PolicyGuy:

frednz: I think it's a shame for such a major event as the RWC that 750,000 SKY subscribers, paying monthly to see the sports channels, are deprived of seeing this event and have to gear up to internet TV.

Sure some of the key games are going to be on Prime, but the best format IMHO is SKY which 750,000 people have got used to over the years.

Not Prime, Prime == Sky. TVNZ are Spark's partner in this.

All the AB's games will be on TV1 and/or Duke, their pool games will be delayed coverage.
The Quarters, Semis and Final will all be on TV1 / Duke live, not sure about the 3rd/4th playoff - may depend on whether the ABs [shock horror] are in it

Some of the AB's games will be at fairly antisocial times in NZ, ABs vs. Springboks kickoff is 23:45 Saturday 21st September, ABs vs. Canada 00:15 Thursday 3rd October, so I probably wouldn't watch those live even if I subscribed to Spark Sport's RWC coverage. I will watch these middle of the night delayed-coverage games the next morning, having recorded them on MySky (LOL).
Anyone with Sky or with a PVR can do the same.

The pool games broadcast at a "civilised hour" in NZ - Namibia & Italy at 16:45 on 6th & 12th October, will still be quite OK even delayed - a 17:45 or 18:45 kickoff is very nice.

 

In my not-at-all humble opinion, the TV1 / Duke coverage is good enough to not buy Spark's streamed package.
Whether this is or is not a mistake on Spark's part is an interesting question.

PolicyGuy:

 

....

 

Some of the AB's games will be at fairly antisocial times in NZ, ABs vs. Springboks kickoff is 23:45 Saturday 21st September, ABs vs. Canada 00:15 Thursday 3rd October, so I probably wouldn't watch those live even if I subscribed to Spark Sport's RWC coverage. I will watch these middle of the night delayed-coverage games the next morning, having recorded them on MySky (LOL)

 

...

 

I'm not 100% sure where you got the times for the NZ vs SA game, nor the NZ vs Canada games?

@frednz: I think it's a shame for such a major event as the RWC that 750,000 SKY subscribers, paying monthly to see the sports channels, are deprived of seeing this event and have to gear up to internet TV. Sure some of the key games are going to be on Prime, but the best format IMHO is SKY which 750,000 people have got used to over the years.

 

I think it was a shame everyone else in New Zealand without a SKY subscription would have to have antennas installed, decoders acquired to see those games if SKY kept the rights.

See where this is going?

Please don't get into this argument in this thread. Use this thread to discuss watching, technical requirements, performance.

If you want to derail it and make a SKY vs Spark Sport argument, create your own thread.

No. More. SKY. Comparisons. In. This. Thread.

I activated my Tournament Pass today. I've watched some of the world cup moments short vids, and skimmed through a couple of classic games, all works really well on the ATV4, laptop and phone, my only gripe with the classic games is lack of the score on screen. 

So far so good. 

freitasm:

No. More. SKY. Comparisons. In. This. Thread.

 

Well, didn't last long:

 

Spark Sport partner with SKY to show Rugby World Cup 2019™ in commercial premises

 

Spark Sport and SKY announce that commercial premises that want to show Rugby World Cup 2019™ will be able to buy access to a Spark Sport pop-up channel on their SKY decoder. This is in addition to Spark Sport’s existing offer to commercial customers to stream Rugby World Cup matches from the Spark Sport app over their broadband connection.

 

As announced in April, commercial customers can purchase a Spark Sport Rugby World Cup Tournament Pass at the consumer price through sparksport.co.nz/rwc2019. This option gives both consumer and commercial customers access to all 48 matches live and on demand, plus access to a range of highlights and archive matches.

 

Additionally, from today, SKY commercial customers can buy access to a Spark Sport RWC pop-up channel through SKY, which includes all 48 matches live. Commercial customers can access the pop-up channel for a one-off cost at commercial rates. Rates are confidential but reflect the quality and scale of the event.

 

Under the terms of the partnership, Spark will cover the costs of SKY establishing the pop-up channel and will receive all related revenue from SKY commercial customers.

 

David Chalmers, Executive Lead for Spark Sport, explains, “After testing in a wide range of commercial environments, we are confident in the Spark Sport streaming service that we are making available for commercial premises. But we also wanted to provide an alternative option for venues that would prefer to use their existing infrastructure, particularly for those locations without streaming-ready broadband connectivity.

 

“This partnership with SKY means that commercial businesses which already have SKY set up in their premises have options for how they screen the tournament, to ensure that as many commercial premises around New Zealand as possible can show the Rugby World Cup in its entirety.”

 

Sophie Moloney, SKY’s Strategic Partnerships lead, said that “Watching the Rugby World Cup is a special activity for many New Zealanders, and a big part of the sports calendar for pubs and clubs throughout the country.  We are pleased to be able to work together with Spark to deliver this alternative access option for our commercial customers, including those in rural areas who don’t yet have access to fast enough broadband.”

 

freitasm:

 

Well, didn't last long:

 

 

Spark Sport partner with SKY to show Rugby World Cup 2019™ in commercial premises

 

 

Everyone wins :)

That is a good and smart move. I didn't feel that Spark was going to get everyone ready in time.

Now if they can just come to the same agreement for the rest of the Sky customers :)

tripp:

 

freitasm:

 

Well, didn't last long:

 

 

Spark Sport partner with SKY to show Rugby World Cup 2019™ in commercial premises

 

 

 

Everyone wins :)

 

That's true. Credit to Spark for doing this deal now instead of waiting till the last second.

Well that answers my distribution to tall the screens question a few pages ago.

But it says Spark Sport pop-up channel (i.e. singular) will there not be points where there are two games on at the same time?

mentalinc:

 

Well that answers my distribution to tall the screens question a few pages ago.

 

But it says Spark Sport pop-up channel (i.e. singular) will there not be points where there are two games on at the same time?

 

Please also remember about the TVNZ channel as well (Duke) they will be screen some games :)

mentalinc:

 

Well that answers my distribution to tall the screens question a few pages ago.

 

But it says Spark Sport pop-up channel (i.e. singular) will there not be points where there are two games on at the same time?

 

No, pretty sure there aren't two games on at once at any point.