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Saturday, September 17, 2016

Twitter NFL Stream Flagged For Delay Of Game

I had the Jets-Bills NFL game on CBS on Thursday night.  It is great to be watching football again this Fall.  And even though I had a big screen view of the game, I did decide to check out the Twitter feed of the game as well.  I was first struck by the clarity of the video.  For my time watching it, I saw a terrific picture.  But there was something that really bothered me.  The game feed was delayed from what was on the TV.  And not just a few second delay, it felt like more than 20 seconds.  A significant delay to the live action. 

I was disappointed.  Not that I was reading tweets of action that the stream had yet to show, but that the delay was of a considerable length.  For those doing both tweetsAnd I guess I was not alone.  Many seemed to criticize it.  I see opportunity for improvement.  The truth is, for those that aren't able to watch the game, whether simply away from home or needing to multitask with some other activity, access is everything.  And if it lets you watch, its better than not getting to watch at all. 

My hope is that the delay issue can be improved and that Twitter continues to tout its access and its desire to create the best streaming experience possible.  Truth is sports is a draw and the NFL is a great sport to grow with.  It is why broadcasters have spent fortunes to get the NFL on their networks and why football is now on Thursday Nights, Sunday Nights and Monday Nights.  It is no longer a Sunday afternoon only game.