HPI TV

[angeleyes55]

Thinking of subscribing to HPI TV .... Any opinions ?

[Ted Craven]

I cancelled mine last year after subscribing for 5+ years (i.e. on Bell ExpressVu). I often ran the HPI TV on satellite side by side with the web based feed and while the satellite was usually always closer to real-time, sometimes the difference was 5 seconds, but usually never more than around 20 seconds. And my betting style does not require betting any later than when the first horse approaches the gate - so, a free web-based feed (i.e. via HPI Interactive website) has been entirely sufficient.

The big drawback of HPI TV is the rotating of races broadcast, especially in the evenings when Harness dominates and which almost always goes live over evening T'bred racing. Via the HPI website, on the other hand, you always get a dedicated video 'channel' for each track, so MNR or PEN or CT or whatever is never preempted for a harness race from Windsor.

Then again, if you are a harness fan that may be a plus!

cheers,

Ted

[satrabyk]

Had it for years with Rogers Cable. Cancelled my subscription last year for same reasons as Ted. When tracks replaced C-Band with Dish Network everything slowed down dramatically. Sent emails to HPI and Roberts Communications. They said in time delay would be reduced. NEVER HAPPENED !!!!!

[edmond1]

HPI TV is produced at Woodbine and delivered to Rogers Cable and Bell. Unfortunately the source feeds they use to produce the show are the RTN feeds from Dish Network. Right off the bat feed is delayed by 5 seconds to begin with. It takes another 5 seconds to get to your tv set via Rogers Cable.
Not sure the delay if going through Bell. Exception are the Woodbine feeds - the delay is 5 seconds. Along with the other negatives discussed above it is definitely unacceptable in my opinion. Much better off to use the HPI website feeds which you will find to be a couple seconds faster than the HPI TV feeds with the exception of Woodbine. Betting $100 a month on HPI allows you access to all the feeds and race replays.

[edmond1]

In Canada we have no other options but HPI TV. US residents can get RTN , TVG, HRTV and perhaps more.
Since HPI has no competition they don't have much reason to improve their product. The last time I was at Woodbine all the simulcast feeds were experiencing technical difficulties for a duration of time. It coincided with a weather disturbance. HPI TV broadcast was also affected. This is a known defect with Dish Network. I decided to email Woodbine's video dept. with regards to this and questioning why they don't use C Band or other direct fiber feed options. This was the response: ll

"Hello *****: The distributor (the company that does the actual
satellite broadcast) chose to migrate virtually all of their
broadcast from C band to Ku band. The C band broadcast are no
longer available. Getting a direct fiber feed from each track may be
something that happens in the future but currently it's
just far too expensive due to the large bandwidth required. Dave Fray Director of Broadcast OPerations Woodbine Entertainment Group"

I was surprised by the response. I know for a fact that Dover
Downs and The Red Mile still use C Band. I sent him another
email to point this out - still no response. No wonder the game
going down the drain. People running the show are clueless....

[BIG49010]

Originally Posted by edmond1

In Canada we have no other options but HPI TV. US residents can get RTN , TVG, HRTV and perhaps more.

Get a mailbox in the US, at a border town, go to dish distributor or craigslist and purchase what ever dish items you need, and signup with a credit card autopay to a prepaid visa card that is registered to the Mailbox. The dish doesn't know where the boarder is.

[angeleyes55]

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I have decided to stick to live betting only.
Gate behaviour, late money, etc. very important to me. In the case of harness racing I will never bet until the very last second - too many times horses break a few yards before the start. Many thoroughbred races have been lost at the gate as well - important to have access to head on view ......

Thanks to your posts I now know why I am getting shut out much more recently(last year and a half) than before. Woodbine never warned us about any increased delays when change was made. WHY ?

[edmond1]

Originally Posted by angeleyes55

Thanks to your posts I now know why I am getting shut out much more recently(last year and a half) than before. Woodbine never warned us about any increased delays when change was made. WHY ?

Their thinking is quite obvious : If these degenerates are dumb enough to bet into 25% takeouts then they will not notice 3 seconds increases in feed delay. Besides if they get shut out there are plenty of other races they can bet to clean those suckers out.....