Watching Spark Sport (including launch and pricing)

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Ultimate Geek

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#2208707 1-Apr-2019 15:19

There's going to be thousands of unhappy kiwis during the rugby world cup. I feel for the older generation who rely on Sky, like my grandparents. I can barely get them to use a mobile phone let alone hook up a laptop, which they dont even own, to a tv and stream a match.

I want Spark Sport to be successful but think the world cup is too much too soon.

davidcole

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#2208709 1-Apr-2019 15:26

MileHighKiwi: There's going to be thousands of unhappy kiwis during the rugby world cup. I feel for the older generation who rely on Sky, like my grandparents. I can barely get them to use a mobile phone let alone hook up a laptop, which they dont even own, to a tv and stream a match.

I want Spark Sport to be successful but think the world cup is too much too soon.

I doubt laptop to a screen is the most likely option, certainly not the most cost effective. Ideally a simple media player with a remote would be the best option (while a chromecast is cheap as chips, it does require something to start and stop the stream - more than likely a phone/tablet/desktop/laptop) but it's not a great model for those that have only ever used a remote).

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PolicyGuy

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#2208798 1-Apr-2019 16:38

davidcole:

MileHighKiwi: There's going to be thousands of unhappy kiwis during the rugby world cup. I feel for the older generation who rely on Sky, like my grandparents. I can barely get them to use a mobile phone let alone hook up a laptop, which they dont even own, to a tv and stream a match.

I want Spark Sport to be successful but think the world cup is too much too soon.

I doubt laptop to a screen is the most likely option, certainly not the most cost effective. Ideally a simple media player with a remote would be the best option (while a chromecast is cheap as chips, it does require something to start and stop the stream - more than likely a phone/tablet/desktop/laptop) but it's not a great model for those that have only ever used a remote).

I've got a Chromecast, and am casting to it from a tablet, and I'm a grandparent so it can be done ... but I'm finding the whole User eXperience very unsatisfactory compared to the much vilified MySky. Actually, make that very, very unsatisfactory indeed. It's so bad it makes Vodafone TV look good - I'll bet that's not anything anyone expected to see, or that I expected to say
Actually, it's been so unsatisfactory that I'd pay Sky another $10/month just for F1 if they got it back, maybe even $20. 😭
So very, very unsatisfactory that I suspect that after the F1 summer break I just won't bother and will get by on YouTube highlights packages, even though that would make me quite sad. 😭😭😭

So tell me about this "simple media player with a remote"?
What does it look like, how does it work and how much does it cost?
I've got a couple of spare HDMI inputs on the TV, and a bunch of unused ports on the receiver (Game-1 & -2, VCR, Aux and Bluetooth). I've got Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet available. If the setup is too technical, one of my sons is really useful in that line.

If it's reliable in use and the UX is simple and intuitive then I'm interested

Sigh

Benoire

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#2208807 1-Apr-2019 16:57

Android TV and Apple TV apps should be more user friendly than a phone casted app BUT the issues are with the underlying platform in my opinion and until that is resolved this platform will still be lacking, especially in the Live to VOD grey area.

hio77

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#2208809 1-Apr-2019 17:01

Benoire:

Android TV and Apple TV apps should be more user friendly than a phone casted app BUT the issues are with the underlying platform in my opinion and until that is resolved this platform will still be lacking, especially in the Live to VOD grey area.

Pulling the 4 hour timeframe down to 32 mins is already quite an achievement in the VOD area in such a short time, tells me things are happening.

Some of the feedback around issues with support raised here has already gone back to the relevant folk too.

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Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

davidcole

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#2208812 1-Apr-2019 17:06

PolicyGuy:
So tell me about this "simple media player with a remote"?
What does it look like, how does it work and how much does it cost?
I've got a couple of spare HDMI inputs on the TV, and a bunch of unused ports on the receiver (Game-1 & -2, VCR, Aux and Bluetooth). I've got Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet available. If the setup is too technical, one of my sons is really useful in that line.

If it's reliable in use and the UX is simple and intuitive then I'm interested

Sigh

I don’t think it exists here. None of the other main boxes overseas have been supported. Eg roku, fire tv, shield tv. The only one that has been released and embraced by retailers are the Apple TV. And while simple I wouldn’t call it cheap.

I think we’ve embraced smart TVs too much to make it worthwhile for content providers to look at other boxes. And it’s a real chicken and egg, content. Providers won’t write for a box that’s not sold here, boxes won’t be sold here till there’s more content then just Netflix and YouTube.

So you have people looking at kodi. Laptops, chromecast (being the only other real main stream solution).

Also I don’t believe anyone ever vilified the mysky box, apart from its extra pricing it was probably the most advanced part of sky.

hio77

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#2208813 1-Apr-2019 17:07

PolicyGuy:

So tell me about this "simple media player with a remote"?
What does it look like, how does it work and how much does it cost?
I've got a couple of spare HDMI inputs on the TV, and a bunch of unused ports on the receiver (Game-1 & -2, VCR, Aux and Bluetooth). I've got Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet available. If the setup is too technical, one of my sons is really useful in that line.

If it's reliable in use and the UX is simple and intuitive then I'm interested

I've questioned this one myself.

Speaking with the teams that would actually need to deliver this product though i do understand why right at this moment we do not have a "Spark sport TV box"

Although it seems bloody simply... you know just go get one of those mibox things and preinstall an app!, change the netflix button on controller to go to spark sport and hey done.

Actually understanding the work behind delivering that though, I do not envy the work the devices folk do even to get to the stage of saying we have a product here to decide on!

Note: I'm not stating any sort of box is or is not being delivered, Please don't read into it as that. It's not my promise to make!.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

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Benoire

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#2208969 1-Apr-2019 17:49

hio77:

Benoire:

Android TV and Apple TV apps should be more user friendly than a phone casted app BUT the issues are with the underlying platform in my opinion and until that is resolved this platform will still be lacking, especially in the Live to VOD grey area.

Pulling the 4 hour timeframe down to 32 mins is already quite an achievement in the VOD area in such a short time, tells me things are happening.

Some of the feedback around issues with support raised here has already gone back to the relevant folk too.

Yep don't get me wrong, the changes have been good in relation to how it started but there is the issue of live events switching from live to VOD is odd as soon as the programme finishes... It would surely be better to hold the live asset for up to 24 hours but create the VOD asset sometime after, that way if I start the live stream and I stop it I can then access where I was without delay or issues, or if I join later I can simply use the VOD.

I think Bahrain was interesting case as our clocks haven't shifted yet so we're only 12 hours behind GMT AND the race starts have shifted back by 1 hour, normally the race would have finished at around 5am but currently its 7am; to be honest between 6 and 7am are awkward times for the VOD switch as I start watching the race normally at 6am as I can still be in work by about 9.30am and once the clocks change I probably won't be able to start watching until the VOD is ready I suspect.

For those with access to Kodi that has Widevine support then Matt Huismanns addon for SS makes it a breeze, much better than casting... However its not portable and you have to immediately hit skip back in order to not know what has happened.

hio77

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#2208971 1-Apr-2019 17:50

Benoire:

For those with access to Kodi that has Widevine support then Matt Huismanns addon for SS makes it a breeze, much better than casting... However its not portable and you have to immediately hit skip back in order to not know what has happened.

Link please?

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

Benoire

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#2208973 1-Apr-2019 17:55

PM'd

davidcole

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#2209005 1-Apr-2019 19:15

hio77:
PolicyGuy:

So tell me about this "simple media player with a remote"?
What does it look like, how does it work and how much does it cost?
I've got a couple of spare HDMI inputs on the TV, and a bunch of unused ports on the receiver (Game-1 & -2, VCR, Aux and Bluetooth). I've got Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet available. If the setup is too technical, one of my sons is really useful in that line.

If it's reliable in use and the UX is simple and intuitive then I'm interested

I've questioned this one myself.

Speaking with the teams that would actually need to deliver this product though i do understand why right at this moment we do not have a "Spark sport TV box"

Although it seems bloody simply... you know just go get one of those mibox things and preinstall an app!, change the netflix button on controller to go to spark sport and hey done.

Actually understanding the work behind delivering that though, I do not envy the work the devices folk do even to get to the stage of saying we have a product here to decide on!

Note: I'm not stating any sort of box is or is not being delivered, Please don't read into it as that. It's not my promise to make!.

Personally I think a Roku app, or rebadged Roku would be a great fit. I’d love to see them officially sold here, and start getting some support. They’re a good little box.

tdgeek

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#2209021 1-Apr-2019 19:48

Benoire:

Android TV and Apple TV apps should be more user friendly than a phone casted app BUT the issues are with the underlying platform in my opinion and until that is resolved this platform will still be lacking, especially in the Live to VOD grey area.

Im not sure if its the underlying platform as AU was good, Bahrain was good. Yes, issues with FP3 etc, but for me, I cast and it ran start to end, great quality. Casted from iPad. Nahrain was VOD not live, Melbourne was live. I suspect that a locked down OS like iOS is a lot easier than a much wider spread OS such as Android. I see a lot of casting issues here and quality, not what I see from iOS using Chromecast.

davidcole

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#2209022 1-Apr-2019 19:51

tdgeek:
Benoire:

Android TV and Apple TV apps should be more user friendly than a phone casted app BUT the issues are with the underlying platform in my opinion and until that is resolved this platform will still be lacking, especially in the Live to VOD grey area.

Im not sure if its the underlying platform as AU was good, Bahrain was good. Yes, issues with FP3 etc, but for me, I cast and it ran start to end, great quality. Casted from iPad. Nahrain was VOD not live, Melbourne was live. I suspect that a locked down OS like iOS is a lot easier than a much wider spread OS such as Android. I see a lot of casting issues here and quality, not what I see from iOS using Chromecast.

Yeah au, I had live casting iPad to chrome cast. Quality was good, and just that one known issue.

Bahrain I watched vid his morning, via VPN (from work), just on iPad. Couple of spots where it stopped and redid the video quality, but then ramped back up. My internet at home is 20mbps upload.

tdgeek

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#2209028 1-Apr-2019 19:58

davidcole:
tdgeek:

Benoire:

Android TV and Apple TV apps should be more user friendly than a phone casted app BUT the issues are with the underlying platform in my opinion and until that is resolved this platform will still be lacking, especially in the Live to VOD grey area.

Im not sure if its the underlying platform as AU was good, Bahrain was good. Yes, issues with FP3 etc, but for me, I cast and it ran start to end, great quality. Casted from iPad. Nahrain was VOD not live, Melbourne was live. I suspect that a locked down OS like iOS is a lot easier than a much wider spread OS such as Android. I see a lot of casting issues here and quality, not what I see from iOS using Chromecast.

Yeah au, I had live casting iPad to chrome cast. Quality was good, and just that one known issue.

Bahrain I watched vid his morning, via VPN (from work), just on iPad. Couple of spots where it stopped and redid the video quality, but then ramped back up. My internet at home is 20mbps upload.

I was reluctant to mention the iPad casting in case it was seen as an Android vs Apple debate. It does seem to be the best so far, but early days.

Benoire

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#2209029 1-Apr-2019 19:59

Perhaps I'm an odd user case in that I watch early in the morning before work but not actually at the live point; Sky's use of local storage worked well as I could deal with this almost live but not quite but the Live/VOD switch is proving to be more problematic in this online space as its either too early or too late for me (have to be at work). If we had carry over of time watched between Live and VOD it wouldn't be a problem as you could switch streams at will but at the moment its etiher watch it on live or watch it VOD, but heaven help if you have an issue with the live play near the end of the allotted time.

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