MLB.com have just released the options available to baseball fans for listening and watching baseball over the Internet in 2007.\u00c2\u00a0 As always, there is a decent amount of choice to cater for different needs and systems.<\/p>\n
The main shift this year is the launch of a MLB.TV Premium package to sit alongside the standard MLB.TV package and Gameday Audio.\u00c2\u00a0 In previous years,\u00c2\u00a0 “All Access” was the top product.\u00c2\u00a0 This combined MLB.TV with Gameday Audio and added a few extras, such as access to condensed games.\u00c2\u00a0 The MLB.TV Premium package gives you the “All Access” content and adds to it with a souped-up streaming rate of 700K and the fancy Mosaic feature that was trialed last year.<\/p>\n
What stands out to me at first glance is that people who don’t quite want the top package will have a relative bargain on their hands.\u00c2\u00a0 MLB.TV is now effectively last season’s All Access package,\u00c2\u00a0 yet you only have to pay \u00c2\u00a346 ($89.95) for it instead of \u00c2\u00a352.\u00c2\u00a0 Considering it seemed reasonably priced last year and a small price hike was expected, that’s a great result .\u00c2\u00a0 The slight down side of course is that people can no longer buy MLB.TV on it’s own; however I doubt many will mind paying a bit extra considering the new price and the extras you receive.<\/p>\n
MLB.TV Premium does look an enticing package, yet it’s probably best to check that Mosaic will work on your machine and with your internet connection.\u00c2\u00a0 My PC is a bit cobbled together and I couldn’t get Mosaic to run when I tried it last year!\u00c2\u00a0 There is a demo clip showing what games streamed at 700K will look like and if the clip is an accurate representation (not guaranteed!) then it will be a considerable improvement.\u00c2\u00a0 I like to watch games on full-screen mode and I can get away with it by sitting further back from my screen than I would when I’m doing things such as writing blog posts.\u00c2\u00a0 The picture isn’t crystal clear, but it’s more than good enough.\u00c2\u00a0 Watching the 700K demo clip, I can send it to full-screen and keep sitting in the same place and the picture quality is impressive (again, not perfect but pretty good).\u00c2\u00a0 Obviously this has to be balanced against the possibility that the doubled streaming rate might leave you “buffering” every minute or so.<\/p>\n
Right now, I’m in a bit of a quandary over whether I should go for the Premium package or not.\u00c2\u00a0 Even if I can get the mosaic feature to work, I doubt I will use it much (not least because the time difference means there are far fewer occasions as a Brit when there are six live games going on at one time that you want to keep an eye on).\u00c2\u00a0 The 700K picture is fairly seductive though and my 2MB connection should cope!\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Premium will cost \u00c2\u00a362 so that will mean a \u00c2\u00a316 extra outlay over the MLB.TV package, which isn’t much over the course of the season.\u00c2\u00a0 I will have to think it over!<\/p>\n
So the main points are:<\/p>\n
Don’t forget, you may be liable for a small overseas transaction charge as well depending on who you bank with (generally only around \u00c2\u00a31).<\/p>\n
MLB work on the policy of an automatic renewal, so I imagine people like myself who subscribed to All Access last year will immediately be charged for the Premium package (although you can cancel it before it goes through).<\/p>\n