On the road? Got Broadband?

[superpunk]

DirecTV's got us covered.

http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN1529565420070816?pageNumber=1

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - When DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket premium package kicks off September 9, it will break new ground not just on TV but also online.

For the first time, DirecTV will offer up to 11 game telecasts a week online to subscribers to its SuperFan package, which costs $99 on top of the $269 subscribers pay for Sunday Ticket. While the NFL Network has offered some subscribers the ability to watch selected games online, the DirecTV SuperCast marks the first time a broadband service will offer wide access.

DirecTV received the rights to stream the Sunday afternoon games as part of its multimillion-dollar package that it signed with the NFL three years ago. But Eric Shanks, DirecTV's executive vp entertainment, said Wednesday that the company last year didn't feel the reach or the quality was going to be up to standards. But technology and the march of broadband has caught up, he said.

"We think now is the right time," Shanks said. "We can keep the quality of the Sunday Ticket experience online."

The broadband play allows SuperFan subscribers to watch a game away from home or watch two games at the same time, using the same network feeds.

The same rules apply as for the TV service. If a subscriber's local-market game didn't sell out and is blacked out on TV, it also is blacked out for that subscriber online.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Ok damnit, now sell me *just* the online Sunday Ticket.

 

[DallasEast]

The same rules apply as for the TV service. If a subscriber's local-market game didn't sell out and is blacked out on TV, it also is blacked out for that subscriber online.

What the..?

Okay, what if you subscribe locally, but you travel somewhere else in the country and try to view the game on your laptop, etc., at another location? Why should the local rules apply if I, the subscriber, is attempting to view the game outside the blackout area?

 

[superpunk]

I would assume that since you're going through a local router, they know where you are based on your current IP address.

But I'm no scientist...

 

[DallasEast]

I would assume that since you're going through a local router, they know where you are based on your current IP address.

But I'm no scientist...

Hopefully, that's true and if that's the case, Shanks or the reporter should've supplied that info in the article.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I would assume that since you're going through a local router, they know where you are based on your current IP address.

But I'm no scientist...

It depends. (I'm an Internet Infrastucture Engineer) They can do it two ways. They can go the easy way and base it on your credit card's zip code (this method is used for many different things), they can base it on your IP address, or they can check both. Obviously the IP is the best way to do it since it allows you to watch games when you are out of town, but the contracts they have with MLB and other company rights usually can have trouble making this work.

Of course basing it on IP addresses is flawed if you know what you are doing and you have the *right* resources. You can always use a IP redirect daemon or proxy server to bypass that check.

EDIT: bypass is the wrong word, masquerade is a better choice of words.

 

[Wezsh0T]

Just get slingbox...that's what I ended up doing.