There’s an old parable about a dog who always chased cars as they passed. One day, a car stopped in front of him. Faced with the prospect that he actually had caught a car, the dog didn’t know what to do. It had spent so much time wanting this to happen that he didn’t know what to do when it did.
I think about this fable when I think about the 2023 season of NFL Sunday Ticket. Sunday Ticket, was, of course, exclusive to DIRECTV for close to 30 years. As of this season, regular customers will only be able to get NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube TV, and that means it’s only available through streaming. Note: Commercial customers can still get NFL Sunday Ticket from DIRECTV. As of this writing, DIRECTV is the only company offering NFL Sunday Ticket to commercial customers.
Here’s a truth that I don’t like to bring up. Although DIRECTV had a streaming version of Sunday Ticket, it hardly ever worked right the first week. Some years it took several weeks to get it right Even so, being streaming it was highly dependent on the available internet connection. As more and more people started streaming, it actually became more likely that a customer trying to stream Sunday Ticket would have problems. Sometimes people’s local internet setup just isn’t up to it.
It’s been pointed out to me that Google (who owns YouTube TV) is a pretty darn big company and knows a thing or two about internet. I’m not disputing that. What I’m saying is that Google has to consider that in addition to all the people using YouTube, YouTube TV, and other Google services, they will also have to handle the increase in traffic from Sunday Ticket. Historically, that’s been a problem for DIRECTV. It’s been a problem that has affected all live streaming services, but let’s be honest here. You don’t care if Pluto freezes for a second if you’re watching a rerun of The Love Boat. If you’re trying to see if the Lions are able to score one touchdown during a game (admittedly a high bar for them) you will be pretty annoyed if your streaming freezes when the play starts at the three yard line.
I think Google is the dog that chased the car and doesn’t know what to do with it.
A package that includes NFL Sunday Ticket and the Red Zone Channel is $389 at the start of the season. That’s quite a bit higher than Sunday Ticket MAX was on DIRECTV. Yes, that includes the YouTube TV service itself, but this is the only package that includes Red Zone. Even the base Sunday Ticket package is $339 from YouTube at the start of the season. DIRECTV offered it for nearly $100 less and gave it free to new customers. Keep in mind too that the lower price from DIRECTV meant you could watch on satellite or stream, your choice. This is streaming only.
What I’m saying is that with the unexpected rise in price, there might not be as many subscribers as YouTube TV thinks. This could mean that its networks just aren’t as stressed as they would have been if they had gotten as many Sunday Ticket subscribers as DIRECTV did in the past.
Football fans are not typically quiet, reserved types who just let large companies take advantage of them. They are quite the opposite. Keep in mind that Google barely has any human-staffed call centers, especially compared to a traditional pay-TV operation. What will happen if (and gee I would hate to see this) the entire city of New Orleans tries to contact Google when their beloved Saints game disappears?
What you need to do is know in advance where your local sports bar is, and make sure they’re still getting DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket. When the game stops playing on your TV, phone, or tablet, head on over there. With a satellite connection with over 99.9% uptime, no buffering, and no capacity issues, the bar will get the game even when you can’t. It could be pretty sad for Google, but then again that’s what you get when you chase cars, I guess.
Want to know more about NFL Sunday Ticket for your business? Call the experts at Signal Connect! We’re here for you during East Coast business hours. Call 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below.
The post Will Google be able to pull off NFL Sunday Ticket? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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I think about this fable when I think about the 2023 season of NFL Sunday Ticket. Sunday Ticket, was, of course, exclusive to DIRECTV for close to 30 years. As of this season, regular customers will only be able to get NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube TV, and that means it’s only available through streaming. Note: Commercial customers can still get NFL Sunday Ticket from DIRECTV. As of this writing, DIRECTV is the only company offering NFL Sunday Ticket to commercial customers.
Will YouTube be able to handle it?
Here’s a truth that I don’t like to bring up. Although DIRECTV had a streaming version of Sunday Ticket, it hardly ever worked right the first week. Some years it took several weeks to get it right Even so, being streaming it was highly dependent on the available internet connection. As more and more people started streaming, it actually became more likely that a customer trying to stream Sunday Ticket would have problems. Sometimes people’s local internet setup just isn’t up to it.
It’s been pointed out to me that Google (who owns YouTube TV) is a pretty darn big company and knows a thing or two about internet. I’m not disputing that. What I’m saying is that Google has to consider that in addition to all the people using YouTube, YouTube TV, and other Google services, they will also have to handle the increase in traffic from Sunday Ticket. Historically, that’s been a problem for DIRECTV. It’s been a problem that has affected all live streaming services, but let’s be honest here. You don’t care if Pluto freezes for a second if you’re watching a rerun of The Love Boat. If you’re trying to see if the Lions are able to score one touchdown during a game (admittedly a high bar for them) you will be pretty annoyed if your streaming freezes when the play starts at the three yard line.
I think Google is the dog that chased the car and doesn’t know what to do with it.
The surprising reason that NFL Sunday Ticket might not freeze up
A package that includes NFL Sunday Ticket and the Red Zone Channel is $389 at the start of the season. That’s quite a bit higher than Sunday Ticket MAX was on DIRECTV. Yes, that includes the YouTube TV service itself, but this is the only package that includes Red Zone. Even the base Sunday Ticket package is $339 from YouTube at the start of the season. DIRECTV offered it for nearly $100 less and gave it free to new customers. Keep in mind too that the lower price from DIRECTV meant you could watch on satellite or stream, your choice. This is streaming only.
What I’m saying is that with the unexpected rise in price, there might not be as many subscribers as YouTube TV thinks. This could mean that its networks just aren’t as stressed as they would have been if they had gotten as many Sunday Ticket subscribers as DIRECTV did in the past.
What will happen when (not if) there’s a problem with streaming NFL games?
Football fans are not typically quiet, reserved types who just let large companies take advantage of them. They are quite the opposite. Keep in mind that Google barely has any human-staffed call centers, especially compared to a traditional pay-TV operation. What will happen if (and gee I would hate to see this) the entire city of New Orleans tries to contact Google when their beloved Saints game disappears?
Here’s what you do
What you need to do is know in advance where your local sports bar is, and make sure they’re still getting DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket. When the game stops playing on your TV, phone, or tablet, head on over there. With a satellite connection with over 99.9% uptime, no buffering, and no capacity issues, the bar will get the game even when you can’t. It could be pretty sad for Google, but then again that’s what you get when you chase cars, I guess.
Want to know more about NFL Sunday Ticket for your business? Call the experts at Signal Connect! We’re here for you during East Coast business hours. Call 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below.
The post Will Google be able to pull off NFL Sunday Ticket? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
