Heads up for those with Roku and Google Chromecast - BTN

[BUFFALO LION]

Heard from a high placed BTN source this afternoon that BTN is "sprinting to the finish line" in an effort to make BTN2Go and BTN Plus available on both Roku and Chromecast before next week's games. They hope both are available before week 1.

You will still need a cable or Satellite subscription just like you needed with your IPad and IPhone apps. Might be good for you guys that are stuck with that garbage Armstrong Cable if you have cabins or second homes in the Pittsburgh area. Just take your Roku box with you when you leave home and hook it up. Or, if you have to go out of town during football season, hook it up to the TV in your hotel room.

 

[Zenophile]

Any word on AppleTV?

 

[BUFFALO LION]

Any word on AppleTV?

Mark Silverman said at Media Days that Apple TV and Xbox specifically "are on the short list of future agreements".

When I asked for clarification this afternoon on Apple and XBox, I was told by Mike Calderon, BTN Vice President for Programming and Digital Media:

"Not this year. They are on the list for potential platforms for Fall 2016".

Like I said yesterday, BTN is targeting Roku and Chromecast for the beginning of THIS season (2015). I was given confirmation of that yesterday, and was told "we're sprinting to the finish line". I was given the impression there is a 90% chance it will be a "GO" by the first game.

Some people have found that they can run an HDMI cable direct from their computer to the TV. Some have said they have had buffering issues doing that. Personally, I haven't tried because I haven't had to, but if you have a cable or satellite subscription and can log in, it might be worth a try.

 

[Zenophile]

Thanks, BL.

 

[BUFFALO LION]

Thanks, BL.

No problem!

 

[Nittany_Roar]

That's good news, thanks for sharing.

I'm in the process of dropping cable, so I'm hoping sometime soon BTN breaks away from the cable login.

 

[tboyer]

That's good news, thanks for sharing.

I'm in the process of dropping cable, so I'm hoping sometime soon BTN breaks away from the cable login.

Don't hold your breath. The reason BTN is so profitable for the conference is that they got themselves put on the "extended basic" cable tier. What that means is that most cable subscribers are forced to pay $2 (or whatever it is) a month for BTN whether they watch it or not.

And that is a pretty good business model. Imagine being in the pizza business and you're guaranteed $2 from everybody in the neighborhood to buy a slice of pizza each day - even though 75% don't even eat pizza.

The business model for BTN only works if cable stays healthy. Right now it would be idiotic for BTN to undermine it by, say, starting a standalone streaming service. But the whole industry is shifting rapidly, so what works for them this year could be totally different 2 years from now.

I just had to upgrade my cable to extended basic ($120/mo) to get BTN for the fall. Galls me a little to have to pay for 300 channels I don't watch just to get 1 network that I MIGHT watch once or twice a week. That is pretty darned expensive. But that in a nutshell is why people don't like cable.

 

[tboyer]

I should add, the reason the cable industry (and by extension the entertainment studios) is in such turmoil right now is millennials are not in a hurry to sign up for the $150 cable bill.

HBO switched to a standalone streaming option because it realized it was missing out on a very large market that was not going to be cable subscribers. At some point the numbers are going to become large enough for the Big Ten that they will have to do something. But how they do something without undermining their sweet cable deals -- that's the question.

 

[Nittany_Roar]

Believe me, I've done my research on all this. Fox Sports will probably be a holdout on going to pure streaming so BTN will lag also. I've accepted that. But I can hope. I'm hoping maybe they do game replays online or some other small step soon.

They are going to stream PSU game radio broadcasts over the PSU site now, and that used to be a subscription thing. Maybe we'll get to something like NFL Gamepass.

I did the math and I can save at least $80 a month ditching cable and home phone. When I look at my TV habits, all I am losing is (1) the ability DVR PSU games on ESPN & BTN, and (2) BTN writ large. And (1) is probably a bigger loss for me.

I went with an HD antenna with a Tablo DVR running through Roku 3s in my house. And an Ooma VoIP phone set-up. I'll pay back my equipment costs in 6-8 months.

 

[tboyer]

Like I said yesterday, BTN is targeting Roku and Chromecast for the beginning of THIS season (2015). I was given confirmation of that yesterday, and was told "we're sprinting to the finish line". I was given the impression there is a 90% chance it will be a "GO" by the first game.

Yes but that won't be a standalone BTN. It will be like the old HBO Go which would only work if you had credentials from a cable subscription.

Still, it is a logical step toward someday offering BTN as a standalone streaming service. But they'll only do that when it pencils out -- i.e. the additional revenue will be a lot more than what they lose from people dropping their cable packages. They have to keep the cable companies happy because those cable fees are almost all of their revenue.

 

[BUFFALO LION]

Yes but that won't be a standalone BTN. It will be like the old HBO Go which would only work if you had credentials from a cable subscription.

Still, it is a logical step toward someday offering BTN as a standalone streaming service. But they'll only do that when it pencils out -- i.e. the additional revenue will be a lot more than what they lose from people dropping their cable packages. They have to keep the cable companies happy because those cable fees are almost all of their revenue.

Yes. You will need a satellite or cable subscription to log in. I thought I made that perfectly clear in two of my previous three posts in this thread?

Post Number one: ["You will still need a cable or Satellite subscription just like you needed with your IPad and IPhone apps." ]

Post Number two ["if you have a cable or satellite subscription and can log in, it might be worth a try.]

I don't know much clearer I can make that.

 

[Alphabets]

Chromecast is the best invention since the air conditioner.

 

[Obliviax]

Slightly off the topic on BTN specifically, but Apple TV is to launch a new product this fall (rumor is). There is also a cool product named "Reflector" which allows you to broadcast your device on a TV that uses Apple TV, Chromecast or Amazon. It kind of gets rid of the compatibility issues.

 

[Nittany_Roar]

Just saw an (old) tweet about it:

 

[BUFFALO LION]

Just saw an (old) tweet about it:

View embedded media

That "old" tweet was from last week. It is legit that they are targeting it to go live by this coming weekend.

 

[hagberg]

Yes. You will need a satellite or cable subscription to log in. I thought I made that perfectly clear in two of my previous three posts in this thread?

Post Number one: ["You will still need a cable or Satellite subscription just like you needed with your IPad and IPhone apps." ]

Post Number two ["if you have a cable or satellite subscription and can log in, it might be worth a try.]

I don't know much clearer I can make that.

I don't know what service you have for internet (which you need for streaming through Roky/Chromecast), but a friend of mine has the 75/75 "internet only" package from FiOS that includes BTN among it's small channel lineup. This is in MD, BTW, just south of B'more. That's my next step. With your Tablo, you'd be able to DVR games on BTN...still out of luck for those on ESPN.

 

[CoolBean]

Kodi TV and you can watch anything, including subscription and non subscription contents.

I can watch PAC12, BTN without log in.

 

[Nittany_Roar]

Got an email announcing BTN apps for Roku and Chromecast. So it's official.