I know this will help satisfy some of the comcast customers out there. Just in time for the start of the SEC/ESPN contract. Comcast Adds ESPNU and ESPN360.com to Line Up with Content on Television, On Demand and Online
The deal hits DirecTV too. It sucks that ESPNU HD won't be available until 2010 though :/ DirecTV to offer ESPNU in its Choice™ Package
Nothing that I can see. I would drop Cox in a heartbeat to get Comcast if I could, I want ESPN 360 that bad...
With the amount of games they get, I wouldnt leave cox until LSU's CST contract is up, even though cox is terrible. btw, Comcast users, ESPN360 added to your internet means you get Free Gameplan. Free. Gameplan.
I hope not, but do not worry about it being stuck on cable. Part of the deal the SEC signed a few months ago allows the espnU games to be carried in local syndication.
The Knoxville News Sentinel had an article today: Comcast, DirecTV to offer ESPNU Their is a quote that says an SEC game of the week in prime time will be featured on ESPNU, something I didn't pick up on when the contract was announced. I think it means it will be a feature game, but the bigger games will still be on ESPN prime time. The ESPN / SEC contract has a section on football: My take, this isn't about ESPNU games being available on cable, this is about ERTV (ESPN Regional) taking the place of Raycom. Until the Big Ten started their own network, ERTV distributed Big Ten games on cable , much the same way that Raycom did. Also, there is no guarantee those games will be in HD, they won't be available on Yahoo for free, and the distribution is likely to at best only be as good as Raycom, but not better. Like the Raycom package, the ERTV games will be available on GamePlan out of the local broadcast markets. Anyway there is alot we won't fully understand until we see it in action...
Can someone who knows about these issues give me an understanding as to why HD broadcasting is so inconsistent? Is it primarily a cost issue? I have a hard time believing that WBRZ and WAFB can afford to do nightly news telecasts in HD, but cable networks can't afford to do a 3-4 hour football game once a week in HD.
Up until last season, JP/LF/Raycom did not even record the games in hd. Many stations were unprepared to recieve an HD version from raycom. Plus, when it was announced raycom would be no more, many stations including the LA ones, decided not to bother with the hassle for just one season and instead got prepared in advance for the espn switch. what i heard, anyway.
