EPL Talk » Fox Soccer Channel

Bobby McMahon Interview: EPL Talk Podcast

Richard Farley — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:01:06 +0000

On this episode of the EPL Talk podcast, Fox Soccer Channel’s Bobby McMahon joined me to discuss Tuesday’s visit by José Mourinho and Internazionale to Stamford Bridge, taking on Chelsea in the second leg of the clubs’ UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie. We break down the match as well as talk about FSC’s presentation and the rest of the week’s matches in the Champions League.

Premier League History Will Be Made In US This Weekend

The Gaffer — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:19:46 +0000

This weekend will be a turning point for the English Premier League in the United States. For the first time in history, all ten Premier League matches will be available live to U.S. viewers.

Typically soccer fans in the United States have been able to see as many as eight live games out of the ten matches each weekend. In the past, we missed a couple of the live 10am ET Saturday games because there weren’t enough outlets available to show the games. But now with the demise of Setanta US and the relaunch of FoxSoccer.tv, the broadband service from Fox has picked up the slack and plan on showing as many as four live games in the 10am ET slot all at the same time on different Internet streams.

So, for example, this Saturday soccer fans in the United States who have access to Fox Soccer Channel and FoxSoccer.tv will be able to see five games all at once: Chelsea v West Ham, Stoke v Aston Villa, Burnley v Wolves, Birmingham City v Everton (only on Fox Soccer Channel) and Bolton v Wigan. If you’re a FoxSoccer.tv subscriber, you can open each of these streams in separate windows and have your TV on at the same time to watch Landon Donovan’s last game for Everton. Or you can watch the games on demand via FoxSoccer.tv typically 90-120 minutes after the games end.

For those readers who are not yet FoxSoccer.tv subscribers, the Chelsea against West Ham game will be on Fox Soccer Plus while Birmingham versus Everton will be on Fox Soccer Channel.

But for those readers who subscribe to Fox Soccer Channel and FoxSoccer.tv, this Saturday will be a dream come true with the quantity (and hopefully quality) of games available for viewers to choose from.

To review the complete TV and Internet schedule for this weekend’s Premier League games, view EPL Talk’s Premier League TV schedule for US viewers today.

The question I have for you is how do you plan on watching the 10am ET matches this weekend? Will you change your viewing habits based on the assortment of games available? Is the number of games available simply too much?

While you’re thinking about the answers to those questions (please post them in the comments section below), here are some responses from EPL Talk readers on Twitter who answered the question which match were they most looking forward to watching this weekend:

Top 10 Things Every Premier League TV Viewer Must Have

The Gaffer — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:17:20 +0000

Having followed the top flight of English league soccer for 32 years and having spent 26 of those years in the United States scrambling to find the best and most reliable sources of soccer news and information, I have the experience necessary to share with you what every supporter of a Premier League club should have to survive a season and enjoy it in style.

Whether you’re a veteran soccer fan or a newbie, you’ll find several helpful tips for you in this article. Consider it your Swiss Army knife guide to following the Premier League.

Here are my top 10 picks for what every supporter should have:

If you live in the United States, you need to subscribe to Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Soccer Plus, ESPN2 and GolTV. Some of you may argue that GolTV isn’t as necessary, but the channel does show some Europa League games and offers a lot of La Liga and Bundesliga games if you ever feel burned out from watching too much Premier League soccer. And be sure to follow EPL Talk’s Premier League TV Schedule to stay up-to-date on which Premier League teams are going to be on television in the States.
HD television and HD service from your TV provider. The beautiful game was meant to be enjoyed in HD. And now that more Premier League games are being shown in HD than ever before, it’s important you get the equipment necessary as well as check to see if the TV networks you need (see above) are available in HD on your provider. As of press time, DISH Network is the only one showing Fox Soccer Channel in HD in the United States. No TV providers are yet broadcasting Fox Soccer Plus in HD (SD only, for now). And GolTV may be in HD later this year.
A DVR (digital video recorder). This is an absolute must-have for any soccer fan. There are so many games on each week featuring Premier League teams that you have to tape many of them for viewing at a later date.
Subscribe to FoxSoccer.tv, if you’re in the States. While the relaunched broadband site experienced a few growing pains since it’s relaunch last week, the sheer volume of live Premier League games it features makes it a must-have. This coming Saturday alone, it has four live games being featured at 10am ET. If you want to see as much Premier League as possible, you need FoxSoccer.tv
Get ESPN3. ESPN360, which will be renamed ESPN3 in April, is another must-have specifically because of the broadband matches it’ll show such as the Carling Cup, summer friendly tournaments and World Cup. ESPN360.com is a free service but it’s available through most ISPs in the United States. Visit ESPN360.com to see if you have it.
Get an iPhone or Android phone. You’re not always going to be near a computer or television set to stay on top of the news about your favorite Premier League team, so be sure to have a mobile phone such as the Apple iPhone or any of the Android phones which will give you the edge when you’re trying to stay on top of things. For the Apple iPhone, must-have apps include iCarRadio Lite (for live radio broadcasts of Premier League matches from the BBC), EPL Live! or iFooty World (for up-to-the minute latest scores), ESPN 2010 World Cup (for everything World Cup related) and a Twitter app such as Twitterrific for the latest EPL news and discussion. Of course, there’s also the free EPL Talk iPhone app which features blog posts, comments, podcast episodes and more.
Subscribe to podcasts via iTunes. Be sure to subscribe to the best Premier League-related podcasts such as The Guardian’s Football Weekly, the EPL Talk Podcast, TheGame Podcast, BBC’s World Football Phone-In Show, the official Barclays Premier League Podcast and more than 50 others.
Buy Soccernomics, the book. I’m re-reading Soccernomics for the second time and it is without a doubt one of the best soccer books I’ve ever read. The reason why I feel it should be part of your survival kit is because the way it discusses globalization and the impact that has had on soccer and primarily the Premier League. It’s a fascinating read and it really feels as if it was written for the Internet age in terms of how it combines amazing facts with the way it makes you see soccer in a whole new way.
Sign up for Twitter. No, Twitter isn’t just for kids. And no, Twitter isn’t just for telling your friends what you’re eating for dinner. For soccerholics such as us, it’s an incredibly useful tool to find out late breaking news and to participate in an underground soccer culture that spans the globe (at least it feels like we’re in the underground at times in the States). After you’ve signed up for Twitter, be sure to follow EPL Talk.
Bookmark 101 Great Goals. While there have been significant advances in technology and the quantity of games available on television and the Internet, there remains one last bastion where the Premier League and its partners don’t serve us well and that’s in the form of goal highlights. Yes, there is a weekly highlights show from the Premier League and TWI. And yes, there are often nightly news shows that feature highlights. But there isn’t anything legal for immediate on-demand access to goal highlights. Thankfully, 101GreatGoals.com is the best alternate source available.

Optional:

Slingbox. With Slingbox, you can watch programming from your television on the Internet or a mobile device. Imagine you’re at work but you want to “tune” into your TV from your work computer and watch a live or pre-recorded Champions League game, you can do this with Slingbox.
Audible. A great way to expand your knowledge of the Premier League is by listening to audiobooks of several soccer titles on Audible. Get a free audiobook from Audible today.
Fantasy Premier League. To make the season more interesting, I highly recommend that you enroll for free and play the Fantasy Premier League game with hundreds of thousands of soccer fans from around the world. It’s even more fun when you play in a private league such as the EPL Talk Fantasy Premier League, which is in the top 50 of the best leagues in the world.
Pub Finder. Last, but by no means least, it’s important to go see a Premier League match on television in a nearby pub every once in a while so you can get a completely different perspective on the beautiful game. Use Setanta US’s handy-dandy pub finder tool which still works.

Other than the list of the best soccer blogs and news sites, what did I miss? What things do you feel should be a part of a survival kit for soccer fans who watch Premier League matches on TV that aren’t listed above? Thanks in advance for your feedback.

FoxSoccer.tv Wish List: What’s Missing

The Gaffer — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:00:47 +0000

Many soccer fans had a chance this past weekend to test the relaunched FoxSoccer.tv broadband service for the first time. While the service is much better than before and features so much more programming, it’s still missing some simple features that would make it easier to use and a more pleasurable experience.

Before I share my wish list of recommended features that should be added, I do want to note that it’s only fair to say that FoxSoccer.tv relaunched last week, so it’s going to take time to work out some of the kinks. The same happened with Setanta-i.com which had a shaky start in the beginning but soon overcame a lot of its issues to become a reliable platform.

Here are the top 6 wish list items to make FoxSoccer.tv a better platform:

Start streams a few minutes early. This past Saturday when I sat down to watch Nottingham Forest against Swansea City on FoxSoccer.tv, which was supposed to kick off at 10am ET, I was frantically hitting refresh and clicking buttons to try to figure out why the stream wasn’t live. Finally at nine minutes after 10, the stream became available and I clicked the ‘Watch’ button to begin the broadcast. While this particular feed was late, and I’m sure that future feeds will begin on time, I would highly recommend that FoxSoccer.tv start the streams a few minutes early so that soccer fans can be ready to watch the kick off. Even if the stream shows a promo or an ad before the 10am kick off, I don’t think soccer fans will mind. They just need to know that they’re connected and that the game will begin momentarily.
Create a better home screen. After logging in to FoxSoccer.tv, the user interface is far from intuitive. Even after you log in, you still see the preview video that everyone sees whether they’ve logged in or not. After a subscriber logs in, there should be a different homepage experience.
Create a single dashboard featuring all live and upcoming games. Right now, when you click on the Schedule link after logging in, the default setting is rugby, which only appeals to the minority of FoxSoccer.tv subscribers. To make matters worse, if you want to see which soccer games are live or are upcoming, you have to click on each league or cup logo one by one. The solution is a dashboard that lists all live soccer games currently being shown as well as a different listing that shows all upcoming soccer games. And a separate listing for live and upcoming rugby games, too.
Improve the streaming quality. I have a download speed of 19.76 Mb/s and a download speed of 1.98 Mb/s. Even with that, I experienced quite a few issues with the streaming. During the Portsmouth against Birmingham match, it took a couple of tries before the stream started. I got a black screen the first time, but the second try worked like a charm and the rest of the live stream was perfect. However, for the Nottingham Forest versus Swansea City game, it took me four to five tries before I could get it working. Either the screen would be black and I could hear the audio commentary. Or the video kept on buffering. And on another try, the video was pixelated and I couldn’t see anything. But just like the Portsmouth FA Cup game, my persistence paid off when I finally got a stream that worked through FoxSoccer.tv and the rest of the broadcast was flawless.
Work out the bugs. I’ve had a ton of experience with testing websites for Fortune 500 companies and it’s never an easy job making sure that everything will work for all users no matter what browser or operating system they’re using. However, while it’s hard to maintain 100% perfection for everyone, it seems that FoxSoccer.tv is more buggy than ESPN360.com For example, every time when I select the “High” setting to watch games in the highest quality on FoxSoccer.tv, the Ray.v plug-in loads but instantly crashes my version of Firefox. I’ve tried it over and over again at least a half dozen times and it keeps on crashing with every attempt.
Keep last minute changes to a minimum. Many soccer fans were upset on Saturday to learn that FoxSoccer.tv had issues showing the Fulham against Tottenham FA Cup match. There was plenty of confusion among FoxSoccer.tv subscribers. And it seems there was plenty of confusion too among FoxSoccer.tv (see screen grab below of the FoxSoccer.tv chat feature from Saturday, which claimed that “Due to a technical issue, Aston Villa v Sunderland & Fulham v Tottenham will not be available.” However, Aston Villa wasn’t scheduled to play Sunderland. Villa played Reading).

While the quality of FoxSoccer.tv thus far leaves much to be desired, the quantity of games it’ll show looks very enticing especially this weekend when FoxSoccer.tv is scheduled to show four live games at the same time at 10am ET (Chelsea v West Ham, Bolton v Wigan, Stoke v Aston Villa and Burnley v Wolves).

In addition to the six recommended enhancements to FoxSoccer.tv, there’s probably a list of six more wish list items such as featuring live Premier League games on FoxSoccer.tv that are shown on Fox Soccer Channel, as well as adding coverage from more leagues such as Lique Un.

What do you think? What wish list items would you like to see Fox Soccer Channel consider in terms of FoxSoccer.tv? Share them in the comments section below.

What Does Fox Soccer Plus Look Like In HD?

The Gaffer — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:35:37 +0000

As of press time, no TV provider is broadcasting Fox Soccer Plus in HD. Fox Soccer Plus is on DirecTV, DISH Network and Verizon FiOS, but each of the three channels are only showing the channel in SD.

But what would Fox Soccer Plus look like in HD if you could see it?

Thanks to an anonymous EPL Talk reader, here’s what it looks like. He was able to send us these screengrabs from Fox Soccer Plus’s distribution feed. He notes that “The quality is marginal as the backhaul feed from England was standard definition PAL > compressed down to 9 MHz bandwidth for satellite uplink across the pond > framerate conversion from PAL to NTSC somewhere in the food chain > upscaled to high definition 720p for FOX Soccer Plus distro.”

Nevertheless, it gives us a taste of what we can expect in the future whenever one of the TV providers in the United States broadcasts Fox Soccer Plus in HD.

If you want to tell your TV provider to get Fox Soccer Plus or Fox Soccer Plus in HD, be sure to take action with this helpful guide.

FoxSoccer.tv Q&A: EPL Talk Podcast Special Episode

The Gaffer — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:12:19 +0000

Bhavesh Patel, vice president of interactive media for Fox Sports International, is the latest guest on the EPL Talk Podcast. Responsible for FoxSoccer.tv and FoxSoccer.com, Patel answers many questions from you, the readers, that you’ve posted on EPL Talk.

During the interview, Patel answers questions about:

whether FoxSoccer.tv will add additional Premier League content other than games,
what the delay is for Premier League games shown on Fox Soccer Channel that are made available on demand on FoxSoccer.tv,
whether you can watch two Premier League games online at once on FoxSoccer.tv,
what we can expect to see on FoxSoccer.com during this summer’s World Cup,
if there are plans to make FoxSoccer.tv available on the iPad, iPhone or similar devices, and more.

Don’t forget that the EPL Talk Podcast is the only Premier League interview and analysis podcast available for free. In the past few weeks, we’ve interviewed legends of the game such as Dwight Yorke, Andrew Cole, Steve McManaman, Gary O’Reilly and Robbie Earle as well as experts such as Declan Hill, Simon Kuper, Misha Sher, Andy Brassell, Tim Vickery and many others. Why pay $40 a year to rival podcasts when you can subscribe to the EPL Talk Podcast for FREE featuring interviews with the biggest names in football?

Poll: Which US Soccer TV Network Is The Best Value For Money?

The Gaffer — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:04:02 +0000

Which US soccer TV network represents the best value for money? Vote in the poll above and share your opinions in the comments section below. Yes, ESPN2 is not a US soccer network, but it does show a lot of soccer throughout the season. But tell us who you think is the best value. It’ll be interesting to see which network gets the most votes!

Fox Soccer Launches Redesigned FoxSoccer.tv Broadband Service

The Gaffer — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:39:56 +0000

Fox Sports International launched the redesigned FoxSoccer.tv today to coincide with the launch of Fox Soccer Plus. FoxSoccer.tv is the broadband portal that previously offered delayed broadcasts of Premier League matches. But with the acquisition of many of the rights from the defunct Setanta Sports, FoxSoccer.tv is now able to show some Premier League matches live – as well as plenty of other content from other leagues including rugby.

“Foxsoccer.tv was redesigned to manage an influx of new live and on demand rights,” said Bhavesh Patel, Vice President of Interactive Media for Fox Sports International. “The enhanced site will offer up to eight live soccer and rugby competitions at once and provide for the ultimate broadband viewing experience.”

Fans can enjoy live matches and unlimited access to on-demand viewing through one of two subscription packs: Championship Pass, offering all matches through May 31, 2010, is available for $44.95 and Monthly Pass is available for $14.95. So viewers can experience foxsoccer.tv, for a limited time the site will offer a Day Pass, offering access for 24 hours, for only $4.95.

Here’s the schedule for all live streaming soccer matches on FoxSoccer.tv this week (all times eastern):

Tues., March 2, Velez Sarsfield v Boca Juniors, 5pm
Wed., March 3, England u-21 v Greece u-21, 12:50pm
Wed., March 3, England v Egypt, 3pm
Sat., March 6, Portsmouth v Birmingham [FA Cup], 7:25am
Sat., March 6, Arsenal v Burnley, 10am
Sat., March 6, Fiorentina v Juventus, 11:55am
Sat., March 6, Fulham v Spurs [FA Cup], 12:20pm
Sat., March 6, Roma v AC Milan, 2:45pm
Sun., March 7, Reading v Aston Villa [FA Cup]. 8:45am
Sun., March 7, Bologna v Napoli, 9am
Sun., March 7, Chelsea v Stoke [FA Cup], 10:55am
Sun., March 7, Inter Milan v Genoa, 2:45pm
Sun., March 7, Independiente v River Plate, 3pm

Later this week, EPL Talk will speaking with a Fox Soccer Channel executive to learn more about the redesigned broadband portal, so if you have any specific questions you’d like me to ask, please post them in the comments section below.

Sat., March 6

Premier League to Launch 24/7 TV Service Next Season

The Gaffer — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:23:35 +0000

The Premier League will launch a 24/7 TV service next season with all of the content available for selection by TV rights holders around the world except Great Britain.

The types of TV programming available will include classic Premier League matches, studio discussions, news and feature shows. So, for example, Fox Soccer Channel would be able to cherry pick any programming from the Premier League’s TV service and make it available for viewers in the United States.

The channel will be produced by the Premier League’s own production company, Premier League Productions, which is a joint venture between TWI and the league.

The benefit of the Premier League launching the TV service is that soccer networks such as Fox Soccer Channel will have the choice of adding more quality Premier League programs to its network. The Premier League TV service is looking for a host (James Richardson, anyone?) who will be the face of the channel.

What do you think? What ideas do you have for TV programs that would make the Premier League TV service more attractive to rights holders worldwide? Share your feedback below.

Fox Soccer Plus to Launch on DISH Network March 1

The Gaffer — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:26:24 +0000

DISH Network announced today that it will launch Fox Soccer Plus on Monday, March 1.

As of Monday, Fox Soccer Plus will be available on DirecTV, Verizon FiOS and now DISH Network. The announcement was made by a crawl at the bottom of the Setanta channel on DISH on Friday, mentioning that the channel would be available as Fox Soccer + on Monday.

Fox Soccer Plus will feature much of the programming that Setanta US used to have including Premier League games, FA Cup, Champions League, Coca-Cola Championship, Carling Cup as well as England games, Serie A and select rugby leagues and tournaments.

Fox Soccer Plus will be available as a premium service at the same price as Setanta Sports, $14.99 per month.

DISH Network is currently the only TV provider in the United States to announce the availability of both Fox Soccer Channel in HD AND Fox Soccer Plus. No word yet when Fox Soccer Plus will be available in HD on DISH Network.