Spark Sport
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My mother was bragging about how she had no issues with Spark and how she thought the people who had complaints were just moaners with nothing better to do . So the old dragon picks up the remote to show me and says “ see it’s as easy as this, just press these buttons “. Whereupon the thing shit itself and it took her five minutes to unfuck whatever went wrong . When she saw me and the old man trying not to laugh we got “ the look” from her.
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My mother was bragging about how she had no issues with Spark and how she thought the people who had complaints were just moaners with nothing better to do . So the old dragon picks up the remote to show me and says “ see it’s as easy as this, just press these buttons “. Whereupon the thing shit itself and it took her five minutes to unfuck whatever went wrong . When she saw me and the old man trying not to laugh we got “ the look” from her.
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@Bovidae said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@nzzp Have Spark given any guarantee that the price will remain at $20 per month? Someone has to pay for this new sporting content, and that's usually the consumer.
The big winner here will be NZR. They should be able to name their price as both Sky and Spark will be fighting hard for these rights. Sky's survival depends on retaining rugby.
Frankly, I ditched satellite sky a couple of years ago as I just wasn't getting value for money. With a young family, going to all the Blues home games, I was struggling to watch more than a game or two a fortnight. That worked out to twenty to forty dollars a game -- and while I love me some rugby, that's getting a bit silly.
Basically, if you're a big sport consumer (as I was as a student), Sky was awesome. When I don't have time, and have to pick and choose, having streaming makes a massive difference. Delayed start, no need to record, multiple devices can play it, can view it remotely when away from home, all big bonusses in my opinion.
Sky also treated customers like crap. Didn't care, didn't invest in any proper technology; their new CEO seems switched on, but they felt like the very example of a sunset industry. Hopefully the competition means both parties lift their game
@nzzp How people view sport will differ with each individual and their circumstances. Sometimes streaming has advantages, and sometimes not.
Not everyone has fibre and unlimited broadband. If you lived in some rural regions you don't have the option of watching Spark Sport, Netflix etc and they rely on satellite to watch FTA TV channels.
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I see a lot of criticism of Spark picking up rugby and cricket because parts of NZ don't have good enough Internet speeds, but basically no criticism of the fact that those Internet speeds are a fucking embarrassment for a first world country. They're not good enough and we should be shouting that from the hilltops to get the investment to bloody well fix it. A positive of Spark trying to move NZ into the future is that it will create a strong drive to sort it out.
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@Snowy said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Streaming is the future I think. I find it way more convenient and useful than TV .. except for fast forwarding
Why? Genuine question.
On demand is great but Sky have that anyway. So what is it?The rewind, fast forward is a real pain for sports - not so much for TV / Movies.
I covered this in my previous response (maybe even in this thread?), but in a nutshell for me off the top of my head:
- don't have to worry about games starting, remembering to record, or having the recording cut off because the EPG was wrong. You just rock up and watch, either live, or from the start.
- Quality is comparable to Satellite HD (and will only go one way)
- It's portable and mobile. Can watch at the bach, at the airport, etc. At christmas, when I go to non-Sky households, can still put the sport on. With mobile data now, I'm comfortable watching in a bunch of places
- Didn't expect this, but you can shift streaming service part way through and it picks up - so I have been watching in the lounge, grab a computer to watch while rowing and it picks up where I left off. Just convenient; Sky couldn't do that
- content always available, don't have to record and then only have it in one place
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@nzzp How people view sport will differ with each individual and their circumstances. Sometimes streaming has advantages, and sometimes not.
Not everyone has fibre and unlimited broadband. If you lived in some rural regions you don't have the option of watching Spark Sport, Netflix etc and they rely on satellite to watch FTA TV channels.
@Bovidae said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@nzzp How people view sport will differ with each individual and their circumstances. Sometimes streaming has advantages, and sometimes not.
Not everyone has fibre and unlimited broadband. If you lived in some rural regions you don't have the option of watching Spark Sport, Netflix etc and they rely on satellite to watch FTA TV channels.
absolutely, but internet access is only going one way. Three years ago, data caps were the norm. In three years time, I'd expect there is decent cell broadband or better to most of the population - and that will keep improving.
At times I stream at a rural location, at the end of a private road, with speeds of about 4-5MB. It's OK not great - but beats the hell out of no sport.
I do get it, but people made the same argument when Sky came out - that some people woudln't be able to afford it, and sport would be limited by income. Now it's the benchmark baseline, and internet access is the determinant. I get that it's not perfect,
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I see a lot of criticism of Spark picking up rugby and cricket because parts of NZ don't have good enough Internet speeds, but basically no criticism of the fact that those Internet speeds are a fucking embarrassment for a first world country. They're not good enough and we should be shouting that from the hilltops to get the investment to bloody well fix it. A positive of Spark trying to move NZ into the future is that it will create a strong drive to sort it out.
@No-Quarter the irony is not lost with Telecom into Spark/Chorus being one of the main players in the 'development' of our infrastructure. Had they done a better job back in the day perhaps we'd have far fewer folks with average internet speed and quality.
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@No-Quarter the irony is not lost with Telecom into Spark/Chorus being one of the main players in the 'development' of our infrastructure. Had they done a better job back in the day perhaps we'd have far fewer folks with average internet speed and quality.
@Paekakboyz said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@No-Quarter the irony is not lost with Telecom into Spark/Chorus being one of the main players in the 'development' of our infrastructure. Had they done a better job back in the day perhaps we'd have far fewer folks with average internet speed and quality.
I don't get the hate on our broadband. Fibre is in most places, and going out fast.
also, check this out
https://www.crowninfrastructure.govt.nz/rural/what/Edit: I got interrupted.
In 2017, Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) assessed that 90,000 rural households and businesses cannot access broadband speeds of at least 20 Mbps download. The RBI2 programme aims to reduce this number as much as possible.So we're talking about 90,000 households and businesses who can't access fast-ish internet at the momehnt, and that's dropping. IN the context of 5M people in NZ, that's a pity for some, but it's not a train wreck. I reckon our internet infrastructure is usually exceptional, and not too bad overall
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Yeah NZ Is ranked 17th i the world, just behind USA in 15th. Better than France, Canada, Germany, Ireland, UK, and good old Oz in 50th
@Machpants said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Yeah NZ Is ranked 17th i the world, just behind USA in 15th. Better than France, Canada, Germany, Ireland, UK, and good old Oz in 50th
I have to question those ratings. There's no way Australia is that high.
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@Machpants said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Yeah NZ Is ranked 17th i the world, just behind USA in 15th. Better than France, Canada, Germany, Ireland, UK, and good old Oz in 50th
I have to question those ratings. There's no way Australia is that high.
@antipodean said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Machpants said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Yeah NZ Is ranked 17th i the world, just behind USA in 15th. Better than France, Canada, Germany, Ireland, UK, and good old Oz in 50th
I have to question those ratings. There's no way Australia is that high.
it's from here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speedsthe issue usually isn't the average though, it's the slowest 10% that really struggle.
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@Paekakboyz said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@No-Quarter the irony is not lost with Telecom into Spark/Chorus being one of the main players in the 'development' of our infrastructure. Had they done a better job back in the day perhaps we'd have far fewer folks with average internet speed and quality.
I don't get the hate on our broadband. Fibre is in most places, and going out fast.
also, check this out
https://www.crowninfrastructure.govt.nz/rural/what/Edit: I got interrupted.
In 2017, Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) assessed that 90,000 rural households and businesses cannot access broadband speeds of at least 20 Mbps download. The RBI2 programme aims to reduce this number as much as possible.So we're talking about 90,000 households and businesses who can't access fast-ish internet at the momehnt, and that's dropping. IN the context of 5M people in NZ, that's a pity for some, but it's not a train wreck. I reckon our internet infrastructure is usually exceptional, and not too bad overall
@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I don't get the hate on our broadband.
That's because you have a decent service. I don't even have a sealed road so decent internet seems some time away. Mobile could be a speed solution but expensive, data caps, etc.
Yes, my fault for living in the sticks but I pay the same as everyone else for the substandard service.
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@antipodean said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Machpants said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Yeah NZ Is ranked 17th i the world, just behind USA in 15th. Better than France, Canada, Germany, Ireland, UK, and good old Oz in 50th
I have to question those ratings. There's no way Australia is that high.
it's from here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speedsthe issue usually isn't the average though, it's the slowest 10% that really struggle.
@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@antipodean said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Machpants said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Yeah NZ Is ranked 17th i the world, just behind USA in 15th. Better than France, Canada, Germany, Ireland, UK, and good old Oz in 50th
I have to question those ratings. There's no way Australia is that high.
it's from here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speedsthe issue usually isn't the average though, it's the slowest 10% that really struggle.
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Sky retains the cricket WC broadcasting rights
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@Paekakboyz said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@No-Quarter the irony is not lost with Telecom into Spark/Chorus being one of the main players in the 'development' of our infrastructure. Had they done a better job back in the day perhaps we'd have far fewer folks with average internet speed and quality.
I don't get the hate on our broadband. Fibre is in most places, and going out fast.
also, check this out
https://www.crowninfrastructure.govt.nz/rural/what/Edit: I got interrupted.
In 2017, Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) assessed that 90,000 rural households and businesses cannot access broadband speeds of at least 20 Mbps download. The RBI2 programme aims to reduce this number as much as possible.So we're talking about 90,000 households and businesses who can't access fast-ish internet at the momehnt, and that's dropping. IN the context of 5M people in NZ, that's a pity for some, but it's not a train wreck. I reckon our internet infrastructure is usually exceptional, and not too bad overall
@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Paekakboyz said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I don't get the hate on our broadband. Fibre is in most places, and going out fast.
also, check this out
https://www.crowninfrastructure.govt.nz/rural/what/Edit: I got interrupted.
In 2017, Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) assessed that 90,000 rural households and businesses cannot access broadband speeds of at least 20 Mbps download. The RBI2 programme aims to reduce this number as much as possible.So we're talking about 90,000 households and businesses who can't access fast-ish internet at the momehnt, and that's dropping. IN the context of 5M people in NZ, that's a pity for some, but it's not a train wreck. I reckon our internet infrastructure is usually exceptional, and not too bad overall.
Yeah - I think nationally we're not doing badly with broadband compared to most other countries - far lower population density than most countries - probably making the cost of a national rollout higher per capita than most.
Interesting in this context though...
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12275038
As of Wednesday, there had been over 186,000 Spark Sport subscriptions for the Rugby World Cup Tournament Pass.
Anecdotally, I suspect that there would be a significantly higher proportion of people in those 90K rural households that would have subscribed to RWC than in the broader population - if they could have. Most people I've talked to about it round here would have.
I read somewhere that Spark was thought to have paid $12 million for RWC rights (which seems cheap, but apparently double what Sky paid last time). So they'll presumably have broken approximately even. But 186K subscriptions nonetheless seems quite low to me - for what is probably NZ's premier sporting event.
And cricket is not rugby. As I recall, those guys who came in initially and took the EPL away from Sky with their Premier League Pass or something similar,didn't do well - like many pioneers, they probably perished on the trail. I wonder whether the major effect of domestic cricket going to Spark will be that many less people will watch cricket. To watch all the BCs games, you'll have to have two subscriptions - not a prohibitive issue for wealthy and ardent fans, but will casual fans switch to Spark and pay both? Or will they just cancel Sky and go to the beach?
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@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Paekakboyz said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I don't get the hate on our broadband. Fibre is in most places, and going out fast.
also, check this out
https://www.crowninfrastructure.govt.nz/rural/what/Edit: I got interrupted.
In 2017, Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) assessed that 90,000 rural households and businesses cannot access broadband speeds of at least 20 Mbps download. The RBI2 programme aims to reduce this number as much as possible.So we're talking about 90,000 households and businesses who can't access fast-ish internet at the momehnt, and that's dropping. IN the context of 5M people in NZ, that's a pity for some, but it's not a train wreck. I reckon our internet infrastructure is usually exceptional, and not too bad overall.
Yeah - I think nationally we're not doing badly with broadband compared to most other countries - far lower population density than most countries - probably making the cost of a national rollout higher per capita than most.
Interesting in this context though...
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12275038
As of Wednesday, there had been over 186,000 Spark Sport subscriptions for the Rugby World Cup Tournament Pass.
Anecdotally, I suspect that there would be a significantly higher proportion of people in those 90K rural households that would have subscribed to RWC than in the broader population - if they could have. Most people I've talked to about it round here would have.
I read somewhere that Spark was thought to have paid $12 million for RWC rights (which seems cheap, but apparently double what Sky paid last time). So they'll presumably have broken approximately even. But 186K subscriptions nonetheless seems quite low to me - for what is probably NZ's premier sporting event.
And cricket is not rugby. As I recall, those guys who came in initially and took the EPL away from Sky with their Premier League Pass or something similar,didn't do well - like many pioneers, they probably perished on the trail. I wonder whether the major effect of domestic cricket going to Spark will be that many less people will watch cricket. To watch all the BCs games, you'll have to have two subscriptions - not a prohibitive issue for wealthy and ardent fans, but will casual fans switch to Spark and pay both? Or will they just cancel Sky and go to the beach?
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@Chris-B I actually enjoy cricket commentary on the radio, at the beach, with a beer. So that might actually happen.
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@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I don't get the hate on our broadband.
That's because you have a decent service. I don't even have a sealed road so decent internet seems some time away. Mobile could be a speed solution but expensive, data caps, etc.
Yes, my fault for living in the sticks but I pay the same as everyone else for the substandard service.
@Snowy said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I don't get the hate on our broadband.
That's because you have a decent service. I don't even have a sealed road so decent internet seems some time away. Mobile could be a speed solution but expensive, data caps, etc.
Yes, my fault for living in the sticks but I pay the same as everyone else for the substandard service.
I think it's more that our rural broadband isn't as shit as most places. @No-Quarter said we had basically no criticism of the fact that those Internet speeds are a fucking embarrassment for a first world country. I guess my point is that we're doing ok - 27th internationally - and that even those with slower speed (max 90,000 households) are getting something done.
Appreciate you've got shite internet at the moment, and that sucks, but based on what's in this thread you're in a small minority. So it sucks, yep, but I don't think it's enough suckage to trump some people coming in and innovating in a market dominated by a sunset player.
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@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I don't get the hate on our broadband.
That's because you have a decent service. I don't even have a sealed road so decent internet seems some time away. Mobile could be a speed solution but expensive, data caps, etc.
Yes, my fault for living in the sticks but I pay the same as everyone else for the substandard service.
@Snowy said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
I don't get the hate on our broadband.
That's because you have a decent service. I don't even have a sealed road so decent internet seems some time away. Mobile could be a speed solution but expensive, data caps, etc.
Yes, my fault for living in the sticks but I pay the same as everyone else for the substandard service.
No surprises you live in an isolated spot with no near witnesses....... I mean neighbours
