Spark Sport
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@canefan said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Rapido said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Got a chromecast device yesterday, FML.
It can't pair to the wifi. Somehow believes the router and the dongle are on different wifi networks.I Have a Vodafone hub router/modem (with Vodafone TV already), it has both a 2.4 and a 5ghz wifi network, with slightly different names, suspect that is the problem.
But I'm going to return the chromecast today. Too hard.
Will just use an hdmi cable to laptop for Spark Sport for duration of tournament.
Not helpful but I found the chromecast easy to set up using the supplied instructions. I just hooked it into the wifi and cast off my phone
Same here - found it so useful we bought another for our second TV!
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@nzzp said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@canefan said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
@Rapido said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
Got a chromecast device yesterday, FML.
It can't pair to the wifi. Somehow believes the router and the dongle are on different wifi networks.I Have a Vodafone hub router/modem (with Vodafone TV already), it has both a 2.4 and a 5ghz wifi network, with slightly different names, suspect that is the problem.
But I'm going to return the chromecast today. Too hard.
Will just use an hdmi cable to laptop for Spark Sport for duration of tournament.
Not helpful but I found the chromecast easy to set up using the supplied instructions. I just hooked it into the wifi and cast off my phone
Same here - found it so useful we bought another for our second TV!
Yeah we have a fairly old TV in my boys room that we got one for, basically turns it into a smart TV.
@Rapido it’s worth giving Vodafone a bell, chances are they’ll have seen the issue before and will have instructions on how to get it working.
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To me, a TV is just a display. I have an older high quality Panasonic plasma which is a non-smart TV. I wouldn't be confident to rely on TV manufacturers to continually update their apps so it's more sensible to use an external device whether that be an Apple TV (in my situation) or chromecast.
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@Bovidae said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
To me, a TV is just a display. I have an older high quality Panasonic plasma which is a non-smart TV. I wouldn't be confident to rely on TV manufacturers to continually update their apps so it's more sensible to use an external device whether that be an Apple TV (in my situation) or chromecast.
Very true. My TV's apps look really clunky, you can never keep up with pace of tech, easier to update phone
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@Bovidae said in And the winner of the RWC broadcasting rights is...:
To me, a TV is just a display. I have an older high quality Panasonic plasma which is a non-smart TV. I wouldn't be confident to rely on TV manufacturers to continually update their apps so it's more sensible to use an external device whether that be an Apple TV (in my situation) or chromecast.
My TV has Chromecast built into it which is incredibly handy, as you say the built in apps are often clunky and harder to use.
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@Chris-B said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
Makes sense for Spark to hold the line on "internet or nothing" for as long as possible, but at the last minute it also makes sense for them maximise revenue.
Yes, and piss off all of the people who have Sky anyway, and bought the Spark package because Sky don't have it. Unlikely to happen I reckon.
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@Snowy said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
@Chris-B said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
Makes sense for Spark to hold the line on "internet or nothing" for as long as possible, but at the last minute it also makes sense for them maximise revenue.
Yes, and piss off all of the people who have Sky anyway, and bought the Spark package because Sky don't have it. Unlikely to happen I reckon.
I'm assuming Chris B's scenario would mean that the pop up channel is an extra on top of the sky bill and not included in the basic sport package.
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I'd be pretty happy for them to offer that as an option for those stuck on shitty internet.
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@Cyclops said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
@Snowy said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
@Chris-B said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
Makes sense for Spark to hold the line on "internet or nothing" for as long as possible, but at the last minute it also makes sense for them maximise revenue.
Yes, and piss off all of the people who have Sky anyway, and bought the Spark package because Sky don't have it. Unlikely to happen I reckon.
I'm assuming Chris B's scenario would mean that the pop up channel is an extra on top of the sky bill and not included in the basic sport package.
Yeah - they're already offering it to commercial premises - a Spark pop-up channel on Sky.
You'd have to pay for it and you'd obviously also need to have Sky - don't really see why anyone would get upset if it was offered to people who can't otherwise access it.
Would be an issue if offered to people who could access via internet but have chosen not to.
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@Chris-B said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
@Cyclops said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
@Snowy said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
@Chris-B said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
Makes sense for Spark to hold the line on "internet or nothing" for as long as possible, but at the last minute it also makes sense for them maximise revenue.
Yes, and piss off all of the people who have Sky anyway, and bought the Spark package because Sky don't have it. Unlikely to happen I reckon.
I'm assuming Chris B's scenario would mean that the pop up channel is an extra on top of the sky bill and not included in the basic sport package.
Yeah - they're already offering it to commercial premises - a Spark pop-up channel on Sky.
You'd have to pay for it and you'd obviously also need to have Sky - don't really see why anyone would get upset if it was offered to people who can't otherwise access it.
Would be an issue if offered to people who could access via internet but have chosen not to.
Hard to prove that, I can just say I don't have internet even if it is available, just not signed for it. And what speed of internet is the cut off point?
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@No-Quarter said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
I'd be pretty happy for them to offer that as an option for those stuck on shitty internet.
Radiosport?
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@Machpants According to Spark it's 15mbs.
I'd think it wouldn't be difficult for Spark to map people who definitely have access to sufficient speed.
At the end of the day - anyone who has access to sufficient capacity and is desperate to watch will have signed up.
I was watching a couple of old guys in the McKenzie country on TV the other night - rugby stalwarts who'd tried to sign up, are desperate to watch, but are going to have to drag their 75 year old butts down to the pub every night if they want to see most games.
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@Chris-B said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
I'd think it wouldn't be difficult for Spark to map people who definitely have access to sufficient speed.
Yes and no.
Easy to map ability to access various methods (ADSL/VDSL/Fibre/Coax).With Fibre and Coax (the old Telstra network in Welly and ChCh now owned by Voda) then access means enough speed as long as you have made connection from street.
With ADSL and VDSL you can assume that connection is already in place (via copper phone line) but the speed is very variable depending on circumstance of each h/hold
- distance to cabinet. There is a grey distance where some will work OK, some won't
- quality of copper from house to cabinet. this can have big effect on the point above and change the distance calculation
- quality/set up of copper in house. Old star networked internal wiring (from the days of multiple phone jacks) needs cleaning up to maximise speeds.
In short they can calculate a pretty close idea based on what is available where but there will also be a sizable grey area.
For the purpose of the suggestions above they would have to cast a wide net.
My understanding is that the whole point of spending big money on the RWC is to drive as many people as possible to moving to internet based sports. This will drive more people to upgrading their internet and although not all people will go with Spark, many will.
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@Crucial said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
My understanding is that the whole point of spending big money on the RWC is to drive as many people as possible to moving to internet based sports. This will drive more people to upgrading their internet and although not all people will go with Spark, many will.
Yeah - there's no doubt about that. And it is fair enough.
However, the flip side of the coin is, on currently announced policy, Spark is making a commercial decision to not let a reasonable chunk of the country watch RWC in their own homes - even though the pop-up channel is available with the push of a button. So I think if I was completing one of those corporate surveys today about "Spark cares about its customers", I'm currently marking them zero - and I think that is fair and accurate.
On the technical side of things, it doesn't need to be an exact science. If someone applies from central Auckland where they know download speeds are several hundred mbs then send them the instructions for how to sign up to streaming.
If someone applies from five kms out of town and it's "I would have thought they'd be able to stream it", what does it really matter if they're at the margins and get to watch the pop-up channel? Spark still gets their money. I guess they could say send us a screen shot of your Ookla speed test.
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@Chris-B said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
@Crucial said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
My understanding is that the whole point of spending big money on the RWC is to drive as many people as possible to moving to internet based sports. This will drive more people to upgrading their internet and although not all people will go with Spark, many will.
Yeah - there's no doubt about that. And it is fair enough.
However, the flip side of the coin is, on currently announced policy, Spark is making a commercial decision to not let a reasonable chunk of the country watch RWC in their own homes - even though the pop-up channel is available with the push of a button. So I think if I was completing one of those corporate surveys today about "Spark cares about its customers", I'm currently marking them zero - and I think that is fair and accurate.
On the technical side of things, it doesn't need to be an exact science. If someone applies from central Auckland where they know download speeds are several hundred mbs then send them the instructions for how to sign up to streaming.
If someone applies from five kms out of town and it's "I would have thought they'd be able to stream it", what does it really matter if they're at the margins and get to watch the pop-up channel? Spark still gets their money. I guess they could say send us a screen shot of your Ookla speed test.
I don't disagree with the sentiment of that at all. However it is doubtful that the pop up channel is available selectively at 'a push of a button'. My understanding is that they have made it available to a group of customers easily targeted by package. Changing the available channels by package is probably simple. Making it available by subscriber number more so. Not impossible but a purchased channel launch involves a fair bit more system configuration an testing than just pushing a button. Spark would have to want to reimburse Sky for that system work which is starting to push things a fair bit. The other question is the customer contact and identification work before determining eligibility. Again not impossible but involves scripts/training/escalation processes etc.
Spark have made a financial decision taking into account the customers they will likely piss off. These are also likely to very low yield customers in the first place.If you want to blame anyone blame the NZRU for allowing the awarding of rights to a streaming service in the first place
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@Crucial said in [Poll] Will you use Spark to watch RWC?:
I don't disagree with the sentiment of that at all. However it is doubtful that the pop up channel is available selectively at 'a push of a button'. My understanding is that they have made it available to a group of customers easily targeted by package. Changing the available channels by package is probably simple. Making it available by subscriber number more so. Not impossible but a purchased channel launch involves a fair bit more system configuration an testing than just pushing a button.
Maybe they could use the ppv channel? That has been well tested.
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@Crucial Don't know the ins and outs of the pop-up channels - but, Sky seems to have them happening all the time.
If it's not already part of the plan though it won't be easy to start implementing the process from now.
However, I think I've at least grasped the meaning of Spark's current slogan - "A little number of people who are hugely pissed off!"
