Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

[Chandu]

Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

This is of interest for those of you in USA:

There is a new channel started on DISH called Zee Sport America (channel number 576) which is right now in free preview mode. This channel will be showing whole bunch of cricket which DISH had acquired rights to. (Meaning all of ICC international cricket - whatever DirecTV's Cricket Ticket showed.) Put it other way, if you had DirecTV Cricket Ticket + Zee Sport America from DISH you would have the whole enchilada.

(I know that in Canada they do have a single channel called ATN-CBN which stands for Asian Television Network - Commonwealth Broadcasting Network http://www.asiantelevision.com/atncbn.htm which shows pretty much the whole enchilada on a single channel, and it can be subscribed to on a single platform, e.g. any one of Bell Expressvu, Rogers Cable etc. However in USA, there is no such single platform solution except willow.tv broadband internet.)

Zee Sport America is on Free Preview until October 3. They are starting off with Pakistan vs. South Africa test which is being shown right this minute. They will also show India vs. Australia second ODI later in the morning.

Apart from cricket, it appears they will also show some other sports e.g. Indian Football, some other Asian Football, and ATP tennis events originating from India. For example they had Kyrgyzstan vs. Cambodia Nehru Cup football few minutes ago, had a promotion by Sania Mirza. They might also carry FIFA World Cup qualifiers for Indian national team or maybe some other Asian World Cup football qualifiers, although I'm not 100% sure about that.

Anyway, that's the info for what it is worth. At this moment, I have no idea how much they will want to charge starting October 3. Assuming it's a reasonable cost, one big advantage of subscribing to this channel might just be that it's a single home for cricket, instead of having to pay for multiple PPV. I just hope it would be a cheaper option than adding up individual PPVs.

 

[Bluto11]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

i wish Comcast would pick this stuff up

 

[Chandu]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

It's good being able to watch India vs. Australia 2nd ODI LIVE in free preview mode right now. @| When it revert to pay TV, I will figure out how much they're asking rate is. If it's affordable, I might even consider.

 

[Chandu]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

i wish Comcast would pick this stuff up

You could always get the same content with slightly inferior picture quality but a lot more flexibility and convenience on broadband internet (willow.tv). No dependence on Comcast or DISH Network involved.

It's good being able to watch India vs. Australia 2nd ODI LIVE in free preview mode right now. When it revert to pay TV, I will figure out how much they're asking rate is. If it's affordable, I might even consider.

The free preview mode on DISH Network is over. It has now become a pay channel as original intention.

 

[Bluto11]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

^i may have to checkout willow tv

and invest in a comfortable chair for my home computer!

 

[Bluto11]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

my brother and I may be switching to RCN from Comcast because we'll save about $700 a year for all the same channels.

that being said, I was looking at their channel lineup and they ahve Zee TV. it says it is in Hindi, but do they show cricket on this channel? if so, how much? and anyone know how much the channel usually costs to add?

 

[Chandu]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

...they ahve Zee TV. it says it is in Hindi, but do they show cricket on this channel?

No.

if so, how much?

Very little if any at all.

2 years ago they showed the freak-show also known as the inaugural Afro-Asian Cup. It was a meaningless tournament crammed into a crowded calender which none of the players were taking seriously, and neither were the announcers. And there were hardly any people in the crowd in attendance.

Zee Sports Americas is not same as Zee TV. It's sort of like comparing Fox Sports Net to a broadcast Fox channel.

 

[Bluto11]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

gotcha. that analogy cleared things up beautifully. maybe since they have Zee TV they will be getting the sports one. i'm can hope, right??

 

[Chandu]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

maybe since they have Zee TV they will be getting the sports one. i'm can hope, right??

You can always hope, but these things with negotiation take a lot of time. Comcast also carries the Zee TV you mentioned at least in select localities, but they don't have Zee Sport America and don't know if they have any plan of carrying it. You can always call RCN and let them know you want this, but don't know how much weight it will carry.

BTW, I noticed you're located in Chicago. If you have no trees blocking line of sight, it should be possible for you to get Bell Expressvu instead. If you can get their ATN CBN I mentioned above, I think it's even better than Zee Sport America with all content on a single channel.

 

[Bluto11]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

isn't Bell Expressvu a Canadian Dish company? would it work in the states? regardless, my place doesn't have a clear view of the southern horizon.

i think i'll just go the willow.tv route, if I want to watch live cricket.

 

[Chandu]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

isn't Bell Expressvu a Canadian Dish company? would it work in the states?

Yes, and yes.

In fact, before this "Zee Sport America on DISH" development, I was seriously considering this. But here in California, there is no good line of sight for Bell Expressvu's satellites. The only Canadian satellites we can see from here very well are StarChoice. But ATN-CBN isn't available on StarChoice yet, and won't be for a long time.

regardless, my place doesn't have a clear view of the southern horizon.

Too bad then, no wonder you didn't seem excited by the DISH network option either.

You're correct. willow.tv is the better option for people like you who have line of sight issues. Their video quality is slightly inferior, but it might end up being a slightly cheaper option if you only pay a-la-carte for what you want to watch.

 

[cleazer]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

Apparently Zee Sports America is $19.99 a month or $149.99 for the full year.

That's a great price!! You can get a full tour for $20 or $40, when in the past some tours have cost $100 or $150! I'm seriously considering $149 for the full year, but I'd like to have a clearer idea of exactly what cricket will be shown.





I'm making a MAJOR assumption here, but if this channel shows all home matches for India and Pakistan, that should include:

October: remainder of India/Australia ODI series, Pakistan/South Africa 5 ODI series
November-December: Pakistan tour of India, 5 ODIs and 3 tests
January-February: Pakistan/Zimbabwe 5 ODIs
March-April: India/South Africa 3 tests, Pakistan/Australia 3 tests and 5 ODIs
May-September: Nothing?



Should I assume that all of England's home matches will still be ppv?

And what about Bangladesh? Their home matches aren't exclusive to Directtv anymore. Will some of them be on Zee Sports America? If so, they host South Africa for tests and ODIs in February and should host some ODIs in March against Ireland or a tri-series with India and/or Pakistan. Or maybe the Bangladesh matches will be separate ppv's.

 

[Chandu]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

It is my understanding that with Zee Sport America, that is the end of PPV cricket on DISH (except for special tournaments like the ODI World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, or Twenty20 World Cup if DISH hypothetically carried it). I could be wrong, but that's the way I interpreted it.

Unfortunately they haven't updated their website with any information about Zee Sports America. They have information about the parent Zee Sports channel, but is based in India. You cannot see it in USA, so is not relevant here. The Zee USA website which is another parent for Zee Sports America has not been updated with anything about this channel yet. I think they're in the process of updating their website. I have no idea why they went LIVE with the channel before even updating the website. My theory is that they weren't anticipating a launch this early. Maybe with India's success in Twenty20 World Cup which they didn't anticipate, they wanted to seize the opportunity. Also maybe competitive pressure from whatever DirecTV is up to. If they got good negotiating terms from DISH (specifically Charlie Ergen), they jumped on it. We already know how these negotiations with carriers can drag on. We saw that with how long it took for Setanta USA to appear on DISH. If they see a window of opportunity during negotiations, it's best to jump on it and worry about logistics of updating web site etc. later.

This is what the Zee Sports America information on willow.tv says:

Live Streaming of the Zee Sport Americas Channel. Includes Australia in India 7 ODIs, Pakistan in India 3 Tests 5 ODIs, South Africa in India 2008, New Zealand in England 2008, South Africa in England 2008, some India domestic cricket, Indian club and international football, tennis, golf and much more.

Yes, you're correct. The $149 annual seems like a better deal than individual PPV, assuming you were going to shell out on all those PPVs.

 

[cleazer]

Re: Zee Sports America - New channel for those in USA

so, who got this?


They're about to start showing the Pakistan/Zimbabwe series.
Apparently they're also going to show the entire Stanford 20/20 tournament.

Maybe not the world's most exciting cricket, but still a great deal for $20 or $12.50.