NCAA March Madness iOS App Goes Live for 2013, Pay-TV Authentication for Most Games

I don't do "pay tv" - i guess this year's version is a no go for me.

Why no in-app purchase this year? What stupid a.ss contract did they sign with the cable providers?

I actually like no in-app purchase. I already pay for cable, so why should I pay yet again to watch games I'm already paying for?

Espn live

Is the same way.....

I would pay a fee to download the WATCH ESPN app or even this NCAA app....but since I don't have a provider, guess they won't get my money....*foolish* ?

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Cameront9 said:

I actually like no in-app purchase. I already pay for cable, so why should I pay yet again to watch games I'm already paying for?

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Because they usually don't offer every company....example WATCH ESPN doesn't let you log in with Directv and Dish Network....

Dumb. They need options both for those who have cable and those who don't. This way they lost a huge amount of revenue from the in app purchase, because I don't do cable, and so won't pay for games I can't watch.

I can't wait for the day we finally can just buy all of the content a-la-carte so we can be done with the horse crap stranglehold old the 1980s cable model. When will the cable companies realize they are just pipes? Google Fiber should be a very nice and much needed kick in the ass for Comcast.

I have to say there are some articles on MacRumors where I can't help but think 'I just couldn't care less'. This is definitely one of them.


I expect to be pigeon-holed for this post.

Davmeister said:

I have to say there are some articles on MacRumors where I can't help but think 'I just couldn't care less'. This is definitely one of them.


I expect to be pigeon-holed for this post.

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but you cared enough to come to the comments and post. Nice.

They learned their lesson from last year. While I'm not a fan of the TV EVerywhere tie in, this is a much better option this go round. I din't pay last year and I wouldn't have paid this year. Glad i don't have to worry about it.

Loved the app last year and... I HATE CABLE COMPANIES!!!! When will they ever understand that spending money to license stuff in this way is not helping them? I will NEVER SUBSCRIBE to cable just to view content like this for a short time. Content provider's... YOU ARE LOSING CUSTOMERS... cable companies... YOU ARE NOT GAINING CUSTOMERS(people don't subscribe just for one time events... that's just stupid)...

In fact, it is things like this that really strengthen my resolve. Every time I start to think "maybe we should get cable for a while... it'd be cool," I see something like this and remember why I will never support them again.

Offering me something is not going to change anything... I'm sure there will be people will want to just have everything... but you're losing my business by not offering me anything, and/or by crippling what you do offer me. </rant>

It's a shame, because I would gladly PAY for a full-featured version of this app that doesn't depend on paying for TV.

i've used this app the past 2 years since I don't have pay tv, sucks that they feel the need to change it now. Loved the app. Guess i'll just go camp out at the local sports bar and give them my money

I have cable and this works for me! Just saved $3.99. Thanks!

Tilpots said:

They learned their lesson from last year. While I'm not a fan of the TV EVerywhere tie in, this is a much better option this go round. I din't pay last year and I wouldn't have paid this year. Glad i don't have to worry about it.

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I hate this way of doing business. It's archaic, and incredibly spotty in actually allowing everyone who wants to use it to actually use it. I'm genuinely angry. AND I pay for cable, but these damn apps never work the way they're supposed to. Half the time one browser won't let me log in and I have to run to another. The other half of the time, I have some stupid DNS issue depending on where I am at. No sir, I don't like it.

Okay

Cameront9 said:

I actually like no in-app purchase. I already pay for cable, so why should I pay yet again to watch games I'm already paying for?

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And if I don't have cable, why should I have to subscribe to get games I'm willing to pay for?

are you kidding?!?!

I'm very disappointed. We dropped cable last summer (okay Dish), and was really hoping to get my fix on my iphone/ipad at work using this app (and at home). Guess I'll use my 4 hours to watch my favorite team play which will probably be enough since they will most likely get bounced in the first round anyway (second round for sure!).

Here is what common damn sense would have done...

Anyone that is more than dead weight from the neck up would have done it this way:

Take last years app, okay, ready for this, it's complicated I know...

Take last years app and ADD the ability to authenticate with the provider.

Intelligent people that hate televisions, cable companies, and ads could get to watch March madness, without ads.

Everyone else that feels that money is a disposable item (uses cable) can log in and watch it, and sit through ads of course...

EVERYONE would have been happy, except for the people that matter the least in this... the cable companies.

bigd4316 said:

Loved the app last year and... I HATE CABLE COMPANIES!!!! When will they ever understand that spending money to license stuff in this way is not helping them? I will NEVER SUBSCRIBE to cable just to view content like this for a short time. Content provider's... YOU ARE LOSING CUSTOMERS... cable companies... YOU ARE NOT GAINING CUSTOMERS(people don't subscribe just for one time events... that's just stupid)...

In fact, it is things like this that really strengthen my resolve. Every time I start to think "maybe we should get cable for a while... it'd be cool," I see something like this and remember why I will never support them again.

Offering me something is not going to change anything... I'm sure there will be people will want to just have everything... but you're losing my business by not offering me anything, and/or by crippling what you do offer me. </rant>

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thanks, well said.. now I didnt have to type my rant..

The one positive, is most games are on CBS anyway, so at least we can watch those for free.

TBS, Tru TV, TNT need the cable companies more than the cable companies need them. Cable is those networks bread and butter and they make a whole lot more money from them than the $3.99 they would make off of those that don't subscribe. The cable companies probably would go along with it, if the price was much higher and also get a percentage.

A few things... first off this year the app has a 4 hour pass that you can use at any time to watch any games. This is great for a lot of people that don't want the hassle of logging into TV Everywhere just to watch a few games while they aren't at home or want to watch multiple games.

TvEverywhere is at least democratic - you're paying for the content already, and you should have the ability to watch it how you see fit. If you don't want to pay, you don't have to, you still get game coverage for free.

As far as TruTV, TNT & TBS needing cable companies, that's simply incorrect. Cable companies pay for channels to be carried on their systems. Each channel you have on a cable system has a price attached to it. The more valuable the content or channel, the higher cost per household the networks get paid. HBO & Showtime are at the top, and it goes down from there. You as a subscriber pay the cable system to carry x channel, and in turn, a portion of that cost goes back to the network itself.

Comcast et. al do not like the idea of them not getting $ from viewers who are watching content that they feel they have already paid for - TVE at least says "Johnny has already paid for TNT & TruTV, let him watch these games how he wishes."

Sports are always going to be the fly in the ointment for anyone who is a true cable cutter.

deskofipps said:

As far as TruTV, TNT & TBS needing cable companies, that's simply incorrect. Cable companies pay for channels to be carried on their systems. Each channel you have on a cable system has a price attached to it. The more valuable the content or channel, the higher cost per household the networks get paid. HBO & Showtime are at the top, and it goes down from there. You as a subscriber pay the cable system to carry x channel, and in turn, a portion of that cost goes back to the network itself.

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You just proved my point. The cable networks NEED the cable companies because the cable companies PAY the cable networks. That's how these networks make their money outside of advertising.

wxman2003 said:

TBS, Tru TV, TNT need the cable companies more than the cable companies need them. Cable is those networks bread and butter and they make a whole lot more money from them than the $3.99 they would make off of those that don't subscribe. The cable companies probably would go along with it, if the price was much higher and also get a percentage.

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Yes and no.

With "new" channels, yes Espn 2, espn u, fox sports etc would never have been introduced without cable.

However, established channels like CNN, ESPN, do not need cable as much as you think.

Report came out several years ago, the average American only watched about 9 cable TV channels. The rest was over the air free TV. The avearge cost of most cable TV channels is between $0.50-$4.50 per channel. ESPN is probably the costliest "basic cable" channel to cable provider.

Let's see, I pay $1-5 for the 5-6 channels I actually watch vs paying $50 plus a month for 100 channels I don't ever watch. What's cheaper?

Pretty obvious. So the cable companies force a lot of unwanted channels down your throat.

All I may need is ESPN, (my wife lifetime channel), one of the 24 hour TV news shows, maybe TBS/CNN/TNT.

That's it. It would cost me probably less than $20 a month.

Cable companies know this. That's why Cable companies do not want a la carte pricing. It opens the door for internet streaming services like Apple TV. Cable companies (and satellite) will fight to the bitter end to prevent this.

So, I went to the app hoping to come back and say that you could purchase access if you don't have cable, because I could not imagine that they would be that stupid to not include the option for non-subscribes. But, their FAQ says if you are not a subscriber you are totally SOL.

I imagine that the cable companies put the strong arm on the NCAA. We should bombard them (NCAA) with email complaining about this situation. They should allow subscribers (I'm still tethered unfortunately) to get it for free, but let non-subsribers purchase in app.

This is going to piss off a lot of people, but I don't think the NCAA is to blame, it's the cable companies. This is just adding up to the pent up frustration that will ultimately lead the to mass exiting of cable customers when there is really a completely viable alternative. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting