Watching Spark Sport (including launch and pricing)

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#2233510 9-May-2019 10:18

davidcole:

BRING ON THE DEVICES!!!

https://help.sparksport.co.nz/your-account/what-devices-can-i-watch-spark-sport-on

Updates and timelines are there now

davidcole

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#2233511 9-May-2019 10:19

networkn:

It will be, in my mind, a completely different picture, if they screw up the RWC delivery :)

But that's only because they haven't buggered up your sport...those that are F1 or hockey fans have had that happen already, and are probably annoyed they are the test-bed for "NZ's Religion".

Others would argue that the RWC failing wouldn't bother them. It's a matter of perspective.

I agree the tone of the thread has generally been good...some of the aspect now I'm taking as some nitpicking (especially UX type things), while ux is pretty important, I don't believe it's more important that getting the content out the door and on on to a screen.

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#2233534 9-May-2019 10:45

Talkiet:

davidcole:

networkn:

It will be, in my mind, a completely different picture, if they screw up the RWC delivery :)

But that's only because they haven't buggered up your sport...those that are F1 or hockey fans have had that happen already, and are probably annoyed they are the test-bed for "NZ's Religion".

Others would argue that the RWC failing wouldn't bother them. It's a matter of perspective.

I agree the tone of the thread has generally been good...some of the aspect now I'm taking as some nitpicking (especially UX type things), while ux is pretty important, I don't believe it's more important that getting the content out the door and on on to a screen.

For anyone to suggest we have "buggered up" F1 would be an overreaction of galactic proportions. They were a few small issues for the first couple of events but they were operational, not platform, and they have been addressed. I wonder if they have even bothered trying to use the service recently? (Ditto Hockey, a couple of issues but the vast majority of live events have gone smoothly.

We've had 79 live events and added 135 on demand events. All but a handful have gone smoothly, and the issues were predominantly very early on.

Cheers - N

Exactly right. I have had a couple of inconveniences, and skipping a few seconds is a pain.

BUT, the display is better than Sky, Sky is more than fine, but its noticeably better on SS, and it plays great. Skip is now here on web, iOS and Android next week. ATV4 for me in June, that will make it perfect for me, as it will on my iPad Pro 12.9 elsewhere.

My key issue was what will the video quality be like, thats never an issue

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#2233535 9-May-2019 10:45

I'd agree with @talkiet, apart from a few hiccups the F1 streams have been pretty good. Most of my issues have stemmed from interacting with the platform itself rather than the stream... If the app and access issues are resolved then my only issues would be encoder performance vs my internet access and not knowing where the issue is. Sky was easy, it was either atmospheric which you could tell or it was Sky.... Now it could be Spark Sport, my ISP or even my home network... harder to decipher and more difficult to hold people to account.

networkn

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#2233540 9-May-2019 10:57

davidcole:

But that's only because they haven't buggered up your sport...those that are F1 or hockey fans have had that happen already, and are probably annoyed they are the test-bed for "NZ's Religion".

Others would argue that the RWC failing wouldn't bother them. It's a matter of perspective.

I agree the tone of the thread has generally been good...some of the aspect now I'm taking as some nitpicking (especially UX type things), while ux is pretty important, I don't believe it's more important that getting the content out the door and on on to a screen.

Well, someone to be first, right?

The fact they are testing it on a sport that rightly or wrongly has less viewership in NZ than Rugby is probably sensible.

My issue is that these aren't really testing how the system performs with significant numbers of users and whilst SS are adamant it won't be an issue, I've heard that many times in my life and it's been proven wrong.

I have greater concerns at the type of issues they are discovering at this late stage and what similar issues they may find during the RWC that interrupts my viewing. It worries me the type of issues that crop up "because you don't know, what you don't know".

Just because I don't watch F1 or Hockey fanatically, doesn't mean I am happy with the glitches they had, one in particular involving manual processes scares the daylights out of me.

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#2233586 9-May-2019 11:51

networkn:

davidcole:

But that's only because they haven't buggered up your sport...those that are F1 or hockey fans have had that happen already, and are probably annoyed they are the test-bed for "NZ's Religion".

Others would argue that the RWC failing wouldn't bother them. It's a matter of perspective.

I agree the tone of the thread has generally been good...some of the aspect now I'm taking as some nitpicking (especially UX type things), while ux is pretty important, I don't believe it's more important that getting the content out the door and on on to a screen.

Well, someone to be first, right?

The fact they are testing it on a sport that rightly or wrongly has less viewership in NZ than Rugby is probably sensible.

My issue is that these aren't really testing how the system performs with significant numbers of users and whilst SS are adamant it won't be an issue, I've heard that many times in my life and it's been proven wrong.

I have greater concerns at the type of issues they are discovering at this late stage and what similar issues they may find during the RWC that interrupts my viewing. It worries me the type of issues that crop up "because you don't know, what you don't know".

Just because I don't watch F1 or Hockey fanatically, doesn't mean I am happy with the glitches they had, one in particular involving manual processes scares the daylights out of me.

While there have been a number of issues for most F1 events, I agree the service is generally working quite well.

The Big concern I have is the lack of resilience in the stream processing to cope with glitches in the source material. If a glitch occurs is can kill the stream and requires various levels of restarting to get it going again.

But worse than that it also destroys the ability to stand up a a reliable full programme VOD asset. So as a customer this gives me considerable anxiety that if I don't watch live, I wont get to see all of the programming I have subscribed for (e.g pre and post race programming). As Spark don't go back to their providers source to get a good copy of the whole stream for VOD! This means they stand up only the parts of the programme after the glitch occurred, or not at all for some time (or ever in some cases).

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#2233595 9-May-2019 12:00

smcc:

While there have been a number of issues for most F1 events, I agree the service is generally working quite well.

The Big concern I have is the lack of resilience in the stream processing to cope with glitches in the source material. If a glitch occurs is can kill the stream and requires various levels of restarting to get it going again.

But worse than that it also destroys the ability to stand up a a reliable full programme VOD asset. So as a customer this gives me considerable anxiety that if I don't watch live, I wont get to see all of the programming I have subscribed for (e.g pre and post race programming). As Spark don't go back to their providers source to get a good copy of the whole stream for VOD! This means they stand up only the parts of the programme after the glitch occurred, or not at all for some time (or ever in some cases).

Im sure @Talkiet will comment, but just remember that Spark isn't providing YOU with the F1 feed. Akamai is. Spark owns the service, but as I understand it, the service runs from Event ---> iStreamPlanet USA ----> to Akamai ---> to your RSP ----> You

smcc

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#2233608 9-May-2019 12:06

tdgeek:

smcc:

While there have been a number of issues for most F1 events, I agree the service is generally working quite well.

The Big concern I have is the lack of resilience in the stream processing to cope with glitches in the source material. If a glitch occurs is can kill the stream and requires various levels of restarting to get it going again.

But worse than that it also destroys the ability to stand up a a reliable full programme VOD asset. So as a customer this gives me considerable anxiety that if I don't watch live, I wont get to see all of the programming I have subscribed for (e.g pre and post race programming). As Spark don't go back to their providers source to get a good copy of the whole stream for VOD! This means they stand up only the parts of the programme after the glitch occurred, or not at all for some time (or ever in some cases).

Im sure @Talkiet will comment, but just remember that Spark isn't providing YOU with the F1 feed. Akamai is. Spark owns the service, but as I understand it, the service runs from Event ---> iStreamPlanet USA ----> to Akamai ---> to your RSP ----> You

I presume your reply is missing the /S /S tags.

To reinforce your comments, my relationship is with Spark Sport, how they back-end the service is their business, and I don't really care if my experience is good, but when they have issues I lose faith in Spark Sport. I would suggest they have a number of options to provide a better customer experience and less service anxiety that they have chosen not to take to this point.

tdgeek

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#2233620 9-May-2019 12:21

smcc:

tdgeek:

smcc:

While there have been a number of issues for most F1 events, I agree the service is generally working quite well.

The Big concern I have is the lack of resilience in the stream processing to cope with glitches in the source material. If a glitch occurs is can kill the stream and requires various levels of restarting to get it going again.

But worse than that it also destroys the ability to stand up a a reliable full programme VOD asset. So as a customer this gives me considerable anxiety that if I don't watch live, I wont get to see all of the programming I have subscribed for (e.g pre and post race programming). As Spark don't go back to their providers source to get a good copy of the whole stream for VOD! This means they stand up only the parts of the programme after the glitch occurred, or not at all for some time (or ever in some cases).

Im sure @Talkiet will comment, but just remember that Spark isn't providing YOU with the F1 feed. Akamai is. Spark owns the service, but as I understand it, the service runs from Event ---> iStreamPlanet USA ----> to Akamai ---> to your RSP ----> You

I presume your reply is missing the /S /S tags.

To reinforce your comments, my relationship is with Spark Sport, how they back-end the service is their business, and I don't really care if my experience is good, but when they have issues I lose faith in Spark Sport. I would suggest they have a number of options to provide a better customer experience and less service anxiety that they have chosen not to take to this point.

Yep, I wasnt commenting to absolve Spark, its their product, no matter what happens. Just trying to remove the fact that many probably think that the feeds go through Sparks network, or Sparks IT machinery, but it doesnt. As per the NZNOG video, each RSP needs to setup their relationship with Akamai for SS.

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#2233643 9-May-2019 13:01

NZNOG video link please?

smcc

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#2233644 9-May-2019 13:03

tdgeek:

Yep, I wasnt commenting to absolve Spark, its their product, no matter what happens. Just trying to remove the fact that many probably think that the feeds go through Sparks network, or Sparks IT machinery, but it doesnt. As per the NZNOG video, each RSP needs to setup their relationship with Akamai for SS.

But customer won't be doing this and shouldn't even need to care about it. That is a Spark Sport thing to do to ensure that customers get a good experience. (SS to engage with RSP's that is).

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#2233646 9-May-2019 13:05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-wWUKxeQ-s

It might start half way through. I don't remember.

tdgeek

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#2233648 9-May-2019 13:08

Monza:

NZNOG video link please?

https://youtu.be/Z-wWUKxeQ-s?list=PLeAkos2dldO5UC6E-CaeiTB2OOaXmZoc_&t=1987

tdgeek

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#2233650 9-May-2019 13:11

smcc:

tdgeek:

Yep, I wasnt commenting to absolve Spark, its their product, no matter what happens. Just trying to remove the fact that many probably think that the feeds go through Sparks network, or Sparks IT machinery, but it doesnt. As per the NZNOG video, each RSP needs to setup their relationship with Akamai for SS.

But customer won't be doing this and shouldn't even need to care about it. That is a Spark Sport thing to do to ensure that customers get a good experience. (SS to engage with RSP's that is).

Off course, but it should be noted. Clearly Spark will have engaged with the RSP's. The RSP's as per that video, need to do their bit. I assume that all would, you would think, I would hope. What if one or more didn't?

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#2233677 9-May-2019 13:36

The slides are also available. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bUiYSEcrEBXHEWYP1RZg-CCVc9-PFbKJ/view

And despite the horses mouth mentioning that RSP DNS's need to be properly configured for the best local cache distribution handoff. Don't dare suggest it online to those advising joe blogs users to use overseas encrypted DNS servers.

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