I am a winter sports fan. I love the Winter Olympics, especially skiing. When the Olympics are not on, I still will watch World Cup races. Or at least, I used to. Last year & the year before I was able to follow the season on a certain website that carried all the events. You clicked on & watched an event from beginning to end.
Here's the problem. This is the website for a channel that isn't carried on cable or satellite. Only as a digital subchannel. Why? I have no idea. This is the channel's owners decision, which IMHO is a really stupid one. It means that only people watching TV over the air have access to the channel, meaning a much smaller viewership base. Why would you do that? BTW- it's owned by the network that has rights to the Olympics. Figure it out.
Now to the website. You can no longer watch the video streams or the replays unless you pay . That's $4 for a single event (like today), $9 for the World Championships in February, or $30 for all 71 events. Who is going to watch all 71 events? I consider this to be pure unmitigated greed. It was free the last two years, what changed?
For the record, I can watch any college football game, any college basketball game & various soccer, rugby, & other events in their entirety on ESPN 3 without charge. I can watch every program CBS shows, primetime, daytime, late night, without charge. Just in the last two days I have watched on CBS' website a full episode of Letterman, a full episode of Craig Ferguson, & the most recent episode of Hawaii 5-0. I watched Manchester United vs Arsenal (1st place vs 3rd) on ESPN 3. What is this scummy, greedy networks problem?
This is what destroys the web. You want to have commercials, go right ahead. CBS shows commercials on the web. ESPN 3 doesn't interestingly enough. You just get the logo saying the broadcast will be back soon. Hmmm. I mean if this network wants to make money, here's an idea. Have your channel on cable & satellite. Duh!
Here's the problem. This is the website for a channel that isn't carried on cable or satellite. Only as a digital subchannel. Why? I have no idea. This is the channel's owners decision, which IMHO is a really stupid one. It means that only people watching TV over the air have access to the channel, meaning a much smaller viewership base. Why would you do that? BTW- it's owned by the network that has rights to the Olympics. Figure it out.
Now to the website. You can no longer watch the video streams or the replays unless you pay . That's $4 for a single event (like today), $9 for the World Championships in February, or $30 for all 71 events. Who is going to watch all 71 events? I consider this to be pure unmitigated greed. It was free the last two years, what changed?
For the record, I can watch any college football game, any college basketball game & various soccer, rugby, & other events in their entirety on ESPN 3 without charge. I can watch every program CBS shows, primetime, daytime, late night, without charge. Just in the last two days I have watched on CBS' website a full episode of Letterman, a full episode of Craig Ferguson, & the most recent episode of Hawaii 5-0. I watched Manchester United vs Arsenal (1st place vs 3rd) on ESPN 3. What is this scummy, greedy networks problem?
This is what destroys the web. You want to have commercials, go right ahead. CBS shows commercials on the web. ESPN 3 doesn't interestingly enough. You just get the logo saying the broadcast will be back soon. Hmmm. I mean if this network wants to make money, here's an idea. Have your channel on cable & satellite. Duh!
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