MLB.TV: How Not to Handle Video Online

(MoneyWatch)  Take a look at next-generation video sites like Hulu and Joost. It's encouraging to see engineers raising the bar for the experience of watching television online.

Then there is that tireless standard bearer for lowering the bar: MLB.TV. The good news for MLB.com's streaming coverage of games is that the opening day of baseball for 2008 brought with it a record number of viewers: 1.7 million, more than double the number a year ago. Some 36,000 new subscribers signed up Tuesday alone.

The bad news is that a record number of people learned Tuesday just how awful MLB.TV is. It offers multiple options for watching baseball games on your computer - and each one has its own suite of frustrations and glitches. Take your pick! The Mosaic player shut out fans who had been waiting only six months to see their teams play again.

An MLB.TV blog that seems to be devoted to apologizing to swarms of angry baseball fans posted no fewer than seven items pleading for patience and urging users to try again. Each one drew in turn its share of froth and venom. (Sample: "It is a bit ridiculous to pay 20 dollars a month to beta test a product.")

The blog VentureBeat noted that other popular sports events had no trouble streaming to the masses online.

MLB.TV looks especially bad when compared to the ongoing NCAA Tournament which has had great success in its presentation of games online through CBSsports.com. Traffic numbers have been huge and that service is also available to everyone for free.

In fairness, the tech support did seem to be working hard to respond to individual complaints, there were just so many. Note to Major League Baseball executives: It is never a good idea to stand between fans and their teams.