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Apple TV Update Adds MLB.tv and NBA League Pass Streaming Video Subscriptions
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Wow... just, wow.
*blink blink*
Hulu still notably absent. But, wow. This is getting good. Now I can watch NBA (and occasional MLB) on demand and live on my Apple TV2... This. Is. Big. Shows they're opening up the platform, which is bigger than the NBA and MLB themselves. Not totally unforeseen but I'm just awfully impressed at the moment.
roku xd and xds has these apps, along with like 30 others..
so yea, appletv is stillllll far behind
We were able to do that with the iphone apps last year, but im guessing that was because they used gps to determine location rather than IP address, which was fairly easy to spoof. Given that they will most likely use the IP address I don't see it happening.
Funny. I own an Apple TV, use it every day for hours, and have never given two craps about any of the rental features. I use it strictly for home sharing from my massive video/audio/photo collection and occasionally for AirPlaying content from an iPad or iPhone.
It works flawlessly and beautifully... far from a completely useless playback device. But I guess your needs are different from mine.
I'm a Yankee fan living in CT and I don't feel like paying for cable. I'm sure they won't be blacked out, so I'm wondering if it's worth it for me to pay the $ for MLB TV to get the games from my ATV, iPad, and iPhones, or just suck it up (and make the fiance happy) and pay for cable.
I'm not that cheap, but we're trying to trim our expenses a bit, as we just purchased a new home.
I'm not that cheap, but we're trying to trim our expenses a bit, as we just purchased a new home.
Can anyone take some pics and put them in this thread showing how these look? Menus and everything. I'm stuck at work...won't be home for a while!
From the MLB website linked in the original post:
Note MLB.com live game blackouts are determined in part by IP address. MLB.com At Bat live game blackouts are determined using one or more reference points, such as GPS and software within your mobile device.
Terrific news. I hope they eventually open the AppleTV up to apps.
It's a fun snipe, but it doesn't evaluate facts. The costs for this product have already been paid, so this content now holds an extremely large profit margin. They can give 30% up to Apple and still keep the lion's share. It is a perfect arrangement. It is completely irrelevant to conflicts which may exist in the agency model or other models in which profits are too tight to give up 30% of the product cost.
I wouldn't call it a useless playback device either. I actually use it for the following on a regular basis:
** iTunes HD movie rentals
** iTunes current movie previews/trailers
** Netflix viewing
** Radio listening
** HD Podcast viewing (TWiT.tv shows primarily)
** Photo/Video viewing
** iTunes music library listening (over 150GB of music)
** AirPlay of things from our iPhones, including Pandora radio
I probably won't use either the MLB or NBA functions but I like that they are there - indicates good things to come.
** iTunes HD movie rentals
** iTunes current movie previews/trailers
** Netflix viewing
** Radio listening
** HD Podcast viewing (TWiT.tv shows primarily)
** Photo/Video viewing
** iTunes music library listening (over 150GB of music)
** AirPlay of things from our iPhones, including Pandora radio
I probably won't use either the MLB or NBA functions but I like that they are there - indicates good things to come.
Did you check? The MLB website (linked in the original post) says that customers outside the US and Canada have no blackout restrictions. This is a much better deal than the customers inside the US and Canada get.
Yeah, the local game blackouts are too annoying though. Direct TV's package still is tough to beat if you are a hardcore fan. Their "Follow any team all season long, no matter where you live" is the real deal, with 80 games per week and 40 of them in HD and the Game Mix Channel that lets you watch 8 games live, simultaneously. It really is awesome. It's like having your own Vegas sports book.
This Apple version is more like a large screen version of the iPhone or iPad App, with the same local area games restrictions. Good start, but I find it frustrating. Certainly better than nothing, and a great addition to the service. A positive vote for me.
edit: Too be fair (and accurate), there are blackouts on the MLB Extra Innings channels, but when it is blacked out from the MLB package channel, it is simply showing on the local HD channel. So you have one-stop viewing with DirectTV, but that is a caveats, plus "there are no games available for distribution via this package on Saturday during the day or Sunday at night." But again, those are available on your local channels. By comparison, you would have to switch from watching Apple TV if the game was blocked out and instead change your TV's input over to your Sat or Cable provider. Can't easily bounce around between local blacked out games and the ones available for viewing through a single source.
This Apple version is more like a large screen version of the iPhone or iPad App, with the same local area games restrictions. Good start, but I find it frustrating. Certainly better than nothing, and a great addition to the service. A positive vote for me.
edit: Too be fair (and accurate), there are blackouts on the MLB Extra Innings channels, but when it is blacked out from the MLB package channel, it is simply showing on the local HD channel. So you have one-stop viewing with DirectTV, but that is a caveats, plus "there are no games available for distribution via this package on Saturday during the day or Sunday at night." But again, those are available on your local channels. By comparison, you would have to switch from watching Apple TV if the game was blocked out and instead change your TV's input over to your Sat or Cable provider. Can't easily bounce around between local blacked out games and the ones available for viewing through a single source.
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I wish the NHL would get their heads out of their collective asses and do stuff like this. You baseball and basketball fans are so lucky. Us hockey fans are basically forced to use cable. The NHL subscription they offer is a joke, and blocks out local games too. It stinks.
Count me in with the people wanting NHL sub. I guess there is one good thing about living in a state with no NHL Team (Washington). Anyway, I follow the RedWings so I guess the worst they could do is block out the Detroit-Vancouver games.
On that note, how does it deal with blackouts? Is it the credit card address or where the user is. If it's the latter, then maybe a proxy service would help. If it's the former, then I don't know.
True, we're still waiting for whatever came of Apple's purchase of Lala.com back in what, 2009? I don't think they're like Google, where they buy startups and just kill them (like GOOG did with Gizmo5), so Apple must be working on something in that space.
Thanks to the digital conversion, I live in an area with no OTA TV. Last year we ditched directv after the bill shot up to $80 per month. I would gladly pay $20 a month to watch my local MLB team, but the stupid black out rules have pretty much ruled that out. When will the MLB move into the 21st century?
Couldn't be happier with this update. I just bought a second Apple TV and was lamenting the fact that I still needed to use the PS3 to watch MLB.TV and get 5.1 on Netflix. This takes care of both issues!
I completely understand this business reason. However, they just don't get it.
For example, in my NHL market - even if the game is not sold-out, it's still shown on TV on DirecTV, Dish Network, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FIOS, and sometimes TSN or NBC. There is no 'exclusivity' here.
AppleTV should just be another outlet for the NHL, like all the above outlets. The NHL should take my money and pay the NHL team the same Time Warner is. But the business practice of 'bundling of services' seems to be the only reason this still exists. Someday, it'll change, it'll just take more time.