Improve Fan Network How?

[Delta05]

Then add a separate sub for live content a la MLB.TV or the NFL Network. But if I want to access videos and audio for free and download them at a discounted cost whenever I want (a la Amazon Prime) that sub shouldn't run out on a specific date not tied to when my sub was started. I think DCI can afford to step back and look at its product offerings again and realign it's subscription models more effectively.

[Delta05]

For example, The Fan Network could consist of two offerings: The Vault which is all previous content for free streaming and discounted downloads for, say, $5 a month or $50 a year and then DCI.TV that starts in, say, May and ends in August after Finals that gives you access to live streams for... Idunno, $50 for the season?

[Tony Flores]

You likely won't see an app. Apps are expensive to write and maintain, and wouldn't give a large benefit in revenue... wouldn't break even. Unless and until they turn over their streaming to a company that also provides an app build, it won't happen. And they probably aren't going to turn that over because they again, probably wouldn't break even.

Sure would be nice though.

I dig what you're saying, I work for a website and cloud hosting firm. However to counter, WGI has an app that does scores, schedules and video. not trying to argue because I know you know how the FN works internally. Just wishing, thats all. at the end of the day....make the live stream work with my android.

[Shadowtron]

- Offer mobile streaming/app, or Chromecast and Roku support. The mobile streaming this year doesn't work on the majority of devices.

- Drastically reduce price of Finals

- Add commentary for some of the larger events

[2muchcoffeeman]

The user interface is bad. That's putting it nicely.

I purchased the Finals webcast. Cha-ching. Great. Now what? Where do I go? What do I click? How do I actually connect to the show? The website provided no clue. After the purchase, the screen did not change; it did not provide any acknowledgement that a purchase had just been made and did not provide anything new to indicate "this way, please, to see the show." There were no instructions, no links, nothing to indicate how the customer could actually access the product that had just been purchased. Even the subsequent email that confirmed the purchase provided only a link that brought you right back to the page for purchasing the broadcast. Eventually, clicking everything in sight out of desperation, I stumbled across a "login" link (which did not appear until after I had closed and then re-opened the DCI finals homepage), and then entered my credentials. But that was total luck; There were no instructions, not even something as simple as "Thanks for your purchase. To see the broadcast, reload this page and click on the "login" link at the top of the page."

Just bad design all the way around, and that's a particularly damning indictment of an organization where "design" is such an integral value.

The FN itself is only slightly better. Even here, however, the customer is left to figure a lot of things out on their own. I'm a subscriber, but when I loaded the FN "live webcast" page on the day of semis, there was a price tag next to the link for the live webcast. So, do I have to pay? Or is this part of my subscription? Again, there was not a single clue to be found. Why is there not a page that lists, by name and date, all the individual contests that a subscription entitles the customer to see? Not even the "subscribe" page explains what webcasts you're entitled to. Even today, on the bottom of the subscribe page, the semis broadcast is listed as a separate, $29.95 purchase. As it turned out, I clicked on the semis link on Friday, and was connected to the webcast, at no further charge, despite the fact that the link said "29.95." But there should be no need for any of this confusion. Just some more effort put into labeling the product and explaining to users how to navigate the FN would go a long way.

Edited August 10, 2014 by 2muchcoffeeman

[Eleran]

A little more attention to Open Class. They're supposed to be posting VOD of the Open Prelims and Finals (Aug. 4 and 5), but they're still not up 6 days later, even though the World Class Prelims and Semis are already up. (Yes, I know all the Open class corps can be viewed in World Class Prelims, but I know some of the corps did better at Ames than Indy)

Maybe add at least one of the mid-July Open Class competitions as well.

Edited August 10, 2014 by Eleran

[flammaster]

A little more attention to Open Class. They're supposed to be posting VOD of the Open Prelims and Finals (Aug. 4 and 5), but they're still not up 6 days later, even though the World Class Prelims and Semis are already up. (Yes, I know all the Open class corps can be viewed in World Class Prelims, but I know some of the corps did better at Ames than Indy)

Maybe add at least one of the mid-July Open Class competitions as well.

This!!!^^^^^^^^^

[drumcat]

The user interface is bad. That's putting it nicely.

I purchased the Finals webcast. Cha-ching. Great. Now what? Where do I go? What do I click? How do I actually connect to the show? The website provided no clue. After the purchase, the screen did not change; it did not provide any acknowledgement that a purchase had just been made and did not provide anything new to indicate "this way, please, to see the show." There were no instructions, no links, nothing to indicate how the customer could actually access the product that had just been purchased. Even the subsequent email that confirmed the purchase provided only a link that brought you right back to the page for purchasing the broadcast. Eventually, clicking everything in sight out of desperation, I stumbled across a "login" link (which did not appear until after I had closed and then re-opened the DCI finals homepage), and then entered my credentials. But that was total luck; There were no instructions, not even something as simple as "Thanks for your purchase. To see the broadcast, reload this page and click on the "login" link at the top of the page."

Just bad design all the way around, and that's a particularly damning indictment of an organization where "design" is such an integral value.

The FN itself is only slightly better. Even here, however, the customer is left to figure a lot of things out on their own. I'm a subscriber, but when I loaded the FN "live webcast" page on the day of semis, there was a price tag next to the link for the live webcast. So, do I have to pay? Or is this part of my subscription? Again, there was not a single clue to be found. Why is there not a page that lists, by name and date, all the individual contests that a subscription entitles the customer to see? Not even the "subscribe" page explains what webcasts you're entitled to. Even today, on the bottom of the subscribe page, the semis broadcast is listed as a separate, $29.95 purchase. As it turned out, I clicked on the semis link on Friday, and was connected to the webcast, at no further charge, despite the fact that the link said "29.95." But there should be no need for any of this confusion. Just some more effort put into labeling the product and explaining to users how to navigate the FN would go a long way.

I was waiting for someone to say this. Survey says.... #1 answer.

[IMcomguy]

1) Pumping the same program audio through for both feeds.

Last night, Multi-Cam was spectacular. But High cam was very tinny, in a tunnel, and degraded significantly. I was surprised this wasn't addressed by a QC check in some manner or another. We had to switch back to Multi-Cam as the High cam feed was too annoying to stick with on our system.

Overall though, the product has been spectacular this season for 95% of the year. I will definitely be returning!

[Kamarag]

1) Pumping the same program audio through for both feeds.

Last night, Multi-Cam was spectacular. But High cam was very tinny, in a tunnel, and degraded significantly. I was surprised this wasn't addressed by a QC check in some manner or another. We had to switch back to Multi-Cam as the High cam feed was too annoying to stick with on our system.

Overall though, the product has been spectacular this season for 95% of the year. I will definitely be returning!

I completely agree with the audio feed needing to be the same. I cannot for the life of me figure out why the engineers would use two different feeds.