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Starcraft is big enough for TV to ignore. - Page 17

Forum Index > SC2 General
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Mannerheim
Profile Joined April 2007
766 Posts
April 12 2011 17:21 GMT
#321
People in this thread going "who needs TV?" are forgetting one thing: at the moment, online content is more often shitty than not. In a huge majority of online streams the production value is terrible and connection/quality problems are plenty. People watch sporting events on TV because it's an easy and smooth experience, they don't want to spend even a split second troubleshooting shit. In 10 years the online viewer experience might be good enough to start bringing in some serious audience and money, but at the moment it pretty much sucks.
SKC
Profile Joined October 2010
Brazil18828 Posts
April 12 2011 17:21 GMT
#322
On April 13 2011 01:53 dmillz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 13 2011 01:15 infinity2k9 wrote:
On April 12 2011 23:04 Crackensan wrote:
Why doesn't e-sports begin working with Netflix and Hulu.com (though the latter is having legal issues... joy?) to get content out to more people?

Most of the people I know don't watch T.V. anymore, but stream their shows via Netflix. That and other "Mainstream" content providers (I.E: Apples iTunes Store, xBox Live, PSN, ect...) probably reach more people than TV.

It's low cost, relatively speaking, and you could reach more people than before.

Look at day[9]! He reaches thousands of people and many of his viewers don't even PLAY THE GAME.


Wait what? Day9 basically does lessons and strategical analysis. Why would anyone watch it if they didn't play. This might count for some other people maybe but Day9 is a terrible example.


Obviously you don't watch Day9. Day9 himself has said many many times that looooots of people tell him how they don't even play starcraft 2 but love watching the daily.


That's like the people who don't play the game at all and follow tournaments, it's common, but they have played at some time and have knowledge about the game, they just don't have enough time to do both. I think it would be very dificult to find someone who watches Day9 without any knowledge about the game, and it would actually be very interesting to hear what such person has to say.
skipdog172
Profile Joined June 2010
United States331 Posts
April 12 2011 17:38 GMT
#323
Personally I think what Starcraft has that other games don't, is just how entertaining it is to watch, whether you are a player or not. I've never played a game, where people would stop and want to watch, even without understanding of the game, because it is simply fun to watch. I've never encountered a game where people who don't even play, want to watch, because the action is entertaining. Halo isn't fun to watch. Counter-strike wasn't fun to watch. Will it ever catch on big enough to be on TV? Who knows, I honestly doubt it... but I know I would tune in, and so would many others who don't even play and have never seen the game before. I only say this because of my own surprise when people who didn't even play, actually really enjoyed watching GSL matches or even just watching my own weak play. There really is a spectator appeal to Starcraft that even people who don't know anything about the game, can really get into. When you add in quality commentary, it is far more entertaining than many sports for many people who barely know a thing about what is going on.
Tracedragon
Profile Joined December 2010
United States948 Posts
April 12 2011 18:26 GMT
#324
On April 12 2011 11:18 Kennigit wrote:
I'll refer to “dick” as “the author” because I don't think I can resist stupid puns which would result in calls for maturity (sirscoots >:| ). These are my personal opinions, not those of Teamliquid.net.
+ Show Spoiler +

The author sure is a...ok i'm done.


Starting a post with ad hominem? o_O

Anyways, because of the way commercials work in the respective western countries, SCII might make its way to being broadcast on European TV, such as BBC, but not on NATV? Just my two cents...
Do the impossible, see the invisible. Row, row, fight the power!
xsevR
Profile Joined January 2011
United States324 Posts
April 12 2011 18:37 GMT
#325
On April 13 2011 02:21 Mannerheim wrote:
People in this thread going "who needs TV?" are forgetting one thing: at the moment, online content is more often shitty than not. In a huge majority of online streams the production value is terrible and connection/quality problems are plenty. People watch sporting events on TV because it's an easy and smooth experience, they don't want to spend even a split second troubleshooting shit. In 10 years the online viewer experience might be good enough to start bringing in some serious audience and money, but at the moment it pretty much sucks.


Totally disagree.. have you tried watching major sporting events via the internet stream? Not a huge sports fan (or one at all really), but for Tennis at least the live streaming is actually better than the cable broadcast. They don't play commercials, and you have the ability to watch whatever court you want when multiple matches are being played. These features would be awesome for SC2. Also, cable is just the vehicle (like the internet)... the content on Netflix/Hulu is perfect quality in my experience.
turdburgler
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
England6749 Posts
April 12 2011 18:40 GMT
#326
dont worry guys, bbc in the UK doesnt have commercials, they can show 1 hour starcraft games no problem
Johnnybb
Profile Joined August 2010
Denmark486 Posts
April 12 2011 18:45 GMT
#327
Very good read and I really agree with you.
droit
Profile Joined January 2011
United States67 Posts
April 12 2011 18:50 GMT
#328
Excellent read, it completely persuaded how I felt about wanting SCII to go to TV.

More people should read this

I agree with TraceDragon though. Starting it off with an ad hominem almost lost my attention.
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/profile/581701/1/Adroit/
ucbEntilZha
Profile Joined May 2010
United States96 Posts
April 12 2011 18:58 GMT
#329
Totally agree. Now that I am in college (freshman) I very rarely watch television because using my computer is just much easier.
UC Berkeley CSL | http://www.cstarleague.com/league/teams/76 | follow us at justin.tv/ucberkeleycsl
insaneMicro
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Germany761 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-12 19:20:06
April 12 2011 19:19 GMT
#330
Dreamhack Invitational is proving this thread right just now. Seriously, the quality and drama are amazing, can't imagine something like that on televison.
It may not exactly be IPTV, but I think it's pretty close to how Starcraft broadcasting shoudl be run in the best of all worlds.
"Damn I played some fine Zerg right there". -Fruitdealer
morimacil
Profile Joined March 2010
France921 Posts
April 12 2011 20:39 GMT
#331
I can only speak for myself here, but personally, I dont even own a TV. I dont actually care about TV.
If I had the choice of watching SC on tv or from the computer, Id watch it on the computer.
In fact, I watch TV shows on the computer, and movies too, just because its a lot more convenient.

Watching live stuff on TV or the computer, is pretty much equivalent. But VODs are 100% superior to a set program of content on the TV.

People in this thread going "who needs TV?" are forgetting one thing: at the moment, online content is more often shitty than not.

content can be shitty or not. if you put shitty content on TV instead of in a VOD, its still shit. being on TV doesnt make it better.
And yeah, with more funding, it can be made better, but that goes both ways.

technologies are evolving. radio used to be super popular, but now it isnt all that much. then TV was around. the newest generation doesnt care much about TV, and are internet junkies.
in a few years, traditional landline phones are probably going to be obsolete, since everyone has a cellphone and uses that so much more.

Lets be honest, mostly everyone who would ever want to watch SC owns a computer, with a decent internet connection. not all of them own a TV. not all of us have cable.
I bet everyone here has watched some gomtv vods or streams, but how many of you actually ever watched SC on TV, not through the internet? Its pretty easy to watch a show made in korea, on the internet, but getting their TV stations here is troublesome.
I live in europe, and Ill probably be watching the nasl. Its on the internet, it wont be hard.
If instead, it was a small TV channel, like the fox soccer channel... Well good luck getting access to that on your TV from europe.

Sure, soccer started out on radio, because thats alkl that was available back then. And then it became huge on TV, because color TV was the big thing. But we should be going forward, not backwards. Internet is the future, at least until the next big technology comes around.
The demographic for SC isnt my grandmother, who watches sports on TV and doesnt know how to use a computer. Its the 15-35 year old gamer/nerd. people who have a computer, have internet, and know what video games are, and play them.
TV is declining, and if there is to be growth for esports, its not very logical to have it be on a shrinking medium.
This is esports, and its played over the internet, most of us can and want to watch it over the internet.
mockturtle
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States220 Posts
April 12 2011 21:42 GMT
#332
This thread is too long to read, but my 2c:

-OP has an awesome, refreshing viewpoint
-I haven't had access to cable at my house for years. Actually, 2 years ago I had cable for a few months apparently but never even plugged in the wire to bother checking.
-Starcraft as an observer sport will always be appreciated by people who or used to play, period. We are ALREADY at a period when people can watch internet shows on their TV without a problem anyway, hoping to hop on the cable bandwagon for anything other than blurbs on news shows or a special on 60 minutes is silly.
Cheerio
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Ukraine3178 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-12 23:23:02
April 12 2011 23:05 GMT
#333
I didnt understand a lot of stuff from the op:
1) why would you spend so much time and effort fiercely proving a point which is so bitter for any starcrafter? It was just an article on some other site of someone being optimistic about something we love. If we will bash such ideas who wont?
2) why would you want an sc2 channel to be a major one? It can start off by being available for free on cable packeges. I have a channel on mine that is called ZenTV. It shows pictures of nature 24hours a day, 1 minute per picture, no ads...
Now on the point of the sc2 being doomed on TV
3) sc2 should not aim for it's own channel right from the start, at least for now. Thats quite obvious. Before dedicated soccer chanels appeared dedicated sports channels had to prove their worth.
3) gaming channel is not supposed to be big, quite the contrary, it's supposed to be small, at least at the start. Sure soccer can bring millions of viewers, but how often worthy matches are played? how much do you have to pay for those matches to be broadcasted on the channel? What matters is the bottom line. Factors:
- gaming channel casters can work from their homes and often are willing to work for free or a symbolic reward (i guess there will be plenty of those willing to donate their free time to a developing gaming channel), it's content currently is usually streamed online free of charge... so basicly the major costs can be free. So the real costs which really matter are the technical costs.
- considering how low on expenses it can survive you dont even need much ads (and why would you bring an example of a 45 minute game anyway? that is 1 hour ingame time, how often did it happen in broadcasted games? so often it makes broadcasting on TV unviable?).
- developers support. TV exposes esports to a much large audience. Some kids (or not kids) might see it on TV and decide to buy the game. So a struggling TV channel can try to negotiate a deal of support from developers. With Blizzard it can be at least by the means of getting broadcasting rights for some events run by GOM.

If one expects a gaming channel to be like other big names on TV one will fail. But starting small and building up slowly can work. I remember like 10 years ago a first music channel appeared in Ukaine, it had no ads for a year or more and a lot of people worked basicly for free. Now it's one of the largest channels in the country. One should understand that sooner or later there will be gaming channels in NA, EU, Russia, China and other countries, the one who gets there first will have a huge advantage over possible competitors. This is the main point of getting a channel for gaming: to capture territory for future expansion. But those interested in quick financial success will not do that: too much effort with too much uncertainty.
Neo.NEt
Profile Joined August 2010
United States785 Posts
April 12 2011 23:34 GMT
#334
Pretty sure a million people are watching LIfetime right now and none of the GSL vods will ever get that many views in their lifetime.... which is why SC2 will never be on TV.
Apologize.
Qaatar
Profile Joined January 2011
1409 Posts
April 12 2011 23:34 GMT
#335
Pretty sure this point is obvious, but: professional Starcraft is a form of entertainment. Those who post on this website like to think of it as a "higher" or even superior form of entertainment, but what makes Starcraft unique experiences for us does not necessarily mean it will for the general masses. I think what applies to basically any form of subjective artistic experience such as music applies to Starcraft, when taken in the context of marketing to the general masses. People have different tastes, and while it certainly IS possible, with enough money and mass-marketing, to build up a large audience (after all, there is some truth to the saying that the general public, in any nation, will enjoy/buy/consume anything given enough promotion and hype), why would it be Starcraft instead of anything else non-mainstream, including other forms of games?
TreDawg
Profile Joined January 2011
41 Posts
April 13 2011 14:56 GMT
#336
I couldn't agree more. I don't even want to see SC2 on TV, mainly because I can't. Ever since I moved out of my parents house 6 years ago I haven't had any sort of television access. I've used torrents to acquire every single TV show I've wanted to watch and I never pay for any of it because I don't have the option to. Its ONLY broadcast on TV.

I own a netflix and hulu plus subscription. I also buy the tickets to GSL, MLG (god knows why), and just recently to NASL. I'm so used to VoD type services now that I actually get frustrated watching regular TV at my friends houses. If SC2 is ever on TV I won't have the option of paying for that content and SC2 is worth my money plus it will make me beholden to someone else's schedule for my SC2 which is just absurd at this point.
War Horse
Profile Joined January 2011
United States247 Posts
April 13 2011 15:28 GMT
#337
Please don't make Starcraft like UFC. UFC takes the athletics boxing and combines it with the hokey fake storyline bullshit of professional wrestling. All the "rivalries" and "bad blood" are manufactured BS by Dana White, just like it is by Vince McMahon. Starcraft doesn't need that.

It will never work on American television, keep it where it is successful.
Why appeal to God when you can appeal to Apaches?
Yurie
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
12026 Posts
April 13 2011 16:07 GMT
#338
On April 13 2011 04:19 insaneMicro wrote:
Dreamhack Invitational is proving this thread right just now. Seriously, the quality and drama are amazing, can't imagine something like that on televison.
It may not exactly be IPTV, but I think it's pretty close to how Starcraft broadcasting shoudl be run in the best of all worlds.


Didn't it show a good format for a TV cast. The games, some interview, some commercials, setup for the next game during it? Having it between each game or not would probably have to depend on game length, since having it every 10 mins would be a tad too often.

While a static commercial was airing the entire time it aired by overlays. They could also use the bottom right that had the commentators as a commercial placement while the game is on.

There you have three variants of commercials, two in-game and one between games.

On April 12 2011 14:04 Pyo wrote:
To be completely honest, as a 18-30 year-old American male, to me traditional TV really feels like a dying technology. I hardly ever watch anything on television. Although I pay for basic cable, I never watch it. Everything I do is on or from the internet. I am somewhat curious what the break down of TL.net is in this regard.


When I moved out I didn't get a TV. I can't watch traditional TV.

As for the topic, if it goes on TV I wouldn't watch it. I would still watch the stream, so I would be an example of the category of people that is hard core (compared to a casual, but not to other hard core fans) but wouldn't generate anything for a large scale operation. Also an example of the split fan base since I am from Northern Europe while the discussion is about NA.

Sweden has a different way of using commercials compared to the NA standard. Mostly that is due to the laws effecting/that used to effect that.
pileopoop
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada317 Posts
April 13 2011 16:11 GMT
#339
Is it just me or should the title be "Starcraft is big enough to ignore TV."?
duckii
Profile Joined April 2010
Germany1017 Posts
April 17 2011 09:20 GMT
#340
the IEM Cebit tournament had apparently 4,3 million accumulated views. quite an impressive number.
german source
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