Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Hannibal]

If you live in the Midwest then the BTN should be on your basic plan unless they have changed the channel and pricing tiers.

[WingsFan]

For where I live (outside of Ann Arbor towards Detroit) the Big Ten network has never been on the basic programming. The cheapest package its on is the choice package, that's what I usually have, but I wanted to save money with no football on right now, so I went down one from choice to the entertainment package. and got the sports package for the NHL.

[Prime2]

Kentucky Derby next weekend, hope to make it up there.

Insider info from Prime2......bet large on American Pharoah [sic] provided he doesn't get pinned on the inside rail, first 3 positions, we will know the order by Wednesday's post-position draw .

Prodigy of Secretariat & Northern Dancer, he has the lineage and wheels, trained by Bob Baffert doesn't hurt either.



Prime2 won large+ on California Chrome last year and has the hot hand. The first one is free!

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/horses/triple/derby/2015/02/02/no-3-derby-hopeful--american-pharoah-bio/22757445/

[Prime2]

Louisville, 75F mostly sunny next Saturday, dry track at Churchill Downs, stage is set.

AF is a smooth long-strider coming off an eight-length, jaw-dropping win at the Arkansas Derby, the timing is perfect.

Lay Large or go home I always say.

http://www.drf.com/news/american-pha...arkansas-derby

[Prime2]

Look of a champion in the making.

[Prime2]

OTB for free via Churchill Downs official site: http://www.twinspires.com

Load your account via your checking or with MasterCard, Visa still blocks transaction.

Updated odds:

2015 Kentucky Derby Odds

American Pharoah 5/2 - Arkansas Derby winner 2015, 3weeks ago, left no doubt he's 100% recovered from hoof injury.

Dortmund 4/1 -Santa Anita winner 2015

Carpe Diem 15/2

Mubtaahij 10/1

Materiality 12/1 - Florida Derby winner 2015

Firing Line 16/1

Frosted 16/1

International Star 18/1

Upstart 20/1

El Kabeir 33/1

Far Right 33/1

Bolo 40/1

Danzig Moon 40/1

Itsaknockout 40/1

Keen Ice 40/1

Mr Z 40/1

Ocho Ocho Ocho 40/1

War Story 40/1

Tencendur 66/1

http://www.ibtimes.com/kentucky-derby-2015-latest-betting-odds-141st-run-roses-1898490

[Jeff Buchanan]

Cable cutting .......

I've had an interesting two weeks plotting my departure from Comcast/Xfinity. About a month ago, I rigged a Mohu Antenna and put it unobtrusively on the roof. Ran the cable to the distribution point for 5 in house TVs, tested two of them and received 31 OTA stations, about 15 of them HD. I'd say I would regularly watch all the local channels (in HD) and maybe a handful of the others (SD & HD).

I bought a Roku device and tested it with free trial subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Instant Video. Lots of content, almost impossible to get your hands around all of it .....difficult to search. Overall, my impression is that there are significant limits on streaming content that I am interested in. That includes the BTN, HGTV and DIY.

What's interesting is that sports along with all the Scripps Network content (that's HGTV, the Food Network, DIY among maybe a dozen others I don't watch) are the new hot potatoes in TV entertainment. Scripps recently ended its deal with Amazon and has limited what programming is available on Hulu and Netflix. I have a feeling this is being done under pressure from (or in collusion with) the cablers and other broadcasters holding rights to popular entertainment media so as to preserve their lucrative business model.

If you've been paying attention, Disney just sued Verizon (their cable distribution for TV is called Fios) for packaging ESPN programming as nearly a single selectable option. It's as close to ala-carte channels as any cable distributor has come. Then there is Sling TV that does offer ESPN bundled with a few other programs for, guess what, $9.95 per month.

Brian at mgogblog wrote a good piece on this discussing the implications of ala-carte programming. In short, for sports, its probably not a good thing because in the endgame the business model that has 80% of cable subscribers paying for sports they don't even watch is destroyed and will produce a circumstance where the 20% who want to watch sports will be paying 10X what they are now paying to watch it. Either that, which probably is not going to happen, or the astounding revenue producers that CFB and CBB are is going to dry up over time as sports enthusiasts decide they are not going to pay exorbitant prices to watch their favorite teams on TV.

Another move worth keeping an eye on is the major cablers (Comcast, et.al.) are entering the streaming video entertainment market place in very big ways. While that capability has been there for a while, its being heavily marketed and expanded. If you've looked at this, you know, for example, that if you are a Comcast customer, you can stream everything in your particular channel package to your desk top computers and more recently to all your devices to include phones and tablets.

Right now, Comcast is offering a bundled deal that includes their Preferred Digital lineup and High Speed Internet for around $90/mo. You can stream all of it to any device you choose using your Comcast Account log in. To stream the BTN I need the Sports Pack ($9.95). So, about a hundred bucks per to get what I want and in the process forcing me to keep those greedy bastards as my TV entertainment source to do that.

Also worth noting: if I want HD from Comcast, for every TV I want to view in HD, I need a set top box that costs $9.95 and I pay and HD technology fee of $9.95. After fees, which include $1.95 for each cable outlet beyond one, and taxes, I'd be paying about $190/month.

The bottom line is that what appeared to be a reasonable option, cable cutting and streaming what you want ala-carte, is becoming more and m ore difficult for sports enthusiasts or, like me, someone that wants to watch sports (the BTN) DIY and HGTV.

I'm debating how I am going to go about doing this right now. To preserve my ability to obtain programming I want, I'm considering the cheapest combo of Comcast internet and digital TV (no HD) running to two TVs in the house, while the rest get OTA programming and Roku on demand. Meanwhile, keeping a connection to Comcast, allows me to stream all of their content to 18" tablets (Dell XPs) or watch remotely when I have an internet connection on my iPad in 720p. It's still not cheap and inf act maybe saves me 75 to 100 bucks per month.

It's a jungle out their in TV land.

[WM Wolverine]

You're going to lose the 'casual' fan in an 'a La carte system, bringing the revenues down...

Sling only allows you to stream to one device at a time, two people can't use the service at the same time.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Sling TV and the Sling Box are two different things.

Sling TV is new. It is a Hulu like streaming service that entered the market in January. Their current claim to fame is that you can get a minimally bundled package of programming that includes all the ESPN offerings. If they'd hooked up with Scripps Network (HGTV, DIY, etc.) I'd jump on it. But they haven't and Scripps is getting very picky about what programing they have media rights to that they will sell to internet based streaming services.

I think Mike mentioned this up thread here but streaming is trending toward higher costs to get programs you might want. Movies, no problem, but original content TV shows, this is where those are headed.

The net result is that cable companies are getting innovative in entering the streaming entertainment market place to keep subscribers handcuffed to high cost contracts. Offering what appear to be lower cost cable, internet and streaming bundles with 2y contracts (they are not much lower because you get nickel and dimed to death with fees) is a very well conceived tactic to push cable cutters back toward them.

[froot loops]

I didn't really know about Sling TV. I might have to look into it. We have a Roku TV and use Netflix. WM is correct about only streaming to one device.

Can I watch Sling TV on more than one TV (or other device) at the same time?
No. Unless you create more than one account, you cannot watch Sling TV on more than one device -- TV or mobile -- at the same time. The service is restricted to one stream at a time.

You can have more than one device registered to the same account, but if you're watching one and then begin streaming on another, the service makes you choose which single device to continue streaming.

http://www.cnet.com/news/sling-tv-everything-you-need-to-know/

[WM Wolverine]

That's the deal breaker for me.

[froot loops]

It probably isn't a deal breaker for me, we only have one TV that we watch. The deal breaker for me is probably 20 bucks a month and the fact we just don't watch enough TV. Although with sports on Network TV dwindling, it is a good option.

[WM Wolverine]

I don't have any TV at the moment.

[froot loops]

I have to say, streaming the NCAA tournament to that TV was cool, it wasn't as good as HD, it tended to be a little herky jerky. You really get sick of the 5 commercials they run.

[froot loops]

Yeah, our TV was start of the art in 1998. 32 inch beast with picture in picture, it was teetering for a few years and finally the color went wacko. We picked up that 40 inch Roku TV for 200 dollars less than we paid for the 32 inch TV 15 years ago. It was near entry level for TV prices of any size. With Netflix, my daughters are watching endless amounts of House Hunters, Dance Moms and Pretty Little Liars.