OT: Official Sports Media Thread XII: 98.5 The Sports Hub undergoing more shake ups with ‘Toucher and Hardy’ show

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Gee Wally

Old, Grumpy Moderator
Sponsor
Feb 27, 2002
75,798
95,476
HF retirement home

The Red Sox might make the playoffs. They probably won’t. But at least this can already be said for their 2024 edition: They’re an athletic, unified, and resilient team, which more often than not has made them fun to watch.
Which makes it even more frustrating that NESN — specifically its glitchy standalone NESN360 app — too often interferes with the enjoyment of watching them with its apparent indifference to the quality and reliability of the product.
The most egregious example occurred last Sunday, when NESN360 went on the fritz late in the Red Sox’ fairly important game with the Orioles.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Red Sox trailing, 4-0, the broadcast began jumping back and forth to the first inning of an old game.

One second, Red Sox pitcher Bailey Horn was on the mound in Sunday’s live action, trying to hold off the Orioles in that seventh inning. A few seconds later, it would jump to the first inning of Friday’s game, with Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes on the mound.

This continued to the point that it was impossible to watch, even if you had the game on as background noise, as I did.

After receiving a deluge of complaints on social media and via email, I reached out to a NESN spokesperson to ask if there was an explanation for what was happening.

This was the response: “We experienced hardware issues that affected some of our viewers. We apologize to our viewers that were impacted as we strive to ensure the best viewing experience for our fans.”

I shared this on social media and to those who had emailed. A few NESN viewers replied that this is the boilerplate answer that they get — specifically the part about ensuring “the best viewing experience for our fans” — whenever they have reached out to the network with a complaint.

So I reached out again, requesting a more detailed explanation of what went wrong, and noting that I was hearing from a lot of angry NESN360 subscribers.

I did not receive a response.

And that is a huge part of the problem.

The app costs $29.99 a month. When it launched as MLB’s first direct-to-consumer app in 2022, allowing fans in a particular region to watch their local team’s games without needing cable or a streaming service, I wrote that I thought the price was reasonable.

I was wrong. It’s not. It’s steep, and at that price, NESN needs to do much more to satisfy subscribers than it is doing so far.

NESN can say it’s trying to provide the best viewing experience on NESN360. But last Sunday was the biggest example yet of the product telling us something else entirely.
 
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Donnie Shulzhoffer

Rocket Surgery
Sep 9, 2008
16,215
12,094
Foxboro, MA

The Red Sox might make the playoffs. They probably won’t. But at least this can already be said for their 2024 edition: They’re an athletic, unified, and resilient team, which more often than not has made them fun to watch.
Which makes it even more frustrating that NESN — specifically its glitchy standalone NESN360 app — too often interferes with the enjoyment of watching them with its apparent indifference to the quality and reliability of the product.
The most egregious example occurred last Sunday, when NESN360 went on the fritz late in the Red Sox’ fairly important game with the Orioles.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Red Sox trailing, 4-0, the broadcast began jumping back and forth to the first inning of an old game.

One second, Red Sox pitcher Bailey Horn was on the mound in Sunday’s live action, trying to hold off the Orioles in that seventh inning. A few seconds later, it would jump to the first inning of Friday’s game, with Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes on the mound.

This continued to the point that it was impossible to watch, even if you had the game on as background noise, as I did.

After receiving a deluge of complaints on social media and via email, I reached out to a NESN spokesperson to ask if there was an explanation for what was happening.

This was the response: “We experienced hardware issues that affected some of our viewers. We apologize to our viewers that were impacted as we strive to ensure the best viewing experience for our fans.”

I shared this on social media and to those who had emailed. A few NESN viewers replied that this is the boilerplate answer that they get — specifically the part about ensuring “the best viewing experience for our fans” — whenever they have reached out to the network with a complaint.

So I reached out again, requesting a more detailed explanation of what went wrong, and noting that I was hearing from a lot of angry NESN360 subscribers.

I did not receive a response.

And that is a huge part of the problem.

The app costs $29.99 a month. When it launched as MLB’s first direct-to-consumer app in 2022, allowing fans in a particular region to watch their local team’s games without needing cable or a streaming service, I wrote that I thought the price was reasonable.

I was wrong. It’s not. It’s steep, and at that price, NESN needs to do much more to satisfy subscribers than it is doing so far.

NESN can say it’s trying to provide the best viewing experience on NESN360. But last Sunday was the biggest example yet of the product telling us something else entirely.
Because they know people will pay for it for some reason
 

CDJ

Registered User
Nov 20, 2006
56,537
46,675
Hell baby
If it makes ppl feel better the channel isn’t much better than the streaming service. Constant glitches and audio issues, almost every game

They’re clearly pinching pennies over there
 

McGarnagle

Yes.
Aug 5, 2017
29,954
40,867
Have they made any announcement on the Bruins radio PBP yet? I think people assume it's going to be Johnston but I haven't seen any confirmation.
 

DKH

Worst Poster/Awful Takes
Feb 27, 2002
76,050
56,215
Keefe and Jones 10-2 has a lot of potential. I was a big fan of their night show at Sports Hub.

The other moves reek of cheapness. They aren't even going to try and compete with Felger, but just need someone to fill the time slot.
It’s really good because it’s so off the wall with sports thrown in

They went from Korn the band to eating corn on the cob- was hilarious

Jones is a troll but has both sports knowledge and sense of humor

He’s unlistenable alone but Keefe gets him off his schtick

2-6 Is a human sacrifice

They had a very good show getting 9’s and second in market and killed it

They could have easily brought back - Mego & Fauria there and figure out Merloni
 

Terrier

Registered User
Sep 30, 2003
11,423
6,984
Newton, MA
Visit site

BSJ Live Q&A: Haggerty on Bruins, captain's practices - 11 a.m. Friday 09.06.24​


 

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