Spark Sport
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From Spark Sport:
Midway through the first half we identified that the quality of the video stream was fluctuating for some customers. This meant that customers experienced brief, intermittent periods of reduced video quality such as pixilation and buffering.
We were uncomfortable at the quality of the experience our customers were getting and, as we always said we would, we moved quickly to provide them with an alternative means of watching the match. We had prior established procedures with our partner TVNZ to enable live, free-to-air coverage at short notice.
We made the call just before half time to immediately simulcast the rest of the match live on TVNZ Duke and we communicated this through our channels and the media. A banner message was also subsequently displayed on Spark Sport.
The video streaming quality issue improved shortly afterwards and from midway through the second half streaming across all devices appeared stable once again.
The majority of customers continued to watch via Spark Sport and did not experience video quality issues. The service peaked at 132,000 concurrent streams and by the end of the match had dropped to 126,000.
There were not the same video quality problems during the day’s two earlier matches. Although some customers needed help from our care teams at times during the day, for the most part these related to isolated device issues and in-home set up.
The root cause of the video streaming issue is still being investigated with our international streaming partners. However, we can confirm that the issue was not related to New Zealand broadband capacity, with the demand for this game well within our operating thresholds. It was not confined to customers of any particular broadband provider.
@Bovidae said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
From Spark Sport:
Midway through the first half we identified that the quality of the video stream was fluctuating for some customers. This meant that customers experienced brief, intermittent periods of reduced video quality such as pixilation and buffering.
We were uncomfortable at the quality of the experience our customers were getting and, as we always said we would, we moved quickly to provide them with an alternative means of watching the match. We had prior established procedures with our partner TVNZ to enable live, free-to-air coverage at short notice.
We made the call just before half time to immediately simulcast the rest of the match live on TVNZ Duke and we communicated this through our channels and the media. A banner message was also subsequently displayed on Spark Sport.
The video streaming quality issue improved shortly afterwards and from midway through the second half streaming across all devices appeared stable once again.
The majority of customers continued to watch via Spark Sport and did not experience video quality issues. The service peaked at 132,000 concurrent streams and by the end of the match had dropped to 126,000.
There were not the same video quality problems during the day’s two earlier matches. Although some customers needed help from our care teams at times during the day, for the most part these related to isolated device issues and in-home set up.
The root cause of the video streaming issue is still being investigated with our international streaming partners. However, we can confirm that the issue was not related to New Zealand broadband capacity, with the demand for this game well within our operating thresholds. It was not confined to customers of any particular broadband provider.
This made me think. There's people that had to work during the game. Thoughts and prayers.
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@Bovidae said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
From Spark Sport:
Midway through the first half we identified that the quality of the video stream was fluctuating for some customers. This meant that customers experienced brief, intermittent periods of reduced video quality such as pixilation and buffering.
We were uncomfortable at the quality of the experience our customers were getting and, as we always said we would, we moved quickly to provide them with an alternative means of watching the match. We had prior established procedures with our partner TVNZ to enable live, free-to-air coverage at short notice.
We made the call just before half time to immediately simulcast the rest of the match live on TVNZ Duke and we communicated this through our channels and the media. A banner message was also subsequently displayed on Spark Sport.
The video streaming quality issue improved shortly afterwards and from midway through the second half streaming across all devices appeared stable once again.
The majority of customers continued to watch via Spark Sport and did not experience video quality issues. The service peaked at 132,000 concurrent streams and by the end of the match had dropped to 126,000.
There were not the same video quality problems during the day’s two earlier matches. Although some customers needed help from our care teams at times during the day, for the most part these related to isolated device issues and in-home set up.
The root cause of the video streaming issue is still being investigated with our international streaming partners. However, we can confirm that the issue was not related to New Zealand broadband capacity, with the demand for this game well within our operating thresholds. It was not confined to customers of any particular broadband provider.
This made me think. There's people that had to work during the game. Thoughts and prayers.
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@Bones said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
This made me think. There's people that had to work during the game. Thoughts and prayers.
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@Machpants said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
Not much use to those of us that don't have TVNZ
But reasonable for them as a provider. Confident that it will get better, and pool games are where you want them to find the issues.
@Kirwan said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Machpants said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
Not much use to those of us that don't have TVNZ
But reasonable for them as a provider. Confident that it will get better, and pool games are where you want them to find the issues.
I disagree. I purchased (unwittingly) the rugby WC package. Not the quarter finals packages. (Semi and final are free to air)
As a paying customer it should be sorted before it starts not during the time when the package represents the investment.
I don’t go to to a new restaurant, having a degustation with the expectation that if the dessert is ok and the entrees, secondi and main are below standard, that the whole experience is value for money.
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@Kirwan said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Machpants said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
Not much use to those of us that don't have TVNZ
But reasonable for them as a provider. Confident that it will get better, and pool games are where you want them to find the issues.
I disagree. I purchased (unwittingly) the rugby WC package. Not the quarter finals packages. (Semi and final are free to air)
As a paying customer it should be sorted before it starts not during the time when the package represents the investment.
I don’t go to to a new restaurant, having a degustation with the expectation that if the dessert is ok and the entrees, secondi and main are below standard, that the whole experience is value for money.
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There will be improvements today as most of us will watch on Duke, so the load will be lower.
Spark Sport will lose millions on this, not to mention a lot of goodwill.
@Bovidae said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Spark Sport will lose millions on this, not to mention a lot of goodwill.
Not sure about that. They had 130,000 streams at peak. At $75 typical per user, that covers their buyin - and there'd be a heap of people not logged in who were out/at mates places (like me).
now throw in the sponsorship dollars, money from TVNZ, and the pubs/clubs costings, and it'll stack up just fine.
The reputation, on the other hand... (noting I'm loving streaming compared to satellite. On demand is grea, and the quality is fantastic)
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@Bovidae said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Spark Sport will lose millions on this, not to mention a lot of goodwill.
Not sure about that. They had 130,000 streams at peak. At $75 typical per user, that covers their buyin - and there'd be a heap of people not logged in who were out/at mates places (like me).
now throw in the sponsorship dollars, money from TVNZ, and the pubs/clubs costings, and it'll stack up just fine.
The reputation, on the other hand... (noting I'm loving streaming compared to satellite. On demand is grea, and the quality is fantastic)
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@Machpants said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I certainly applied for the 15% back
Thanks for the heads up, made me read the Spark email properly
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@Machpants said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I certainly applied for the 15% back
I will too.
BTW, what surround sound format is everyone getting with their streams? Only stereo 2.0 ch?
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I far prefer the streaming and on-demand coverage than bloody Sky, so I'm willing to cut Spark a bit of slack for taking a risk but at the same time moving NZ forward away from dinosaurs like Sky.
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Question any Aussie Farmers watching on Fox.
Are you getting ghosting on your tele?
Am getting the old fashioned extra image/shadow on the game coverage. Weird. Very 1980s analog...
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Question any Aussie Farmers watching on Fox.
Are you getting ghosting on your tele?
Am getting the old fashioned extra image/shadow on the game coverage. Weird. Very 1980s analog...
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Well so far I haven't paid Spark and haven't needed to. I'm in the 'wait until I see if I need it' camp and so far haven't needed it.
Had to go out on Saturday so the delayed coverage was fine for me. Had some of the earlier games running on VPN to ITV with smooth stream, then as many predicted Spark fell over and yesterday was free for everyone.
I'm not being tight or smug, just practical. I was tempted to sign up late last week and thought I would test how prepared they were with a simple question to the help line (not covered by FAQs) on whether I could cast from iOS device via AirPlay to a non Gen4 Apple TV. They had no idea and wanted me to sign up and test it myself. Seemed like a pretty basic test for them to have run so they could advise owners of older ATVs but no. -
Well so far I haven't paid Spark and haven't needed to. I'm in the 'wait until I see if I need it' camp and so far haven't needed it.
Had to go out on Saturday so the delayed coverage was fine for me. Had some of the earlier games running on VPN to ITV with smooth stream, then as many predicted Spark fell over and yesterday was free for everyone.
I'm not being tight or smug, just practical. I was tempted to sign up late last week and thought I would test how prepared they were with a simple question to the help line (not covered by FAQs) on whether I could cast from iOS device via AirPlay to a non Gen4 Apple TV. They had no idea and wanted me to sign up and test it myself. Seemed like a pretty basic test for them to have run so they could advise owners of older ATVs but no.@Crucial said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
whether I could cast from iOS device via AirPlay to a non Gen4 Apple TV
They really should know that - and that they have an Apple TB app so that you don't have to cast anyway.
