“The Super Bowl will be widely available to stream, free of charge, to virtually everyone in the United States with the right gear,” Erik Sofge reports for Men’s Journal. “There are surprisingly few caveats or strings attached.”
“Along with broadcasting the game live over-the-air and via cable and satellite providers, CBS is letting viewers stream the Super Bowl on a range of streaming devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Xbox One,” Sofge reports. “Users have to download the free CBS Sports app, but don’t have to enter login info associated with a cable or satellite account.”
“For the cord-cutters of the world, that scrappy minority of viewers who’ve opted out of cable and satellite bills in favor of streaming video, this looks like a major victory,” Sofge reports. “After all, sports is one of the most difficult kinds of content to watch without traditional pay TV content — you can binge through whole seasons of a drama on Amazon Instant or Netflix, but sports fans tend to want to watch games live, or as close to live as possible.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Every step closer to unbundling is welcome. Enjoy the Super Bowl and, even if you have cable or satellite, watch it on your Apple TV via the free CBS Sports app (search for it in your Apple TV App Store)!
Or, connect an old-fashioned antenna.
…for an even higher quality picture than cable can provide!
Exactly. or free web feed. No Apple TV required.
This makes no sense since the Super Bowl is not (and never has been) shown live on cable. It is always on “free” over-the-air broadcast TV. The entire premise of this article is invalid.
Sorry djackson1973, you are incorrect my friend. I’m a cord cutter and where I live I can’t get reception with an antenna so I have no other way of viewing the super bowl except through my guess what?…My Apple TV!!! This totally applies to me and I’m sure many others like me.
Same here, no over the air broadcast. I rely solely on my AppleTV for any content. Had cable, but all the channels I wanted ended up costing over hundred dollars a month for just three different channels. Each of the three channels were included one by one in higher cost packages. So, cut the cord and used the little black box to stream. So without over the air, my tv would be a black or snow filled screen. Not everyone gets free tv.
The point is that this doesn’t kill cable since it wasn’t a broadcast that required cable. Obviously certain people can’t receive a decent signal, just like certain people can’t get a fast enough connection to stream HD video consistently. This is certainly a welcome move, but the premise of the article isn’t really valid.
We’d be remiss to let this story float by without acknowledging that NFL football is Number One in viewership because it’s America’s blood sport, one so compelling that viewers can’t bring themselves look away after the brutal hits that take place almost every down. I think of the Roman Coliseum, Gladiators, and Lions.
That’s just a cold fact, the same as that CTE has affected dozens of retired players, most recently Kenny Stabler who won Super Bowl 11. Yes, he died of cancer; but he was smart enough to ask that his brain be studied for effects of concussion. They found it alright, big time.
With growing awareness and reporting, these kind of numbers could develop into a lethal majority…it could exceed Boxing and Russian Roulette amongst games that value audience thrills over players’ well-being.
Of course, should Donald Trump be elected President, we might see a rollback in rules and protective gear. I can live with that. I always preferred the old-style leather helmets that let you see more of the quarterback’s face as he was being pulverised.
Consider watching Rubgy. It’s much safer. The players are hit just as hard but not by players wearing body armour and helmets. Rugby is even played by women. http://rugbyworldcup.com/
It is America’s blood sport and I make no apologies about enjoying every brutal second of it.
As for CTE, they should study it and do everything they can to mitigate the risk and make sure players are making an informed decision when they sign on the dotted line.
“Everything they can” means banning full-contact football.
They could right now equip the helmets to measure the forces and remove a player who has just taken a big shot. They won’t though, because players would be constantly coming off and the public would realize just how brutal and dangerous it actually is.
“We’d be remiss to let this story float by ….”
Why do I get the feeling that you start a heck of lot of conversations using this exact sentence? Online and IRL.
What — you personally never use the word remiss? I think I understand. It is too hifalutin. Because you kindly brought it up and made it an issue, in the future I’ll use different words. I prefer to make a point without being dinged for my choice of language. I pride myself on being one who responds to grammar nazis, rather than fighting them. Your objections have been noted and filed.
But you didn’t really make a point.
Football is brutal.
Duh – that’s why people like it.
Hm…no wonder Roger Goodell hasn’t answered my emails and phone calls…
“ … NFL football is Number One in viewership because it’s America’s blood sport …”, ”That’s just a cold fact …”
You say this as if no one already knows it – and as if anybody would be shocked to hear it, or take it as an insult.
I would also like to see something done about CTE, but thinking that you are going to enlighten people by saying that football is brutal, is incredibly naive. Yes, it is brutal – that is why people like it. And no one is making the players sign up for it.
Yawn. It is also being shown on Roku. You know. That box that also gives you ESPN on SlingTV.
That is the biggest thing that irks me, when an over-the-air network requires a cable provider login in order to stream service. I’m looking at you ABC, NBC, CBS… If you’re giving your programing free over the air, then you shouldn’t be requiring a cable subscription to stream it. (And no my TV is too old to get the digital over air signals, but Apple TV works fine. 🙂 )
Thank your politicians who MADE cable companies carry local stations to begin, eventually making them pay fees just like for true cable stations. Justification for the move was the Nets crying they were losing viewership to cable nets and thus ad revenue.
“And no my TV is too old to get the digital over air signals …”
I have a 1970’s era, b/w Zenith TV that is able to get digital, over-air signals. All it takes is a converter box and an antena.
I hope CBS can handle the load. 😀
I’ve got a gnarly antenna setup and will be pulling the game in crystal clear over a digital signal.
Hello?… CBS is a free channel. Cord cutters – like myself – just plug in an antenna and watch TV or watch on my laptop or Apple TV… How on earth does CBS streaming it kill cable?…
Am I correct that only the 4th generation Apple TV can stream the Super Bowl? I own 3rd generation modrls (3) and don’t see a CBS Sports channel.
You have to have a US itunes account (and have it set to that account). Then the CBS Sports channel appears automatically
Even though I can watch the game on Fios, I’m going to do it from my Apple TV to support Apple.
@macnscott
Correct. Only the AppleTV4 has access to the app store.
Unless Apple adds it to the other versions, you will not stream
What a shame we US citizens living abroad aren’t allowed to watch US content on our AppleTV’s. This is where copyright law is a little absurd.
I too am a US citizen living abroad. However, you can run VPN software on your Apple TV that makes it appear to be in the US.
I use ExpressVPN (though there are many others). They have a step by step guide to setting it up. It helps with other things too, such as Hulu, Netflix, HBO, etc.
It’s not cheap, $99 a year, but it’s well worth it to me. I can run it on my Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. It’s one device at a time, but I normally don’t turn it on at all unless I need it for something specific.
You might look around first, as there may be better deals, but I’m satisfied. (I didn’t see any better deals when I was looking).
If you try it and get stuck you can send me an email at my name at gmail.
How are you using a VPN service in your Apple TV? I use VPN Unlimited for my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro, but there is no direct way for using it on an Apple TV or on even my Time Capsule either.
I don’t know about other services, but on ExpressVPN I can, using another device on the same network, “verify” the IP address. After that, only the DNS on the Apple TV needs changing for it to be recognized by the service. It’s a bit clunky, yes.
In Canada, with current ISP, only $20 difference between Internet alone and Internet/TV/Home Phone bundle. They have made it so no one will ever be able to afford cutting TV service and buying a streaming service of current shows (we have nothing like Hulu Plus here – several of the stations do offer apps, which will show the last week’s shows free; older shows only if you already pay for TV subscription – even then it doesn’t work half the time, and skipping commercials is not permitted – and, if, for some reason, the app crashes or you quit mid show – you have to start all over and watch every commercial throughout the show again).