iSky Live Sport - Am I too stupid to understand??

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pantsless

29 posts

Geek

#84619 3-Jun-2011 14:06

Hi all,

Thanks to those who replied on the last thread regarding MySky.

We've since had it installed and the tech confirmed the LNB was toast and he replaced it.

Now, I logged on this afternoon to iSky and signed up and tried to watch Live Sport and was told it's only available with Multiroom.

I must be stupid because I don't just don't understand the logic behind it being only available for multiroom subscribers and I've spent a good 60 seconds thinking about it...

I'm so confused I'm struggling to form the right sentence....

If I've got 2 TV's and I had multiroom installed and I wanted to watch the Warriors, why would I bother watching it online if i had 2 TV's to pick from? Surely if I only had 1 TV and iSky then I would let the missus watch whatever while I watched Live Sport on the pooter. Why do mutliroom subscribers have the need for an extra TV if they've already got more than one...did they do market research and someone said "If only I had a online service to watch sport because the 6 TV's at my house were all being watched?"

it just doesn't make sense. Am I missing something? Am I the only one who doesn't have mulltiroom? It just seems like a massive, massive upgrade to get the functionality (not that I'm even considering it of course)

Can anyone explain it for me?

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46 posts

Geek

#477428 3-Jun-2011 14:26

Yea it's absurd. Only reason I can think of is that they expect you to watch iSky at a remote location. Even then the streaming is flash-based so you're limited to desktop pc's and maybe Android mobiles.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#477438 3-Jun-2011 14:48

the reason they require you to have multiroom is that if they didn't, then a lot of their multiroom revenue would dissapear as people would cancel it because they can use isky to watch sport for no extra charge in their bedroom/rumpus etc instead of paying $20 for multiroom to do the same.

seems pretty obvious to me.

maverick

3594 posts

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WorldxChange

#477440 3-Jun-2011 14:50

The reason will be if they allow you to watch it with one just one subscription, why would you buy multiroom, how many people would just get the single decoder and have a media PC setup for the second room ... a lot

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

pantsless

29 posts

Geek

#477449 3-Jun-2011 15:15

Look, I understand the previous two posts but it begs a bigger question? Why does it exist at all in it's current format?

Sport - You'd only watch it if it were live and possibly if you weren't home...if I had the choice of watching a live game on TV or the internet, I know which one I'd choose.

Movies - I guess I expected a Netflix type service and it does seem to exist for some movies but for others you need to have a subscription level. That's fine, but most movies are on numerous times per month and if you had MySky surely you would just record it and watch it later when you had some spare time...on your TV

It just seems to be completely pointless...even if I had 2 TV's, it seems it offers nothing that would persuade me to upgrade to multiroom/movies...It's kind of like it was an afterthought...

Why couldn't they model the sport component of it like ESPN3 in the US?

vexxxboy

4243 posts

Uber Geek

#477494 3-Jun-2011 16:19

i have Multiroom and can watch Isky and i have never used it, like you i see no point in it, the only time it has been used if my Father, who dosent have sky, wants to watch a live sports game then he uses my account to watch it . Not sure if thats strictly what they had in mind but at least someone uses it.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

Sphyre

75 posts

Master Geek

#477512 3-Jun-2011 16:49

iSky adds even more flexibility to multiroom. We have multiroom but I still sometimes like to watch sports in my bed on the laptop (particularly for games in the wee hours of the morning) because the multiroom TV isn't in my bedroom.

or at least it would if it worked, but it's completely unreliable and pretty poor quality to boot.

jjnz1

1358 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#477524 3-Jun-2011 17:24

Maybe a subscriber who has multiroom provides sky with more profit per account, and therefore Sky are able to subsidize the users with the cost of iSky?

Maybe they will release a iSky monthly subscription, but would you pay for it? Remember iSky is still in beta.

I think you would be more likely to subscribe to multiroom and get free iSky, rather than pay extra to just subscribe to iSky.

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grant_k

3539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#477533 3-Jun-2011 17:42

Sphyre: iSky adds even more flexibility to multiroom. We have multiroom but I still sometimes like to watch sports in my bed on the laptop (particularly for games in the wee hours of the morning) because the multiroom TV isn't in my bedroom.

or at least it would if it worked, but it's completely unreliable and pretty poor quality to boot.

In my experience, iSky is a crock:

- Playback starts OK, and continues for a period of between 1 and 10 minutes;

- Then, the message: "The selected item is not currently available" appears;

- If I restart playback, and skip to the point where it stopped, I will get another few minutes of playback, before it stops again.

I managed to watch a one hour documentary, by restarting playback at least 10 times, but it does get rather annoying, so I haven't bothered watching anything else.

Despite numerous calls to Sky Tech. Support, I have been unable to get any answers on this one.

maverick

3594 posts

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WorldxChange

#477539 3-Jun-2011 18:00

Talk to Orcon Grant they supply the CDN unicast network over shared peering points... your not the only one that this occurs too btw so don't feel left out

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

old3eyes

9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#477664 4-Jun-2011 09:34

maverick: The reason will be if they allow you to watch it with one just one subscription, why would you buy multiroom, how many people would just get the single decoder and have a media PC setup for the second room ... a lot

Using that logic then you should not be able to watch news live on iSky without multiroom. This must have multiroom to watch live sport is the work of a monopoly provider to get more money out of the suckers..

Regards,

Old3eyes

pantsless

29 posts

Geek

#477666 4-Jun-2011 09:38

The funny thing is, I found out last night that ESPN3 is available on iSky. I'd pay a small fee to watch that one channel online. Instead I have to fork out an extra $20 fer month and get an extra TV just to watch it.

grant_k

3539 posts

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Trusted

#477716 4-Jun-2011 12:54

maverick: Talk to Orcon Grant they supply the CDN unicast network over shared peering points... your not the only one that this occurs too btw so don't feel left out

Many Thanks for that info. Phil :)

It's the first helpful answer I've had regarding this issue. Don't know how I would get on talking to Orcon though, as I'm not a customer of theirs. Now I know that it's not my setup at fault, I'm inclined just to wait until the "BETA" sign disappears, and try again then. All bets are off as to when that will be though, as it's been in Beta for over 6 months now...

maverick

3594 posts

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Trusted

WorldxChange

#477722 4-Jun-2011 13:08

Yes it has and the performance is still the same, we zero rate the traffic on our network but the quality of the CDN is not with us I'm afraid

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#477741 4-Jun-2011 14:36

Its all about money for Sky....always will be since they have no competition as such. IMo isky is a feeble attempt to prepare for the inevitable switch to NBN type television watching and I am sure will have some political meaning.

Pity they wouldnt spend some money on their subscriber base by upgrading to more HD channels or larger recordable size mysky boxes.

clevedon

1059 posts

Uber Geek

#477745 4-Jun-2011 14:48

pantsless: Sport - You'd only watch it if it were live and possibly if you weren't home...if I had the choice of watching a live game on TV or the internet, I know which one I'd choose.

That is the reason I use iSKY, to watch live sport at work

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