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Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:47 pm
by Ted.
Not too bad.
People will be able to watch the entire Rugby World Cup on Spark Sport for $59.99 if they take advantage of a "super early bird special" that will go on sale next month, Spark has announced.
More games than previously signalled will also be available free-to-air on TVNZ.
The price to watch all 48 matches live and "on-demand" on Spark Sport increases to $79.99 if rugby fans leave buying a pass until June, and Spark will bump the price up to $89.99 during the nine days before the tournament starts on September 20.
The pricing is designed to encourage fans to sign up to watch the RWC on Spark Sport early, its head Jeff Latch said.
LINK
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:05 pm
by grouch
Ted. wrote:Not too bad.
People will be able to watch the entire Rugby World Cup on Spark Sport for $59.99 if they take advantage of a "super early bird special" that will go on sale next month, Spark has announced.
More games than previously signalled will also be available free-to-air on TVNZ.
The price to watch all 48 matches live and "on-demand" on Spark Sport increases to $79.99 if rugby fans leave buying a pass until June, and Spark will bump the price up to $89.99 during the nine days before the tournament starts on September 20.
The pricing is designed to encourage fans to sign up to watch the RWC on Spark Sport early, its head Jeff Latch said.
LINK
I'm in!
BUT , only if there is a sworn contract from Spark , no Justin Marshall.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:12 pm
by Ted.
grouch wrote:Ted. wrote:Not too bad.
People will be able to watch the entire Rugby World Cup on Spark Sport for $59.99 if they take advantage of a "super early bird special" that will go on sale next month, Spark has announced.
More games than previously signalled will also be available free-to-air on TVNZ.
The price to watch all 48 matches live and "on-demand" on Spark Sport increases to $79.99 if rugby fans leave buying a pass until June, and Spark will bump the price up to $89.99 during the nine days before the tournament starts on September 20.
The pricing is designed to encourage fans to sign up to watch the RWC on Spark Sport early, its head Jeff Latch said.
LINK
I'm in!
BUT , only if there is a sworn contract from Spark , no Justin Marshall.
Yep.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:19 pm
by naki
Are these shunts going to have a direct app for Android TVs? I don't want to bugger about with Chromecast or AirPlaying or HDMI cables etc
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:25 pm
by Jeff the Bear
I'm waiting to see the bloody app. Most Kiwis won't give a shit, but they've had the rights to the European Champions Cup all season...not that you'd know mind, because the app has never been released (which again, most Kiwis might not give a shit about, if not for the fact that the European games were meant to be a trail of the app).
My guess is that without thorough testing, the app will collapse under the weight of usage about 1 minute into the SA v AB game.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:45 pm
by Wilderbeast
naki wrote:Are these shunts going to have a direct app for Android TVs? I don't want to bugger about with Chromecast or AirPlaying or HDMI cables etc
Samsung has already announced models back to 2016 will have it soon.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:58 pm
by Grizz Wyllie
Jeff the Bear wrote:I'm waiting to see the bloody app. Most Kiwis won't give a shit, but they've had the rights to the European Champions Cup all season...not that you'd know mind, because the app has never been released (which again, most Kiwis might not give a shit about, if not for the fact that the European games were meant to be a trail of the app).
My guess is that without thorough testing, the app will collapse under the weight of usage about 1 minute into the SA v AB game.
App for what device? The iPhone one is up and humming. I'm watching a replay of Racing/Toulouse as I type. No dramas.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:03 pm
by Wilderbeast
Jeff the Bear wrote:I'm waiting to see the bloody app. Most Kiwis won't give a shit, but they've had the rights to the European Champions Cup all season...not that you'd know mind, because the app has never been released (which again, most Kiwis might not give a shit about, if not for the fact that the European games were meant to be a trail of the app).
My guess is that without thorough testing, the app will collapse under the weight of usage about 1 minute into the SA v AB game.
There are plans to move broadcasting to Duke should the streaming service collapse. They reckon there could be a few minutes downtime should this happen. Not ideal but best make sure you have that channel on speed dial if you’re worried.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:17 pm
by Jeff the Bear
Grizz Wyllie wrote:Jeff the Bear wrote:I'm waiting to see the bloody app. Most Kiwis won't give a shit, but they've had the rights to the European Champions Cup all season...not that you'd know mind, because the app has never been released (which again, most Kiwis might not give a shit about, if not for the fact that the European games were meant to be a trail of the app).
My guess is that without thorough testing, the app will collapse under the weight of usage about 1 minute into the SA v AB game.
App for what device? The iPhone one is up and humming. I'm watching a replay of Racing/Toulouse as I type. No dramas.
Bar-stewards! They put it out a (beta) version a month ago and I didn't get an update!
Will check tonight.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:36 pm
by JPNZ
The earlybird price isin't bad but I still worry about the negative feedback of F1 viewers and Spark Sport in general since the service was launched.
Will be interesting how much of the general market is cannibalised due to so many games being shown free to air / 60 mins delay
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:58 pm
by Clogs
Wilderbeast wrote:naki wrote:Are these shunts going to have a direct app for Android TVs? I don't want to bugger about with Chromecast or AirPlaying or HDMI cables etc
Samsung has already announced models back to 2016 will have it soon.
That means NZ only has a couple more years to wait before it arrives?
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 11:18 pm
by Wilderbeast
Clogs wrote:Wilderbeast wrote:naki wrote:Are these shunts going to have a direct app for Android TVs? I don't want to bugger about with Chromecast or AirPlaying or HDMI cables etc
Samsung has already announced models back to 2016 will have it soon.
That means NZ only has a couple more years to wait before it arrives?
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 1:09 am
by naki
Wilderbeast wrote:naki wrote:Are these shunts going to have a direct app for Android TVs? I don't want to bugger about with Chromecast or AirPlaying or HDMI cables etc
Samsung has already announced models back to 2016 will have it soon.
Got a Sony Bravia from 2018, another from 2016. Would have to assume they'll have it too.
Whatever happens, I'm going to miss the (expensive) convenience of Sky. Really don't want to have to worry about an app crashing, or a delay, or the likely inferior coverage that Spark are going to provide compared with the experienced Sky team.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 1:15 am
by mr bungle
Clogs wrote:Wilderbeast wrote:naki wrote:Are these shunts going to have a direct app for Android TVs? I don't want to bugger about with Chromecast or AirPlaying or HDMI cables etc
Samsung has already announced models back to 2016 will have it soon.
That means NZ only has a couple more years to wait before it arrives?
Early adopting tech market is NZ. Easier to test things in our size market which is well connected on the whole.
Jeff has a point re: load at peak time. SkyGo took a long time to catch up to demand. Hopefully Spark learn fast from Aussie Optus online streaming mistakes.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 2:12 am
by Ted.
mr bungle wrote:Clogs wrote:Wilderbeast wrote:naki wrote:Are these shunts going to have a direct app for Android TVs? I don't want to bugger about with Chromecast or AirPlaying or HDMI cables etc
Samsung has already announced models back to 2016 will have it soon.
That means NZ only has a couple more years to wait before it arrives?
Early adopting tech market is NZ. Easier to test things in our size market which is well connected on the whole.
Jeff has a point re: load at peak time.
SkyGo took a long time to catch up to demand. Hopefully Spark learn fast from Aussie Optus online streaming mistakes.
That is more likely to be server side related than app related.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 8:26 am
by booze
Jeff the Bear wrote:I'm waiting to see the bloody app. Most Kiwis won't give a shit, but they've had the rights to the European Champions Cup all season...not that you'd know mind, because the app has never been released (which again, most Kiwis might not give a shit about, if not for the fact that the European games were meant to be a trail of the app).
My guess is that without thorough testing, the app will collapse under the weight of usage about 1 minute into the SA v AB game.
Do they have public cloud providers like azure or AWS in NZ?
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:00 am
by mr bungle
Ted. wrote:mr bungle wrote:Clogs wrote:Wilderbeast wrote:naki wrote:Are these shunts going to have a direct app for Android TVs? I don't want to bugger about with Chromecast or AirPlaying or HDMI cables etc
Samsung has already announced models back to 2016 will have it soon.
That means NZ only has a couple more years to wait before it arrives?
Early adopting tech market is NZ. Easier to test things in our size market which is well connected on the whole.
Jeff has a point re: load at peak time.
SkyGo took a long time to catch up to demand. Hopefully Spark learn fast from Aussie Optus online streaming mistakes.
That is more likely to be server side related than app related.
Of course it’s what’s under the hood, but the point is that SkyGo, accessed either via app or website was unusable.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:11 am
by Wignu
All AB games plus all quarter, semis and the final are on free to air live TV One I believe ... Spark can fudge off if they think they'll be getting my barely earned dollars!
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:32 am
by JPNZ
Wignu wrote:All AB games plus all quarter, semis and the final are on free to air live TV One I believe ... Spark can fudge off if they think they'll be getting my barely earned dollars!
Not quite, the semis and final are live on free to air.
The free-game line-up:
• Friday 20 September / Pool A, Match 1 (opening match) / Japan v Russia / LIVE
• Saturday 21 September / Pool B, Match 4 / NZ v South Africa / Delayed by 1 hour
• Saturday 28 September / Pool C, Match 13 / Tonga v Argentina / LIVE
• Wednesday 2 October / Pool B, Match 20 / NZ v Canada / Delayed by 1 hour
• Friday 4 October / Pool B, Match 23 / South Africa v Italy / LIVE
• Sunday 6 October / Pool B, Match 27 / NZ v Namibia / Delayed by 1 hour
• Wednesday 9 October / Pool D, Match 32 / Fiji v Wales / LIVE
• Sunday 12 October / Pool B, Match 34 / NZ v Italy / Delayed by 1 hour
• One quarter final: TBC, but will be the NZ match, assuming the team progress past the pool stage / Delayed by 1 hour
• Saturday 26 October / Semi-finals, Match 45 / LIVE
• Sunday 27 October / Semi-finals, Match 46 / LIVE
• Saturday 2 November / Final, Match 48 and medal ceremony / LIVE
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:00 am
by Dark
Have the speed and access easy enough but there is no way I am going into it without knowing who they line up as a commentary team
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:08 am
by JPNZ
Dark wrote:Have the speed and access easy enough but there is no way I am going into it without knowing who they line up as a commentary team
They signed Scotty Stevenson from Sky earlier this year. Not sure who else they will have on but you can guarantee it won't be anyone currently on Sky NZ
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:11 am
by mr bungle
JPNZ wrote:Dark wrote:Have the speed and access easy enough but there is no way I am going into it without knowing who they line up as a commentary team
They signed Scotty Stevenson from Sky earlier this year. Not sure who else they will have on but you can guarantee it won't be anyone currently on Sky NZ
A change is as good as a holiday. Even though I have a soft spot for Nisbo and others, they’re not irreplaceable.
$60 for all 48 games live is more than a fair price. I’m in.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:15 am
by Dark
mr bungle wrote:JPNZ wrote:Dark wrote:Have the speed and access easy enough but there is no way I am going into it without knowing who they line up as a commentary team
They signed Scotty Stevenson from Sky earlier this year. Not sure who else they will have on but you can guarantee it won't be anyone currently on Sky NZ
A change is as good as a holiday. Even though I have a soft spot for Nisbo and others, they’re not irreplaceable.
$60 for all 48 games live is more than a fair price. I’m in.
Yeah fair call I suppose.
$20 vitual dollars says they nick any Sky people without a non competition working clause and a few weeks break saved up anyway
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:17 am
by Dark
JPNZ wrote:Dark wrote:Have the speed and access easy enough but there is no way I am going into it without knowing who they line up as a commentary team
They signed Scotty Stevenson from Sky earlier this year. Not sure who else they will have on but you can guarantee it won't be anyone currently on Sky NZ
Kind of depends on their individual contracts I imagine
(did these posts the wrong way round)
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:37 am
by JPNZ
Dark wrote:JPNZ wrote:Dark wrote:Have the speed and access easy enough but there is no way I am going into it without knowing who they line up as a commentary team
They signed Scotty Stevenson from Sky earlier this year. Not sure who else they will have on but you can guarantee it won't be anyone currently on Sky NZ
Kind of depends on their individual contracts I imagine
(did these posts the wrong way round)
Once Scotty left them, rumour has it they put decent contracts in front of the others to stop Spark poaching more. Hence Ken Laban, Rikki Swannell and a few others doing more full calls on Sky. They will need more than Scotty though.. PS Actually just remembered ex Sky employee Melodie Robinson is head of Sport at TVNZ who is aligned with Spark sport, she may do some RWC work too
I'm going to chuck in a left field suggestion/guess.. Jason Hoyte who does ball by ball cricket coverage for the ACC has left Radio Hauraki as of last week. He's worked with Scotty Stevenson on the ACC and plenty of radio too
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 8:13 pm
by mr bungle
Sky have overdubbed some of Sumo’s commentaries since he left. The Mitch Hunt Canterbury last minute drop goal used in a promo for one.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:11 pm
by Wignu
JPNZ wrote:Not quite, the semis and final are live on free to air.
Ah ok, thanks for that JP, delayed coverage dammit - well don't really care for any of the games except NZ v SA.
Still not giving Spark any money though!
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:48 pm
by Grizz Wyllie
Scotty will call the All Blacks games alongside a few former All Blacks. The other games will be called by commentators on the world feed.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:23 pm
by CrazyIslander
Why do Kiwis hate Marshall? He's great.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:26 pm
by Jay Cee Gee
CrazyIslander wrote:Why do Kiwis hate Marshall? He's great.
Cause he's a twat, me oh my yes boy he is.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:39 pm
by CrazyIslander
Jay Cee Gee wrote:CrazyIslander wrote:Why do Kiwis hate Marshall? He's great.
Cause he's a twat, me oh my yes boy he is.
He said yes boy a couple of times on the weekend when Nonu bulldozed ALB to score.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:36 pm
by JPNZ
Wignu wrote:JPNZ wrote:Not quite, the semis and final are live on free to air.
Ah ok, thanks for that JP, delayed coverage dammit - well don't really care for any of the games except NZ v SA.
Still not giving Spark any money though!
Same! I can live with my phone and iPad off for an hour before the game starts. My only worry is TVNZ cramming every game choc full of adverts
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:43 pm
by Wilderbeast
If I remember correctly, prime games were 3 hour affairs due to ads.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:45 pm
by sonic_attack
Pretty good value, even at $90 for what it is.
Not sure why they need to overcharge individual matches though. I could very well be $10-$15 a hit for the All Black matches and they'd still do fine.
I'll sign up although I'm pretty confident it'll be a disaster with a couple hundred thousand of us hitting their servers at the same time. They probably do fine with the handful of people who get up at 4am to watch something in Europe live.
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt though.
I get the feeling it'll be all over if there's some cock up mid stream though
The fallout will be brutal.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:44 am
by WoodlandsRFC
What I loved about the Sky broadcast of the RWC was the amount of content and analysis throughout the week that they had on top of all the games, are we likely to have something similar or just the channel 1 news round up?
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 7:50 am
by JPNZ
Those planning to watch the Rugby World Cup on Spark Sport have been given further cause for concern with technical difficulties affecting the women's Black Sticks' game against Australia on Anzac Day.
Subscribers to the Spark Sport streaming service weren't initially able to see the beginning of the Pro League clash, where Australia hammered New Zealand 5-1 in Auckland.
It was announced that the start of the coverage had been "delayed due to technical difficulties," with information given out on Twitter Spark Sport's Twitter feed..
"We'd like to let our customers know that the live stream for the FIH Pro League Women's NZ v AUS has been delayed due to technical difficulties," Spark Sport announced on Twitter. "We don't yet have confirmation of the new start time and are working to have this up shortly. "As soon as we have more information, we'll update customers on this post. Thanks for your patience and understanding."
The problem was sorted and viewers were then able to watch the game in its entirety, however, the damage had been done and the criticism flowed in.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-spo ... e-affected
If you paid them money already I wish you luck, I'd imagine NZ womans hockey is a substantially smaller audience than RWC
Keep in mind the game was in Auckland too
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 8:08 am
by Wignu
True, but rather they sort their shit out with this minor tournament than it happen during the RWC!
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 11:00 am
by JPNZ
Wignu wrote:True, but rather they sort their shit out with this minor tournament than it happen during the RWC!
Can you imagine what would happen if they didn't start coverage till 30 mins in of a pool match or 1/4 final?
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:32 pm
by Ted.
mr bungle wrote:Ted. wrote:mr bungle wrote:Clogs wrote:
That means NZ only has a couple more years to wait before it arrives?
Early adopting tech market is NZ. Easier to test things in our size market which is well connected on the whole.
Jeff has a point re: load at peak time.
SkyGo took a long time to catch up to demand. Hopefully Spark learn fast from Aussie Optus online streaming mistakes.
That is more likely to be server side related than app related.
Of course it’s what’s under the hood, but the point is that SkyGo, accessed either via app or website was unusable.
Agree.
My point, was that a piece of software can be ironed out and redistributed easily and quickly. On the other hand, I doubt that hardware including basic infrastructure like the capacity of roadside cabinets and servers can be upgraded or replaced and tested by September.
The Hockey debacle is adding to my worry.
Re: Spark Sport & THE RWC
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 10:08 pm
by Grizz Wyllie
Wignu wrote:True, but rather they sort their shit out with this minor tournament than it happen during the RWC!
Which is precisely why they are in beta version and it is currently for free - so they can 'trial and error' all parts of the service with real broadcasts and a real audience.