NHL making it hard to be a fan

So my loyal reader probably knows I am a hockey fan, especially a New Jersey Devils fan. I am out the coverage area for the vast majority of the Devils’ games so I have been purchasing NHL Center Ice since it was introduced; first on DirecTV then on Comcast. This year we once again purchased it again, however this year there have been a few changes that annoy me. I am also tweaked by the online offerings and the ability to try before one purchases. It is almost as if the NHL is making it difficult to be a hockey fan.

So the first change that really annoyed me is the way copy protection is impacting my ability to time shift hockey games. I will often hang out with the wife in the evening, and then once she goes to bed, watch my Devils. A few nights ago when I went to the “Now Playing List” on the TiVo HD DVR the game recording had a blinking or waving flag next to it. That was something I had never seen before. When I went it to see what the reason for this was I got a message  basically saying was that the recording would be erased in a few hours. It then instructed me to go to “http://www.tivo.com/copyprotection” which then redirects me to “http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/243” which says:

“Program providers decide which programs within limited categories will have copy protection. If you believe that you are getting copy protection messages incorrectly, please call us and let us know. Questions regarding the use of copy protection on Pay-Per-View, Video on Demand, DVD or VHS content would be more effectively directed to the copyright holders themselves, not TiVo Customer Support.
When a program is protected by Macrovision, a red flag will appear next the program in the Now Playing List. This flag indicates that the program will be deleted under a schedule defined by the copyright-holder.”

So then I went to NHL.com and searched on TiVo, Copy Protection, and a few other things. I did not find anything in the results. So I then went to the NHL Center Ice page and there is no information on there about the limitation either. Heck even though today is November 4, 2009 it still states “ORDER BY OCTOBER 31st FOR A SPECIAL OFFER!” [caps on page] so I figured I would go to the FAQ page as I must not be the only one with that question, no real content there either. I figured I might as well review the NHL Website Terms of Service, and that was a waste of bandwidth. So I went to the contact page, and submitted my question:

“I am curious why there is copy protection on the games of Center Ice which is now preventing me from time shifting games. Where is there more information about the limitations and what I can expect? I was going to purchased the Online version as well but after this disappointment I am very hesitant to plunk down more money.”

The response after submittal was:

“Your form has been submitted. Thanks for your interest in NHL.com!
We read every email we receive, and we usually respond to questions within 48 hours.”

So now I am going to start waiting.
I also checked on the Comcast page since they are my provider and the only results I could find were on their Center Ice page which is different than the NHL page. It states in the small print to contact my local provider; when I called my local provider for more details, well they had no idea what I was talking about. So I also checked the In Demand Center Ice page and that did not have any information about the copy protection.

What is interesting is that doing an Internet search there were fairly small hits on it, however these were ones that show I am not the only one.

• David Pogue’s Blog: October 12, 2007, 12:18 pm
  The Broadcast Flag Rears its Ugly Head
  http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/the-broadcast-flag-rears-its-ugly-head/

• John Niedermeyer’s; Blog: October 25, 2007
  TiVo HD and Copy Protection
  http://nedward.org/2007/10/25/tivo-hd-and-copy-protection

Now to make things even funnier there are a few tweaks to this situation. On my Comcast HD DVR, this does not happen. I am watching a two day old game as I type this. The TiVo DVR does not always delete the program, it will leave it on the hard drive but when one goes to play it, the screen displays a message basically says that the copyright holder no longer permits viewing of the program. So not only can I not watch it, but it gets to take up space on my DVR.

Before I purchased the Center Ice package through Comcast, I was considering purchasing the online version, GameCenter LIVE™. The webpage states

“NHL GameCenter LIVE™ features:
- Live streaming HD-quality games (when available)
- DVR Functionality
- Picture-in-Picture
- Multigame View to Watch up to 4 Games at Once
-Access to the Replay Archive”

Not really a whole lot of answers to my questions, such as

• Can I time shift and watch from the beginning of a game in progress?
• Can I watch a game the next day?
• Since I travel for work quite a bit, how does the blackout selection work?
• How far back does the Replay Archive go back? Can I watch a game the next day?
• Can I use it on more than one computer, not at a time but if I am changing locations?
• Is there a discount for having Center Ice Package?
• Is it possible to take the output out of the laptop and place it on the big screen?
• Can I stream it directly to my TiVo, PS3, or Wii, so I do not have to hook up my laptop?

So I went the the GameCenter FAQ and that answered a few of my questions, but not all of them. However the big one that I found was at the bottom of the page, the cancellation policy (the domain for this link is not within the NHL domain, which is interesting). While I now understand that I can cancel if I want, I am not sure I want to go through the pain and process given the lack of information ahead of time.

I wonder if I will get any response to this blog post, I have not gotten any response to my tweet of “Frustrated by DRM, #TiVo & #NHL, can’t watch game from last night #fail”

And to think I am a fan of the game, but I am finding it hard to give the NHL money so that I can watch my Devils.

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I already got a response from NHL, much better than the time suggested. However it doesn’t seem to answer my copy protection question:

“To answer your questions, the only way to access GameCenter from more than one computer at a time is to have separate accounts, you can only be signed in on one computer at a time with a single account. Replay archives are available 48 hours after the live broadcast with no blackouts, however you can watch a game over before it hits the replays, as long as you are not blacked out live, with the DVR functions. Unless your cable provider offers a promotional code for GameCenter as part of your Center Ice subscription, there is no other promotion available. There is no free preview scheduled at this time, however there is a 5 day grace period in which you can cancel and receive a full refund if you are not satisfied for any reason.”