ESPN/ABC holds the television broadcast rights for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The switch from the Tennis Channel to the alternate service has once again inspired me to compare and contrast their features. This year, I am also veering over into an Amazon versus Apple debate as streaming platforms. In the process, I found a feature that brought me immense joy.
The ESPN app on Apple TV supports user-selected multi-cast. My accidental discovery of that feature completely blew me away. The following photo illustrates the sheer awesomeness. It was ideal for the long holiday weekend in the middle of the tournament. This golden intersection of so many good middle-round matches, coupled with the free time to watch them, made for a great day.
Another thing I enjoy about the ESPN streaming system is that when you are watching a match that ends, it automatically switches over to the next match on that same court. It makes for a seamless viewing experience. I stream a lot of doubles during the majors, and frequently, the matches that interest me are scheduled back to back to back on the same court anyway.
That contrasts sharply with what the Tennis Channel streaming system currently does when a match ends. It appears to randomly select another match that has no relationship to the one that was just watched. For example, I struggle to see the logic behind switching to men’s singles after a women’s doubles match ends. Additionally, whatever algorithm is used sometimes tries to switch over to a match that isn’t even scheduled until the next day. It would make more sense to simply terminate the stream and wait for user input.
On the other hand, the way the Tennis Channel streaming service identifies the players involved in doubles matches beats the tar out of ESPN. That service tends to label the thumbnail of those matches only as “Women’s Doubles,” “Men’s Doubles,” or “Mixed Doubles.” Sometimes, it is like a scavenger hunt to find a particular match of interest. Additionally, while some of the on-demand replays get that information added on ESPN, other matches do not. This detail is a small investment that would add a lot of value for tennis streaming fans.
Something else that ESPN doesn’t handle well is matches that are suspended due to darkness or rain. Both of which were significant factors during Wimbledon this year. The Tennis Channel is good about labeling the segments as Part 1, Part 2, etc. This is a way to inform fans that it isn’t a complete match. Without identification of who is playing or that context, it is challenging to find and assemble a specific match of interest.
Additionally, neither service sets up a persistent stream to specific courts, which could be beneficial. For example, a handful of suspended matches were relocated and completed under the roofs of Centre Court and Court 1 at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the feeds from those locations ended when the scheduled matches there were completed. It was maddening to see the live score updates along with the precise court with no stream available. A persistent live stream to either of those locations would have prevented that frustration.
I do the majority of my streaming on Amazon Fire devices. However, the ESPN app on that platform this year had a persistent issue. Selecting the icon that filters streaming to only matches from Wimbledon didn’t work and would just return an error message. It is a big deal because there was no way to access on-demand replays of more than a few recent matches because they aren’t presented to the viewer as an option. Fortunately, I had an AppleTV device in the location where I first experienced that problem, and that feature was working fine.
Later in the week, I tweeted out my frustration with the ESPN app’s instability on the Amazon Fire platform while viewing in a location where that was my only option. Amazon Fire customer service responded immediately with the suggestion that flushing the cache and data might resolve the issue. It did, but I found that I had to do that and reauthenticate to the app between every match. Ideally, the ESPN app would be more stable, but their customer service never responded.
I seriously doubt that ESPN purposely chose to implement multi-cast on AppleTV and not Amazon Fire for anything other than technical reasons. That is evidence that one platform is significantly more powerful than the other for streaming application development. I’m starting to lean more toward the Apple TV side of the fence for my future streaming device purchases. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly Amazon customer service engaged with and resolved the stability issue in response to my tweet.
While I wish that sports streaming service providers would be more attentive to the viewing experience of tennis fans, the multi-cast feature on the Applet TV version of the ESPN app still brought me immense joy. It’s a game-changer that transformed my tennis viewing experience during this year’s Wimbledon Championships and made some of the other deficiencies more tolerable.
Thank you for the very good comparison of streaming services in the USA.
I must mention the BBC services available in the UK, so we can add to the wish list.
Most TV services in the UK have a catchup feature which allows almost all programs to be viewed from up to two weeks previous, just by scrolling back through the electronic program guide. This feature allows moments missed to be viewed easily.
On the BBC there are no adverts other than for shows and programs on that service and is free for license holders in the UK. A license costs around £170 a year.
Perhaps the most impressive service by the BBC is their iPlayer which is available on TV and any device which has internet access. During Wimbledon, each and every court could be watched – some with no commentary – but an incredible service. iPlayer also has access to series and other programs shown at anytime on BBC channels.
Now, if ESPN/Amazon could adopt this model we would be talking!