Frustration split amongst fans for new streaming service
Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images
Avs fans may be able to watch games locally again, but it wasn’t met all with positivity. Altitude announced their new Altitude+ streaming service, alongside 20 games being provided over-the-air free of charge on 9News and Channel 20 on Thursday morning. But, it wasn’t all sunshine and butterflies as it may have been.
BREAKING: Altitude To Offer New Streaming App and Locally Broadcasted Games on @9NEWS and KTVD20➡️ https://t.co/0e4wsy2pc2 pic.twitter.com/FST8B0kkrF— AltitudeTV (@AltitudeTV) September 26, 2024
For five years, Colorado Avalanche fans have been dried out of ways to watch their favorite team locally in battles with Comcast and DirecTV. While the latter of the two has been resolved and other options to watch the Avs have evolved such as Fubo TV, the majority of fans were still signed up with Comcast and couldn’t watch while Altitude tried to negotiate behind-the-scenes.
While Altitude+ now gives fans local streaming access, it hasn’t solved all the problems some fans face and leaves plenty of questions alongside answers. Here are just a few of the concerns.
Boiled up frustration too much to overcome
Mostly because everyone already jumped through the hoops and made it work. It's a 5 years late and a dollar short.— Colorado Bull (@FinTwitGL) September 27, 2024
It’s very understandable why people would be upset and frustrated with something which took a half-decade to complete. It’s also understandable how fans have found other innovative ways to watch Avalanche games the last five years, and just want to keep doing what they’re doing.
With fans feeling as though they’ve been left behind and left out, it’s understandable to trust this new venture too. At the same time, this is what fans wanted - a way to just watch their favorite team on a nightly basis. So what else is causing hiccups?
Too expensive
My main issue is the price. $20 a month is a lot and some teams are doing it for free. Plus you ha e 20 free games each for the Nuggets and Avs this year.— CityAvsGuy (@achsdu17) September 27, 2024
$20/month may be seen as exuberant especially compared to other streaming services with more on offer. Plus, to watch all of the Avalanche games outside of cable TV, you’ll need Altitude+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Max.
Plus, as mentioned earlier, others have found other innovative ways to watch games much cheaper, or even free. As for other teams offering streams for free, some of them have to include a cable subscription.
For Victory+ for example in Dallas, their media market is much bigger (5th in the US) compared to Denver (17th in the US). Hence, they may not need to charge users and can make their money back simply through advertisements and other investments.
This could just be seen as greed by the Kroenke’s. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it is a business and they will be trying to make as much profit as possible. But, the $20/month not only gets you all the Avalanche games broadcasted on Altitude but all their other programs including DU Pioneers Hockey, college football, and of course Denver Nuggets games.
The unknowns/lack of accessibility
Fans are disappointed because it took five years and is more expensive than the other similar streaming options available to teams in the same situation. We still don’t know the features with it and it might not even be available by game 1. It’s a step in the right direction.— Alex Young (@aybrowne) September 27, 2024
Features of this streaming service are still unknown before its release in the coming month. Here’s what is known: it’s only available on phones and tablets and is not a smart app that is going to be available on TVs - yet.
There are more unknowns than knowns: this includes if there are DVR capabilities, abilities to watch old games, ability to rewind, etc. It can also be frustrating because of the lack of availability, as it’s only available in-market and not for those out-of-market - this includes yours truly, who just moved out-of-market before this announcement.
This is still a relatively “new” idea in the sports world of teams and owners running their own streaming platforms with kinks needing to be worked on. The point is, fans are getting what they wanted - the ability to watch their championship-winning teams locally for the first time in a long time.
Is it perfect? No, nothing is. But fans writing it off and continuing to show frustration and complaints before the product is even being released and used seems unfair. It’s going to be a change and process which will take time to adjust to.
Personally speaking, I’d have to imagine there are already updates and changes in progress behind the scenes to continue enhancing this product for its first update and beyond. There will be bumps along the way.
No matter what, Altitude+ will succeed. With local markets and media faltering, streaming is the future - it’s just not perfectly there yet. Give Altitude+ a chance for a month if you can, make your own decision, and go from there about how you want to take in your favorite team as they make another hopeful Stanley Cup run.
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