Re: North American TV Rights: Current Status

by Amar Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:22 pm

Gus Johnson calling the Madrid game tonight? rofl

by Swanhends Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:26 pm

Amar wrote:Gus Johnson calling the Madrid game tonight?

New voice fox soccer bruh...theyre groomimg him to be their main guy for the upcoming WCsFox has the rights to

by Amar Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:33 pm

Wow lol, that's going to take some grooming.

He talks far too much, but the excitement he brings could actually cover up alot of his flaws. Sort of like taht guy from NBC who calls the hockey games lol.

by Swanhends Thu Feb 14, 2013 2:38 am

Gus

He definitely sounded nervous at the beginning, In the 6th or 7th minute CR7 got the ball at the edge of the 18 on the wing and Gus said his name about 4 times in a 10-15 second span while Ronaldo was trying unsuccessfully to beat the defender and then ended up crossing Laughing

But he definitely settled down as the game went on, and Toon Legend/Pride of America Warren Barton was awesome today, filled in the gaps for Johnson excellently. Overall, he is clearly still rough around the edges (had a couple misidentifications and mispronunciations) but he didn't over-talk, and his reactions were filled with energy and excitement but they weren't over-the-top

There is hope yet Proud

Also, video of Gus' first goal call can be found here:

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/february/here-s-gus-johnson-s-first-goal-call-for-fox-soccer.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

:notbad:

by McAgger Thu Feb 14, 2013 2:47 am

Americans sound so awful commentating. It's not just the person commentating either. I think the American accent is just not cut out for football.

by Albiceleste Thu Feb 14, 2013 2:55 am

Should stick to basketball tbh, it was dreadful.

by Swanhends Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:29 pm

Good Lad Gus calling his 2nd ever CL game with Arsenal-Bayern today

All aboard the #GusBus - Get in There!!!

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:07 pm

I'm definitely going to stream that Laughing

by Motogp69 Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:48 am

Swanhends wrote:Good Lad Gus calling his 2nd ever CL game with Arsenal-Bayern today

All aboard the #GusBus - Get in There!!!

I must be jaded, I got pissed every time he incorrectly named a Bayern player. Perhaps this is just to much to soon, can't he call the Europa league or something first?

by Swanhends Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:41 am

Motogp69 wrote:
Swanhends wrote:Good Lad Gus calling his 2nd ever CL game with Arsenal-Bayern today

All aboard the #GusBus - Get in There!!!

I must be jaded, I got pissed every time he incorrectly named a Bayern player. Perhaps this is just to much to soon, can't he call the Europa league or something first?

No doubt about it, he was very very poor today...He actually seemed like he regressed quite a bit from where he was at the ManU-Madrid game

he had mispronunciations all over the place, struggled to provide meaningful insight, and his tone mismatched with the events of the game too frequently

As to your 2nd question: He SHOULD be working with lower-level games, but Fox is limited in where they can have him break his teeth in, since their primary rights ATM are EPL (only for rest of season) and Cl/Europa

Personally I think he should have been doing lower level CL games to start, but they've really put him in an uphill battle by giving him these two matches as his first

by CBarca Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:45 am

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Americans sound so awful commentating. It's not just the person commentating either. I think the American accent is just not cut out for football.

Agreed.

I'm American and I have nothing against America or Americans obviously, I love America. But I dislike Americans commentating football. I don't know what it is about us, I just don't like the way Americans sound commentating football. Like you said, the accent just doesn't sound cut out for football. Or at least that's my opinion.

by Motogp69 Thu Feb 21, 2013 2:00 am

There are certain American commentators (John Harkes) that I enjoy, but overall I agree there is just something about an English accent calling a game that just heightens the experience. However, I could do without the English bias.

by Swanhends Thu Feb 21, 2013 3:31 am

To be fair, there has never really been a top-quality American commentator, so any comparison to the cream of the English crop is sort of unfair

There are plenty of reasons why American commentators have largely failed at this sport, but I hardly think accent is one of them tbh

On another note, ManU-Madrid drew fox soccers highest ever rating for a mid-day game

Ill post the details tomorrow, cba atm

by Swanhends Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:00 pm

Swanhends wrote:To be fair, there has never really been a top-quality American commentator, so any comparison to the cream of the English crop is sort of unfair

There are plenty of reasons why American commentators have largely failed at this sport, but I hardly think accent is one of them tbh

On another note, ManU-Madrid drew fox soccers highest ever rating for a mid-day game

Ill post the details tomorrow, cba atm

EPL Talk wrote:FOX Soccer’s live broadcast of Real Madrid against Manchester United had a viewing audience of 451,000 in the United States, according to Nielsen.

The broadcast was the most-watched weekday afternoon telecast in FOX Soccer’s history. The game had a larger viewing audience than the Chelsea-Barcelona semi-final last year that had 425,000 viewers.

Interestingly, FOX Deportes attracted 696,000 viewers for the Real Madrid-Manchester United match.

FOXSoccer 2Go, meanwhile, had its busiest day in the history of the service with 21,345 streams as well as 12,085 on-demand views. According to FOX, FOX Soccer 2Go also enrolled 5,144 new users — the most ever in a single day.

Also your weekly #GusBus update: Gus is commentating on the Man City game this weekend

Lets all pray for improvement

by CBarca Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:03 pm

#pray4gus

by RedOranje Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:03 pm

20 MLS regular season matches will be shown live on ESPN's stations this year. All but 1 will be Sunday afternoon.

The consistency could see a jump in viewership.

by Swanhends Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:44 pm

RedOranje wrote:20 MLS regular season matches will be shown live on ESPN's stations this year. All but 1 will be Sunday afternoon.

The consistency could see a jump in viewership.

Interesting - I thought that NBC Sports took over the rights to MLS starting with this season. Do you know if this is a sub-contract, like ESPNs current deal with FOX for EPL games, or did I get the contracts beginning date mixed-up?

by Swanhends Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:49 pm

In either case, this consistency of broadcasting is a must and I think it will help significantly.

by RedOranje Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:17 pm

I'd guess it's a sub-contract but honestly have no real idea. The article I read made no mention of the actual rights to the games, just the dates and matches in question.

Eight Matches in 3D – A First for Major League Soccer; 18 of 20 Regular-Season Telecasts on Sundays

The 18th season of Major League Soccer on ESPN will begin Sunday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN2, ESPN 3D and ESPN Deportes with live telecast of the Portland Timbers vs. New York Red Bulls match from JELD-WEN Field in Portland, Ore. The inter-conference matchup will kick off a series of 20 regular-season matches, 18 of which will be televised on a Sunday, making it the most consistent programming schedule for Major League Soccer on ESPN. ESPN Deportes Radio will also broadcast all matches on ESPN television networks.

Eight of the 20 Major League Soccer matches will be seen on ESPN 3D, the world’s first 24/7 all-sports 3D channel (seven live), marking the first time matches featuring teams in the top professional soccer league in the United States will be shown in 3D.

Commentators:

Play-by-play commentators Adrian Healey, analysts Taylor Twellman and Alexi Lalas (studio), and reporter Mónica González will handle English-language commentaries. Richard Mendez and former New York/New Jersey MetroStars (New York Red Bulls) striker Giovanni Savarese return to call the matches in Spanish on ESPN Deportes. ESPN Deportes Radio broadcasts will feature Kenneth Garay, Elmer Polanco and Diego Cora in the booth.

Highlights of 2013 MLS season:

-All 19 (12 on ESPN2 and seven on ESPN) regular-season matches will be available in high definition, available on WatchESPN, and carried on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio;

-ESPN2 will televise an additional match (TBD), bringing the total number of matches to 20;

-Top three teams by appearances: New York Red Bulls featuring 1998 FIFA World World Cup winner Thierry Henry (seven), back-to-back MLS champions Los Angeles Galaxy with U.S. National Team star Landon Donovan and Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane (six), and U.S. Men’s National Team star Eddie Johnson and the Seattle Sounders (five);

-ESPN will televise the only regular-season meeting between the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday, May 19, live from the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.;

-Six matchups will feature regional rivals – New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in the East; Houston vs. Dallas in Texas; Los Angeles vs. San Jose in California; and Seattle vs. Portland in the Northwest;

-The 2013 MLS on ESPN series will include a number of international matches featuring MLS clubs, the MLS All-Star Game, several MLS Cup Playoffs matches and the 2013 MLS Cup (schedule TBD).

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2013/02/espns-2013-major-league-soccer-schedule/

Also, here's the full television schedule for MLS coverage this year (87 matches in total):
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/01/09/mls-national-tv-schedule-includes-87-matches-us-networks

by RedOranje Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:18 pm

2 will not be on Sundays, my mistake.

by Swanhends Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:12 pm

RedOranje wrote:I'd guess it's a sub-contract but honestly have no real idea. The article I read made no mention of the actual rights to the games, just the dates and matches in question.

Eight Matches in 3D – A First for Major League Soccer; 18 of 20 Regular-Season Telecasts on Sundays

The 18th season of Major League Soccer on ESPN will begin Sunday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN2, ESPN 3D and ESPN Deportes with live telecast of the Portland Timbers vs. New York Red Bulls match from JELD-WEN Field in Portland, Ore. The inter-conference matchup will kick off a series of 20 regular-season matches, 18 of which will be televised on a Sunday, making it the most consistent programming schedule for Major League Soccer on ESPN. ESPN Deportes Radio will also broadcast all matches on ESPN television networks.

Eight of the 20 Major League Soccer matches will be seen on ESPN 3D, the world’s first 24/7 all-sports 3D channel (seven live), marking the first time matches featuring teams in the top professional soccer league in the United States will be shown in 3D.

Commentators:

Play-by-play commentators Adrian Healey, analysts Taylor Twellman and Alexi Lalas (studio), and reporter Mónica González will handle English-language commentaries. Richard Mendez and former New York/New Jersey MetroStars (New York Red Bulls) striker Giovanni Savarese return to call the matches in Spanish on ESPN Deportes. ESPN Deportes Radio broadcasts will feature Kenneth Garay, Elmer Polanco and Diego Cora in the booth.

Highlights of 2013 MLS season:

-All 19 (12 on ESPN2 and seven on ESPN) regular-season matches will be available in high definition, available on WatchESPN, and carried on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio;

-ESPN2 will televise an additional match (TBD), bringing the total number of matches to 20;

-Top three teams by appearances: New York Red Bulls featuring 1998 FIFA World World Cup winner Thierry Henry (seven), back-to-back MLS champions Los Angeles Galaxy with U.S. National Team star Landon Donovan and Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane (six), and U.S. Men’s National Team star Eddie Johnson and the Seattle Sounders (five);

-ESPN will televise the only regular-season meeting between the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday, May 19, live from the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.;

-Six matchups will feature regional rivals – New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in the East; Houston vs. Dallas in Texas; Los Angeles vs. San Jose in California; and Seattle vs. Portland in the Northwest;

-The 2013 MLS on ESPN series will include a number of international matches featuring MLS clubs, the MLS All-Star Game, several MLS Cup Playoffs matches and the 2013 MLS Cup (schedule TBD).

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2013/02/espns-2013-major-league-soccer-schedule/

Also, here's the full television schedule for MLS coverage this year (87 matches in total):
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/01/09/mls-national-tv-schedule-includes-87-matches-us-networks

Good stuff, especially the complete MLS broadcasting schedule - that definitely makes it look like a sub-license from NBC, but a pretty sizable one...And Im thrilled with the consistent start time. Hell with the games on Sunday afternoons some European matches will probably feed right into the MLS ones from March-May (when ratings are highest) and then again from august-november.. Having people who are perhaps not yet MLS fans transition seemlessly into the league - not all will stick with the league, but some will

by Swanhends Sun Feb 24, 2013 1:44 pm

10 minutes in, Gus not starting well...He is just unable to do anything except track the patch of the ball

90% of what he says is "X....to y, passes it to Z"

Gotta add some insight or break that up with something man...gonna put everyone to sleep

by Juveman17 Sun Feb 24, 2013 3:09 pm

Taylor Twellman is quite possibly the worst American commentator. Butchers everything he says.

by Motogp69 Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:36 pm

juveman17 wrote:Taylor Twellman is quite possibly the worst American commentator. Butchers everything he says.

Agreed, but that voice is amazing. Who knew such a huge voice could come out of such a little person.

by Real Kandahar Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:21 am

still no la liga huh? im reduced to missing live games and downloading them later in the evening,,, one thing i hatee is lagging connection and bad streaming quality...

either watch a game nicely or don't watch it at all - my philosophy

by Milan31 Mon Feb 25, 2013 6:18 am

Real Kandahar wrote:still no la liga huh? im reduced to missing live games and downloading them later in the evening,,, one thing i hatee is lagging connection and bad streaming quality...

either watch a game nicely or don't watch it at all - my philosophy

do you have a link to a nice spot to download games after they have been played?

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