GetYourBritsOut

Hi. I am moving to Houston with my family next month and my husband is worried about there not being any English footy and cricket on the TV.

Can you get these programmes over there? If so, which network would we need and how much is cable TV?

Thanks for any help.

Paul S

you'll need Directv for that (if you don't want Setanta as an internet streaming package).
Expect to pay about $15 a month on top of whatever base package you'd want

elfman

Most cable networks carry Fox Soccer Channel, sometimes as standard, sometimes you have to fork out a little extra to get it added. FSC shows 3 or 4 live premiership games a week during the English season and others in full but delayed, plus highlights shows and Sky Sports News. ESPN often shows champions league and UEFA cup games live, and all the last world cup was shown here on ABC/ESPN/various Spanish language channels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Soccer_Channel

See here for more details of footy coverage in north America: www.soccertv.com

Someone in the Houston area will be more help with details of which cable providers operate in that area.

penguinsix

Sometimes it seems you see more EPL matches here than you do in the UK.

Anyway, check out the Wiki--this is a common question and there a lot of answers about this question.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/English_Sports_in_America

If he really is going nuts, he should look at setting up a Slingbox in the UK and having access to all of the UK channels over the Internet.

GetYourBritsOut

Many thanks for your replies - he should sleep better now!!!

Bob

As mentioned, that wiki, it's a handy spot to check out

And welcome to BE

GetYourBritsOut

Well, he's looked at wiki and is now smiling .

Peace and quiet at last!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

dukeynorton

I'm in San Antonio and Time Warner is the daddy here and they carry FSC on their sports package! Its not as good as Setanta for all round UK sports (rugby etc) but that can only be found on Direct TV. I have tried lobbying TWC to carry it but no luck so far!

penguinsix

If you want Setanta, and I think he probably would, you can

a) get DirectTV, pay for Fox Soccer & Setanta
b) get local cable with Fox Soccer, and then get Setanta via:
a) broadband
b) Globecast dish (allows you to get just setanta via dish and nothing else)

dukeynorton

What's the broadband coverage like do you know? Is it relatively easy to transmit from computer to TV?

penguinsix

There are two types of broadband--one is a browser you view in your PC, the other is an IPTV box that plugs into your network and your tv. Of the two, I'd probably recommend the IPTV box option. I'd also recommend you have the highest broadband package your cable or DSL company offers.

https://secure.itvn.com/order.html?plan=v2_SETANTA

wtkp0u

Found myself in Houston one Saturday when England were playing footie. This place shows the games:
http://www.richmondarmsonline.com/

Oh, and 84 beers on tap

wtkp0u

I watched some rugby on the laptop via cable modem last year. It's ok but nowhere near TV quality. The bandwidth is fixed so having a super high speed connection doesn't help you much beyond a certain point.

Computer to TV would probably work if you have a video out on your computer - my guess is it would look horrible.

You can pay per game so get one to try it -$10 I think.

dukeynorton

Man that IPTV box looks wicked - $15 a month for essentially one channel though. When the premiership starts, I'm sure I will be more than tempted.

penguinsix

The PC options are pretty limited. The guys I know with the IPTV boxes say it is better than the PC, but it still requires some twiddling with the settings to get it as good as can be. Maybe this year they'll tune it up a bit.

As more and more satellite switch from MP2 to MP4 we might see an increase in picture quality (and more content, as extra transponders open up).

There are many threads on Setanta and picture quality at BigSoccer.com

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showt...highlight=itvn
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showt...highlight=itvn
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showt...hlight=setanta