CFL+ Streaming Woes

[Pigskin]

100 times better than the goobers the riders have...be thankful for what we have.  nobody is going to be as good as Bob Irving.

Nicely said Zipp.

[Blueforlife]

Would not work for me at game time(actual)
It did connect an hour before.
I assumed this was a demand bs. Technology issue.
I assume my four year old I pad not able.
Or my bug screen TV couldn't handle it

20 year old radio worked fine! lol!
Problem was CJOB hires such umpires professional on air people it's insulting and hard to listen to.
The play by play guy with Doug is a fricken two year old.
Did anyone near the joke he told, and it was dead air for about ten seconds.  Doug didn't try and offer a fake laugh, and there were no other comments.

Same with the Jets and that phony "he scorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzz guy. I don't listen to games on the radio. And now after this Bomber wanna be, it's the same.  Guy does do some research, but, tries to be funny, and fails.

Hard to makes sense of most of this rant.  Disagree most of what I could understand.

[Big Daddy]

I couldn't get my ipad pro 1st gen to run it, but could get an iphone 12pro to do it.  My newer macbook air ran it well and I could mirror to my tv. 

For the most part it worked, and really the coverage with the various camera angles and even superimposed scores and time count clock on the field was impressive since I expected some shaky one camera feed (I guess livebarn sets the bar real low).

It did freeze up sometimes, and the "commercial break" would come on when we could hear the play going in the background, and all of a sudden it cuts to the feed and missed a play. 

Anyone else notice for the second half the video became more choppy to the point it was hard to see if a catch was made in real time, and wait to see what happened?

Overall it was glitchy, but I sure appreciated being able to see the game given my low (livebarn) expectations.

[Blueforlife]

I couldn't get my ipad pro 1st gen to run it, but could get an iphone 12pro to do it.  My newer macbook air ran it well and I could mirror to my tv. 

For the most part it worked, and really the coverage with the various camera angles and even superimposed scores and time count clock on the field was impressive since I expected some shaky one camera feed (I guess livebarn sets the bar real low).

It did freeze up sometimes, and the "commercial break" would come on when we could hear the play going in the background, and all of a sudden it cuts to the feed and missed a play. 

Anyone else notice for the second half the video became more choppy to the point it was hard to see if a catch was made in real time, and wait to see what happened?

Overall it was glitchy, but I sure appreciated being able to see the game given my low (livebarn) expectations.

my resolution on video was consistent, I experienced, time with no audio, some reloading, random little glitches but after a rough start not too bad

[theaardvark]

I had it sync'd up with CJOPB for about 10 minutes, then it kept glitching and jumping back and forth... so it was always a play out, so then I'd pause, and it would be off again.

I guess they have until next year to get this remedied.  Hopefully someone there is watching this thread and getting the 2 radio options available...

The rest of the year is available on TSN, but they are also doing CFL+, I guess they are just going to put the TSN feed on the CFL+ site... so no need for sync'ing radio feeds...

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I had it sync'd up with CJOPB for about 10 minutes, then it kept glitching and jumping back and forth... so it was always a play out, so then I'd pause, and it would be off again.

I guess they have until next year to get this remedied.  Hopefully someone there is watching this thread and getting the 2 radio options available...

The rest of the year is available on TSN, but they are also doing CFL+, I guess they are just going to put the TSN feed on the CFL+ site... so no need for sync'ing radio feeds...

That is correct, I'm going with CFL+ this year...at least until it fails me.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Waders27 edited replay PS#2 Bombers vs. Riders.

[TecnoGenius]

The 5 channels are regional things. They were never intended to show 5 different programs as far as I know.

But they do.  I checked the next few days' schedule and many times every day there are 4 different shows on 5 channels.

It took me a few mins to find, but I even found a slot where 5 different shows are playing, on Jun 7 12:30

FIA Formula E
Premier Lacrosse
Roland-Garros Tennis
PGA Tour
Norther Super League Soccer

So any excuse that TSN "can't do PS because they aren't really 5 channels" is now bunk.  But we already knew that because around 5 years ago (and for years preceding that) they played about half of all PS games on TSN.  At one time they seemed to try to make it "fair" by making sure every city got to see their team at least once.

[TecnoGenius]

Anyone else notice for the second half the video became more choppy to the point it was hard to see if a catch was made in real time, and wait to see what happened?

The 2nd half frame rate was plain awful.  It makes no sense their vid upload / processor was good for H1 but not H2?  Unless their internet connection all of a sudden went from good to bad?  Or some dolt was trying to do it over wifi?

However, it was still watchable, if annoying.

[Waffler]

But they do.  I checked the next few days' schedule and many times every day there are 4 different shows on 5 channels.

It took me a few mins to find, but I even found a slot where 5 different shows are playing, on Jun 7 12:30

FIA Formula E
Premier Lacrosse
Roland-Garros Tennis
PGA Tour
Norther Super League Soccer

So any excuse that TSN "can't do PS because they aren't really 5 channels" is now bunk.  But we already knew that because around 5 years ago (and for years preceding that) they played about half of all PS games on TSN.  At one time they seemed to try to make it "fair" by making sure every city got to see their team at least once.

I thought the reason and it's a legit one is that the audience is limited to the cities playing that day. I have no interest in watching other teams in the preseason. Costs out weight benefits (ratings). They probably just do a couple to use as their own preseason. It's a small army to do a proper telecast isn't it? I am happy enough just being able to see the game even in less than  ideal format. Now the connection issues on CFL+ are different. That HAS to be fixed. It's a wonder to me that they can have troubles 2 weeks in a row. Other cities saying the same as us. That's a lot of people. Should be ok now though because most will just watch on TSN from here on out.

[TecnoGenius]

Costs out weight benefits (ratings). They probably just do a couple to use as their own preseason. It's a small army to do a proper telecast isn't it? I am happy enough just being able to see the game even in less than  ideal format.

They could easily just televise what they are showing on CFL+.  They don't need to bring in the whole panel or do anything fancy.  (Maybe have to be faster/better on the mute/block button for ad rights purposes though.)

It would still be better than Baffin Island junior varsity girls pickleball re-runs that TSN87 is running instead... or the 4th of 4 channels all showing the same sports-centre.

[The Zipp]

the commish is on it:

CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston isn't going to waste time buffering when it comes to the first major challenge of his tenure.

On Thursday, the former Bell Media executive took responsibility for the technological issues that have plagued the league's website and streaming platform throughout the preseason, promising to address the problem.

"If we're going to live up to our reputation as a major professional league, we can't have issues like that happen," Johnston told 620 CKRM's Rider Nation Pre-Game Show. "We are digging into the CRM of the website, working with our stats partner. I think last year you saw stats become a lot more stable than they were two years ago. That has to continue to improve, it has to be better. We can't have our website going down. We just can't."

Technical issues on the website first became a point of contention during the CFL Draft on April 29, when the league's official pick tracker crashed for almost the entirety of the event. That foreshadowed even larger problems during the preseason when the league's streaming service, CFL+, struggled to support the amount of fans attempting to view games live and stopped working for many.

The CFL was forced to issue a statement on the problem and eventually pivoted to streaming on YouTube. While service reliability improved slightly in the final week of preseason action, issues persisted and forced more temporary solutions.

"We knew that moving it to YouTube would fix the problem that we were seeing on the back end, so it was a mitigation strategy. It's great to have a mitigation strategy. We prefer not to have to use it," Johnston explained.

"We've got the right IT folks on it. We're looking at some of the back coding that's going to be well beyond my technical knowledge that was impacted and make sure we address that going forward."

CFL+ was launched as the league's official streaming service in 2023. The platform is free of charge and serves as the primary broadcast platform for international viewers during the season, as well as hosting American audiences for games not carried by CBS Sports Network.

Canadian fans only utilize the platform during the preseason, when the league streams the in-stadium feeds from the seven exhibition games not broadcast by TSN. Those games tend to happen either simultaneously or in quick succession, which led to the technical issues.

"It's great that preseason games are attracting that much attention," Johnston acknowledged. "Of course, one of the things that overload the site is it's all games happening at the same time. None or only one of those games is broadcast on linear so the only place to see them is on CFL+. And, of course, that's what makes it so important that our website is working."

The CFL is no stranger to frustrating technical challenges. In 2023, the league rolled out a revamped stats system that struggled to get off the ground and regularly crashed for weeks, with some problems persisting into the following year. Genius Sports, the CFL's data and technology partner, was responsible for those challenges and also helped set up streaming on CFL+ as part of their responsibilities.

The repeated hiccups of the past few years have left fans disenchanted with the CFL's technological offerings, believing them to be unreliable. Johnston knows that is a perception he has to change, promising that the work is already being done to ensure this never happens again.

"I think you're going to see us look at quite an overhaul of the website," he insisted. "We worked hard over the last seven days and 14 days, hoping that this weekend we've worked out a lot of the bugs. A lot of testing has been done, and we've got to continue that improvement until it's a foolproof system."

Until then, the CFL will continue to be burdened with an analog reputation in the digital age.

[markf]

I didn't realize it but TSN+ is streaming the games. Hopefully all of them, I'm not sure.

It's 8 bucks a month. No other subscription required.

Great price. And so far, it has worked very well.

[Blueforlife]

the commish is on it:

CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston isn't going to waste time buffering when it comes to the first major challenge of his tenure.

On Thursday, the former Bell Media executive took responsibility for the technological issues that have plagued the league's website and streaming platform throughout the preseason, promising to address the problem.

"If we're going to live up to our reputation as a major professional league, we can't have issues like that happen," Johnston told 620 CKRM's Rider Nation Pre-Game Show. "We are digging into the CRM of the website, working with our stats partner. I think last year you saw stats become a lot more stable than they were two years ago. That has to continue to improve, it has to be better. We can't have our website going down. We just can't."

Technical issues on the website first became a point of contention during the CFL Draft on April 29, when the league's official pick tracker crashed for almost the entirety of the event. That foreshadowed even larger problems during the preseason when the league's streaming service, CFL+, struggled to support the amount of fans attempting to view games live and stopped working for many.

The CFL was forced to issue a statement on the problem and eventually pivoted to streaming on YouTube. While service reliability improved slightly in the final week of preseason action, issues persisted and forced more temporary solutions.

"We knew that moving it to YouTube would fix the problem that we were seeing on the back end, so it was a mitigation strategy. It's great to have a mitigation strategy. We prefer not to have to use it," Johnston explained.

"We've got the right IT folks on it. We're looking at some of the back coding that's going to be well beyond my technical knowledge that was impacted and make sure we address that going forward."

CFL+ was launched as the league's official streaming service in 2023. The platform is free of charge and serves as the primary broadcast platform for international viewers during the season, as well as hosting American audiences for games not carried by CBS Sports Network.

Canadian fans only utilize the platform during the preseason, when the league streams the in-stadium feeds from the seven exhibition games not broadcast by TSN. Those games tend to happen either simultaneously or in quick succession, which led to the technical issues.

"It's great that preseason games are attracting that much attention," Johnston acknowledged. "Of course, one of the things that overload the site is it's all games happening at the same time. None or only one of those games is broadcast on linear so the only place to see them is on CFL+. And, of course, that's what makes it so important that our website is working."

The CFL is no stranger to frustrating technical challenges. In 2023, the league rolled out a revamped stats system that struggled to get off the ground and regularly crashed for weeks, with some problems persisting into the following year. Genius Sports, the CFL's data and technology partner, was responsible for those challenges and also helped set up streaming on CFL+ as part of their responsibilities.

The repeated hiccups of the past few years have left fans disenchanted with the CFL's technological offerings, believing them to be unreliable. Johnston knows that is a perception he has to change, promising that the work is already being done to ensure this never happens again.

"I think you're going to see us look at quite an overhaul of the website," he insisted. "We worked hard over the last seven days and 14 days, hoping that this weekend we've worked out a lot of the bugs. A lot of testing has been done, and we've got to continue that improvement until it's a foolproof system."

Until then, the CFL will continue to be burdened with an analog reputation in the digital age.

Good to see, most on here would agree even though one person down played the issue

$8 per month for CFL is a good deal

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I didn't realize it but TSN+ is streaming the games. Hopefully all of them, I'm not sure.

It's 8 bucks a month. No other subscription required.

Great price. And so far, it has worked very well.

Let me know, TSN+ was my plan last season but i discovered week one they were not streaming all CFL games, so had to sign up for TSN on a monthly basis.  Don't watch any other TSN sports other than CFL, so not worth having it in the off-season.