ESPN CARRIES TWIN SPIRES FOR MOST TRACKS FREE 30 MINS A DAY. CAL RACING FREE AND NYRA FREE REPLAYS WITH 5 MIN DELAY. THAT ABOUT COVERS ALL TRACKS .....FREE.

Uh oh....That's gonna open a can of worms.

I heard back from RTN and it is as I thought. At this point, you must have the dish tv service in order to sign up for the online streaming. Only thing available for non tv subscribers is the race replays option. There is a small chance this could change. I'll report back if it does.

Jim

JimG,

Maybe I am missing it, but what does one gain by having Dish AND the web version?


Dave

Dave, I don't think your missing anything. Why would someone like you give them $25 more dollars a month when you already have the tv version? But I sure think RTN is missing the boat. They should be marketing streaming to the non dish users. If they have signed a contract with dish, share the profits somehow. To me it is a typical backwards thinking plan that prevails in this industry.

Jim

$50 a month, if the "one" is DISH! :D

Nothing. It simply drives up the cost to the consumer. $50 for the Satellite service and $25 more for on-line.
There is no advantage to the consumer.
Perhaps the company anticipates their service will be most viewed online and for that the price will be increased. Perhaps RTN is in the process of "getting it's customers used to the higher price.
That's a guess.
IN any event, I believe much of the content we see today on cable or satellite will become more widely available via the internet. Because ISP's do not have to launch billion dollar pieces of equipment into outer space that have a relatively short life span( 12-15 years) internet content tends to be less costly to the user.
My prediction is that with the expansion of fiber optic networks, we will see more content become available on line and the cost to the user will fall not only as competition increases but also as the technology to deliver content becomes less costly.

One possibility (that I mentioned before) is that Dish is considering pulling the plug. This would allow them to keep some customers if Dish pulls out. These customers could then be converted back to direct RTN customers - probably at $50-$75 per month.

Just a guess.

Makes sense. Like I mention above this technology is available already.....Betfair's British Racing internet video feeds are almost real-time. Right now racetracks are already forced to pay a fortune for a residential strength solution at best. Competition may have definitely avoided this catastrophe. Track management changes needed as well....

RTN Online
 

Looks like RTN now offers live online racing to non-Dish customers....
https://www.rtn.tv/packages/packages.aspx

Just curious. How does one know that British Racing has a low delay? Is there a clock or something? Got a guy standing at the track with a cell phone?
Also, re: shutting out, isn't the tote halt still done by human pushing a button? Wouldn't one have to factor that in? And wouldn't it change track to track? Or am I missing something?

It's easy to test the delay using their equipment. Network delay is monitored on cable networks etc........all the time.

Betfair provides their customers with special fast internet feeds from English Racetracks. Delay appears to be approx. 1-2 seconds from real-time. A must if they want their customers to have a chance for EXCHANGE/INPLAY betting. How do I know - betting on Betfair closes just before horses come out of gate on their video feed. Internet feeds in North America including the ones from RTN are delayed approx. 8 seconds from real-time. RTN feeds on DN are 5 seconds delayed from real-time - these are the feeds simulcast locations now use - A BIG JOKE !!!!!!!!
I was told that "tote halt" is synchronized with the starting gate at host track. That's why betting on tote closes several seconds before you see horses leaving the gate depending on whatever video feed you are seeing ....

Only in a perfect world. Not ours.

The only way to synchronize it would be to do it the other way around: The gate opens when the pools are closed.