mlb.tv advice

by bbjones on Jan 6, 2011 7:14 PM EST

So, I'm trying to get ready to watch the Reds win the 2011 World Series from California.

I've had MLB Extra Innings for several years now, and I've been pretty happy with it. However, I'm looking at updating my ancient A/V equipment (non-HD CRT and DSL) to the modern millenium. One of the options has me leaving DirectTV and MLB Extra Innings, and streaming mlb.tv to my (hypothetical) new HD flatscreen.

Have any of you tried this? I know there were a lot of complaints about mlb.tv when it first came out. How did it work this past year? Is MLB still screwing you on the charges?

What is the difference between the regular and premium levels? The MLB.com site is very unclear on that. Do you get the playoffs included, or is that extra?

How often did it actually work? Did you get HD without horrible lags and stuff? Did you try streaming it to a TV?

Potentially, there are a lot of nice things about mlb.tv: portability to any device anywhere, games on demand, plus it's about half the cost of Extra Innings. Still, I'm a little nervous about it.

I've read various opinions from dogs on the internet, but I trust you guys a lot more, because I know what kind of dogs you are. Thanks!

Tweet Comment 20 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I admit

it’s been a couple of years since I braved MLB.TV, mostly because of repeated billing issues.

However, when I did subscribe, the difference between regular and premium was premium offered higher bandwidth games. There were other little things – the ability to watch several games at once, quicker access to the archives, the ability to use other devices like Roku – but high quality games were the big draw.

I think they may be downplaying that now, or even eliminating the two different packages and offering just one (which is why it’s so hard to find out what the differences are). Or maybe they haven’t decided on the packages yet.

I bought the premium package, but was rarely able to use it live. I went with the lower bandwidth games because they played better. I was rarely able to watch games without lag problems. And I don’t think the problem was on my end, because I could watch archived games easily (that is, when no one else was watching). And it was great on Saturdays, when I used a proxy to get around the Fox blackout. Nobody else in the US was watching MLB.TV then, so there was no lag at all. Even going through a proxy in Singapore.

I also had occasional problems with not being able to get the games to play. Usually re-starting my browser fixed it.

They have upgraded their media player since I last subscribed, so maybe these problems are fixed. Still…I would recommend that you try it before you get rid of Extra Innings.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Jan 6, 2011 8:39 PM EST reply actions

I subscribed last year for the first time

I don’t have any TV at home period, for reasons that don’t matter, but I do get to see the mlb.tv games on my computer. Problem I have where I live is that I am in the Reds footprint so I can’t see the games live at home. When I go one county west, where I work, I can get the Reds. (Yeah, I watch while I play.)

But there is plenty of good stuff on there if you are a junkie. The condensed games are nice. I intend to subscribe again even though I plan to quit work the first of June (if lucky) so I won’t get to see Reds games live at all from home.

All in all, mlb.tv wasn’t evil and I shared my login with some other guys who were able to get a lot more value out of it along with me. One guy is a Mets fan and used it a lot.

I did not endure any billing issues and will be curious about that this year as well.

I didn’t notice a lot of bandwidth problems but I did have to upgrade that with my ISP.

I did get the premium version. For the 20 bucks, spread out over the season, it’s no big deal.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA CHICKS SUCK DUDES RULE. -- Andromache

by johnu1 on Jan 7, 2011 1:38 AM EST up reply actions

It was invaluable to me last year

I used lower-bandwith games and had no problem, but I’m hardly a tech snob. I’m not sure about playoffs, but I know you can watch them from abroad (as anyone who witnessed my 3AM drunken ramblings about the Reds in October could witness).

I didn’t have the problems Bubbafan did but then again, no HD.

My favorite part, honestly, is getting the Reds’ road feeds. Hearing other peoples’ announcers is a lot of fun, from Scully to,uh, whoever’s the dude for the Marlins.

"College actually kind of beat that out of me, making me more, well, of an asshole."

by Cy Schourek on Jan 7, 2011 3:59 AM EST reply actions

Out of curiosity

What are you looking at for your setup? Are you looking at one of the new internet-ready TVs (not sure what’s available on those thus far), or will you be feeding the signal to your TV via a PC/Roku/etc?

"He’s like if Ron Gant and Eric Davis had a white baby." -- GlennBraggsSwingAndMissBrokenBat on Drew Stubbs

by jch24 on Jan 7, 2011 8:06 AM EST reply actions

I'm not sure yet.

I’m leaning towards getting an A/V computer to run it, since I think it will give me more flexibility. My bro-in-law got one of these and seems pretty happy with it.

If you get an internet-ready TV, there’s no guarantee it can run the mlb.tv app, right? Or is that entirely Flash-based, so it pretty much runs anywhere (except apple products)?

"The USA despite its flaws and corruption and overall messiness is still a great and powerful instrument of freedom and hope for the entire world." - Madville

by bbjones on Jan 8, 2011 12:31 AM EST up reply actions

Internet TV is definitely in its infancy stage

You basically get whatever the manufacturer gives I think. Could be wrong there.

"He’s like if Ron Gant and Eric Davis had a white baby." -- GlennBraggsSwingAndMissBrokenBat on Drew Stubbs

by jch24 on Jan 8, 2011 10:04 AM EST up reply actions

I bought mlb.tv for the 1st time last season

I moved to DC last year and had to get mlb.tv to catch the Reds games. I streamed it from my laptop to my TV via an hdmi cable and it worked really well. To answer your other questions:

- I think they charged me $99 for the premium package. It was worth it to me for the HD quality, but there were a few games when the HD feed went out (or it was buffering) and the quality went back to standard def.

- I didn’t watch the playoffs through mlb.tv because it was always on TBS or some other channel.

- I would recommend it. If you’re watching it through your tv, I would get the premium package.

by D-Rock on Jan 7, 2011 8:07 AM EST reply actions

I did watch the playoffs on mlb.tv

There was an extra fee, and it wasn’t worth a fryer’s fug. There was no replay, and you had to select a camera angle which was fixed in place. Cumbersome and I didn’t really see anyplace that they had promised me anything else.

It was better than nothing, all in all, but … well, if you had TV, you did better with the exception of the gawd-awful droning of the announcers that TBS tried to shove down our throats.

I swear, I’d rather read about it the next day in the paper than have to listen to McCarver and his allies in tedium. One of them had the audacity to say “we’re about to kick off the National League post-season with …..”

I wondered how long it took him to realize that the only thing that gets kicked in baseball is Jason LaRue’s batting helmet.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA CHICKS SUCK DUDES RULE. -- Andromache

by johnu1 on Jan 7, 2011 12:04 PM EST up reply actions

Postseason.tv was a waste of money.

Watch it, ass blood.

by -ManBearPig on Jan 7, 2011 6:23 PM EST up reply actions

I'm in a similar situation

I’m thinking of dropping the cable all together and going with netflix/hulu, but I’m really hesitant to give up the baseball games. My qualm was that MLB.tv was not going to cut it.

by Charlie Scrabbles on Jan 7, 2011 8:27 AM EST reply actions

two season vet

if you want to watch the games its worth it

just have to deal with its bugs

C I N C I N N A T I R E D S

by I75series on Jan 8, 2011 1:57 AM EST up reply actions

I've used both

If you don’t travel much I’d keep the cable package. MLB.tv does have technical problems more freaquantly than cable.

"It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word."

-President Andrew Jackson

by justin007000 on Jan 7, 2011 12:18 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Definately a love/hate relationship

I live in Iowa, and picked it up last year.

My main problem with it was the blackouts, which stems from my location (Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, White Sox, Twins and Royals games are all blacked out. Apparently being within a 6 hour drive makes you part of the viewing area). Of course, this would be a much smaller problem for you. Any nationally televised games are also blacked out. You can still pick up the radio broadcast for blacked out games.

As my wife can attest, I whined about it constantly, but I’ll be picking it up again this year.

by RedStalk on Jan 7, 2011 1:06 PM EST reply actions

radio is kinda OK and better than an interactive board

and they do have highlights so you get to see what you heard … usually in 5 minutes.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA CHICKS SUCK DUDES RULE. -- Andromache

by johnu1 on Jan 7, 2011 1:19 PM EST up reply actions

I am thinking og Milb.tv anone here use that?

by Eastwindquinn on Jan 7, 2011 4:42 PM EST reply actions

I have

It’s pretty similar to MLB.TV, only with fewer frills. I think they’re still using Windows Media Player (though maybe they’ll upgrade this year).

Very cool if you’re into minor league baseball.

You can also get just the Louisville Bats package for really cheap, and with no blackouts. Or at least, you could.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Jan 7, 2011 4:54 PM EST up reply actions

Yes

It’s worth the money if you plan on using it, and you can catch most Bats games on it. Quality is about what you’d expect, but I’ve had few problems with it.

"Aroldis Chapman is a seven course meal followed by four hours of sex on the table with a nymphomaniac model heiress who owns her own brewery." - jch24

by BK on Jan 7, 2011 6:21 PM EST up reply actions

mlb.tv in Chicago the last couple of years

regular cant get home announcers during away games… Premium, HD picture, hooked my computer into television for nice viewing. the extra premium features are really nice if you can afford them.
Beware of lagging issues unless you have plus internet service

I was happy with the fact i could get every game. however i was really unhappy with the picture. (most games are during peak internet usage hours) Also had problems during the late innings of several games. (would keep loading but no picture or audio)
Moved to Cincinnati and glad I dont have to spend the money anymore. Consider it a below average service

C I N C I N N A T I R E D S

by I75series on Jan 8, 2011 1:55 AM EST reply actions

what kind of bandwidth were you using?

I’m on crummy old DSL right now, but about every 15 minutes there’s another guy walking my neighborhood hawking U-Verse. It looks like I can get 12 Mbit/sec from them for not a whole lot more than my current DSL.

Did you get the sense that the problems you had were bandwidth related, or just bugs?

"The USA despite its flaws and corruption and overall messiness is still a great and powerful instrument of freedom and hope for the entire world." - Madville

by bbjones on Jan 8, 2011 11:22 AM EST up reply actions