Tuesday, April 3, 2007

MASN, Thanks for Soiling My Viewing Pleasure - The Broadcast Last Night

Well, as we all know, the Orioles played the Twins last night.

If you saw the game last night on ESPN 2, I’m sure it was a viewing great experience in light of the Orioles’ loss.

I didn't have the choice, as the game was blacked out here on ESPN 2; therefore, your only option to view the Orioles was on MASN.

If you watched the game there, it was another story.

You would expect a regional sports network backed by a franchise worth $365 plus million dollars to be able to produce a broadcast that is on par with the standards of today.

MASN failed big time.

When I expect to see a game on TV, especially with one the ‘big four’ sports, I do not expect to see a feed that resembles a closed-circuit broadcast from the 1980’s, or something that resembles what you’d find from one of your local public cable access channels.

Well, if you think I am alone in my criticism, check out what Mike Boehm of Orioles Magic had to say.

Being that we are in 2007, I expected (wait, assumed) better from MASN. Well, I am going to go into the O’s Xtra show in a bit, but I’m very peeved about the game broadcast itself.

The picture was not sharp or clear and the sound was very lackluster. I have DirecTV at home along with a 27” LCD in my main room. I have VHS tapes that play better on the TV through a VCR than what I saw and heard last night on MASN.

For those of you, who didn’t see the game, the picture was fuzzy, some colors were distorted and you had to squint and refocus your eyes to see anything.

I’m going to give MASN a chance, but right now, I am not pleased at all, and it’s kind of an embarrassment to the Orioles and the hard working people of the network.

The good news is that Gary Throne is on our side and he’s nothing short of awesome. Buck Martinez was okay, but I’m glad MASN got such a great talent as Gary.

The O’s Xtra Show – awful.

The production value on the broadcast was awful, much like the game and the feed made it seem like Jim Hunter and Rick Dempsey were broadcasting from my garage rather than a studio.

Jim Hunter was fine, but Rick Demspey looked ill-suited for the role as an analyst. I love Rick, but he’s just not right for hosting a studio show.

Some people have it, some people don’t – Rick doesn’t from my point of view, at least for right now.

Perhaps he’ll get better in time.

Heck, today you can purchase a mini-DV camera that could produce quality much like you’d find a mid-budget movie.

Could MASN not match or even exceed that!

However, I'll be fair to the network and perhaps attribute the broadcast yesterday to growing pains. I do not ever remember Nationals games ever broadcast that bad on MASN.

As it looks in my eyes, MASN has a whole lot of work to do.

I'm sure the technical issues will be worked out sooner rather than later...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have more faith that I do. I see MASN as another Peter Angelos company that's run on a low budget while cutting every possible corner imaginable.

It's an Angelos company. It looks like it's an Angelos company. I don't ahve any more faith that MASN will get good while Angelos runs it than I have that the Orioels will get good while Angelos runs them.

Anonymous said...

*I work for MASN*

Hi everyone,

MASN is doing our best to track down this audio problem with the cable providers since the sound is leaving our studio cleanly, however we need more information from viewers to pinpoint the problems.

Please help us identify the issue by sending us an email to info@masn.tv with your location, cable provider, if you have digital cable or not, and a description of the problem so that we can take care of it as soon as possible. Thanks.

adam

Unknown said...

Mike, I am going to give MASN a break, but my patience will wear real thin if things are not improved by let's say, mid-April or May.

Last night's production was less than acceptable, especially when you factor the market we are in and what our competitors, such as NESN, YES, CSN and the various RSN's are doing.

Unknown said...

Adam - Thanks for the post and thanks for taking the initiative in alerting the public to get in contact with you.

You all are the flagship station of the Orioles, but there are a lot of people out there who were none too pleased about the broadcast last night.

I don't have a running tab of things that were wrong, but the issue is at hand is that the quality of the broadcast was awful, from the picture you saw to the sound.

I just hope it becomes better within the next few days or weeks.

Anonymous said...

masn broardcast of the game last night and tonight is 1st class here in the mountains of Va.We have not had that good of broadcast of an o's game since hts. GO O'S!!!

John said...

I'm just another random viewer, but I am disappointed by what I've seen so far as well. It seems like MASN so far is definitely a step back from what Comcast was offering in previous years. The graphics, replays, and camera shots are not on par with what I expect, and the on air personalities for the pre and post game shows aren't wowing me either.

Unknown said...

John - I didn't see the game last night, but I watched it on MLB.TV when I was at home this morning. I'll watch tonight's game and see what goes on.

Right now, it looks like they are more or less a fledgling operation...

Anonymous said...

CSN had the O's in HD, when is that coming on MASN?!

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