letter to Athletics (CC:ing WCKN, the Clarkson Alumni Association, and possibly TWC) asking about the possibility of webcasting the games.

[D3Cast]

Just thought I'd jump in here -- hope no one minds the intrusion...

D3Cast (we're also the home of D1Cast and D2Cast, as well) has two single-game packages: a single-camera package for $995/game, and a two-camera package for $1,995/game. These are more for the 'we parachute in w/all the equipment, do one game, then leave' type of deals. (We're looking, for example, at possibly doing the Norwich-Midd regular season game this way.) These are detailed at http://www.d3cast.com/sports.

The economics for these webcasts change under a variety of circumstances: 1) more than one game was included in a contract plan; or, much more fundamentally and significantly, 2) the school(s) are able to staff and present the webcasts themselves (with web and streaming media hosting, other consulting/training, and whatever additional equipment they might need provided by us). In addition, the possibilities of pay-per-view and/or advertising/sponsorship exist to help offset the expenses. We can also work with existing rights-holders, where they may exist.

I'd be happy to follow up with or provide more information to anybody who's interested.

Steve Clay
D3Cast
sbc@d3cast.com
781-631-1445

[scottcomstock]

For everyone's information:

I'll be writing a letter to Athletics this afternoon, asking them to look into the possibility of webcasting. I will be specifically mentioning D3Cast, their willingness to work with the various stakeholders, and the obvious alumni interest in seeing games online.

[scottcomstock]

I just faxed this up to Athletics and the Alumni Association. Formatting is slightly different from the original Word document.

--------



Scott F. Comstock
[deleted]
Oneonta, NY 13820
607-432-XXXX / 607-434-XXXX


28 August 2006


Mr. Gary Mikel, Sports Information Director
Mr. Steve Yianokos, Athletic Director
Mr. Steve Newkofsky, Clarkson Alumni Association
Clarkson University
Potsdam, NY 13699

VIA FACSIMILE to 315-268-7613 and 315-268-4420

Gentlemen:

I am the owner of the Golden Knights Hockey Roundtable, an online discussion forum for fans of Clarkson University men’s and women’s hockey. It is in its sixth year of operation, and has a very significant number of Clarkson fans, alumni and personnel, alumni and fans of other schools, and college hockey fans among its participants.

Recently, a number of alumni and other persons have expressed interest, via the Roundtable, in seeing video of Clarkson hockey games broadcasted over the Internet. As an alumnus and Clarkson hockey fan, I am also quite interested in seeing the games online. Many alumni and fans who do not live within easy driving distance of the ECAC Hockey League’s venues, or are otherwise unable to travel to the venues, would also greatly appreciate online video.

The technological logistics (server space, bandwidth, personnel, etc.) and the concerns of the various stake-holders in the video broadcast – Time Warner Cable and WCKN TV, among others – may have made this difficult in the past. I have worked for Internet service providers and communications companies; I was also part of the staff of the TV broadcasts for WCKN for all four years at Clarkson (1996-2000). I am extremely cognizant of the technical and legal issues that video broadcasts can face for an organization.

Steve Clay, a representative of the college athletics webcasting company D3Cast (http://www.d3cast.com/sports/), recently posted to the Roundtable after (presumably) having been contacted by other Roundtable members. In his post, he indicated that although their packages ran between $995 and $1,995 per game, the costs could change depending on, among other factors, whether the school could staff and present the games being webcast. In this instance, either WCKN or Time Warner Cable could handle the actual television logistics and D3Cast’s involvement would be limited to webcasting. Mr. Clay also noted that D3Cast would be willing to work with existing rights-holders, and explained that other avenues existed to help offset expenses (pay-per-view, advertising/sponsorship). According to his post, Mr. Clay can be reached via telephone at 781-631-1445 or by email at sbc@d3cast.com.

I would like to request that Athletics investigate this opportunity, as I believe this has the potential to become another revenue stream for Clarkson Athletics. Broadband Internet usage has exploded in the last several years, as you’re probably aware. Many alumni are interested and would be willing to pay to see the hockey games online. The 2006 Alumni Game, as you probably know, was cancelled because of a sudden schedule change by College Sports TV. The technology traditionally used for the Alumni Game’s nationwide broadcast (C- and Ku-band satellite) is in decline – Alumni Game venues are increasingly disposing of this obsolete equipment. This presents a perfect opportunity to bring this game – and others – back to alumni all across the world.

Thank you for your time and consideration.


Sincerely,
/s/
Scott F. Comstock ‘00

[joecct]

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!

[vicb]

Instead of finding funding to complete a library in the (TWO MILLION DOLLAR PRESIDENTS HOUSE :eek: ), maybe they could invest something into this operation.

[scottcomstock]

Instead of finding funding to complete a library in the (TWO MILLION DOLLAR PRESIDENTS HOUSE :eek: ), maybe they could invest something into this operation.

Two million bucks just for the President's house? Jeez Louise!

I can see at least building a house on the hill campus, but two million bucks? And they wonder why Clarkson students complain so much.

As for my letter, I will let everyone know as soon as I hear something. If they decide to pursue this, I hope they'll keep us in the loop. My checkbook is ready if they decide to go for it, and I bet a lot of you have yours ready as well.

[vicb]

As for my letter, I will let everyone know as soon as I hear something. If they decide to pursue this, I hope they'll keep us in the loop. My checkbook is ready if they decide to go for it, and I bet a lot of you have yours ready as well.

Well if this does come to fruition, I'm gonna finally have to ditch my 52K modem and get a high speed hookup. My pocket book is gonna be achin from 2 fronts ;) . Just wondering, should it be a DSL interconnect from the phone company or a Cable hookup from my cable provider???

[chuck]

Well if this does come to fruition, I'm gonna finally have to ditch my 52K modem and get a high speed hookup. My pocket book is gonna be achin from 2 fronts ;) . Just wondering, should it be a DSL interconnect from the phone company or a Cable hookup from my cable provider???


Vic,
I do not claim to be an expert, but my parents and my in laws both have a 750 kbs DSL from Verizon for $17/mo and swear by it. They watch streaming video often and say it's entirely acceptable. Me, I signed up for Verizon's 3.0 Mbs (before the slower/cheaper version was available) for $30/mo. I've been happy. My computer at work is connected through Comcast. It seems a wee bit faster than my DSL, but hardly noticable. I don't know Comcast's rates as it's not available at my house. Anyway, the cheaper Verizon package is similar cost to most dial-up and will probably suffice.

Good Luck.

LET'S GO TECH!

[vicb]

Vic,
I do not claim to be an expert, but my parents and my in laws both have a 750 kbs DSL from Verizon for $17/mo and swear by it. They watch streaming video often and say it's entirely acceptable. Me, I signed up for Verizon's 3.0 Mbs (before the slower/cheaper version was available) for $30/mo. I've been happy. My computer at work is connected through Comcast. It seems a wee bit faster than my DSL, but hardly noticable. I don't know Comcast's rates as it's not available at my house. Anyway, the cheaper Verizon package is similar cost to most dial-up and will probably suffice.

Good Luck.

LET'S GO TECH!

Well here in Merryland you sign up with Comcast for Phone, cable TV and cable modem: you get them each for $33 a month for 1 year. Then the regular rate hits you like a bomb. I only have cable with HBO and I currently pay $80+ a month just for that. I think their internet service is between $40 and $50 a month regular price. Verizon is just coming into our neighborhood this next month with DSL. Unfortunately I am moving next month and I am not sure they have wired the new neighborhood we are moving to as of yet.

[scottcomstock]

Gary Mikel sent me an email this afternoon. He stated that they're already working on webcasting video, and hope to have the Niagara game (6 Oct.) webcasted. More information will be available as the season gets closer.

[chuck]

Gary Mikel sent me an email this afternoon. He stated that they're already working on webcasting video, and hope to have the Niagara game (6 Oct.) webcasted. More information will be available as the season gets closer.

YIPPEEEE!!

Or should I say WOOO HOOOO!!

[Drew]

Gary Mikel sent me an email this afternoon. He stated that they're already working on webcasting video, and hope to have the Niagara game (6 Oct.) webcasted. More information will be available as the season gets closer.

On vacation and just catching up on the posts, Scott nice job on the letter and great news on the upcoming webcasts!! (even better news that you are working again).

Chuck, Cannot do the UMASS game but, let me know if you guys are getting together for the Capitol District games( easier for me to get to).

CHEERS!
Drew

[Bill]

Gary Mikel sent me an email this afternoon. He stated that they're already working on webcasting video, and hope to have the Niagara game (6 Oct.) webcasted. More information will be available as the season gets closer.

Great Scott!!!! Now I have to decide what replaces my dialup - no DSL (too far from the switch), Charter doesn't seem interested in just internet only and satellite requires second mortgage - may be stuck with audio for a while yet - hopefully they're going to keep that going???

[scottcomstock]

Great Scott!!!! Now I have to decide what replaces my dialup - no DSL (too far from the switch), Charter doesn't seem interested in just internet only and satellite requires second mortgage - may be stuck with audio for a while yet - hopefully they're going to keep that going???

As far as I can tell, they're keeping the audio broadcasts.

[MikeR]

Quote from the Alumni e-newsletter

"HOCKEY TO BE VIDEO-STREAMED
Attention all hockey fans! This season the men’s hockey games will be video-streamed from Cheel Arena over the Internet. Stay tuned for further information."

[Drew]

Quote from the Alumni e-newsletter

"HOCKEY TO BE VIDEO-STREAMED
Attention all hockey fans! This season the men’s hockey games will be video-streamed from Cheel Arena over the Internet. Stay tuned for further information."


I just received a letter from the University thanking me for my unrestricted contribution and how it was used to ....upgrade the IT infrastucture which includes Tech hockey streamed over the internet, along with other events.

Great news for Tech Hockey, Tony Collins gets it, he really gets it!

[Drew]

From the website:

"Video Streaming of Clarkson Men's and Women's home games televised by the University's student-TV station, WCKN-TV will be available on the web. Clarkson Men's games will be available for a free trial period, consisting of several of the opening games. With the start of ECACHL play in November, there will be a charge to watch the video streaming. All video streaming of Golden Knights Women's games that are broadcast by WCKN-TV will be shown free of charge. (more info to follow in the coming week)."

[chuck]

What's the chance that the timing between the video webcast and the radio stream (Bob and Josh) will be close enough that we can watch the game on WKCN, yet listen to Bob's call of the game?

My guess is the same chance that Union wins a National Championship this year (or within my lifetime for that matter):eek: .

[joecct]

What's the chance that the timing between the video webcast and the radio stream (Bob and Josh) will be close enough that we can watch the game on WKCN, yet listen to Bob's call of the game?

My guess is the same chance that Union wins a National Championship this year (or within my lifetime for that matter):eek: .Chuck

I'm guessing there's a 40% chance.

Joe

[ursaminor]

Chuck

I'm guessing there's a 40% chance.

Joe

Of Union winning the National Championship? :eek:

[BC300]

Wow what great news regarding the webcast. Thanks to everyone for their work and efforts on this.

I hope Bob does get to call the games on the webcast. He does such an amazing job each and every weekend in that you can "visualize" the game going on. A true part of the Clarkson Hockey experience.

LGT!!! :D

[snyderkb]

Hey guys! I'm the Hockey Producer for WCKN this year. We are happy to announce that we will be going online for the first time ever this year! We hope to bring you all some exciting games. The Niagara and RIT games will kick off our webcast schedule, so we hope you tune in and enjoy the games. The announcers for the webcast will be the same as our regular TV broadcast, and we hope to improve our quality as the year progresses. Here's to an exciting season for both the men's and women's teams!

Kyle Snyder
WCKN Executive Hockey Producer
snyderkb@clarkson.edu

[joecct]

Kyle

No pressure now, but your audience just got a whole lot more diverse! Be prepared for critics from every corner. I hope any criticisms are constructive and not just the talk radio call-in variety.

BTW, are they student announcers or professionals?

More pressure -- the financial success of the entire athletic department is riding on your shoulders. :D

Some ideas -- have you thought of a producing a Weekly highlights / coach's show, say on Wednesday night? You could show highlights of the previous week's games and have Coach Roll and a current player discuss the past week and next week's opponents. You could stream this show over the net and I know a lot of people will watch.

Also, how about between pds 1 and 2 we have the "Warr Room" with former Knight's All American defenseman Steve Warr? Steve could offer his insights on the game and talk about college hockey in general (if this sounds like Coach's Corner on HNIC, you're right).

Now, if you're really ambitious, somewhere around still have to be the WCKN Walker Arena tapes. You could show "This Knight in Clarkson history" and show some game clips from games in the distant past.

Good luck and I'll be watching tomorrow. How many users can you handle before the system grinds to a halt?

[MikeR]

Hey guys! I'm the Hockey Producer for WCKN this year. We are happy to announce that we will be going online for the first time ever this year! We hope to bring you all some exciting games. The Niagara and RIT games will kick off our webcast schedule, so we hope you tune in and enjoy the games. The announcers for the webcast will be the same as our regular TV broadcast, and we hope to improve our quality as the year progresses. Here's to an exciting season for both the men's and women's teams!

Kyle Snyder
WCKN Executive Hockey Producer
snyderkb@clarkson.edu

Great news Kyle! Now if I can get these rabbit ears to pickup a webcast, I'm in business!
http://www.clarksonathletics.com//Sports/gen/2006/VIDEOSTREAMING.asp

[snyderkb]

Kyle

No pressure now, but your audience just got a whole lot more diverse! Be prepared for critics from every corner. I hope any criticisms are constructive and not just the talk radio call-in variety.

BTW, are they student announcers or professionals?

More pressure -- the financial success of the entire athletic department is riding on your shoulders. :D

Some ideas -- have you thought of a producing a Weekly highlights / coach's show, say on Wednesday night? You could show highlights of the previous week's games and have Coach Roll and a current player discuss the past week and next week's opponents. You could stream this show over the net and I know a lot of people will watch.

Also, how about between pds 1 and 2 we have the "Warr Room" with former Knight's All American defenseman Steve Warr? Steve could offer his insights on the game and talk about college hockey in general (if this sounds like Coach's Corner on HNIC, you're right).

Now, if you're really ambitious, somewhere around still have to be the WCKN Walker Arena tapes. You could show "This Knight in Clarkson history" and show some game clips from games in the distant past.

Good luck and I'll be watching tomorrow. How many users can you handle before the system grinds to a halt?

Joe,

All very good ideas, and we're going to see what we can do to make this year's broadcast the best ever. We're facing a limited staff for the beginning, but we're hoping to expand over the year.

In regards to the announcers, they will be students. I will be one of them. I've played hockey since I was a youngin', and I have done both play-by-play and color commentary over the last two years. Steve Williams, now a graduate student at SUNY Potsdam, will be helping me out in the beginning in his fifth year of play-by-play at Clarkson. We have two other announcers currently training, be sure to check them out during the webcasts of the women's games! We'll be doing whatever we can to improve our announcing abilities, hopefully we'll get some chances to work with Bob to improve our skills.

I'm sure we'll face some criticism, and I'll check this board out regularily to scan for advice, so feel free to dish it out! I'll keep you all updated throughout this semester, and my assistant producer will do the same next semester while I am on co-op. Thanks for your support!

[Ron]

Good luck tonight with the webcast guys. Everyone appreciates it.

[ChuckNajimy]

A big thank you to everyone involved in this effort. Please don't take our praise for Bob as an insult to those who call the video feed. Good luck to WCKN and to the Knights. By the way let's keep this whole thing a seceret, I wouldn't want too many people logging on to the webcast and bogging down the server. (does that make any technical sense? i'm a civil engineer this my computer knowledge goes no further than Excel):p

[mark0429]

I have an Intel Mac. Currently, windows media player is not a universal binary, and runs like garbage. Does anyone know of a decent alternative?

Thanks in advance.

[joecct]

Tuned in @ 7:10 video was choppy and audio in and out. Don't know if was a bandwidth issue or what, but it has to get better once they iron out the technical difficulties

[CUKnight]

Video is pretty good. I know in 5 years we will think this video looks terrible, because truthfully it does compared to my 60" HDTV... but for someone who has lived without clarkson hockey for years, this is beautiful.

Some advice:
1) Put the time on the screen. The score is nice, but we really need the time.
2) The overall green blob is a bit much as well. Occupies alot of the screen. Perhaps try for a more ESPN feel, with a bar across the top or bottom with the time and score.
3) The audio...horrendus. I coulndt hear the announcers. The student announcers werent terrible when i could hear them. I wound up tuning in to bob and syncing it up...(which i was able to do with pretty good success).
4) A little choppy at times. Not sure you can improve this...but more users will make this much worse.

All in all, not bad for a first effort. I'd have a difficult time paying for this quality, but I might do it if I know some (if not all) of the profit will be dumped back into infustructure to improve the broadcast.

[scottcomstock]

2) The overall green blob is a bit much as well. Occupies alot of the screen. Perhaps try for a more ESPN feel, with a bar across the top or bottom with the time and score.


I did notice the ESPN-style score bar with clock on the video clips on the intro. Did something happen to the clock camera?

[MikeR]

Big kudos for a first effort. The major issues have been covered..audio (bad mic?), video quality average, need a game clock, and PP clock. Student announcers were not bad, actually could talk some more.

Thanks for starting the end of my marriage.;) :D

btw, a big thank you to Scott for the chat setup. It may take a while, but I'll have it down sufficiently to navigate video, radio, chat, out of town scores, and maybe Netflix as well.

Good stuff. Can't wait 'til tomorrow night!

[snyderkb]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for those who turned in. Let me explain what happened.

1. We usually have the clock up there, but we ran into a lot of difficulties and couldn't get it in for airtime. We're going to work on that for tomorrow's game.

2. The audio we know was bad. It's a combination of one of our headsets stopped working and also because it's a webcast.

3. We had issues with the webcast device we were given. Hopefully that'll be worked out for those of you who lost or couldn't get connection.

4. A lot of our crew was freshman, and so switching camera views and putting up graphics was a bit delayed.

5. I designed the score overlay, and didn't realize how big it really was. I'll try switching back to an overhead bar for tomorrow's game.

Any other suggestions, let me know. Thanks for everyone who tuned in, and we hope you continue to watch as we attempt to fix our beginning-of-the-year troubles.

[Drew]

First time....great job. Stay open minded to criticism, you can only learn from it. You may want to think ahead about bandwidth.... other schools will jump on the free showings, straining your initial telecasts.

[snyderkb]

First time....great job. Stay open minded to criticism, you can only learn from it. You may want to think ahead about bandwidth.... other schools will jump on the free showings, straining your initial telecasts.

Yeah, I'm fine with the criticisms, and kind of surprised it's been as positive as it is. Appartently our internet broadcast went a lot better than our TV broadcast in terms of problems.

About the bandwidth, it's not something we really control at this point, we were just given a device to set it up, and then stream it from our studio. But it's definetely something that we'll look into. Thanks!

[joecct]

Kyle

Good job. I don't know if your IFB was working or not, but when you were talking to the director, we could hear the conversations.

You and Steve seemed to be talking to each other, not to us. We need to feel part of the broadcast.

Picture -- zoom in a bit more. We don't need to see the entire attacking zone.

I'd give you guys a B and the internet presentation a weak C.

Joe

[snyderkb]

Kyle

Good job. I don't know if your IFB was working or not, but when you were talking to the director, we could hear the conversations.

You and Steve seemed to be talking to each other, not to us. We need to feel part of the broadcast.

Picture -- zoom in a bit more. We don't need to see the entire attacking zone.

I'd give you guys a B and the internet presentation a weak C.

Joe

Thanks for the tips Joe. We're working on improving the show all day tomorrow starting at 10 am. Hopefully tomorrow will go smoother, hope everyone tunes in!

[snyderkb]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to update you all on our progress today. We have the clock cam working, the view is a little fuzzy so let me know if you can see it tonight. The audio has been fixed as far as we know. We have one guy who is going to just do the webcast maintenance, as opposed to one guy who had multiple jobs last night. Our crew has a little more experience now. And most importantly, we've changed the score overlay back to how it was last year, with a few changes, so hopefully it'll be easier to see the picture tonight. Please let me know if there is anything else that you guys think would improve the broadcast, and also if there are any issues that you guys see tonight on the webcast. As always, thanks for tuning in to WCKN's webcast!

Kyle

[CUKnight]

Still 1st period....but a couple comments.

1) Audio MUCH better tonight. Announcers decent for college students. Alot of dead air at times. Perhaps you should tape bob's game from the previous week/night and "steal" some of his stories and recycle them. Feel free to talk about players in the NHL, do some out of town scores.
2) Video Quality has much degraded from last night. Last night I was able to get a full screen picture and have it viewable, tonight i need to have a tiny picture to make it viewable. Ironically, although present, the clock is still not viewable due to the low picture quality.
3) Something during intermission would be good. If time permits during the week, maybe have some canned 10 minute videos to air. Maybe one on Erik Coles ride to the stanley cup, the 1991 Frozen Four Team or something. Use your imagination. Perhaps have a pre-game interview with the coach to air. I dont know....but you need somethign to occupy the intermission.
4) Maybe add a mic near the student section/pep band. Heck, even show the pep band playing during the intermission would be better than the score for 12 minutes.

All in all, there were parts that are better tonight than last night. But there were parts that were worst. To be expected. I know you can put it all together eventually. I appreciate the hard work. Thanks!

[snyderkb]

We are having problems boadcasting the internet feed at the same time as live programing for tonight. We will be airing the whole game again after the real game as ended. Sorry for that delay but we will have it totally figured out before the next home game.