NHL Gamecentre Live and Chrome Cast

[hoboryan]

Hi,

Wasn't able to get any help with the chat. In Rogers' ads for NHL Game Centre Live 2015/16 season, Chromecast is indicated as one of the supported devices. Does this mean that when we are on the IOS or Android NHL app and load up a game we can cast it to our chromecast/tv setup?

The issue I ask is because the NHL app would need to be updated to support chromecast given that it is not currently on Google's list of chromecast supported apps: https://www.google.ca/chrome/devices/chromecast/apps.html#?view=featured

The current NHL app in IOS is only updated as of July 25, 2015 and it does not have Chromecast native support. Given that the NHL season is starting soon, can Rogers let us know how they intend to get NHL GCL working on Chromecast?

Regards,

Ryan

[FortMaxWave]

It seems to work well for me with Chromecast (2nd gen) and Android App. At least with yesterday's VAN/LA archive game. Got a few connection problems at start of season last year but everything is working well since..

Quick tip: if stuck on "Ready to Cast" screen, restart everything and be sure to start/enable chromecast app (get til "ready to cast") before clicking the game you want to watch.. might help sometime..

[Dabrit]

What type of phone are you using to cast to your Chromecast?? Im using am S5 on android 6.0.1 and all that happens is the NHL logo pops up on my screen and it says Ready To Cast but the game will not start from the archives....yet using my room mates ios NHL app on his phone it will cast no problem

[FortMaxWave]

Nexus 6P on Android 7.1 (don't think it changes anything)

Quick tip: if stuck on "Ready to Cast" screen, disconnect/restart everything and be sure to start chromecast app (get til "ready to cast") before clicking the game you want to watch.. might help sometime..

[Dabrit]

Ok weird literally just now I tried again hitting the cast button inside of the NHL app and then the same thing happened with the NHL logo popping up but the game not loading then i hit the cast button a second time and all of a sudden it worked....thank god.

[Dabrit]

Ok so now that I can actually get games working on my Chromecast via the android NHL app I am being annoyed by tge fact the games are running really choppy and lose streaming quality often throughout the games.

This makes no sense as I have Shaw 150 internet getting over 100mbps download speeds and 25mbps upload and my Chromecast Ultra is hardwired via an Ethernet cable to the router.

This is not a bandwidth or issue with my chromecast as I can stream 4K HDR content/ Dolby Vision content and the content runs perfectly and obviously would use far more bandwidth and is of far higher fidelity.

I was having similar issues last season although back then I didn't have nearly as good a interner but obviously thats not even the issue here what gives??

If I simply just watch it on my phone it runs at full quality and does not lag this again appears to be a Rogers NHL Live compatability issue with Chromecast and not allowing it to run at full spec.

Please Rogers please get your product working properly.

Again I repeat I am only ever uaving issues with chromecast streaming with your guys service. Youtube Netflix Amazon Prime all run flawlessly and in 4K HDR. Your service cant even run at 1080p/720p smoothly.

Any suggestions??

[RogersShaun]

Hi @Dabrit,

Thanks for reaching out.  It sounds like you're as pumped as I am for the season to start! First Leafs pre-season tonight. Can't wait!

I completely understand the need for smooth, high-quality streams, especially with hockey. I haven't had a chance to cast from the NHL app so far this year, but I did a handful of times last season from my Galaxy S7 with no real quality issues.  I'll definitely be trying again as soon as I can, and will post back with my own results. 

Has anyone else in the Community noticed any quality issues with Chromecast recently?

Go Leafs Go!

RogersShaun

[Dugi]

I have always noticed quality issues with Chromecast. It is hit and miss. For me the picture quality can be anything from "far exceeding anything on rogers cable" to constant buffering and a picture quality so poor that you just want to quit watching. 

As for Chromecast, I tried all of my devices this evening to see how things were working. After all, it is just exhibition games right now. First, I tried my laptop. When I tried to cast to Chromecast, all I got was the message "Ready to Cast" on my TV but no game. I was about ready to reset my Chromecast device but then decided to try the app on my wife's iPad. There were no problems whatsoever - perfect cast and a perfect picture. Next, I tried my Android phone. When clicking on a game I tried to click the 'watch' icon - nothing happened. I then discovered another icon that did allow me to watch the game. The picture quality when casting from my phone was a little shaky - ranging from great to some pauses - almost as though the video was stuttering. Every test this evening was the Chicago/Columbus game as many other games were not available. 

My conclusion: I would not pay for NHL Gamecentre Live. It is included free with my package, but seriously, it needs a lot of work. Hopefully, the kinks can be worked out before the regular season starts. Based on last season though, I am not hopeful. The whole NHL Gamecentre Live thing worked much better a few years ago when we could subscribe directly through the NHL site. Ever since rogers took over, the whole experience has been one frustration after another.

[FortMaxWave]

I noticed quality issues too.

[hoboryan]

Everyone else getting the same lag issue? It literally like sputters every half second so that the video looks like slomo. Every game tonight is like this.

I think we also had the same problem last year intermittently. Hopefully it gets corrected by the regular season.

[Dugi]

Well, this is my experience tonight, for what it is worth, though it does not seem to be worth much as most of us never hear anything back.

First, I tried to log in through the rogers page:

https://gamecentrelive.rogers.com/en/signin?destination_url=signin?

I started the Chicago/Detroit game and it played on my laptop, but guess what? There was no Chromecast icon. I then logged out and went here to log in.

https://www.nhl.com/login/rogers

Low and behold, I tried the same game and the Chromecast icon was there. The picture was choppy and audio stuttered. 

I then tried through the app on my android phone and it said the media was not available. Rogers, you have a whole lot of work to get this up and running before the season begins. Why not admit defeat and run this stuff through the NHL site?

[hoboryan]

I don't think these guys care. I started this thread 2 years ago and the problems are still there!!

Why should we keep paying for this? The quality is worse and less reliable than pirated streams.

[Dabrit]

Wow just wow.

After trying and failing to post yet another complaint to this site for over 3 days now Im getting increasingly annoyed not even your forum site was working correctly.

Ill say it again Im not sure theres much point as you guys are doing basically jack squat to resolve these issues that people are paying good money for.

So I have not been able to watch a single game without losing quality of stream going from say 720p down to 180p and then games just freezing altogether literally every single game has done this when casting the game through the chromecast. I double checked my internet speed and no issues there 160mbps down. And literally anything else including 4K HDR content on both youtube and Netflix play flawlessly using the same Chromecast...... Seriously fix this this is outrageous.

Sure i could just watch the games direct on my 4 " screen phone.....but sorry Im not an ant and like most people I should be enjoying my games on my 65 " OLED.

WHEN WILL THIS BE FIXED?!?!?

[RogersTony]

Hello @Dabrit,

I completely understand your frustration with the quality of the streams on your Chromecast. With the season fast approaching it's important that the App works properly so you can enjoy the games on your big screen.

The NHL has opened up select pre-season games that you can access. Don’t forget that these games are subject to regional blackouts.

Some games require TV authentication. This means that you must subscribe to the channel that airs the game with a participating TV provider (Rogers, Telus, Eastlink, Source Cable, Videotron) in order to be able to watch it.

For more information on TV Authentication visit: https://gamecentrelive.rogers.com/en/support-FAQs

I hope this helps!

RogersTony

[micredable]

Blackouts are clearly not the issue here.

All these people experiencing issues and Rogers hasn't addressed the problem. Instead the fault obviously lies with the user.

The season starts in a week. I'm willing to bet these issues are not addressed in that time.

Gamecenter might as well remove Chromecast support from their advertising. They clearly have no intention of actually supporting it.

[Dabrit]

I dont understand your point here?? The ganes I was watching werent blackout games or ones requiring TV subscription authentication.

They were regular preseason games which would play but not run properly freezing buffering and losing quality throughout each game ive watched.

You might just as well have responded:
" Crocodiles because hobbits don't lay eggs"

Thanks so much for your ever insightful resolutions

[Dugi]

My experience tonight was a nightmare. I tried logging in here and got 404 bad request. Then I tried here and got to watch part of a game. Then it conked out. I got so much buffering that I could not watch. I stopped Chromecast. Then tried again, but Chromecast icon was gone. Fifteen minutes later it was back. I got to see the last few minutes of the game. Seriously rogers....fix this!

[RFelker]

Also having the same terrible casting experience with gamecentre and chromecast this season and all last season. Watching directly via my Samsung tablet the streams were ok and vis PS4. Rogers needs to remove chromecast support and stop wasting our time as they are clearly not addressing this issue.

[Dugi]

Seriously rogers, it is the first night of the regular season and the Chromecast icon is simply not there. There is no ability to cast. Are we going to have to put with this kind of garbage all season, just as we did last season? If the pre-season is any indication and the first night of the regular season, you guys have a lot of work to do to make this work. The bigger question though is do you even care? 

[RogersMaude]

Good evening @Dugi,

Thank you for your post. 

I understand the inconveniences caused by the Chromecast issue you're experiencing with Rogers NHL LIVE.

Has the issue been resolved since you posted?

We certainly do care and wish to help you resolve this as soon as possible.

What troubleshooting steps have you tried thus far?

If you would like us to open a ticket in order for our Back Office team to investigate this further,  please send a PM to @CommunityHelps and we can escalate this matter for review.

For instructions on how to send a Private Message, please follow this link for instructions.

RogersMaude

[Dugi]

@RogersMaude

Thank you for your reply. I do have a resolution - sort of.  Apparently, if I use my laptop, this is what happens. I select a broadcast that is already in progress. The Chromecast icon is not there. At the first commercial break, when you normally see a "Commercial Break in Progress", either rogers or the NHL inserts a series of commercials that you are now forced to watch. It also tells you that you have to disable all ad blockers. Only when you watch these commercials (tonight it was 4 of them), will the cast icon appear. To be honest, this is ridiculous. The other solution is to cast from my android phone and it worked fine. When trying from my wife's iPad, I get the following: "Error NHL.TV Access: You are not authorized to watch this feed. (Error {-3500}). The iPad worked fine a week ago and I did make sure the app was up to date. The only positive about this is that I am not paying for it as it is included with my Ignite bundle.