NHL.TV / Center Ice / ESPN+ Discussion - Part IV [See the warning in OP]

[RainyCityHockey]

My guess – the only possible explanation I can see for the failure to announce NHL.tv pricing for the new season – is that pressure is being exerted by stupid TV channels to reintroduce blackouts throughout Europe, and NHL.tv tries to resist those demands. Because if there are constant blackouts, who would purchase an NHL.tv subscription in Europe? I'm definitely canceling my NHL.tv subscription if there are any blackouts whatsoever.

The stupid, greedy TV executives should learn once and for all that streaming is streaming and old-fashioned TV is old-fashioned TV. There should be no relation and dependancy between the two whatsoever. An NHL.tv subscription should be an all-encompassing, universal solution, bringing you each and every game with zero blackouts, period. Yeah, even in America. That's 21st century for you.

I doubt they'll resist anything if the TV stations give them enough money.

We over here in Germany have blackouts for the first time in over 20 years since they gave the tv rights to Sky Germany last year.

Still, them not having any informations for subscribers, but still just changing stuff on the app(not able to watch previous or preseason games etc.) is just quite strange and incredibly amateurish on their part.

 

[CupHolders]

So far the "Where to stream" site (which has been updated for 2022-23 season) lists NHL.tv for majority of Europe.

HOW TO WATCH & STREAM NHL GAMES | NHL.com

Fans around the world have many ways to watch and stream NHL games. Our broadcast partners provide cutting-edge TV production, expert broadcast teams and high-quality streaming apps to ensure you can watch NHL hockey action wherever you are.

www.nhl.com

But I agree, this time it's been very suspicious. Since NHL.tv started, I have been able to use my subscription to watch the games from the previous season and from the pre-season until October 1st every year, and the new subscription has started on October 1st (excluding the seasons affected by Covid) either automatically or by renewing manually without missing a single game.

I have sent multiple messages to NHL.tv support via different channels. Usually they answer within 3 days, but this time it's been a total silence.

It still shows NHL.TV available in England and the United Kingdom. But apparently the streaming service Viaplay will have exclusive streaming rights starting this season. Yet Viaplay, will not launch in the UK until sometime mid-season. Which is curious to me for a couple of reason.

It's a similar arrangement to espn+ and SN NOW. So does the NHL prefer these streaming deals instead of their own in-house app? Seemingly they do. So NHL.TV is likely to be scrubbed at some point.

Could a late launch of Viaplay (possible other similar streaming agreements in different countries) be why the NHL is holding off on subscription details?

… But I figured I'd share the viewpoint and the following article...

Viaplay to show over 1,400 matches becoming NHL home in the UK

EDIT: Gotta be honest, a lot of MLS and general sports fans gave the MLS/Apple exclusive streaming deal grief. But I would 200% love such an arrangement with the NHL. All games available with no blackout restrictions. Done and done... take my money on a monthly subscription!

 

[MrUndrsteer]

New here, and wanted to join in the discussion as a follower from the UK that has almost exclusively used NHL.tv/NHL gamcenter live before that.

I'm almost certain that NHL live is going to get canned at some point (In the UK at least). I can't see how viaplay and NHL TV could coexist, would NHL TV be blacked out for 48 hours if Viaplay have the rights to every game?

I'm keen to find out how I'm going to get my NHL fix and the silence is killing me... fortunately as a Canadiens fan it's probably a good year to (potentially) miss half a season's worth of games if Viaplay isn't launching until mid season ish.

 

[Isles72]

looks like sn now premium will be carrying the nyr-nyi game tonight , yaay

 

[TomiT14]

I'm almost certain that NHL live is going to get canned at some point (In the UK at least). I can't see how viaplay and NHL TV could coexist, would NHL TV be blacked out for 48 hours if Viaplay have the rights to every game?

In Finland (and I guess in all the countries where they have the rights), Viaplay only has the exclusive rights of the game for 48 hours. So I am unable to use NHL.tv to watch the games live or soon after (without using VPN), but after the 48 hours have passed, I can watch them from NHL.tv without restrictions.

Although I can't subscribe to NHL.tv in Finland without using VPN, but using the service to watch the games after the 48-hour period is over is not restricted.

 

[ToNedOuT]

Ok Got the low down from a smart Rogers tech.

Sportsnet Now Premium does NOT have the same rights in canada and NHL Live had.

When it comes to watching canadian team in canada and your not in their local viewing area unless Sportsnet has shared rights to broadcast it on their normal tv stations it WILL NOT be streamed.

For instance last night the game Oilers Vs Jets was on TSN 3 which is the local station for all jets games.

The game was not available outside that viewing region on TSN 3 ( Standard Blackout Policy)
The game was available on NHL Center Ice ( Which is the tv subscription service)
The game was NOT available on Sportsnet Now Premium (Streaming service)
The game WAS available on NHL.TV (NHL Live used it as their front end for canadians)

So in short when Rogers Kill NHL Live for Canadians they also killed any in place streaming agreements from previous years

So this is probably why I can't watch the Habs-Devils game.....welp time to demand a refund.

 

[DaGap]

So this is probably why I can't watch the Habs-Devils game.....welp time to demand a refund.

If your in the viewing area you must use whoever has the rights for that viewing area

 

[habdynasty]

SN now premium worked great for me tonight. Knock on wood.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Very weird... Where are you from?
I'm not sure anymore whether I canceled auto subscription or not, but my card wasn't charged.

I'm a bit concerned since NHL.TV is no more for Canada, it might get canceled for Europe as well... Would be a disaster!

I'm in Korea, and I signed up through the App on Android using Google play wallet so a little bit different than I've done it in the past. Mainly I watch on Nvidia box through the NHL.TV app for Android TV. They better not cancel our only possibility of watching hockey...

 

[Isles72]

habs/devils sn now via tsn feed was really good , isles-rangers via msg feed was a bit better than the bos-pha game the other day but could be better .

 

[Isles72]

So this is probably why I can't watch the Habs-Devils game.....welp time to demand a refund.

if your in victoria and have sn now premium theres no reason why you should not have had access to the habs = devils game last night .

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

the stream quality of the 2 leaf games and the bos-pha game wasnt that great on sn now

its hard to describe whats happening because it wasnt laggy or buffering but it still wasnt 100% smooth like nhllive quality

That’s disappointing to hear . I haven’t been able to watch anything since it’s pretty well a disaster zone here in Sydney , Nova Scotia . I have no power .

 

[RollingCoyote]

Do any of you use Center Ice on Shaw Direct? On their website it says “up to 40 out of market games per week“, that’s not even close to all the games played in a week, is that really all they show?

 

[DaGap]

Do any of you use Center Ice on Shaw Direct? On their website it says “up to 40 out of market games per week“, that’s not even close to all the games played in a week, is that really all they show?

They show every out of market game for your tv viewing

 

[TheHoff]

I'm in Korea, and I signed up through the App on Android using Google play wallet so a little bit different than I've done it in the past. Mainly I watch on Nvidia box through the NHL.TV app for Android TV. They better not cancel our only possibility of watching hockey...

But you didn't get a bill already this season, did you?

 

[ToNedOuT]

if your in victoria and have sn now premium theres no reason why you should not have had access to the habs = devils game last night .

That's what I thought! Maybe it was an early-season glitch on their part because it was definitely not working. I was trying to reach out to their customer service and it was busy.

So far, not a fan of the switchover.

 

[murray]

Chiming in - as a longtime NHL Live subscriber, I was wary about the switch to SN Now, and as of last night, my fears were confirmed.

I’m a Habs fan, and wasn’t able to watch the game. The only message given to me was “content unavailable” on the screen, which could’ve been anything - I spent the next 15 minutes intermittently refreshing the app to see if was a connection or broadcast error.

Some digging revealed it wasn’t - SN Now simply won’t broadcast games that other broadcasters have TV rights to. That limits them to Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday games.

So we’ve gone from a service that aggregates broadcasts and offers a huge amount of archived content, to… SN now, which will probably only show me half of the Habs games this season, and offer no further value.

I cancelled my subscription this morning, and got a refund - the service rep informed me there was a queue for refunds, which, like… if I am being put into a queue for refunds, it sounds like maybe a lot of people aren’t happy with SN Now.

TL;DR: SN Now isn’t good. Avoid.

 

[DaGap]

Chiming in - as a longtime NHL Live subscriber, I was wary about the switch to SN Now, and as of last night, my fears were confirmed.

I’m a Habs fan, and wasn’t able to watch the game. The only message given to me was “content unavailable” on the screen, which could’ve been anything - I spent the next 15 minutes intermittently refreshing the app to see if was a connection or broadcast error.

Some digging revealed it wasn’t - SN Now simply won’t broadcast games that other broadcasters have TV rights to. That limits them to Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday games.

So we’ve gone from a service that aggregates broadcasts and offers a huge amount of archived content, to… SN now, which will probably only show me half of the Habs games this season, and offer no further value.

I cancelled my subscription this morning, and got a refund - the service rep informed me there was a queue for refunds, which, like… if I am being put into a queue for refunds, it sounds like maybe a lot of people aren’t happy with SN Now.

TL;DR: SN Now isn’t good. Avoid.

Yep, Basically Rogers Killed off NHL Live and is now pushing Sportsnet Now Premium but in reality what you now need is:

NHL Game Center
Sportsnet
TSN

They're pushing people back to cable

 

[habdynasty]

Chiming in - as a longtime NHL Live subscriber, I was wary about the switch to SN Now, and as of last night, my fears were confirmed.

I’m a Habs fan, and wasn’t able to watch the game. The only message given to me was “content unavailable” on the screen, which could’ve been anything - I spent the next 15 minutes intermittently refreshing the app to see if was a connection or broadcast error.

Some digging revealed it wasn’t - SN Now simply won’t broadcast games that other broadcasters have TV rights to. That limits them to Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday games.

So we’ve gone from a service that aggregates broadcasts and offers a huge amount of archived content, to… SN now, which will probably only show me half of the Habs games this season, and offer no further value.

I cancelled my subscription this morning, and got a refund - the service rep informed me there was a queue for refunds, which, like… if I am being put into a queue for refunds, it sounds like maybe a lot of people aren’t happy with SN Now.

TL;DR: SN Now isn’t good. Avoid.

I watched the Habs game last night on SN now. it was from the tsn Montreal feed. jets Sens game is on now , another tsn feed.

 

[dssource]

Can someone confirm that I can watch a game the day after or a few days after using SN now premium? Also, if watching a game from the beginning, live or not, is there an easier way to skip ahead on the GoogleTV app? I can only skip ahead 30s and I have to keep clicking the button. If I leave a game, will it remember where I was and pick up where I left off when I go back live NHL.TV used to?

I find the menus to be way too convoluted. All I care for is hockey. I shouldn't have to dig for it.

Is there a trial period for premium where you can get your money back?

 

[DaGap]

I watched the Habs game last night on SN now. it was from the tsn Montreal feed. jets Sens game is on now , another tsn feed.

What tv viewing area are you in

 

[habdynasty]

What tv viewing area are you in

Saskatchewan.

 

[DaGap]

Saskatchewan.

ok Cause Jet and Oilers won't be streamed in Alberta

 

[LeapOnOver]

But you didn't get a bill already this season, did you?

Well, I won't actually get a bill. It's all done electronically and it's just a subscription service in Google Play. I logged in today to see what the app looks like and they are only showing games that start Oct. 7th. There were zero feeds on the games being played today, but they still had all the gamecenter stuff up and functioning. I'm hoping that it will still be an option for those of us in Asia and outside of whatever Europe's new thing is.

 

[TheHoff]

Well, I won't actually get a bill. It's all done electronically and it's just a subscription service in Google Play. I logged in today to see what the app looks like and they are only showing games that start Oct. 7th. There were zero feeds on the games being played today, but they still had all the gamecenter stuff up and functioning. I'm hoping that it will still be an option for those of us in Asia and outside of whatever Europe's new thing is.

Yep, dito. The current situation makes the NHL look like a bush league. Pretty unprofessional to give your loyal fans of the game no infos at all. Management has to change.