Radio/TV, why not webcasts?

Is there a specific/official reason why newspapers haven't included live audiocasts and videocasts listings in their print editions?

We're on ESPN3 four times this month, that exciting NAIA championship between Disco Tech and Immaculate Reception, oops, Southern Oregon and Marian is live from Daytona Beach as well.

Just curious.

 

Just like with over-the-air/cable/satellite listings, where do you draw the line? I've got better things to do than scour the Internet for every game that's being streamed ... like cover local games!

 

It's Radio/TV, not Radio/TV/Streaming/Podcast/Netflix/Pornhub. (Porn's a sport, right?)

 

I think live webcasts involving local teams would be a reasonable addition. Adding all the ESPN3 feeds on a given day, well, you might as well ask for a hard copy of the Internet. But if Local U is playing on ESPN3 or another reputable streaming site (or for that matter, the school's or opponent's website), then why not? Chances are you're including that in a story or breakout box anyway. It's News You Can Use.

 

We keep our general daily TV listings as strictly TV; however, for CSU games, I've changed our "Next Up" info boxes from TV:, Radio: to Watch:, Listen:

It just makes more sense to me. If a game is on ESPNU, it fits in there. If it's ESPN3/some other stream service, it also fits.

 

What he said.

For the team game boxes, most definitely. For the TV listings .... well if you're looking for those in the paper, you're probably not getting an online stream to work.

 

Because if you put in the paper that the game is on EPSN3, you have to deal with all the reader calls asking what channel ESPN3 is on.

 

Newspapers shouldn't include TV listings for everything being broadcast that day. An info box for a preview is fine.

 

I do think that if you list in a newspaper that a local game is on ESPN3, there would be only a tiny fraction of the potentially interested viewers who would:

A) See the listing n the paper
B) Use that knowledge gleaned from the newspaper to watch the game on their phone/computer or hook it up to the TV

Those using ESPN3 and other streaming sites can probably find out how their games are being carried.

Those just seeing listing in the paper probably don't know how to connect if they wanted to.

 

Agreed. But if anyone outside of their fans needs a newspaper listing to know if the Podunk State-Springfield Tech game is being streamed and neither school is in the area ...

 

My unsupported-by-empirical-facts guess is that there's only a tiny fraction of readers who even use the listings. Doing away with them entirely would be my first choice, unless I knew that it had an audience that made it worth the price of admission. But if we're going to have them, internet broadcasts are of the same cloth as radio or TV broadcasts, so I see no harm in having an Internet heading to go with Radio and Television. Sure, some readers are going to be confused, but they're going to be confused when they put their toast in the freezer and it's not buttery crisp yet.

 

We used to get lots of calls about the TV schedules. Two things have reduced the calls about 90 percent. One is the internet, the other is the program listings on cable (and presumably) satellite TV. I can't tell you the last time I went to our listings to see what's on, I just pull up the program listings on the screen and go from there. What confuses people most is how to list the various channels that are on different places depending on the cable system.