MLB.com gets ready for a new postseason in style, adding social networking capabilities to its streaming video player and lifting blackout restrictions in what is hopefully a sign of the status quo going forward. The press release says it all:
In a season of sports-technology leaps forward, Postseason.TV, a product that launched Tuesday in a partnership of MLB.com, TBS and FOX Sports, captures the game in a brand new way, including a highly anticipated Quad Mode presentation of various angles during live games continuing all the way through the 105th World Series.
Postseason.TV puts fans in control | MLB.com: News
So what will you get for $10?
- No blackout restrictions
- up to 4 simultaneous on screen viewing angles
- 10 camera angles in all to choose from
- twitter integration
- TBS Hot Corner
For an additional $4.99 , you may add the MLB.com At Bat 2009 app on sale at the iTunes App Store to take the viewing on the go.
This is certainly a major leap from the regular season package and even the Yankees YES over the top (OTT) offering. It is still the same Adobe Flash technology delivering HD quality and preserved the DVR functionality. Will you connect it to your HDTV? That really depends on
- your HDTV and A/V gear
- whether or not you receive only OTA
- are willing to spend money for the TBS games (all the LDS and NLCS games)
That’s quite the slate to run. Would you consider dropping a pay-tv subscription in favor of the online offering to save some money? An easier question to answer is if you have only OTA. While the official kick off is the Rockies-Phillies, there was a preview launch with the Twins-Tigers play-in game.
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And so far, the online comments reviewing the Quad mode were critical.
- lip-sync issues
- feed synchronization (certain feeds were from Fox, others from TBS)
- oh, yes, and cost!
The email announcing this to e-newsletter subscribers may have been a little deceiving. The $10 price tag was not obvious and considering the similarities to NBC’s successful Sunday Night Football Extra, the motivation to charge for this feature may come into question. You must give MLB credit for commanding proper compensation for its value, even if there are a few wrinkles to iron out. You can bet they’ll be resolved sooner than later. For Postseason.tv, there may be more than one October.
After the Transition 