Forming Online Live TV Network

D

dust'n the callipygous

Well-known member
I've got an idea for something pretty big. It would be a University sports network streaming online. Youtube Live and Ustream and two new sources that could generate a very large audience. The reason for this is to broadcast to areas that won't receive programming locally. I know there are plenty of alumni out there who would love to watch the game, but can't because they now live 2000 miles away. It would also generate more exposure for the school's lesser-covered sports. I think it could start as a fairly small operation, and possibly forming a student organization to cover much of the work. It's the logistics of it that get tricky.

I understand that when an event is broadcast on ESPN, ABC, etc. that they have exclusive rights to their footage. Do they also have exclusive rights to the event coverage? I know many colleges have student-produced sports shows, and use their own cameras and resources to secure the footage. What's kind of fuzzy is if this is technically legal or not. I know the networks really wouldn't care, especially since these are mostly highlight clips after-the-fact, but is it technically legal for them to film and use this footage when the program is simultaneously being covered by a major network?

If it's okay to do, I think live streaming student coverage of games would be great. People could log online from anywhere to watch any event. It could only be played back through oncampus TV programming. Reruns could play during dead-time.

From a technical standpoint, this would still be really difficult to pull off. For a small event, you could possible get away with just a few cameras wired to a video switcher. For large events it's another story. Most stadiums that I'm aware of are pre-wired for cameras to plug into, feeding into a large video switcher and some high-tech editing equipment. If we were to broadcast alongside them at events, we couldn't tap into that, and would have to use our own method of getting the feeds to a central video controller. Are there any wireless setups that could work? Anything that wouldn't interfere with someone else's programming--or possibly have it's signal weakened by the 100,000 spectators all using electronic devices?

Maybe this is a terrible idea, but with Youtube Live being free (as far as I know), the actual cost of broadcasting would be down to crew and equipment. This could be completely offset by 1) selling advertising space 2) using students to operate cameras and controls 3) milking the massive alumni base for funding

I think just being able to reach a far wider audience anywhere in the world, and also covering sports that usually get no televised coverage whatsoever could be a really great thing. It could even bring extra attention to schools athletic programs. Thoughts?
 
milksac said:
This was a great idea about 15 years ago. For more information contact Mark Cuban.
Click to expand...

yeah good point. of course i'm thinking more on the collegiate level than most of what hdnet offers. It'd also be using Youtube Live as a free platform, and free staff (mostly) with the help of college students. this would start out as a station dedicated to the athletic program of ONE school. if set up as a college organization, it also has the possibility of receiving school funding after a few years. i haven't personally done much live TV, especially across huge venues, so i'm not sure the best way to go about it. Also, still not sure if it's legal to offer simultaneous live coverage of an already televised collegiate sporting event.
 
You know what, forget these "It's been done before" guys above^^^^^^

Look, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I say go for it. You may have a different take/angle that would blow them out of the water. Everything on film today has been done somehow or somewhere. It's what you do with it that sets you apart.
 
The ship has sailed.
The horse is already out of the barn.
etc, etc, etc.

The cash cow for collegiate sports is network programming. The Big Ten network has had a huge impact on the business of NCAA sports. The Big Ten network deal provides nearly $300 million to the conference. With that much money at stake the other conferences (Pac Ten, Big Twelve, Big East, etc.) have taken notice of this and will launch their own networks soon. This is the reason behind the conference realignment and maneuvering that was took place months ago. It's all about TV revenue. Once it's out that there's money to be made everybody wants a piece of the action. I suppose you could be naive like Doc Bernard and think that you're the little engine that could, "I think I can, I think I can". But don't be fooled, your competition is a bunch of cigar smoking lawyers and alumni with fat wallets. They can outspend you with the spare change they have in their pockets.

dust'n the callipygous said:
i'm thinking more on the collegiate level than most of what hdnet offers.
Click to expand...
Do some research on Mark Cuban. He funded hdnet with the revenue he made from streaming college sports. He was a beneficiary of the tech sector boom before the bubble burst.


dust'n the callipygous said:
i haven't personally done much live TV
Click to expand...
Do some research on live TV. It's a far different beast from samll scale production. There's no easy button and there's certainly not a cheap button.

Again, a good idea 15 years ago.
 
ugafan said:
there are two problems.

1. many stadiums do not allow video cameras.
2. colleges sell media rights, including internet properties.
http://www.ispsports.com/
Click to expand...

yeah that could be a problem. what i'm thinking about is trying this at my old school (Clemson). i know cameras are allowed, especially if it's student media coverage, and it could even start with non-televised events. definitely have to check with the athletic departments and everyone on the legalities of streaming everything though--even if it is a smaller thing.

milksac said:
The ship has sailed.
The horse is already out of the barn.
etc, etc, etc.

The cash cow for collegiate sports is network programming. The Big Ten network has had a huge impact on the business of NCAA sports. The Big Ten network deal provides nearly $300 million to the conference. With that much money at stake the other conferences (Pac Ten, Big Twelve, Big East, etc.) have taken notice of this and will launch their own networks soon. This is the reason behind the conference realignment and maneuvering that was took place months ago. It's all about TV revenue. Once it's out that there's money to be made everybody wants a piece of the action. I suppose you could be naive like Doc Bernard and think that you're the little engine that could, "I think I can, I think I can". But don't be fooled, your competition is a bunch of cigar smoking lawyers and alumni with fat wallets. They can outspend you with the spare change they have in their pockets.

Do some research on live TV. It's a far different beast from samll scale production. There's no easy button and there's certainly not a cheap button.

Again, a good idea 15 years ago.
Click to expand...

I think you're looking at this the wrong way. I'm not really looking to make tons of money doing this. I would just like to see it offered, and while it may have already been done on some scale and may currently be happening in some areas, it's not happening here. I'd like to try something for my alma mater, which currently offers nothing of the sort, and see how it goes. The station would ideally be full sports coverage of every athletic event involving the school. But like I said, probably start with some smaller un-televised home events while working out logistics for the large ones. I'm still thinking this would be done most easily by passing it off as an on-campus student media organization. They already get access to all sporting events for coverage, it's just that their coverage isn't live.

I may not be well versed in live broadcast, but I know plenty of people who are. Of course, it may still end up being way too complicated and expensive. If something similar worked so well for Mark Cuban 15 years ago, it could certainly still work now. I'm not trying to compete. I'm trying to offer something that doesn't currently exist--even if I do end up way over my head
 
milksac said:
I suppose you could be naive like Doc Bernard and think that you're the little engine that could, "I think I can, I think I can".
Click to expand...
Interesting. I am naive. Yet my statement stands: Everything in film has been done before, the only difference is in how it's done. And we still see great work out there. Show me a subject that is completely original, never been done. Using your logic, we should all give up film-making, because "its been done before".

But, okay, I am the one who is naive.:thumbsup:

Dust'n, yes, you are going to have challenges. One being, making it successful. That's going to take creativity. But every good/great idea/product had many people say "it'll never work" or (as we have seen here), "it's been done before". The funny thing is, if you said you were going to make a film about setting up a college sports network or any other film, I don't think anyone would have said "Oh that's been done before, waste of your time." Interesting duality going on here.

But as "milksac" says, I am naive, so my thoughts are irrelevant.
 
Last edited:
Dustin,

I think you are neglecting the large amount of infrastructure and cash that it would take to set something like this up. I work for SPEED and we just launched our online broadband channel - SPEED2.com (kind of like ESPN3.com) where you can watch on-demand and live content as well.

It took 7+ figures and a partnership with Time Warner Cable to put that together, not to mention the stupid amount of fiber and kulabyte encoders we have in the server room crunching away at the footage.

So, I won't say it's a bad idea, it's a great idea, it's just going to cost you a million up front.

-ben
 
I shoot tons of college sports and NBA games for Fox Sports, ESPN, TNT, and ABC. When I'm operating camera on an OU v Texas basketball game, for instance, there are representatives from both schools there shooting the game for their respective schools' internet stream.

You can't just walk in on that market with an "idea" for something that basically already exists. Even if you were to somehow get approval from one school, that doesn't mean you'd get it from both teams - let alone ALL NCAA teams. Then there's the logistics of building working relationships with key people at universities (including the facility managers), acquiring equipment, finding qualified internet-savvy camera operators, money to pay them, and finding sponsors to get money to make the aforementioned happen.

I don't want to discourage anyone from following their dream but what you're putting forward is just an inkling of an idea - and not very original at that. I mean, we could all think of a twist to something that already exists and put it forth as our own unique and original idea. But, that alone, doesn't make it worth pursuing. For instance, I might want to do the same thing using Doc Bernard as the color commentary announcer for the games.... Wait! Yeah, that's the ticket! :thumbsup:
 
Terry_Lasater said:
Even if you were to somehow get approval from one school, that doesn't mean you'd get it from both teams - let alone ALL NCAA teams.
Click to expand...

That is something I hadn't considered. This isn't exactly something I've been mulling over for a while, so I'm sure I have plenty of oversights. The original post was about five minutes after I thought of the idea.

Terry_Lasater said:
Then there's the logistics of building working relationships with key people at universities (including the facility managers), acquiring equipment, finding qualified internet-savvy camera operators, money to pay them, and finding sponsors to get money to make the aforementioned happen.
Click to expand...

Yeah the relationships would be the biggest factor. Have to get in tight with the people high up at the school. For the cameramen, I'd go with trainig students (might turn out terribly), but definitely some experienced people behind controlling the feed and actual broadcast. Getting alumni on board wouldn't hurt either.

The more I think about it, the more difficult it sounds. On-location streaming would be a huge hurdle, away games and that sort of thing. I don't know where you could get a wireless connection with enough bandwidth to handle that, other than something like a giant news van and tons of money.

Keep in mind, I'm not talking about trying to do something groundbreaking, although as far as I know it isn't done anywhere EXACTLY like I'm suggesting. While many schools may have camera operators filming for their athletic programs, the distribution usually ends there. That footage is typically for training purposes, and not for the fans. I'm sure it's not all that way though. I would just like to be able to log onto a YouTube live channel and watch live coverage of any Clemson athletic event from anywhere in the world. It would be even better once google tv rolls out.
 
Last edited:
milksac said:
We agree on this point.
Click to expand...
Sounds a little bit arrogant, don't you think? Unless you know a person's BG, it's a little presumptious to call someone else naive for having a different opinion, milksac.

Personally, I'd like to see what he could do with his idea. I never said it would be easy.

Just give me a call, Terry. LOL! I'll do my best How-ard Co-sell.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top