Spark Sport: Rugby World Cup 2019

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1039 posts

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#2322458 22-Sep-2019 08:53

hamistheman:
Surely when it goes to Duke, TVNZ should be able to stream it on Duke Live, so those of us without aerial connections can still see it ....

I agree. I understand them doing it when they are simulcasting it live free to air on 1, but when they have to switch over to TVNZ Duke, there doesn't seem much point in blocking the stream.

lchiu7

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#2322466 22-Sep-2019 09:26

tdgeek:
freitasm:

He is not wrong...

I can understand that, but AFAIK the feed goes from Japan to iStreamplanet USA West Coast to Akamai? I dint think Spark gets the feed and distributes it?

I think I read somewhere this stream comes from Japan to New Zealand where the local content is inserted and then goes to the US for encoding and then streaming back to us in New Zealand which explains why there is such a long delay in the actual picture vs over-the-air.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

kharris

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#2322471 22-Sep-2019 09:43

freitasm:
@kharris:

That’s not the case... I’m on Vodafone and had resolution drops... many friends also had issues on other ISP’s.

Context missing.

Device?
WiFi or ethernet?
xDSL or fibre?
ISP DNS or Google/Cloudflare/OpenDNS/other?

AppleTV 4k and panasonic tv app.
Vodafone fibreX 200 - checked with Speedtest during resolution drops, reported fine to non Vodafone servers.
Ethernet , all very short cables.
ISP DNS
In Miramar Wellington.

No pixelation or freezing. Multiple resolution drops about 30 minutes in. Other video services to the house were still prefect. e.g Netflix at 4K, YouTube, TVNZOD.

friends had issues on other ISPs including Spark Orcon bigpipe slingshot

Kirk

waikariboy

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#2322472 22-Sep-2019 09:45

CutCutCut: I was watching on ITV, via a Chromebook and I had to restart the stream probably 7 times throughout the game. It had worked perfectly for the France Vs Argentina.

no issues with me, MacBook airplay to Apple TV. Have updated network so now tv has itv app and streams direct.

Balm its gone!

Mb2007

46 posts

Geek

#2322480 22-Sep-2019 10:05

Is it any shock it dident works as it should have. Spark are in a servise they are in exsperance in. No shock here.

For the record I watched the first 2 Saturday games on spark app via a firestick on broadband speed around 10,mbps. Only once buffering for 3s or so.

I went out to watch the nz game on sky. I dedent trust spark. The way they have handled the primer league coverage was an early sing. Many problems not give gd explanation to the problems and blaming the feed from London when that was questionnbil. They will get it right I'm sure but nit for a wile yet

tanivula

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#2322481 22-Sep-2019 10:09

On Kodi (Shield + ethernet + 2deg 100/20) with matt h's spark addon things were pretty good. Buffering kicked in the AB's game, much like everyone else at approx 30m in. But after delaying myself by a min or so things were perfect for the rest of the 1st half. Resolution never dropped (the addon is set to grab the best stream).

I hoped Spark would have managed to make some tweaks during the 1st half, so went back to live during half time, and then faced buffering again once, but after that it was all good.

Sounds like casting seems to be the most resilient way to stream from reading a lot of the posts?

kharris

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#2322482 22-Sep-2019 10:13

Batman:
Apparently only 132,000 people were streaming the match.

Spark Sport has released a statement saying there was no issue with national broadband capacity but there issues were offshore/international ones and they are looking into it.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12269751

I wonder how that can be the case with people reporting different experiences. If it was an offshore issue then surely everyone would be seeing the same thing?

Kirk

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Crowbar

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#2322483 22-Sep-2019 10:18

My thoughts....

On one hand I do feel for Spark Sport - there's no other way to look at this but a failure, it doesn't really matter what the cause was - there's enough anecdotal evidence that this was a wide spread issue. People should be peeved if the stream drops from 1080P or drops frames. It's a live Rugby match - literally the game can change in a matter of seconds. The All Black's first try was a stunner and the entire sequence was over in 45 seconds. Sport is about these moments and if the stream fails during that moment, it does not matter how well it performed for the other 79 minutes.

Sky are very good at broadcasting sport and even better at producing Rugby. The bar is very high.

On the other hand, Spark Sport decided to use the RWC as their grand entrance and so they certainly deserve the flak they're getting from the media and their customers.

I see some folk saying "just a few times when the quality dropped, but over all very impressed". For me, it is a major distraction when the quality is flicking back and forth, it adds a constant anxiety of "is this going to break completely soon" and distracts from the game.

I watched it one-hour delayed on TVNZ1 an the quality was absolutely superb. Chose not to purchase Spark Sport for this exact reason.

High marks for the Japanese crew producing it.

Tracer

343 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2322484 22-Sep-2019 10:21

I noticed a bunch of discarded packets on the last switch next to the device.

freitasm

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#2322487 22-Sep-2019 10:29

From Spark:

Spark Sport has been working overnight with our international streaming partners to identify and resolve the root cause of the video stream quality issues that affected some customers during last night’s All Blacks vs South Africa pool match.

As previously advised, these quality issues, which meant that some customers experienced brief, intermittent periods of reduced video quality such as pixilation and buffering, prompted the decision to simulcast the second half of the match on TVNZ DUKE.

Our technical team believes the issue is within the international distribution network via which the video stream is passed from our streaming platform located in the USA, through to New Zealand broadband providers. The team are working to confirm this and put a fix in place.

At this time, it is too early to say whether the issue will be fully resolved in time for today’s matches. Unless we confident of this, then we will look to simulcast tonight’s matches on TVNZ DUKE to ensure New Zealanders have a good viewing experience.

We intend to make a decision on whether or not to simulcast by 1pm today, to ensure our customers have adequate time to prepare for today’s matches.

Spark CEO, Jolie Hodson said, “We are very disappointed that some New Zealanders did not get the experience they deserved last night during such an important match and we apologise to those who were affected. We are committed to giving New Zealanders a good viewing experience. Our immediate focus today is on getting things right for today’s matches and for the rest of the tournament.

freitasm

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#2322488 22-Sep-2019 10:30

tdgeek:

freitasm:

He is not wrong...

I can understand that, but AFAIK the feed goes from Japan to iStreamplanet USA West Coast to Akamai? I dint think Spark gets the feed and distributes it?

AFAIK It comes to NZ to have commentary inserted, then goes to USA then to Akamai.

freitasm

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#2322489 22-Sep-2019 10:31

One thing is bugging me... If it was a problem with the "international streaming partners" why did it not affect everyone?

kharris

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#2322490 22-Sep-2019 10:32

Crowbar:
My thoughts....

On one hand I do feel for Spark Sport - there's no other way to look at this but a failure, it doesn't really matter what the cause was - there's enough anecdotal evidence that this was a wide spread issue. People should be peeved if the stream drops from 1080P or drops frames. It's a live Rugby match - literally the game can change in a matter of seconds. The All Black's first try was a stunner and the entire sequence was over in 45 seconds. Sport is about these moments and if the stream fails during that moment, it does not matter how well it performed for the other 79 minutes.

Sky are very good at broadcasting sport and even better at producing Rugby. The bar is very high.

On the other hand, Spark Sport decided to use the RWC as their grand entrance and so they certainly deserve the flak they're getting from the media and their customers.

I see some folk saying "just a few times when the quality dropped, but over all very impressed". For me, it is a major distraction when the quality is flicking back and forth, it adds a constant anxiety of "is this going to break completely soon" and distracts from the game.

I watched it one-hour delayed on TVNZ1 an the quality was absolutely superb. Chose not to purchase Spark Sport for this exact reason.

High marks for the Japanese crew producing it.

I completely agree. I’m not just trying to watch it as a general spectacle. I was trying to watch in detail what specific players were doing on and off the ball. Any drops in quality are distracting and focus on specific plays is difficult.

Kirk

andrewb

34 posts

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#2322493 22-Sep-2019 10:37

CutCutCut:
hamistheman:

Surely when it goes to Duke, TVNZ should be able to stream it on Duke Live, so those of us without aerial connections can still see it ....

I agree. I understand them doing it when they are simulcasting it live free to air on 1, but when they have to switch over to TVNZ Duke, there doesn't seem much point in blocking the stream.

I suspect TVNZ didn't want to bear the brunt of tens of thousands of people switching over to TVNZ OnDemand all of a sudden. They're probably not equipped for such volume and likely still would have required Spark's US partners to handle the encoding and content delivery - so if there were issues in that part of the "chain" - they still wouldn't have delivered a good streaming service on TVNZ OnDemand and would have copped some of the flack that Spark are getting.

kharris

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#2322494 22-Sep-2019 10:37

freitasm:
One thing is bugging me... If it was a problem with the "international streaming partners" why did it not affect everyone?

Yeah, that’s exactly what I was wondering in my post earlier. Seems strange.

Kirk

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