Semi-related to this, I tried this new hack and despite the additional moving parts, it worked out really well.
I typically watch the Tigers broadcast through MLB app on Apple TV so I can implement the audio overlay. I simply cannot bear it hear Shep and rotating cast of grizzled old players for even a single second if I can avoid it.
The issue for me is, I also dislike the Tigers video, or more exactly, Bally RSN’s video. They take up a ton of real estate at the bottom with not only the score box, but the 24/7 crawl underneath it, which features a distressingly high percentage of non-baseball and even promotional items. TBF, this is true for a lot of Tiger opponents, too (e.g., Guardians, Twins, Royals, etc.)
But now that I’ve discovered how to easily implement the Bluetooth mode on my TV’s soundbar, I’ve figured out an effective way to overlay Tiger audio over the opponent’s video when we play a team with a cleaner screen, like the Dodgers. SNLA shows only a score box in the lower right corner and a logo in the upper right, with a crawl only maybe once an hour for a couple of minutes. The rest of the screen is clear of such obstructions.
What I do is, I put the Dodger’s video on the TV, call up Dan Dickerson on my MLB app on my phone, and cast the audio to the soundbar’s BT mode. From that point, it’s only a matter of pausing the one source to let the other catch up to it, and voila: Dickerson and Petry calling the game over a clean opponent’s video.
It worked great last night except for the one inning where the video was delayed and not matching up to the audio, and then I had to change it back with the next inning. I assume the Dodgers TV director paused the telecast a few seconds to allow some promotional spot to finish, then made the telecast “live” again for the next inning.
But yeah, once I got there, it was like a dream telecast. No more annoying constant live crawls; in fact, no more big chunk of real estate given over to junk at the bottom of the screen leading to a compressed picture above it. It was great.
And bonus: there were none of the constant cutaways to the booth or to the stands for any of those distracting interviews the Tigers telecasters like to do, I guess to take the pressure off Shep and Whoever having to pay too close attention to the game, which, I don’t know, maybe hurts their heads or something. The Dodgers TV people don’t go in for that nonsense.
Gonna do it again today!
