Roku Video player now streaming live HD baseball games from MLB.TV
By Nilay Patel 
posted August 11th 2009 12:01AM
posted August 11th 2009 12:01AM
posted August 11th 2009 12:01AM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Wow now if that includes all the premium stuff for MLB.TV that is huge im still wating on Hulu but i think just the addition of this is a sell for me.
I would like this to resurrect Harry Carey so he can spell players names backwards again.
this is badass, im so glad i bought the roku a year ago instead of everything else. it really was a great buy and is only getting better. if hulu goes on, life will be complete.
hmm. Well, my life is complete now that I finally downloaded all of the Mormon apps on the iphone.
just got them. you were right.
This is what I want to see, specific channels that devices can just hook into. I'd even consider a subscription scheme (though I love and would prefer the one-time option). If there were options for like the Big Ten Network HD, Discovery HD, and History Channel HD, I'd probably pick one of these up (though I'd like to be able to just hook in via my HTPC and a web browser).
Love all the updates Roku is pushing out. I bought one of these for my parents, and they use it all the time. I was pretty impressed, the little I was able to use it so far.
>> "This is what I want to see, specific channels that devices can just hook into. I'd even consider a subscription scheme..."
That will never happen. Most big networks have many channels in their portfolio. You may love the History Channel... but it's owned by A&E... so you will always get A&E if the History channel is offered.
You could get a Roku-type box from NBC that only got NBC, USA, CNBC, MSNBC, SyFy, Bravo, The Weather Channel and all of their HD counterparts. And then get a Discovery box that only got the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and all of its HD counterparts.
Who knows what cable companies pay for those channels. Even if you only wanted 3 channels... it just wouldn't be economically feasible to allow that. Advertising revenue would suffer. Many channels are subsidized by other channels... so that's why you get so many with your cable subscription.
So, if you think about it... getting 300 channels for $90 a month is a good deal for you... rather than paying $30 a month each for just 3 channels, even if you only wanted Discovery, History, and SyFy.
Well I don't have cable television, so I pay nothing for nothing, and the reason why is precisely what you described. I'm not paying $90 a month for 14 channels I want and 137 I don't. I abhor the subsidization system the television industry uses. If a channel sucks, it shouldn't be around. An a la carte streaming system would definitively prove what is successful and what isn't.
The nice part is, it doesn't matter if they agree or not, because everything is moving to streaming, so they can either find a way to monetize that, or get buried.
How is the playback. MLB.TV on the Apple TV is choppy, is this smooth and the highest quality. If it is, Roku just sold another box.
there is no apple tv mlb suport the only thing they have for apple is the mlb app for the iPhone wich if ur on wifi the quailty is really good and i subbed before quality is great i watched the first game in yankee stadium cubs yankees and the quailty for the Premium felt like i was watchin it on my tv
Sorry, I was talking about Boxee support for MLB.TV on the Apple TV. I am using it and it is choppy. I was wanting to hear from those with Roku players if the playback is smooth for the MLB.TV.
@cashmonee: The Roku box stream is smoooooooooooth... :)
Yes, the Roku box plays HD steams smoothly.
Wait... what? $40? Dude the MLB.tv package for a PC is over $100 why would this be cheaper? Confused.
*$35
That's a one-time $35 and not a season pass? That's a pretty nice deal.
Of course, these days the only way I pay attention to the Cubs is via Twitter...
It's $35 because it's getting towards the end of the season. Come May 2010, it's going to be $170 again.
Yep, the LA Times story says it's $35 for the rest of 2009. If it was $35 for a whole season, I would never get anything done ever again.
Sounds like the post should be updated to reflect the real cost.
I knew the "one time fee" was way too good to be true.
You say it's great for out-of-market fans. Does it work for in-market fans?
I have the mlb app for my iPhone and it won't let me view any games my favorite team plays because they are a local team! It sucks. I can pick up audio from my local team's games at work (very difficult with AM radio), but I can't watch any videos at all?
Lame
That does suck. Do they really imagine that letting you watch an in-market game on your iPhone's 3" screen will make you less likely to go to a game? The truth is that it would probably generate a few MORE ticket sales.
The blackout policies are the same for the Roku as they are for any other MLB product.
sweet! I can watch live TV on my TV!
Hopefully they will bring this to Apple TV.
It's great to see MLB.tv implementing innovative functions, things like this and http://www.LiveBaseballChat.com are changing the way fans interact with each other while watching the games online.
Cheers,
Dean
You'd have to pay me to watch baseball on TV.
Now, about NFL Sunday Ticket...
Hulu please!
NFL Sunday Ticket would be amazing. Just canceled my cable and have been slowly sorting my options...over the air HD (which looks great btw), Hulu and Netflix via HDMI from my PC, etc. Sports (and NFL in particular) is the one thing that hurts to miss out on. We'll see how it goes once the regular season starts... Too bad about the Netflix exclusive deal with Microsoft! I was really hoping it'd come to the PS3 soon. I guess Roku is the next best thing.
I don't have a Netflix account anymore, but for the PS3 you can maybe try MediaMalls PlayOn. I use it for hulu on my PS3 and it works real well long as you keep things updated and has kept me from building a new media PC after my first one bellied up.
Pretty misleading post. $35 for the rest of the 2009 season is a huge difference from a $35 one time fee.
I don't think nfl sunday ticket will ever happen. the NFL is far to lucrative and controlling to allow it. Now the NHL I could see. They need all the exposure they can get. I would be delighted to be able to watch my Pens (I recently moved to wisconsin and they re rarely aired here.)
This is very nice... BUT I WANT HULU!
This is fantastic because I am a huge baseball fan and now I won't need MLB Extra Innings anymore, which isn't even in HD on cablevision =). I tried this MLB.tv on Roku last night and while it wasn't HD, it wasn't bad either... it was like those upconverted Seinfeld episodes... you can see it's better than 480i but definitely not 1080i or 720p.
Roku: Please add NHL next!
Another major innovation with this Roku firmware release that no one else seems to have mentioned is that you can now set the Roku box to receive 5.1 audio!! At the moment, the only Roku provider streaming in 5.1 is Amazon Video On Demand. Still the 5.1 sound is awesome, and this looks like just the beginning for Roku. They have promised a total of 10 new channels by the end of the year. The Roku DVP is, without a doubt, the best $99.00 piece of A/V technology to come along in a long time!!
Awesome! Now we can see Kevin Gregg give up homers on another device!
So what IS the exact price for this when the 2010 season arrives? Clearly it won't be $35, although that's exactly what the deceptive listing on the mlb.com subscription page makes it look like. Truthfully, I'm OK with $110 -- which is what I've HEARD it will be -- but I looked all over the place on their site and it's either nowhere to be found or buried somewhere. I was extremely excited about $35, but it sounds like this is going to be cheaper than the MLB Extra Innings package, even if it's a good bit more than $35.
Will this work from an overseas IP address (netflix and amazon video rentals, that is?)