Big Ten Network (BTN), The Minnesota Rouser, and Truncated TV Screens

[6 Nov 1999]

1. Will we hear the Minnesota Rouser in its full glory after scoring points on the Big Ten Network (BTN) today? The Rouser is our trademark and signature. During the last two home games broadcast, that being the Iowa game of 2010 (I think it was ESPN or ESPN2 over my Verizon FIOS feed) and New Mexico State (Big Ten Network (BTN) over my Verizon FIOS feed), I have not heard the Rouser once in anything close to its full glory. Every rendition of it seemed like it was clipped above the 1,000 Hz frequency. Only the tuba section could be heard watching the Iowa game. Last week I just could not hear it at all. This never seems to be a problem for “The Victors,” “On Wisconsin,” “Buckeye Battle Cry,” “Across The Field,” “The MSU Fight Song,” “Hail Purdue,” or even “Go U Northwestern” when their home games are broadcast. This seems to me to be a disease which only manifests on University of Minnesota home game broadcasts.
2. My feed of the NMSU game over BTN / Verizon FIOS on the standard (not High Definition (HD)) channel delivered a screen truncated on the top and truncated on the bottom. On one TV it was really bad, like a 30 – 35 percent loss of the screen real estate, with the top and bottom portion black. On an older TV which is not as wide, it was about a 20 – 25 percent loss of screen real estate. At first I thought something is wrong with my feed, but then I noticed that some commercials were not affected by this disease. BTN / Verizon apparently decided to deliver these commercials with no loss of screen real estate.
3. Are any other BTN viewers experiencing this same clipping / truncation of the top and bottom of their standard (non-HD) feeds? If so, what cable / satellite / data communications provider are you subscribed to? I am trying to discern if this is a BTN wide disease or just a Verizon FIOS disease.
4. I suspect this may be a gambit by BTN and / or Verizon to get customers to pony up and pay extra for BTN HD feeds which are probably full screen and not truncated on the top and bottom.
a. I don’t have money to subscribe to BTN-HD.
b. It goes against the principle that the Big Ten Network was originally founded on, that being, the cable companies / internet service providers (ISPs) were to deliver the Big Ten Network content at no additional charge. Is BTN now reneging on that principle?
c. I don’t buy any assertion that the clipped real estate is somehow a technological problem. The major networks have no problem delivering a full screen in both standard and HD modes. This seems to be a disease that the BTN / Verizon created to spur additional HD subscriptions.
5. Thoughts?

 

[freshtrout]

A HD signal on a SD TV will not fill the screen unless the SD TV has a screen with an aspect ratio of 16x9 ie:letterbox shaped. Do your TV sets have adjustable picture sizes as an option? If not, I don't think you can fill the screen with a HD signal, if so, you may be in business.

 

[Ski U Master]

1. Will we hear the Minnesota Rouser in its full glory after scoring points on the Big Ten Network (BTN) today? The Rouser is our trademark and signature. During the last two home games broadcast, that being the Iowa game of 2010 (I think it was ESPN or ESPN2 over my Verizon FIOS feed) and New Mexico State (Big Ten Network (BTN) over my Verizon FIOS feed), I have not heard the Rouser once in anything close to its full glory. Every rendition of it seemed like it was clipped above the 1,000 Hz frequency. Only the tuba section could be heard watching the Iowa game. Last week I just could not hear it at all. This never seems to be a problem for “The Victors,” “On Wisconsin,” “Buckeye Battle Cry,” “Across The Field,” “The MSU Fight Song,” “Hail Purdue,” or even “Go U Northwestern” when their home games are broadcast. This seems to me to be a disease which only manifests on University of Minnesota home game broadcasts.
2. My feed of the NMSU game over BTN / Verizon FIOS on the standard (not High Definition (HD)) channel delivered a screen truncated on the top and truncated on the bottom. On one TV it was really bad, like a 30 – 35 percent loss of the screen real estate, with the top and bottom portion black. On an older TV which is not as wide, it was about a 20 – 25 percent loss of screen real estate. At first I thought something is wrong with my feed, but then I noticed that some commercials were not affected by this disease. BTN / Verizon apparently decided to deliver these commercials with no loss of screen real estate.
3. Are any other BTN viewers experiencing this same clipping / truncation of the top and bottom of their standard (non-HD) feeds? If so, what cable / satellite / data communications provider are you subscribed to? I am trying to discern if this is a BTN wide disease or just a Verizon FIOS disease.
4. I suspect this may be a gambit by BTN and / or Verizon to get customers to pony up and pay extra for BTN HD feeds which are probably full screen and not truncated on the top and bottom.
a. I don’t have money to subscribe to BTN-HD.
b. It goes against the principle that the Big Ten Network was originally founded on, that being, the cable companies / internet service providers (ISPs) were to deliver the Big Ten Network content at no additional charge. Is BTN now reneging on that principle?
c. I don’t buy any assertion that the clipped real estate is somehow a technological problem. The major networks have no problem delivering a full screen in both standard and HD modes. This seems to be a disease that the BTN / Verizon created to spur additional HD subscriptions.
5. Thoughts?

1. The band has been poorly mic'd for a while, it's like the mic's are too close and only pick up one section of the band, they need to figure something out to get a more homogeneous sound.
2. Use the "stretch" function on your TV if you have one, it will resize the picture to adjust for letterboxing.
3. I used to get is when I had SD cable, but this year I got HD and it is glorious.
4. The principle the BTN was founded on was making the B1G conference money, so it is perfectly in line with the ideals of the network.

 

[6 Nov 1999]

A HD signal on a SD TV will not fill the screen unless the SD TV has a screen with an aspect ratio of 16x9 ie:letterbox shaped. Do your TV sets have adjustable picture sizes as an option? If not, I don't think you can fill the screen with a HD signal, if so, you may be in business.

freshtrout,

1. Not sure what my problem is then. I have no problem watching standard definition ABC, CBS, NBC, & FOX and I get a full screen. I have no problem watching High Definition ABC, CBS, NBC, & FOX where I also get a full screen. Problem seems limited to ESPN's stations and the BTN stations. I don't subscribe to HD for either ESPN or BTN, so I don't know what my experience would be in HD. But it matters little. I don't want to pay extra for HD feeds of either ESPN or BTN.

2. Heard The Rouser a couple of times today, notably a few notes at half time and at the end of our victory. It was not as bad as it was last week or against Iowa last year, but in the following broadcast of ASU at Illinois, the clarity of "From the Top" and "Illinois Loyalty" was lights out far better clarity fidelity and volume than "The Rouser" and "Our Minnesota" which seems to be the favorite of our new band director. I am showing my age. Frank Bencriscutto is gone. He liked playing "The Rouser" much more often than the present director does. I consider "The Rouser" to be our signature, our marquee, and our trademark. I think it should be played twice as often as the rest of our Gopher songs, which I love. We need to reestablish our brand name recognition and "The Rouser" can help with that. I know I am biased, but I consider it to be the in the top 5 of all college fight songs.

3. It was so nice to win today, especially on the last play, with our defense on the field, doing their job successfully. Not a head hanging loss on the last play like against NU and Purdue in the Metrodome. Maybe Jerry Kill is bringing us some good luck? I hope so. Whatever. Wins are good. I am a happy Golden Gopher tonight.

 

[Schnauzer]

I have said the same thing before. You don't have to watch a ton of college football to quickly realize the mic job for the MN band is horrible. It usually sounds like a small section and not the whole band. This goes back years. I used to assume it was because of dome acoustics. Since moving to TCF, it is apparent it is instead due to some sort of human error where the person in charge hasn't heard 'hail to the victors' on TV.

 

[freshtrout]

I guess a few emails to the BTN/ESPN are in order. It can't be that hard to have a mic out front of the band so that the whole wall of sound is captured. Yesterday the tubas were (once again) the loudest. They may just have to raise the height of the mic(s) a bit to correct it. They also may be using directional mics, with the tubas in the main directional pattern of the mix - might try to switch to omnidirectional mic(s)......

 

[Gopherdrummer]

The BTN does a pretty poor job with mic's. For the past two weeks there has only been one mic strapped to the goal post above the band. With horns facing the home and away sidelines to send sound to the seats, you will naturally pick up less parts. ESPN seems to do a better job in that they use multiple mic's placed at the corners of the pit. But really there are a lot of constraints. With the walls so much closer to the sidelines there isn't much room to place mic's in front of the band. Other schools have the advantage of old stadiums that have more space. They also lack concrete walls that surround the band. Again ESPN does a better job but that is due to more years of experience and more money to afford better mic's.

 

[Ski U Master]

more money to afford better mic's.

I'm pretty sure this isn't the reason why.

 

[6 Nov 1999]

I'm pretty sure this isn't the reason why.

Ski U Master,

1. Like I stated earlier in this thread. BTN did a brilliant job setting up microphones for the ASU at Illinois game.

2. ESPN does no better when they are in town. Witness the Iowa at Minnesota game in 2010. It was horrible what they did to squelch our band and The Rouser.

3. I think there is correlation here with Miami of Ohio receiving no penalties yesterday, and Kim Royston's interception against New Mexico State being ruled pass interference. I am still working through the 2nd half of the NMSU game to rewatch the Gray touchdown which was reversed. Many on this board swear he was down before the ball clipped the end zone pylon. I am still skeptical, so I will have to rewatch it again.

4. We shall see what happens in the NFL today. Normally, the Vikings do no lose following a Gophers win. The NFL protects its markets jealously. It would be nice if somebody in the math department would run some some statistical analyses correlating Gopher wins / losses vis-a-vis Vikings win / losses over the last 50 some years.

5. Never ever discount the influence of organized crime, or who they stuff in their pockets.

 

[Ski U Master]

Ski U Master,

1. Like I stated earlier in this thread. BTN did a brilliant job setting up microphones for the ASU at Illinois game.

2. ESPN does no better when they are in town. Witness the Iowa at Minnesota game in 2010. It was horrible what they did to squelch our band and The Rouser.

3. I think there is correlation here with Miami of Ohio receiving no penalties yesterday, and Kim Royston's interception against New Mexico State being ruled pass interference. I am still working through the 2nd half of the NMSU game to rewatch the Gray touchdown which was reversed. Many on this board swear he was down before the ball clipped the end zone pylon. I am still skeptical, so I will have to rewatch it again.

4. We shall see what happens in the NFL today. Normally, the Vikings do no lose following a Gophers win. The NFL protects its markets jealously. It would be nice if somebody in the math department would run some some statistical analyses correlating Gopher wins / losses vis-a-vis Vikings win / losses over the last 50 some years.

5. Never ever discount the influence of organized crime.

Good lord. I hope you're wearing your tinfoil hat.

 

[6 Nov 1999]

Good lord. I hope you're wearing your tinfoil hat.

Ski U Master,

1. Have somebody in our math department run statistical analyses correlating Gopher wins / losses vis-a-vis Vikings win / losses.

2. This would be a good master's thesis project, and might provide some new insight into the way bookies operate.

3. Yes, anybody who criticizes the NFL and suggests there might be collusion between the NFL and organized crime ought to be force fed a cocktail of psychotropic drugs by court order.

 

[station19]

Ski U Master,

1. Have somebody in our math department run statistical analyses correlating Gopher wins / losses vis-a-vis Vikings win / losses.

2. This would be a good master's thesis project, and might provide some new insight into the way bookies operate.

3. Yes, anybody who criticizes the NFL and suggests there might be collusion between the NFL and organized crime ought to be force fed a cocktail of psychotropic drugs by court order.

Gopher Hole is definitely good entertainment.

 

[maliksealy]

Ski U Master,

1. Have somebody in our math department run statistical analyses correlating Gopher wins / losses vis-a-vis Vikings win / losses.

2. This would be a good master's thesis project, and might provide some new insight into the way bookies operate.

3. Yes, anybody who criticizes the NFL and suggests there might be collusion between the NFL and organized crime ought to be force fed a cocktail of psychotropic drugs by court order.

I think he might actually be serious.

 

[RailBaronYarr]

Ski U Master,

1. Have somebody in our math department run statistical analyses correlating Gopher wins / losses vis-a-vis Vikings win / losses.

2. This would be a good master's thesis project, and might provide some new insight into the way bookies operate.

3. Yes, anybody who criticizes the NFL and suggests there might be collusion between the NFL and organized crime ought to be force fed a cocktail of psychotropic drugs by court order.

Well the Vikings lost today, and I'd definitely say the reffing in the 2nd half was even to a tilt towards the Bucs. I'll have the stats guys at my work start running the numbers tomorrow to see if there are any trends.