MLB.com Audio = Train Wreck

Last year, I would often find myself straining to listen to Tigers day games on an old radio I brought from home. Since our office is architecturally similar to a minimum-security prison (grey cinder-block walls, tiny windows, big steel doors every 20 feet or so throughout), the reception was shaky at best. This year, I thought “Hey…mlb.com audio is only $15 for the whole year. That’s less than $1 per day game.”

So far, it feels like a BIG MISTAKE.

I have yet to get a single audio feed up today. I’ve tried on Windows and Ubuntu, using Firefox 2, IE6, and IE7. It just doesn’t work. Even better, it’s not even consistent in the way it breaks. Sometimes the player comes up with a blank screen, sometimes half of it loads and then it just stalls.

Their technical support line (866.800.1275) is completely bogged down to the point where they just drop you after about five minutes on hold.

This may be a case of trying to do too much at once. The FAQ has parallel instructions for the accursed SilverLight AND Windows Media Player 9+. My guess would be that the MLB suits took some quick cash from MS and didn’t bother to give the developers enough time to actually make it work. The whole thing stinks of rushed development.

If it’s not up by next week I’ll be canceling, and then it’s back to scratchy AM radio for me.

UPDATE 2008.4.3: I’ve gotten it to work in Safari on Windows, which isn’t even a supported configuration. It works with or without Silverlight (it will use Windows Media Player if it can’t find Silverlight).

UPDATE 2008.4.10: I cancelled a few days back, but it was still “working,” so to speak…I wonder if I’m actually getting my money back.