Comcast/ESPNU Reach Deal

[DegenerateDish]

Good news for those of us with Comcast, ESPNU will soon be hitting your airwaves (and not on the Sports Tier). ESPN360 will also be avaialble for free via Comcast.

Sidenote: Comcast and NFL Network also have reached a deal.

[MarquetteDano]

Great news.  Thanks for the update.  This will allow me to watch at least a few more Marquette games this year.

[🏀]

MLB Network and AT&T need to get their crap together.

[muwarrior69]

Hey Chicos, when is DirecTV going to get ESPNU in HD?

[rocky_warrior]

ESPN360 will also be avaialble for free via Comcast.

This is key - I don't have comcast digital service, but I do have their broadband - so I can stream football and basketball.  w00t!

[The Lens]

This is key - I don't have comcast digital service, but I do have their broadband - so I can stream football and basketball.  w00t!

Rocky, you seem pretty tech saavy...would you stream that on to your TV, or just your monitor?  Anyone out there running webcast shows to their TV?

[Henry Sugar]

I run webcast shows to my TV all the time.  Actually, I originally set it up because the Marquette-Missouri game wasn't on TV in the Chicagoland area.  So, I went to Radio Shack and picked up the RGB cable and audio cable to connect our laptop to the flat panel.  We just stream off the internet to our laptop and then output to the TV.

Since then, the big thing we use it for now is Netflix On-Demand.  We've also used it to stream shows from Fox.com and ABC.com.  The quality is decent... not great, but it beats trying to watch TV on a laptop. 

[rocky_warrior]

I stream to the TV.  I've got a media center PC always connected to the TV via HDMI, and stream from various sources.   Mostly HULU, but also from hilltoppers' uncle's concrete guy's son.  With HULU's HD stream (480p?), I usually forget I'm watching streamed content.

Haven't ever had the opportunity to stream espn360 to the 40", but I've heard the quality is pretty decent.

[Skatastrophy]

I stream to the TV.  I've got a media center PC always connected to the TV via HDMI, and stream from various sources.   Mostly HULU, but also from hilltoppers' uncle's concrete guy's son.  With HULU's HD stream (480p?), I usually forget I'm watching streamed content.

Haven't ever had the opportunity to stream espn360 to the 40", but I've heard the quality is pretty decent.

Yeah, hulu is the best thing to come to the internet in years.  They serve up an unbelievable amount of quality content. 

For those of you that don't have an HTPC with HDMI outs, most HDTVs that I've seen have VGA and/or DVI inputs paired with a 2.5mm audio jack for a quick and dirty connection to a laptop you have sitting around.  It's simple to set your TV up as a 2nd monitor even if you aren't terribly computer savvy. 

[The Lens]

Thanks guys, great stuff. 

One other question...generic Radio Shack connectors or Monster Wire etc type stuff?

[Skatastrophy]

Thanks guys, great stuff. 

One other question...generic Radio Shack connectors or Monster Wire etc type stuff?

Monster Cable is a ripoff.  They are overpriced high-end cables that you don't need.  I generally start with the cheaper cabling from monoprice.com, and if I notice a serious signal degradation issue I'll work my way up the pricing ladder.  I've never had an issue with the cheap-o HDMI cables ($5 for 2 meters as opposed to Monster's $60 for the same length).

If you have a very high-end home theater, or if you're making a long cable run (the longer the cable run, the more the signal degrades) then I could see choosing a more expensive cable.  I have a 50" HDTV with 7.1 surround and I've never once had a problem with cheap cabling.

There is something to be said about being able to go to Best Buy and pick up really nice cables on your way home from work, but just be aware that you'll be paying a very high price for what will likely be nothing more than the convenience of not waiting for them to be shipped to you.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hey Chicos, when is DirecTV going to get ESPNU in HD?

A couple of things on this front.  ESPNU is going to be part of Choice starting July 1st, no longer part of Sports Pack.  That's good news for most.  Classic, however, will roll out of Choice into Choice XTRA I believe on Sept. 1st.

ESPNU is slated for HD when D12 launches later this year.  To make it fully operational, my guess is that you'll see it early 2010.

[reinko]

A couple of things on this front.  ESPNU is going to be part of Choice starting July 1st, no longer part of Sports Pack.  That's good news for most.  Classic, however, will roll out of Choice into Choice XTRA I believe on Sept. 1st.

ESPNU is slated for HD when D12 launches later this year.  To make it fully operational, my guess is that you'll see it early 2010.

When D12 launches...will this mean it will get easier to get the HD signal?  I currently have DirectTV, but my neighbors house blocks the last satellite in the southern sky, and my dish can only connect to I believe, 4 of the 5 needed satellites to get the signal.  At least that its what I remember the installation guy telling me.  Does this sound about right?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yeah, hulu is the best thing to come to the internet in years.  They serve up an unbelievable amount of quality content. 

That maybe changing very soon.  As you can imagine, the cable, telephone and satellite companies that spend BILLIONS each year on programming to NBC, HBO, etc aren't exactly thrilled that all of this content is free elsewhere and on different platforms.  A lot of changes coming ahead in terms of content, what's free and not free.....factor in the SAG negotiations, etc and you're going to find that free via the web is going go be a dinosaur sooner rather than later.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Thanks guys, great stuff. 

One other question...generic Radio Shack connectors or Monster Wire etc type stuff?

Don't do it.....go to monoprice.com and order.  Best investment you will make.  Very very good HDMI cables (better than the low end stuff) at a fraction of the costs.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240

[ChicosBailBonds]

When D12 launches...will this mean it will get easier to get the HD signal?  I currently have DirectTV, but my neighbors house blocks the last satellite in the southern sky, and my dish can only connect to I believe, 4 of the 5 needed satellites to get the signal.  At least that its what I remember the installation guy telling me.  Does this sound about right?

HD is at orbital slots 99 degrees, 101 degrees and 103 degrees.  So you only need to see it on those three slots.  In the old days it was also on 110 and 119 degrees, but not anymore.  It would be HIGHLY unlikely that you could see 101 and 99 or 101 and 103 without seeing the third slot on either end.  You're talking a very small separation.  Why not just move the dish so you can see all three slots?

And to answer your question, D12 is going to be parked at one of those three slots mentioned above, likely 101 which is where 95% all of your programming is coming from anyway.  So yes, you would be able to see even more HD.  The HD channels on 99 and 103 tend to be your local channels in HD.