Sky outbid for EPL rights (Premier League Pass discussion)

Forums › Online streaming services › Sky outbid for EPL rights (Premier League Pass discussion)

1 | ... | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | ... | 210

36 posts

Geek

#884970 26-Aug-2013 20:55

having resubscribed to sky because they have spurs.tv im going thru my initial
feeling of resentment and anger toward plp.

I understand I aint going to get hd on plp.
I know its a new venture thats going to have teething problems.
I know the internet is the way of the future.
I like that I can choose to watch my game live every week.

but you can roll a s**t in glitter and you know what.....
its still a s**t.

the picture on my overpriced monolpostic sky box is BEAUTIFUL!
(its a shame I need to watch it live)

also friday live coverage of the europa league on espn.
so now I need both.

anyone else feeling my pain?

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#884972 26-Aug-2013 21:02

Unfortunately yes (thought I can understand the pain when you support spurs :-P).

I'm keeping an open mind to PLP. The reality is that they have the right for the next 3 years, and I'm sure they will get better and more savvy over distribution methods but it still sucks that I might have to pay almost $50 a month to get my live EPL back in addition to Sky Sports.

Here's hoping for a good high quality stream with no stutter, good distribution methods and no more than it is now!

I do have a feeling however that there will be many a UK user signing up as you can only get 4 games a weekend from the EPL in the UK on TV given that all 3pm games are banned from TV so this can only give me hope that prices will come down over time as more subs start rolling in.

vkjc

36 posts

Geek

#885101 27-Aug-2013 08:09

rang plp call centre this morning to ask about bit rates on different android
devices as im interested in buying a tablet that actually provide a 3000 option
so I can watch the game live on my tv. (laptop looking more likely)

quote from call center operator:

I dont know, I have asked for more information and am waiting myself.

then asked about the picture quality on the utd chelsea game

let me check the picture...... oohh. its running a bit slow.
we are finding the on demand a lot better.

I then said it was alright and I know you must just have a sheet to read from
in regard to questions from customers.

response:

I dont even have that, I make it up as I go along and we were brought in with no training
and started the week before the games started.

how am I supposed to get an answer out of these people so I can watch the game in a form that is acceptable.

StarBlazer

961 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#885127 27-Aug-2013 09:25

vkjc: having resubscribed to sky because they have spurs.tv im going thru my initial
feeling of resentment and anger toward plp.

It's directed at the wrong place. Rather than returning to an abusive but comfortable relationship with Sky - they are the one you should be complaining to. They did very little with the EPL when they had it, they didn't put a sufficient bid (outbid by two others if I understand correctly) and with all that money they have saved they are still charging you the same monthly fee.

PLP have added a new dynamic to the sports medium - I have no doubt they will get better. If they really have got the rights for 3 years and they don't get better then nobody will be subscribing next season and they will, as commenters like yourself wish, go bust - but don't automatically assume that the rights will go back to Sky.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

dadada

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#885235 27-Aug-2013 13:29

I have read this forum with interest over the last few weeks. My own experience is as follows.

I support one of the larger clubs in the EPL. Up until a week ago, I could watch all of their games either live or delayed, in glorious HD on my large screen TV. I was more than happy...though completely understand how a supporter of a less popular team could be disadvantaged by the previous delivery model.

Two weeks ago, that experience changed...and for the poorer. My large screen TV has essentially be rendered useless as a viewing platform.

When PLP (Coliseum) announced that they had the rights to the EPL for the next 3 years, I thought "oh no...would NZs internet infrastructure cope? Would they be able to deliver the same experience as I have now? How easy will it be to view?". I think all of these questions have now been answered in this thread.

Regardless of whether the service will improve, IMO CURRENTLY the service is a step backwards. I would have thought that since the change was so drastic with regards to the viewing of the EPL in NZ, that they would have done everything possible to make it "easy to transition" like having iOS / Android software, Smart TV widgets and the like available on launch. I suspect that they have known for months that they had a chance to secure the rights, but didn't want to start spending the money until they were secured, and subscriptions started being paid. As a result, many potential customers have been disadvantaged.

I would love to know how many viewers, that shall we say are technically challenged, have been put off by the whole delivery mechanism.

So, trying to give PLP the benefit of the doubt, I connected my laptop to my TV and watched the several incarnations of the test video they put up. As we are all aware, it was rubbish. Then I was able to secure one of the Tiger free passes last weekend and watched my favourite teams game. The quality was much better. Why oh why did PLP not put up a sample that was representative of their delivered product?

Based on the samples I decided to go elsewhere, as I was concerned that the live product was going to be of the same quality. I have signed with Al Jazeera using SmartDNS and the quality is on a par with PLP. And for the same money, I also now have access to many other leagues and sports.

I refuse to pay PLP any money at all until they have fully invested in all the infrastructure required to deliver as best an experience as NZs internet infrastructure will allow. That means better encoding (as others have identified this as a potential problem), higher bitrates, mobile / table programs (granted some are already available but they have issues), Smart TV widgets etc. I can get exactly the same experience, but with more variety, via Al Jazeera for similar money.

Or they fail in doing so and we can go back to what we had before. While I am no big fan of Sky, for the EPL it worked - for me anyway.

I still have my Sky Sport subscription.

Vodafone ADSL 2+
Gigabit Ethernet
Core I7 / 8GB RAM / Windows 7 / Built in Graphics / HDMI
Sony Bravia 42" LCD HD

Lust

85 posts

Master Geek

#885236 27-Aug-2013 13:30

In September. Arsenal have two Saturday games. Sunderland and Swansea away. They on delayed by SKY until 6:30am Monday and 01:30 AM Monday respectively. Guess I'll have to suffer through PLP for those two.

vkjc

36 posts

Geek

#885247 27-Aug-2013 13:36

suffer thru!!!

exactly my problem.
I have no issue with plp from a business model perspective.

its the s**t picture and poor support thats getting me.

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

StarBlazer

961 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#885351 27-Aug-2013 15:06

vkjc: suffer thru!!!

exactly my problem.
I have no issue with plp from a business model perspective.

its the s**t picture and poor support thats getting me.

Really, again? Broken record!

I watched the Man U game live this morning at work on a 70" projector - yes there was some judder for about 50-60% and smooth for the rest of the time, but the resolution was fantastic and very watchable (even if the football was a bit dull). We all had a great time watching the match live. That's 4 out of 4 for me and I don't believe I am alone in that. I'm not saying it's perfect - but for goodness sake they are only 2 weeks into a venture that is likely to be around for the next 3 years.

Please stop whining and using your shielded expletives in this forum and complain to Sky or join Al Jazeera if you want a different experience.

I wonder, in your 13 posts, have you provided any constructive information to help either diagnose or find a pattern to the problem?

When did you watch (live or on-demand), what did you watch it on, who is your BB provider, what speeds do you normally get. Geekzone is here to help people and to find problems to technical issues - not a soapbox just to complain.

Rant over!! (for now)

Procrastination eventually pays off.

RedDevil79NZ

25 posts

Geek

#885372 27-Aug-2013 15:40

StarBlazer:
vkjc: suffer thru!!!

exactly my problem.
I have no issue with plp from a business model perspective.

its the s**t picture and poor support thats getting me.

Really, again? Broken record!

I watched the Man U game live this morning at work on a 70" projector - yes there was some judder for about 50-60% and smooth for the rest of the time, but the resolution was fantastic and very watchable (even if the football was a bit dull). We all had a great time watching the match live. That's 4 out of 4 for me and I don't believe I am alone in that. I'm not saying it's perfect - but for goodness sake they are only 2 weeks into a venture that is likely to be around for the next 3 years.

Please stop whining and using your shielded expletives in this forum and complain to Sky or join Al Jazeera if you want a different experience.

I wonder, in your 13 posts, have you provided any constructive information to help either diagnose or find a pattern to the problem?

When did you watch (live or on-demand), what did you watch it on, who is your BB provider, what speeds do you normally get. Geekzone is here to help people and to find problems to technical issues - not a soapbox just to complain.

Rant over!! (for now)

I'm not sure of any other work places that would allow employees to spend 2 hours watching a football match other than PLP. Also, I hope your work place has their own PLP subscription otherwise I believe you'd be infringing on the terms and conditions of the PLP pass.

There is no way that the resolution could look "fantastic" with a projector on a 70" screen. I'm guessing the projector you're using is a standard resolution one so you wouldn't notice the quality of PLP compared to an HD source. I have a Full HD projector and the source is being passed through an amp up-scaling to HD and it still looks rubbish.

I don't want PLP to fail but they need to get it sorted. I know apps take time and they are working on the higher 4500kbps stream but something they could sort out straight away is the professionalism of their support desk and their twitter account. I was following them for updates on apps and info on any technical issues but had to unfollow them as they kept giving information during games and the final scores. They are a content provider not a news service. Oh and I'm still waiting for the return call on a question I asked them over two weeks ago.

[Moderator edit (MF): removed comments directed at user, warn given]

invisibleman18

1360 posts

Uber Geek

#885373 27-Aug-2013 15:45

Lust: In September. Arsenal have two Saturday games. Sunderland and Swansea away. They on delayed by SKY until 6:30am Monday and 01:30 AM Monday respectively. Guess I'll have to suffer through PLP for those two.

Where did you get that info from?

vkjc

36 posts

Geek

#885377 27-Aug-2013 15:53

atten star blazer.

on a more helpful note I rang csm directly today at their auckland office and they were very helpful.
i asked if they could tell me if any and what smart device would broadcast at 3000 (or higher) so that I may purchase one
and connect it to my 50 inch tv.

I will keep yoi informed of the outcome.

in a side note if you get a good picture on a 70 inch projector maybe im doing something wrong.
I live in whangarei come round mine and help us out. the beers are on me.

JarrodM

969 posts

Ultimate Geek

#885389 27-Aug-2013 16:13

invisibleman18:
Lust: In September. Arsenal have two Saturday games. Sunderland and Swansea away. They on delayed by SKY until 6:30am Monday and 01:30 AM Monday respectively. Guess I'll have to suffer through PLP for those two.

Where did you get that info from?

Looks like from the skywatch magazine. for the sunderland game on the weekend of the 14th, I see that all four of sky's teams are playing on the saturday. Manchester United vs Crystal Palace scheduled for 3:30pm on the sunday. Man City v Stoke at 3:30am Monday morning, and then Arsenal v Sunderland at 6:30am Monday. Can't see the Spurs game anywhere.

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#885391 27-Aug-2013 16:16

vkjc: atten star blazer.

on a more helpful note I rang csm directly today at their auckland office and they were very helpful.
i asked if they could tell me if any and what smart device would broadcast at 3000 (or higher) so that I may purchase one
and connect it to my 50 inch tv.

I will keep yoi informed of the outcome.

in a side note if you get a good picture on a 70 inch projector maybe im doing something wrong.
I live in whangarei come round mine and help us out. the beers are on me.

I would be disappointed if it was only a select number of devices that could receive the maximum bitrate rather than all.

Lust

85 posts

Master Geek

#885400 27-Aug-2013 16:25

invisibleman18:
Lust: In September. Arsenal have two Saturday games. Sunderland and Swansea away. They on delayed by SKY until 6:30am Monday and 01:30 AM Monday respectively. Guess I'll have to suffer through PLP for those two.

Where did you get that info from?

Yep September Skywatch.

StarBlazer

961 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#885406 27-Aug-2013 16:52

RedDevil79NZ: I'm not sure of any other work places that would allow employees to spend 2 hours watching a football match other than PLP. Also, I hope your work place has their own PLP subscription otherwise I believe you'd be infringing on the terms and conditions of the PLP pass.

I work for a great company but the 2 hours wasn't free - I took my lunch early, very early - at 7am!! Yes you are probably correct about the T&Cs...

Although I'm sure that clause is more about commercial premises with a public foot fall where it could be argued this is a value-add for patrons.

RedDevil79NZ: There is no way that the resolution could look "fantastic" with a projector on a 70" screen. I'm guessing the projector you're using is a standard resolution one so you wouldn't notice the quality of PLP compared to an HD source. I have a Full HD projector and the source is being passed through an amp up-scaling to HD and it still looks rubbish.

No it's a full HD projector but I had it connected at 720p which is the resolution of the 3000kbps stream - so relative to that statement the resolution was the best it could be (I could see the grass and the blood, sweat and tears - all from the Chelsea team) which is fantastic IMO and rendered nicely at 70". At this stage there is no concept of Full HD with this service - maybe the 4500kbps will be, perhaps it will just be a better frame rate with less compression. Perhaps instead of upscaling you should try to connect at the native resolution. I used 720@60p

Procrastination eventually pays off.

1 | ... | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | ... | 210