Vodafone TV retirement plan: September 2022

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653 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#3060821 10-Apr-2023 10:27

It seems the answer to sports subscribers is just to cancel the SkyPod and get the SkySport Now app

This is effectively what I have done, it's app-based, no phone calls to subscribe or cancel and it just works, plus it's on my phone when I am out.

Also, the pricing isn't bad either if you are just wanting sports.

The fact Sky are still insisting on the box and satellite system is just proof they are a sunset company. Hope no one has shares in them when they fold.

Even Sky in the UK is moving to IPTV

- https://rxtvinfo.com/2022/sky-to-enter-iptv-race-going-head-to-head-with-rivals/

- https://www.digitaltveurope.com/comment/sky-enters-new-era-with-shift-to-iptv/

Why are we still trying to re-engineer something that is already working fine in the UK? Obviously, Sky NZ doesn't speak to Sky UK.

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Rushmere

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Ultimate Geek

#3060825 10-Apr-2023 10:43

Delorean:

The fact Sky are still insisting on the box and satellite system is just proof they are a sunset company. Hope no one has shares in them when they fold.

Even Sky in the UK is moving to IPTV

- https://rxtvinfo.com/2022/sky-to-enter-iptv-race-going-head-to-head-with-rivals/

- https://www.digitaltveurope.com/comment/sky-enters-new-era-with-shift-to-iptv/

Why are we still trying to re-engineer something that is already working fine in the UK? Obviously, Sky NZ doesn't speak to Sky UK.

I recently had the opportunity to use the Sky NOW streaming service in the UK on an Apple TV, and it was a joy to use. There is even a third-party app on Apple TV that aggregates content from Sky NOW plus all of the free-to-air channels plus some other streaming services such as Discovery Plus. You can browse all of the channels in the guide, select something and it drops you into the appropriate app and starts the current live TV stream. It's exactly what I'd like to have here.

Sky NZ is completely unrelated to Sky in the UK (which is part of the massive European Sky Group), and Sky Group is a significantly larger company with huge resources compared to Sky NZ, so I accept that Sky NZ won't have the capability to do everything that they do in Europe. However, I would really like to see Sky NZ survive, and I would have thought that focusing on delivery and content, and not having the added distraction of trying to deliver hardware as well would actually be a positive step for them.

quickymart

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#3060827 10-Apr-2023 11:04

Rushmere:

Good luck.

I queued for about 20 minutes to cancel recently.

The person I spoke to seemed to be in NZ, but was pretty incoherent, giving me a range of incorrect information (such as I can get Sky with the new box without a satellite dish). I was offered the new box in exchange for the Pod at the standard price, but politely declined. She didn't even seem to be able to see that I'd been a Sky user for many years - she thought I'd just signed up, and kept saying back to me that I was cancelling because I was unhappy with Vodafone TV, even though I kept telling her that the reason was because the Sky Pod is rubbish. I'm still waiting for the promised courier bag to arrive to return the Pod.

Jeez, if their call centre is like this now and they (presumably) haven't even started their outsourcing yet, Christ knows how bad it's going to be when they finally do outsource it...

Delorean

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#3060828 10-Apr-2023 11:08

@rushmere

Agree with your comments, Sky UK is unrelated to Sky NZ, however, why couldn't the UK license its technology for NZ to use, isn't that what VodaTV was, it was just their European box deployed here.

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ukoda

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#3060845 10-Apr-2023 11:48

Rushmere:

... However, I would really like to see Sky NZ survive...

Given their standard operating procedure is gain NZ exclusive access to content. locking out more resonably priced service for those of use who are not interested in the reset of the dross they have, I would be happy to see them fail.

Sky is a blight on content availablity here and one of the reasons international streaming options have offered less content to NZ customers than they offer to the USA and other countries.

Rushmere

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Ultimate Geek

#3060916 10-Apr-2023 12:45

Delorean:

@rushmere

Agree with your comments, Sky UK is unrelated to Sky NZ, however, why couldn't the UK license its technology for NZ to use, isn't that what VodaTV was, it was just their European box deployed here.

I guess it's all a bit of a fine balancing act. Vodafone TV failed because it wasn't commercially viable in NZ. Content is expensive these days, NZ is a very small market, and Sky NZ doesn't have a huge profit margin (according to their last results they're currently making less than $60 per customer per year), so who knows if licensing from Sky UK would be viable, or even if their software is available for licensing? Even if they licensed it, it would still have to be customised for NZ content, so more cost would be involved.

It also seems that streaming rights are often separate to satellite broadcast rights, as demonstrated by TVNZ refusing permission to allow Sky NZ to put their channels directly on the Sky Pod. It's certainly the solution I would prefer, but is it actually possible? The NZ TV landscape would become even more fragmented without Sky, and the TV market has developed globally in such a way that users demand impossibly low pricing, so I do sympathise with their difficult position of serving a very small market.

Senecio

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#3061016 10-Apr-2023 15:20

Delorean:

It seems the answer to sports subscribers is just to cancel the SkyPod and get the SkySport Now app

This is effectively what I have done, it's app-based, no phone calls to subscribe or cancel and it just works, plus it's on my phone when I am out.

Also, the pricing isn't bad either if you are just wanting sports....

The problem with Sky Sports Now is the quality is terrible. Low bitrate, 25fps, highly compressed video full of artefacts makes most sports unwatchable.

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Delorean

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#3061019 10-Apr-2023 15:28

I find Sky Sports Now fine for playback. Maybe your connection could be an issue?

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Senecio

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#3061025 10-Apr-2023 15:45

It's not the connection. Ask anyone on here and they will confirm it. Some people may be less sensitive to it but it's the same for everyone. Check out a slow sport like golf. The player makes a putt and the camera pans from the player to the hole. The ball becomes a juddery mess. Tennis is particularly impacted by it. The ball just goes missing at times as its moving too fast for 25fps video to render it.

Delorean

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#3061120 10-Apr-2023 18:20

@senecio

Correct, That is different to what I was meaning; that said, even with that issue, it isn't better than getting a sat dish, a new box and a bill that's three times what you are paying to get sports.

Despite the minor issues with SkySport Now, it's a good option; and you don't need to talk to anyone.

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drseuss25

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#3061559 11-Apr-2023 16:23

Adding Voda TV back into my system tonight.
Given i have to keep flicking between Sky Pod and TVNZ anyway at least ill now have decent audio streamed in 5.1ch vs 2ch which is appalling.
Im going to keep it running for as long as it will last now.

antoniosk

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#3061568 11-Apr-2023 16:46

Rushmere:

I recently had the opportunity to use the Sky NOW streaming service in the UK on an Apple TV, and it was a joy to use. There is even a third-party app on Apple TV that aggregates content from Sky NOW plus all of the free-to-air channels plus some other streaming services such as Discovery Plus. You can browse all of the channels in the guide, select something and it drops you into the appropriate app and starts the current live TV stream. It's exactly what I'd like to have here.

This is what Id hoped would happen in NZ - a single app you can load on your own device (like an apple or google tv, or smart tv if you must), so that it operates with the remote like a freeview box. I understand the activating other providers apps - how quaint - but given thats only tvnz and tv3 in NZ, not that big an issue.

Instead we have a puck, a DVB-S box, and really poor apps like Skygo (which is limited in concurrent FFS, in 2023).

I dont believe the Sky product managers are this ignorant, and are likely held back by combinations of terrible content deals, weak lawyers and weaker commercial positions, unable to negotiate something better.

________

Antoniosk

Apsattv

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#3061577 11-Apr-2023 17:09

One of the problems is the content suppliers to the FTA networks don't want to be on any device that doesnt support DRM. Even the FTA networks on voda tv had drm applied to them making them useless in 3rd partys devices/apps. They even relied on ancient laws regarding personal recording of content. A single app for a tv etc is a pipedream, different sets different hardware different levels of DRM and video codec support.

Freeviews streaming is also a joke, relying on a mishmash of linear streams, from independent sources. Rather than coming from one Freeview operated server.

SteveC

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#3061631 11-Apr-2023 19:01

Apsattv: ... A single app for a tv etc is a pipedream, ...

Our industry has delivered a few pipedreams over the years, but this is not a technical issue. We might have overcome the tyranny of capitalism first ... though I think a single app will come sooner than that.
The most important thing this particular topic has taught me over the past year or so is that delivering IPTV is not easy. VTV was far from perfect, but was still much better than what anyone else has offered. Even those who what to pay for a solution can't find it.

netspanner

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Ultimate Geek

#3061906 12-Apr-2023 14:22

Very true, I feel like I am going back to the 90's having to watch TV when it is broadcast, and not being able to go back to watch missed episodes. You don't know what you miss until its gone. Enjoying the last week of VF immensely. I have chromeTV set up ready to go but not looking forward to it.

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