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DCI Live! final season thoughts?


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2015 was the first season where I never got the live streaming DCI subscription. I was a bit disappointed that they pulled the archived shows, didn't have the DVR function for live shows, and in their customer service in general so I decided to sit out the year. As a fan this was not a good idea, as I barely thought about the activity up until Finals week. I can't tell you what shows most corps did, and the only performances I saw were bootlegs from DCI's Live! streaming of Finals and Semis (and even then, I only saw a handful of the Top 12).

That all being said, I'm curious to hear what you all thought? Was the quality pretty solid? Were the feeds fairly glitch-free? Would you subscribe again next season if DCI made no changes to the service in 2016?

My wife and I are both teachers, and money is typically a little tight in the summer time. With the season fresh in our minds I'm curious what you all thought of the service, and if I should plan on budgeting for it next season.

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I really enjoyed it. Quality was great. The only disappointment was that Atlanta wouldn't show on my phone but I was able to watch Minnesota while at DATR the week before, without a hitch. It would have been nice to have a 24 hour window to watch but I didn't get that with the real show either. I loved looking forward to show nights. Fan Network wasn't so great for me but it might have been technical issues on my side which have since been fixed. I'm definitely signing up next year.

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Will definitely be doing it again. Was fantastic. Only broadcast I thought was "bad" was the audio on the Allentown cast. Other than that, was fantastic. Better than the fan network ever was for me. A few hiccups occasionally as expected, but overall I was impressed for the first year of a new setup.

A lot of issues people were having during the season sounded like Internet connectivity and personal issues rather than the service itself. Almost every cast was pretty smooth, great picture, and satisfactory audio.

If this is a sign of what is to come, sign me up.

Improvements to make:

Audio could be better overall, was tolerable.

Offer a single event option for championships, not force all 3 when you just wanna watch finals on Saturday.

Edited by DrumManTx
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I only did the Finals package, but especially since I couldn't make ti to the theater, it was definitely worth it. We hooked up the computer to the big screen, video quality was good, audio quality was good, I enjoyed it. Ended up having a small party a la Super Bowl. Will definitely be doing it again next year.

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I'm sure opinions will vary for many good reasons. I was in unique position to watch everything presented, except 1-2 of the later events for those living on the east coast. The quality was OUTSTANDING compared to other years. But, again, the level of technology on each consumer's end was a big factor. For me, the subscription was MORE than worth it. I'll do it all again next year without hesitation.

Some onsite audio/video teams were not as good as others. The Allentown broadcast sound was awful, and the people on the ground were unable/unwilling to change things for the better, even with 2 days to get it right. That should not happen again.

Even though I made a purchase, I felt very privileged to receive what seemed to me as a gift. I wasn't going to be attending those events in-person under any circumstances, so this was a fabulous way to participate. It was nice to watch the shows change and progress from the season's beginning.

So, yes! I'm buying again next season, even knowing some features might not return. It's just plain good for DCI, too. The potential revenue through this access is huge. I want it to help keep it around, have a chance to flourish.

Edited by Fred Windish
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2015 was the first season where I never got the live streaming DCI subscription. I was a bit disappointed that they pulled the archived shows, didn't have the DVR function for live shows, and in their customer service in general so I decided to sit out the year. As a fan this was not a good idea, as I barely thought about the activity up until Finals week. I can't tell you what shows most corps did, and the only performances I saw were bootlegs from DCI's Live! streaming of Finals and Semis (and even then, I only saw a handful of the Top 12).

That all being said, I'm curious to hear what you all thought? Was the quality pretty solid? Were the feeds fairly glitch-free? Would you subscribe again next season if DCI made no changes to the service in 2016?

My wife and I are both teachers, and money is typically a little tight in the summer time. With the season fresh in our minds I'm curious what you all thought of the service, and if I should plan on budgeting for it next season.

I thought the live streams improved as the season unfolded. I got fewer freezeups, glitches than I recall in other years. I thought that collectively, the Corps were more entertaining than some other recent seasons. There were some very good shows below the usual Top 10 that I personally enjoyed. Given the fact that retrieval of the 2015 shows can be a daunting task, I intend to resubscribe next season, barring any more seismic shocks from DCI to us consumers. I know some people don't care much for the DCI archives, but I do care about this lost access to the archives. The fact that these 2015 shows are now, for all intents and purposes, lost to many current die hard Drum Corps fans ( unless they partake in clever pirateing ) or buy more stuff from DCI is an unpleasant thought. The lack of a replay on the live streams really sucks too, imo. Maybe DCI works out a settlement on the copywrites of the older shows, and we get the archives back. But who knows. Anyway, thats my 2 cents worth on this.

Edited by BRASSO
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If the same thing is offered next year, I'm signing up.

I was on the sidelines for Fan Network as I was reading about everyones problems here on the forums.

2015, however, I decided to buy simply because I only get to ATL live, and was thinking..."$99 for all the regionals and Indy? Shoot yeah!"

It seemed worth it to me. Low on the glitch factor once I got help with setting the sound default to the tv.

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I went to the Atlanta show and after experiencing all that, decided to go to the theater as well. I wasn't going to buy the championship package, but after sitting through the theater show, I decided I HAD to see Finals live. This was the best season DCI had in ages, and I was not willing to read the scores Sunday morning and wonder. I will buy the entire season next summer, unless my financial situation gets even worse.

I meant to watch Finals on my 60 inch smart TV, but I relinquished that to my 2 yo who wouldn't go to sleep and watched on my 25" monitor instead. The video was good and the audio was great. I had no technical problems at all, even though I was streaming Amazon video for my daughter on the tv while I was streaming DCI on my PC.

If this is the way DCI is leaning to get people to watch, I can live with it.

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I did not do it, for the same reasons you cited, perc, and I missed it very much, but for me, the lack of VOD of the live events and DVR function was a dealbreaker and will remain so next year. I don't need to be able to see shows through the following May, but at least for one day after the event, I do need playback for me to consider it worth doing. I generally can't watch a show start-to-finish live.

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