My thoughts, Spark Sport will go the way of Lightbox and Morepork and be sold possibly before years end.

ockel:

 

Wow.  A 25% increase in price.  More content for a higher price, right?  There must be 25% more hours compared to this time last year.

 

Those that couldnt see this coming to reduce losses associated with providing high cost content clearly didnt understand the economics. 

 

Shock horror. 

 

Id imagine it would be at least that

tdgeek:

 

ockel:

 

Wow.  A 25% increase in price.  More content for a higher price, right?  There must be 25% more hours compared to this time last year.

 

Those that couldnt see this coming to reduce losses associated with providing high cost content clearly didnt understand the economics. 

 

Shock horror. 

 

 

Id imagine it would be at least that

 

Empirical evidence please.  Since this time last year Spark has added ECB cricket and NZC cricket.  AFAIK all other content was there 12 months ago (notwithstanding COVID related shutdowns).

I haven't had any bad experiences with Spark Sport. 

I've put mine on hold until the Premier League comes back, but that's normal. 

Don't like the idea of paying more, but to be honest, I'll do so as I like to have a legal way of watching the Premier League every season and this is it. 

Handsomedan:

 

Don't like the idea of paying more, but to be honest, I'll do so as I like to have a legal way of watching the Premier League every season and this is it. 

 

Same. EPL and England Cricket are my main sporting passions so while a 25% increase is steep, it provides me a legal and easy/convenient way to watch both live and on demand without having to get up a 3am and mess about trying to find dodgy streams etc. It does make the price quite high compared to other streaming services in NZ though.

Just desperately hanging out for a PS4 or Vodafone TV app as those satisfy all my other streaming needs at home with apps for every other service I use. So my only way of watching Spark Sport is on my phone. I know Chromecast is not a massive expense but I would have no other need for it so don't want to pay out for another device for one service.

invisibleman18:

 

Handsomedan:

 

Don't like the idea of paying more, but to be honest, I'll do so as I like to have a legal way of watching the Premier League every season and this is it. 

 

 

Same. EPL and England Cricket are my main sporting passions so while a 25% increase is steep, it provides me a legal and easy/convenient way to watch both live and on demand without having to get up a 3am and mess about trying to find dodgy streams etc. It does make the price quite high compared to other streaming services in NZ though.

 

Just desperately hanging out for a PS4 or Vodafone TV app as those satisfy all my other streaming needs at home with apps for every other service I use. So my only way of watching Spark Sport is on my phone. I know Chromecast is not a massive expense but I would have no other need for it so don't want to pay out for another device for one service.

 

Depending on what sports you are into, some people will be a happy and others will not! IMO, sky is much more expensive and average ondemand options. Being robbed of NZC end of summer cricket (covid) and not much of NZC very soon, spark sport getting england wales cricket rights is awesome and quite unexpected.

I use kodi for most of my viewing. Works very well. Do use chromecast sometimes from android phone, but seems a little buggy at times. Maybe because I'm using built in chromecast.

Any advice for a disgruntled customer of Spark Sport?

The only communication we can have with this entity is through email which is always a concern.

In May I suspended my account.

In August I opened the app to "unsuspend" it, and found that it was already working.

I looked at my bank account and saw they had taken June and July subscription payments.

I brought it to their attention and they asked me to "re-suspend" it (I presume thinking I was incapable of pressing two buttons).  I suspended it again and again the suspension didn't work!

So they now KNOW there is a technical issue, admitted as much, but then say I can't have my money back because content "was available" if I'd wanted it - they know I didn't access it in June and July (because it was "suspended"). They also said I should have told them about it in May...! (why would I?!)

They have now ended the conversation.

Anyone any advice?  Any avenues?

It's just plain wrong.

(edits - grammar for clarification)

"CC company" Linux?  What does that mean, sorry?  Also, any particular one? Thanks.

nztim: Wow so now its just as expensive as Sky lets compare the two

Sky you need basic $25 plus sport add-on, $24.99 no internet required total $50 total
Spark $25 plus cheapest HFC or FWA unlimited plan $55 thats $80 total

and you wonder why people illegally stream

That's not quite an apples with apples comparison though.

How about comparing Sky Sports Now service as that is their Internet only approach/offering. That's $40/mth (or $30.40 if you pay for the year upfront).

That is a closer comparison. Still need internet on top of both of those.

Personally I find both fine for live TV. However, Spark Sport is far far better for their on demand offerings. If Sky lose the Rugby I think they're utterly stuffed. I'm not personally convinced their offering is worth the price. I like F1 and NZ Cricket so like Spark Sport and find the price acceptable.

Some things that annoy me about offerings in NZ (more general than just sport and in my case Android/Google specific):

• No 4K offerings (for sport....yeah you can get it on YouTube and Netflix).
• Apps that only support some (mostly Android TV) devices
• Apps that continually forget your credentials on an update - especially bad on Android TV when they dont "remember" your credentials through Google

raygreen100:

 

"CC company" Linux?  What does that mean, sorry?  Also, any particular one? Thanks.

 

CC = credit card.

Dispute it through them and have them claw back your charges.