Sky Sport Now - 2019 changes

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#2939892 8-Jul-2022 21:27

JonnyCam:

Perkynana:

Hi Tim, thanks for your reply. I’m central Auckland too with similar i/net quality.

Im old(er) 55+ and have had sky set top box for donkey years. Other than rain fade drop out occasionally I have been very happy with quality of satellite feed and general image quality

This SSN product is a bucket of shite…might be a bit cheaper but what I save i will need to spend at specsavers and a phycotherapist to watch this…the shadowy motion of sport picture almost makes me nauseous.

I will drop SSN an email to see what if any surety they can give on planned improvements and when.

I couldn’t recommend this product to anyone…and I’m a sky shareholder

Sky really need to lift their game if there serious about this product for streaming sports.

cheers

Based on what they said about their inprovements to the android tv app mid month, they were also changing stream supplier, so maybe that will produce the magic,

My eyes must be broken, as I watched the AB v Ire, and no issues, and quality was good (android TV, Sony 65 X90G)

I have had issues with the white ball across the ground in cricket though, a but blocky.

Optus was great I could switch and watch other games , the mini games and highlight games were better than what spark offered. I still have a prepaid Optus sim so I could get it for $5 per month not sure what the normal price is

dougierydal

327 posts

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#2940026 9-Jul-2022 12:09

JPNZ:

dougierydal:

Stan is a great service, just watched 'From' in 4K on their network, and looking forward to watching the AB's v Ireland in it on the weekend.

This won't be in 4K though right?

Actually you're right, but the Aussie v England game after is, so will check that out,,,

CutCutCut

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#2940305 10-Jul-2022 09:45

The All Blacks test last night was my first experience using Sky Sport Now. The app was ok, not the most user friendly but I was expecting the quality of the stream to be pretty good if not excellent, especially given the premium price Sky charge. I was pretty disappointed. It was a step up from the dodgy streams you can find and a lot more stable but the quality was not great. There was very clear and obvious compression artifacts, the grass was a constant mess of shifting blocks, a lot of the full frame graphics had blocks of colour where shading and gradients should have been. I was using an Android device and casting to a Chromecast ultra that is hard wired into my network, and am on the fastest fibre plan 2degrees provide, so wifi a non issue, and plenty of bandwidth. I've sent an email off to sky to ask what kind of bitrate they provide.

I've not noticed such poor video compression on any other paid service. Although unsurprisingly my experience with Neon has been similar, pretty poor video quality, and no 5.1 audio. Sky need to do better and they should be doing a lot better given the premium prices they charge. Mark me down as underwhelmed and unimpressed! If I was a big sports nut looking for a streaming service, I'd definitely be trying to find a better option than Sky Sports Now.

Perkynana

24 posts

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#2940313 10-Jul-2022 10:10

Good post. I’ve found exactly same experience as I’ve just come off the sky satellite subscription.

I’ve be experimenting watching the nrl games the last few days on satellite, skygo and skysportsnow

My viewing quality results are

Number 1 by far is satellite.

Number 2 is skygo casting to tv off my iPad via chromecast with google tv

Number 3 is skysports now

There is also quite noticeable image, colour definition and sound variation between skygo and skysportsnow

eracode

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#2940324 10-Jul-2022 10:54

Yep - the AB's game on Sky Sport Now last night was crap streaming quality. Sky should be ashamed of themselves.

The quality of the stream reflected the quailty of the AB's play.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Starlith

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#2940348 10-Jul-2022 12:42

CutCutCut: The All Blacks test last night was my first experience using Sky Sport Now. The app was ok, not the most user friendly but I was expecting the quality of the stream to be pretty good if not excellent, especially given the premium price Sky charge. I was pretty disappointed. It was a step up from the dodgy streams you can find and a lot more stable but the quality was not great. There was very clear and obvious compression artifacts, the grass was a constant mess of shifting blocks, a lot of the full frame graphics had blocks of colour where shading and gradients should have been. I was using an Android device and casting to a Chromecast ultra that is hard wired into my network, and am on the fastest fibre plan 2degrees provide, so wifi a non issue, and plenty of bandwidth. I've sent an email off to sky to ask what kind of bitrate they provide.

I've not noticed such poor video compression on any other paid service. Although unsurprisingly my experience with Neon has been similar, pretty poor video quality, and no 5.1 audio. Sky need to do better and they should be doing a lot better given the premium prices they charge. Mark me down as underwhelmed and unimpressed! If I was a big sports nut looking for a streaming service, I'd definitely be trying to find a better option than Sky Sports Now.

Its a dogshit product but too many people defend them on social media channels and they hide behind the same excuses such as what TV you have, tv settings, appletv, laptop fine etc

As a company they show that they are not accountable for this product and it will take many people to complain how inferior it is compared to the other offerings before they take action.

fishb8

85 posts

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#2940452 10-Jul-2022 17:18

I'm an oldster who has had the MySky box from day 1 and been very happy with it. Had to subscribe to Spark Sport for EPL and that too went hassle free.

I have a 3 y/o panasonic 55"and gig BB from My Republic. Paid for sky box, years ago, as my Panasonic recorder packed in a month after guarantee. The idea that Sky would replace any defected box appealed and has needed replacement - all for free, of course.

Picture for both from satellite and streaming has been great but a bit concerned that I'll still be able to record regular TV1, etc and EPL on sky sport as not going to get up to have to watch live.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

CutCutCut

1039 posts

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#2940617 11-Jul-2022 09:12

eracode:
Yep - the AB's game on Sky Sport Now last night was crap streaming quality. Sky should be ashamed of themselves.

The quality of the stream reflected the quailty of the AB's play.

Too right! I feel a little bit for the crew who are probably doing a great job of the actual coverage given the equipment they're using but by the time it gets to some of the viewers it's so smooshed down that it looks a bit rubbish and all of their hard work is unrecognisable.

CutCutCut

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#2940622 11-Jul-2022 09:26

Starlith:
CutCutCut: The All Blacks test last night was my first experience using Sky Sport Now. The app was ok, not the most user friendly but I was expecting the quality of the stream to be pretty good if not excellent, especially given the premium price Sky charge. I was pretty disappointed. It was a step up from the dodgy streams you can find and a lot more stable but the quality was not great. There was very clear and obvious compression artifacts, the grass was a constant mess of shifting blocks, a lot of the full frame graphics had blocks of colour where shading and gradients should have been. I was using an Android device and casting to a Chromecast ultra that is hard wired into my network, and am on the fastest fibre plan 2degrees provide, so wifi a non issue, and plenty of bandwidth. I've sent an email off to sky to ask what kind of bitrate they provide.

I've not noticed such poor video compression on any other paid service. Although unsurprisingly my experience with Neon has been similar, pretty poor video quality, and no 5.1 audio. Sky need to do better and they should be doing a lot better given the premium prices they charge. Mark me down as underwhelmed and unimpressed! If I was a big sports nut looking for a streaming service, I'd definitely be trying to find a better option than Sky Sports Now.

Its a dogshit product but too many people defend them on social media channels and they hide behind the same excuses such as what TV you have, tv settings, appletv, laptop fine etc

As a company they show that they are not accountable for this product and it will take many people to complain how inferior it is compared to the other offerings before they take action.

It's probably a hangover from the legacy of Fellet (not sure if that's the correct spelling) and the board from those days, who had zero interest in future proofing the company for the future. In saying that they've had plenty of time to sort this out and should have done so already. I didn't have high expectations but I did expect a pretty decent 1080p stream and clearly that isn't what they're able to deliver. I sent an email to sky asking for what bitrate they using, and for some technical detail. All I got is a long cut and pasted reply about "adaptive streaming technology in app and is optimized for to the best available based on your device capabilities, network congestion, and speed at the time of the feed" with no actual detail of what sort of bitrate can be ideally expected. The was also a long cut and paste about restarting everything and how to cast etc etc.

I was afraid that when they struck the deal with NZ rugby that they would no longer have any incentive to produce a truly good sport streaming product. Seems to be holding true so far. I'd be pretty upset if I was NZ rugby that they're just so uninterested in getting it right.

tdgeek

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#2940623 11-Jul-2022 09:30

My cynical take is that if it was excellent there may be droves running away from Sky and just use SSN. It all depends if they haven't got it right or dont want it to be perfect

CutCutCut

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#2940676 11-Jul-2022 12:34

tdgeek:
My cynical take is that if it was excellent there may be droves running away from Sky and just use SSN. It all depends if they haven't got it right or dont want it to be perfect

You make a very good point.

evnafets

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#2940688 11-Jul-2022 13:10

It definitely was the case that in the past Sky effectively 'crippled' its online offerings to prevent cannibalising its box revenue.

Sky Go - was limited in definition to play on a tablet/phone only - unable to cast to TV.

Sky Sport Now - a.k.a Fanpass was given a massive subscription cost.

Since that time things have improved somewhat.
Sky Go has moved to a 'new digital platform' with much improved resolution and capability.

As I understand it the idea is to move other apps (Sky Sport Now, Neon etc) to that new platform to get a consistent level of quality, and also simplify things under the hood. i.e. have one digital streaming platform rather than one for Sky Go, one for Neon, one for Sky Sport Now, one for ...Unfortunately these things always seem to take longer than anyone thinks they should. And even when things get there, it will only be where things needed to be 5 years ago.
Where's the 4k? Where's the 5.1 sound?

stocksp

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#2940689 11-Jul-2022 13:16

evnafets:

It definitely was the case that in the past Sky effectively 'crippled' its online offerings to prevent cannibalising its box revenue.

Sky Go - was limited in definition to play on a tablet/phone only - unable to cast to TV.

Sky Sport Now - a.k.a Fanpass was given a massive subscription cost.

Since that time things have improved somewhat.
Sky Go has moved to a 'new digital platform' with much improved resolution and capability.

As I understand it the idea is to move other apps (Sky Sport Now, Neon etc) to that new platform to get a consistent level of quality, and also simplify things under the hood. i.e. have one digital streaming platform rather than one for Sky Go, one for Neon, one for Sky Sport Now, one for ...Unfortunately these things always seem to take longer than anyone thinks they should. And even when things get there, it will only be where things needed to be 5 years ago.
Where's the 4k? Where's the 5.1 sound?

well not a great strategy today. If SSN is not of sufficient quality, I just won't use it or any other Sky offerings. I will do without

Senecio

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#2940786 11-Jul-2022 18:36

Hopefully its OK to discuss this here as I won't go into circumventing geo restrictions, that's saved for the hidden forum. This is more to contrast and compare different services and what SSN needs to offer to be on par with similar services from across the ditch.

I've been a long term subscriber to Kayo sports from Australia. Kayo being a Foxtel product is a very similar offering to SSN however the two couldn't be further apart in terms of quality. Kayo provides a rock solid 1080p 50fps feed of live sport at ~7.5Mbs. Its not perfect, at 7.5Mbs you still get some compression artefacts particular with fast panning cameras etc.. but its so far ahead of SSN its not funny.

I've recently signed up to a free trial of Stan which is a Fairfax media, channel Nine product. Stan offers both on demand movies and TV as well as live and on demand sport. For about the same price as SSN. Last night I watched the Wimbledon final in 4K @~17Mbs which was stunning. Even the HD sports content is superior to Kayo let alone SSN.

Sky satellite will never see another penny of my money. I really want to support the Sky streaming product but I won't until they take the quality of their product seriously. And by quality that's picture as well as user interface.

pulsta

164 posts

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#2940829 11-Jul-2022 21:02

Senecio:
I've recently signed up to a free trial of Stan which is a Fairfax media, channel Nine product. Stan offers both on demand movies and TV as well as live and on demand sport. For about the same price as SSN. Last night I watched the Wimbledon final in 4K @~17Mbs which was stunning. Even the HD sports content is superior to Kayo let alone SSN.

Bugger, requires a VPN - was looking forward to trying this out

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