Post by rbrooks80 on Mar 19, 2008 11:07:47 GMT -5
Hello All—
This is to address the many issues and questions that AIFA fans have been rightfully bringing to light regarding the deal and promises made by the Simply ME TV for the 2008 season of the AIFA.
First off, Simply ME TV would like to apologize for the lack of information and follow up to the many concerns that you (AIFA fans) have had over the last few months, as the concentration on our end has been focusing on ways to make sure we were able to deliver on promises made.
With that said we would like to address the following issues:
1) AIFA National Broadcast
Original plan: To have a minimum of 14 AIFA games over the course of the 2008 season nationally broadcast over the traditional television airwaves, along with internet and mobile live streams.
Final Decision: It was decided to not broadcast the games live and to air them via tape delay instead.
The Reason: In the case of the traditional television system, the live games chosen for this season were on inconsistent days of the week, meaning some were on Friday, Saturday, and Monday. As a result, to have a weekly live broadcast of these games would not be in the same vein as NFL Monday Night Football for instance because the games could never all broadcast on the same day. We realized from a viewership position, it would make it very hard for you (fans) to continually have to adjust your schedule almost every week to watch the games.
Therefore, we decided to do it via tape delay because this would enable the games, when aired weekly, to be broadcast on the same day of the week every week, making it easier for fans to set time out to view the games on a consistent schedule.
The games were also suppose to be broadcast live via internet and mobile. This did not happen due to economics. While our system does have the capability to do this, the issues came down to bandwidth, which would ultimately cause us to have to charge you (fans) for the streams if you wanted to view it.
From the beginning, we stated, and promised, that this would be a FREE viewing experience for the fans, so we were faced with the dilemma of offering the promised streams live with a fee attached or figuring out another solution. The final decision was to not charge and just have the games offered on demand, this way still enabling AIFA fans to enjoy the games for free as promised, and to watch them whenever wanted.
2) The reason for the broadcast delay
It has been an issue of polishing the final presentation. The final product's presentation is very different than what has been seen/used previously.
The goal was to give the games a more exciting and NFL-style feel than before. The high production expectations on our end ultimately caused for more polishing of the video after the initial shooting, and as a result, a delay in its release.
3) When and where will it air?
The silence regarding the weekly broadcast schedule is due to many decisions that have been taken place over the last few months to determine the best alternative plan for fulfilling the promises made. As a result, a number of deals were being considered and proposed, however, only recently was a decision locked in.
The broadcast of the weekly games will be delayed by 1 week and aired on Thursdays over traditional television platforms. The times and channels will be posted here upon confirmation so all of the fans will know.
The Internet On demand version of the games will be available 1-2 weeks after the game airs over the traditional television platform at www.simplyme.tv
4) The freezing on www.simplyme.tv
We are aware of the issues everyone has had with the system crashing on various individuals. Since being alerted about the issue, we have upgraded our own internal system in various areas to assure that we can handle the traffic and demand of all of the AIFA fans, as well as our other viewers simultaneously. This new system will take an additional week to be fully integrated, so if you continue to have problems with it, just know that it is being worked on accordingly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
5) Press conferences
Press Conferences, due to the fluctuation of the information stated above, have been postponed until further notice. The focus now is to deliver on what we are suppose to, and instead of talking about it, we rather concentrate on doing it instead and making sure it happens successfully and professionally.
6) Music
The soundtrack was never forgotten. There are 2 premiere songs for the league—a country themed AIFA song, and a rap song by Columbus, OH rapper AKA entitled "Go Hard" that have been produced, and released for usage during the games and the broadcast. Other songs are scheduled to follow, and each song will be available for purchase via Itunes, Napster, eMusic, and Rhapsody shortly. Details regarding this are forthcoming.
7) Videogame
There were plans for the creation of various electronic games centered around the AIFA league for this season. The first were a set of mini games, the second was a full fledge, Madden-style, type sports game.
The latter game required more time, staff, and finances than we had available for this season, and as a result, is on hold indefinitely.
The mini-games, however, are a different story. We are about 95% complete with the first mini-game, and it is scheduled to appear shortly over www.simplyme.tv and Nintendo Wii. As the date nears, more confirmed information will follow.
Again, we apologize for the lack of follow up on our end, as well as any inconvenience this has caused, and have made it a priority to fix this issue.
Thanks.
-Simply ME TV
This is to address the many issues and questions that AIFA fans have been rightfully bringing to light regarding the deal and promises made by the Simply ME TV for the 2008 season of the AIFA.
First off, Simply ME TV would like to apologize for the lack of information and follow up to the many concerns that you (AIFA fans) have had over the last few months, as the concentration on our end has been focusing on ways to make sure we were able to deliver on promises made.
With that said we would like to address the following issues:
1) AIFA National Broadcast
Original plan: To have a minimum of 14 AIFA games over the course of the 2008 season nationally broadcast over the traditional television airwaves, along with internet and mobile live streams.
Final Decision: It was decided to not broadcast the games live and to air them via tape delay instead.
The Reason: In the case of the traditional television system, the live games chosen for this season were on inconsistent days of the week, meaning some were on Friday, Saturday, and Monday. As a result, to have a weekly live broadcast of these games would not be in the same vein as NFL Monday Night Football for instance because the games could never all broadcast on the same day. We realized from a viewership position, it would make it very hard for you (fans) to continually have to adjust your schedule almost every week to watch the games.
Therefore, we decided to do it via tape delay because this would enable the games, when aired weekly, to be broadcast on the same day of the week every week, making it easier for fans to set time out to view the games on a consistent schedule.
The games were also suppose to be broadcast live via internet and mobile. This did not happen due to economics. While our system does have the capability to do this, the issues came down to bandwidth, which would ultimately cause us to have to charge you (fans) for the streams if you wanted to view it.
From the beginning, we stated, and promised, that this would be a FREE viewing experience for the fans, so we were faced with the dilemma of offering the promised streams live with a fee attached or figuring out another solution. The final decision was to not charge and just have the games offered on demand, this way still enabling AIFA fans to enjoy the games for free as promised, and to watch them whenever wanted.
2) The reason for the broadcast delay
It has been an issue of polishing the final presentation. The final product's presentation is very different than what has been seen/used previously.
The goal was to give the games a more exciting and NFL-style feel than before. The high production expectations on our end ultimately caused for more polishing of the video after the initial shooting, and as a result, a delay in its release.
3) When and where will it air?
The silence regarding the weekly broadcast schedule is due to many decisions that have been taken place over the last few months to determine the best alternative plan for fulfilling the promises made. As a result, a number of deals were being considered and proposed, however, only recently was a decision locked in.
The broadcast of the weekly games will be delayed by 1 week and aired on Thursdays over traditional television platforms. The times and channels will be posted here upon confirmation so all of the fans will know.
The Internet On demand version of the games will be available 1-2 weeks after the game airs over the traditional television platform at www.simplyme.tv
4) The freezing on www.simplyme.tv
We are aware of the issues everyone has had with the system crashing on various individuals. Since being alerted about the issue, we have upgraded our own internal system in various areas to assure that we can handle the traffic and demand of all of the AIFA fans, as well as our other viewers simultaneously. This new system will take an additional week to be fully integrated, so if you continue to have problems with it, just know that it is being worked on accordingly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
5) Press conferences
Press Conferences, due to the fluctuation of the information stated above, have been postponed until further notice. The focus now is to deliver on what we are suppose to, and instead of talking about it, we rather concentrate on doing it instead and making sure it happens successfully and professionally.
6) Music
The soundtrack was never forgotten. There are 2 premiere songs for the league—a country themed AIFA song, and a rap song by Columbus, OH rapper AKA entitled "Go Hard" that have been produced, and released for usage during the games and the broadcast. Other songs are scheduled to follow, and each song will be available for purchase via Itunes, Napster, eMusic, and Rhapsody shortly. Details regarding this are forthcoming.
7) Videogame
There were plans for the creation of various electronic games centered around the AIFA league for this season. The first were a set of mini games, the second was a full fledge, Madden-style, type sports game.
The latter game required more time, staff, and finances than we had available for this season, and as a result, is on hold indefinitely.
The mini-games, however, are a different story. We are about 95% complete with the first mini-game, and it is scheduled to appear shortly over www.simplyme.tv and Nintendo Wii. As the date nears, more confirmed information will follow.
Again, we apologize for the lack of follow up on our end, as well as any inconvenience this has caused, and have made it a priority to fix this issue.
Thanks.
-Simply ME TV
