mayhemuk

I had Fox Soccer Channel for a while which is fine but if you're after a decent round up/highlights program a la MOTD then you need some sort of stream as far as I can tell.
I did not find the US versions engaging and I also miss MOTD2 with Mr Chiles.

With FSC (And Sentanta) they show the full matches. Great maybe but not when it's 0-0 draw and you just want to get the gist of how badly the sides played.

dolega

Great information peeps.. I think i'm gonna plump for Setanta (if anything, for the additional rugby).

Anyone know what the equivalent of Sky Plus is in the US? I have heard TIVO however can i get Setanta if i get TIVO?

Sorry if these questions seem a tad naive..

Duncan Roberts

Tivo is a separate box and subscription and is basically a "generic hard disc recording system." Every cable and satellite company will offer some kind of DVR service which is essentially the same but Tivo gives you a little more. The TV signal goes into the box and you would have to check with the company you are getting your TV from to see if there are any compatibility issues. I've heard U-verse has some issues with some Tivo boxes but I don't know, but they don't carry setanta so that could be a non issue. Just be aware that TV technology here is not as good as it is in the UK. It's getting better but there is really no red button, no betting as you watch a game and you pretty much only get the basic record, pause, forward and rewind. Also, not everyone carries setanta so if you want it you will have to make sure you go with the right option which might not be the cheapest. It is also a separate subscription cost.

orangemirror

I have Setanta with Direct TV (satellite TV service). I have a DVR with the Direct TV package (Like Sky+, for recording tv).

i pay about $60 per month for my Direct TV package, you have to pay an extra $15 on top for Setanta. It adds up but it's worth it for me.

Yep, the TV technology is more basic than in the UK. And it's more expensive too. I was pretty shocked when i moved here to find satellite/cable, internet, mobile phone charges to be much more expensive than in the UK. You kind of assume everything is cheaper here.

dolega

hmm.. i think i base my assumption on the US having it all tv wise as I pretty much spent most of my life watching just 5 channels (while always being told about the zillions of channels that could be watched in the US). Hey ho..

Particularly disturbing to see that there is no basic highlights program for premier league games.

orangemirror

Forgot to say Setanta has a 1 hour highlights show on Sunday at 9pm. It's also repeated several times during the week.
It's not match of the day where they have experts in the studio doing analysis, just the highlights of the games. It's good though to see all the goals.

penguinsix

Doesn't Sky Sports News on FSC have it?

Like others I have ditched cable / satellite and go entirely Internet for my TV. I have VPNs and other methods of getting UK TV (including the link I put above) and run an old computer though my television. I'm watching ITV1's Champions League highlights tonight via the net. It's pretty cool.

CTID

I have to smile... the guy asked if he could watch MOTD and you lot are trying to sell em Fox/Setanta packages

Ok well simple answer is yes you can watch MOTD online - you need to use either the free, if clunky, scripty thing, which is mentioned in this thread OR buy a "VPN" for about $5 a month / $60 a year.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is something which tecchies like me set up traditionally for accessing the workplace, like I'm "at" the office. A spin-off has been the "personal VPN" software which is used to mask/hide your IP address or give you one in another country (mainly USA or UK, but there are others). Your IP address is how sites like BBC etc determine where you are in the world and dish out the "not in your region" error, as appropriate.

I use/recommend Witopia and the annual fee has been money well spent for me. You need the SSL / openVPN version at $60.

You can then use the iplayer or "officially sanctioned" streaming sites like www.tvcatchup.com www.hulu.com etc

I plug my lappy into my TV with a $5 VGA and audio cable and the quality is fine (not HD but then I dont care for sixty notes!). I've now binned my cable provider altogether (they werent HD either) and just use internet TV now.

The installation is very straightforward, but they dont tell you in simple terms how to always attach with a specific (i.e. UK or US) location, but it's quite easy.

Remember that typically using a VPN is going to be slower than your regular pipe as you're effectively re-routing thru another country. But you can connect/disconnect as you need it, so this shouldnt really be a problem.

If you need any help with setting this up, please drop me an IM and I'll guide you thru it.

I also use the "ipod downloader" (despite the name you dont need an ipod, just quicktime to view it) which gets rid of the DRM (media rights crud) that prevents you watching stuff a week or so after downloading a programme (used to be VERY irritating if like me, you'd downloaded a bunch of programmes to watch later only to discover they "expired"). A Brucey Bonus of this software is that the download file is much smaller so v good if you have lowish bandwidth (not an issue in the US).

Note that owing to its limited footie rights, you can only watch MOTD "live" (at 10.30/11pm UK time) and not download it or watch it at any other time, the live stream disappears once regular airing has finished.

I would just add that there's nothing to say that BBC etc wont work around this VPN loophole in the future, but it's quite unlikely at the moment.

Andy

CTID

Sorry, should have clarified - the "ipod downloader" uses the BBC iplayer site to download the shows as DRM-free .MOV files that you can keep forever and watch with quicktime on your PC, import into itunes or view on an ipod/iphone. Find it here.

TimberHut

Cheers for the good info (not just 'google for VPN' like you see on a lot of these similar threads)

I was guilty as most about going on about non MOTD stuff - mainly because the original poster may have been unaware that you can easily watch English football over here. I think he knows now!

orangemirror

Yeah thank CTID that was some great info. I need to look into setting up internet tv I guess. I'm just not too tech savvy with that sort of stuff and can't get over the fact that I imagine the quality to be a bit crap?
I like Setanta because I can just turn on the tv and there it is.

Bob

Lot of those threads say that so that those VPN's don't get blocked in their countries, ME folks at least....lot of good VPN info in those threads and who to PM for exact info though

CTID

To be fair it's a little bif of a faff... well more so than turning on your TV, but then I'm not paying over $1000 a year anymore to the cable companies. One long-term project of mine is to try and devise a way of bringing all these sites and bit of software together with a nice, user-friendly interface.

As for quality, iplayer, tvcatchup.com and the itv player etc are pretty good - beeb even offers an HD service if your bandwidth supports it (if you run a VPN, chances are it wont). Beeb also automatically adjusts to suit your bandwidth, which is very neat (think tvcatchup does this too).

I all the sites I use are certainly very similar quality to my old cable provider, so for the extra 2 mins or so it takes me to turn on, I'm happy. That's only likely to get better as the technology develops and bandwidth gets greater.

Lamia offers a pay-as-you go or trial service for about £8 for a single month, if you wanted to try it out. I've never used Lamia, but only heard decent things about it.

Andy

CTID

I know what you mean tho - Fox Soccer Channel has excellent live coverage - better than back home as they can show live 3pm games too, with UK commentary.

Now if I can just get used to Warren "Talk to the Camera" Barton...on their magazine show - bring back Linneker & Hansen, all is forgiven

penguinsix

Boxee is a neat platform that some people are using for this. There are iPlayer plugins already, but a few others still need to be designed.

I'd like to write an Adobe Air app that allowed live TV streaming, but it's on my (very long) list of things to do in my free time