GAAGO™ the subscription-based online streaming service from the GAA and RTÉ Digital

Fr Tod Umptious

munchkin_utd wrote: »

it's only in the USA.

and the logic that the high price can be justified by the fact that a pub charges for beer is sortof twisted.

Is it not the other way round? (i.e. the high price makes going to the pub MORE, not less attractive)

If I am going to pay 20euro for a Sunday afternoon of GAA at home, wouldnt I be better off going to the pub and spending the same or less and having a bit of social company with folks who speak the same language and have similar interests to me, and have the bonus (which applies to a large amount of folks I know abroad) of having no kids under your feet to hinder you actually watching the match?

You can argue that both ways
Its easier for a person without a family to head down to a pub on a Sunday morning, pay $20 and watch a game.
Its much harder for a person with kids, plus the kids are not getting the exposure to GAA as a result.
Having an online service at home is much more family friendly.

munchkin_utd

Squareball wrote: »

It’s expensive if you can’t afford it like everything else. It is also expensive if you only have a tepid interest in the game. I for one think it is a good deal saying again, if the quality is good. I spent more than that watching it on Premium Sports last year. In years past I spent more than that going to the pub to watch it.

While I don’t know the exact figures there is a pub near me that pays something in the region of $15k to $20k for a full season of GAA. That’s why he charges $20 at the door.

thats USA.

for the rest of the world Premium sports was 10pounds a month for the streaming IIRC.
So the summer for 40pounds, or say 50euro or so- and it included extra games like Dublin v Kilkenny in the hurling, and some of the games on Sunday deferred after the 2 live ones.

Now its €110 AND I have less games.
I cant see how thats an improvement

Fr Tod Umptious

munchkin_utd wrote: »

thats USA.

for the rest of the world Premium sports was 10pounds a month for the streaming IIRC.
So the summer for 40pounds, or say 50euro or so- and it included extra games like Dublin v Kilkenny in the hurling, and some of the games on Sunday deferred after the 2 live ones.

Now its €110 AND I have less games.
I cant see how thats an improvement

I think it's always the case that a service like this will be better value in one market than another.

Maybe with time the pricing may be further adjusted based on region.

munchkin_utd

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I think it's always the case that a service like this will be better value in one market than another.

Maybe with time the pricing may be further adjusted based on region.

anyone I've talked to so far in Europe is saying its double the price it should be, and nobody I know is even considering signing up.
and then from the USA many are saying its a fair price and are very happy with the deal.

I cant see it ever being adjusted by region though.

I would say that if there was actually a premium aspect to it, the full amount of league games, extra games like premium sports had and maybe more (which is totally possible seeing as most games are streamed live to Montrose with commentatry anyhow - as our sat forum chaps will infom you of), AND a smigin of info on how bombproof and HQ the streams are, then you'd be approaching justifying the cost or even pushing it to €150 a year - and I'd pay it.

But as it stands I'll live with watching it in the pub and the radio (which is your only guarantee anyhow of getting the actual match youre interested in seeing as 50%+ arent televised) - and put the 110towards the flight back for the all ireland in september.

Fr Tod Umptious

munchkin_utd wrote: »

anyone I've talked to so far in Europe is saying its double the price it should be, and nobody I know is even considering signing up.
and then from the USA many are saying its a fair price and are very happy with the deal.

I cant see it ever being adjusted by region though.

I would say that if there was actually a premium aspect to it, the full amount of league games, extra games like premium sports had and maybe more (which is totally possible seeing as most games are streamed live to Montrose with commentatry anyhow - as our sat forum chaps will infom you of), AND a smigin of info on how bombproof and HQ the streams are, then you'd be approaching justifying the cost or even pushing it to €150 a year - and I'd pay it.

But as it stands I'll live with watching it in the pub and the radio (which is your only guarantee anyhow of getting the actual match youre interested in seeing as 50%+ arent televised) - and put the 110towards the flight back for the all ireland in september.

Of course the price may be adjusted by region

NFL GamePass is free in Argentina and NZ, yet costs e160 odd in Ireland.

You could have one price for North America registered users , a different one for Europe

munchkin_utd

not for the first time in the past weeks, the Irish times has far more insightful coverage of a GAA topic than (ironically in this case) RTE or the other papers - who barely manage to quote their spoon fed press releases correctly. Anyhow....

“People are willing to subscribe for this, particularly in the United States market. From an RTÉ perspective this is very, very important for us.” said Noel Curran, RTÉ director general.
<snip>

Both the GAA and RTÉ are planning to break even in 2014, but will be adding league games next season along with additional analysis only available on the platform.
<snip>

The bulk target audience, McKenna insisted, is North America but this new service will be available anywhere in the world where there is internet access.

“But I would like to draw a distinction between what we do from a broadcast perspective and what we’re doing with GAA Go. GAA Go is where we want to drive all of our international coverage and while Sky will have some of the games exclusive to them, the majority of our matches and even games which are not shown live here* will be available to an international audience.
“You’re not just restricted to buying a year pass, you can buy a match pass, you can buy a cluster of games as well.”

*here = Ireland
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaa-believes-rt%C3%A9-online-streaming-trumps-sky-deal-1.1795694

so
a) the yanks want to pay lots for the service and have said so in market research - so they have the expensive service, and unfortunately the rest of the world has to pay the same.
b) theres mention of extra games over whats available in Ireland
c) theres the first mention of packages (clusters) of games that I've seen, which opens the possibility of a hurling package, provincial package, maybe a weekend pass or something along those lines.
d) in general, if the interviews are to be believed, theres heaps of investment in this "break even" project and its to be the main pillar of international coverage for the next decade, so maybe it will be infinitely better than the failure prone, under capacity RTE player/ existing servers. Maybe.
e) league games are to be included next year, again not mentioned in what are considered the mainstream GAA press
f) the "premium" aspect is fleshed out a little, as on top of the extra games, there'll be special extra analysis so again moving a little toward justifying the hefty price tag.

MD1990

Disgraceful price for the Subscription.Its an amateur sport.

Fr Tod Umptious

MD1990 wrote: »

Disgraceful price for the Subscription.Its an amateur sport.

That's an idiotic statement

If you play the 'amateur game; card then you should be against the everything about game beyond the parish field.

Squareball

MD1990 wrote: »

Disgraceful price for the Subscription.Its an amateur sport.

Then don't pay it. I don't think it is.

keeponhurling

jacksie66 wrote: »

Now I can watch Limerick win the all Ireland from over here in New Zealand....

No, they still haven't clarified yet if this will also include some old episodes of GAA Gold

keeponhurling

Lennoxschips wrote: »

That's right, because most pubs in Europe can pick up RTE through the satellite, provided they have a big enough satellite dish. It's a grey area of course, because they are using Sky subscriptions registered to Irish addresses. I wouldn't put it past the GAA to start cracking down on these pubs and grassing on them to Sky now that they have their GAAGO service.

Often the same Irish bars that sponsor the local GAA club, wouldn't piss them off too much.
It's hard to get sponsorship overseas for a largely unknown sport

MD1990

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

That's an idiotic statement

If you play the 'amateur game; card then you should be against the everything about game beyond the parish field.

When did the GAA go professional?.Its the GAA officials & RTE just being selfish & trying to rip off GAA fans abroad.

Squareball wrote: »

Then don't pay it. I don't think it is.

Of course im not the World Cup is on.

Fr Tod Umptious

MD1990 wrote: »

When did the GAA go professional?.Its the GAA officials & RTE just being selfish & trying to rip off GAA fans abroad.
.

Another dumb-ass statement

If you take that attitude then I assume you also give out about charging of admission to games, paying for programs etc ?

Fr Tod Umptious

munchkin_utd wrote: »

not for the first time in the past weeks, the Irish times has far more insightful coverage of a GAA topic than (ironically in this case) RTE or the other papers - who barely manage to quote their spoon fed press releases correctly. Anyhow....

*here = Ireland
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaa-believes-rt%C3%A9-online-streaming-trumps-sky-deal-1.1795694

so
a) the yanks want to pay lots for the service and have said so in market research - so they have the expensive service, and unfortunately the rest of the world has to pay the same.
b) theres mention of extra games over whats available in Ireland
c) theres the first mention of packages (clusters) of games that I've seen, which opens the possibility of a hurling package, provincial package, maybe a weekend pass or something along those lines.
d) in general, if the interviews are to be believed, theres heaps of investment in this "break even" project and its to be the main pillar of international coverage for the next decade, so maybe it will be infinitely better than the failure prone, under capacity RTE player/ existing servers. Maybe.
e) league games are to be included next year, again not mentioned in what are considered the mainstream GAA press
f) the "premium" aspect is fleshed out a little, as on top of the extra games, there'll be special extra analysis so again moving a little toward justifying the hefty price tag.

You can see how the North American market is the target here

You have a big first and subsequent generation Irish population

The 2nd and subsequent generation are not as exposed to GAA as the association would like as there are almost no outlets to see live championship games

Time zones are not as prohibitive for views as Aus or NZ for example

The availability of 'unofficial sources' is not the same as the UK and Europe, e.g. and Irish sky sub in a box in a pub in Germany

Plus they tend to have more disposable income.

Connorzee

Bargain stuff. Dont wanna watch games that you're not interested in?.. dont buy the year subscription. If your county gets to a final and you only watch those games the most you'll pay (providing you dont reach both finals) is maybe 4 or 5 single games. About the same price as an all ireland ticket. For people overseas, bargain.

Fianna Fowl

MD1990 wrote: »

Disgraceful price for the Subscription.Its an amateur sport.

It's €10 to see a club championship game in Dublin, does not matter who you are.

Never understand the 'amateur ' argument as a justification to get something for free

Fianna Fowl

Will you be able to airplay/mirror to tv from phone/tablet/ laptop? Reason I ask is because american football on 4oD blocks this feature

munchkin_utd

Fianna Fowl wrote: »

Will you be able to airplay/mirror to tv from phone/tablet/ laptop? Reason I ask is because american football on 4oD blocks this feature

That's a full independent app whereas this will be a link to a stream aparantly, so would be airplay compatible.

WesternZulu

Looked up the prices there as I am based in the UK and was expecting it to be a lot more that it actually is.

It's great value and think that I'll sign up as links are a pain.

Very reasonably priced.

To the people who are complaining, what in their humble opinion would be a reasonable fee for the GAA to charge?
Now I know that is it dearest outside the UK but still.

(PS does anyone know if the Sunday Game highlights are included in the package?)

Lennoxschips

WesternZulu wrote: »

To the people who are complaining, what in their humble opinion would be a reasonable fee for the GAA to charge?
Now I know that is it dearest outside the UK but still.

The same the people of Ireland pay + the actual costs of the streaming bandwidth.

I believe RTE pays the GAA approx 7 million euros a year for 30 live matches. That works out at at about 230,000 euros a match. Some information about viewer numbers are here: http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2007/0814/292301-gaacoverage15aug07/. Some matches attract more viewers than others, but the QF, SF and Final matches are pulling in between 300k and 800k viewers. If we assume 400k per match that means RTE are paying the GAA about 60 cents per viewer per match in broadcasting rights.

So, 60 cents PPV per match is the figure, plus you will have to add on the bandwidth/server costs for the streaming. Anybody with a bit of IT knowledge know what that would come to?

purplepanda

WesternZulu wrote: »

Looked up the prices there as I am based in the UK and was expecting it to be a lot more that it actually is.

It's great value and think that I'll sign up as links are a pain.

Very reasonably priced.

To the people who are complaining, what in their humble opinion would be a reasonable fee for the GAA to charge?
Now I know that is it dearest outside the UK but still.

(PS does anyone know if the Sunday Game highlights are included in the package?)

£35 up to £40 would be a fair price to watch the hurling AI season at home.

I'm only really interested in the Hurling although I do usually watch the football semi's & final, more of an social drink with friends than any serious interest though.

There should be exclusive Hurling & Football packages available IMO :rolleyes:

Vunderground

Lennoxschips wrote: »

Do they think us Irish overseas are thick or something?

Too often Irish organisations and government simply view the diaspora as some kind of cash cow waiting to be milked.

From now on I'm telling potential tourists to visit Scotland instead.

Scotland???
That rain sodden hell hole ~shudders~

Anyway, back on topic, I think the prices are pretty reasonable. I'm back in Dublin now, but would have loved that when I was living in France/England...depending on the stream quality of course.

Squareball

Not a good start for me yesterday. RTE Player supposed to show the Tyrone Down game. It was advertised to start a 3:15 (irish time) in one spot and at 3:45 in another spot and it did not. I had to go out yesterday so would have missed most of it anyway but was interested to see what the quality was like and could not.

munchkin_utd

Squareball wrote: »

Not a good start for me yesterday. RTE Player supposed to show the Tyrone Down game. It was advertised to start a 3:15 (irish time) in one spot and at 3:45 in another spot and it did not. I had to go out yesterday so would have missed most of it anyway but was interested to see what the quality was like and could not.

the RTE player itsself has the start time inbuilt so that should be the reference.

Quality was better than before but still not perfect.
I'd admit I'm being slightly fussy, but I'd use the sky sport app (for me germany) as the reference and it is literally like watching a blue ray video ripped on the ipad. Its a hard reference to match, but its literally perfect picture quality even for live sport. They dont claim it to be hd, but that probably gives them leeway on scaling back the quality if theres a high demand.

RTE was crystal clear whenever there was a replay or the likes but somewhat blurry when there was fast movement, which became more pronounced if there was a lot of wide angle fast movement.
They'd nearly be better to take a bit of a hit on the HD quality and just get it as a very very good SD picture which can deal with the movement.

EDIT: my setup is an ipad air streaming to apple tv 3 with middling decent(but exceptional value!) broadband of nominal 16Meg but measured at a little over 10Meg before the game. The blurring effect was the same on the ipad direct or whether it was on airplay on the telly

EDIT EDIT: heres streaming rates for various commercial HD video providers. 5 meg is all you need anywhere, so my 10Meg should be more than suficient to avoid blurring and other nasty artifacts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_video#World_Wide_Web_HD_resolutions

munchkin_utd

seems that yesterday many had problems with the hurling, but the football beforehand was fine.
Other reports of problems last week on the hogan stand fourm too.
http://www.hoganstand.com/Forum/MessagePage.aspx?PageNumber=2&TopicID=88433
hope this is an ironing out of teething problems before the paywall is enforced.

theteal

RTE player was sh!t not the best yesterday. I've only got a measly 10mb down connection but it delivers sky go flawlessly every day. I would be hesitant to pay out money for that stuttery mess like yesterday (perhaps harsh but it was frozen for several minutes at one point during the hurling).

Anyway, I can get something like cyber ghost vpn for 12 months for £25 and just watch RTE player like the locals as well use it for my usual proxy stuff. What would this new service give me over that?

munchkin_utd

theteal wrote: »

RTE player was sh!t not the best yesterday. I've only got a measly 10mb down connection but it delivers sky go flawlessly every day. I would be hesitant to pay out money for that stuttery mess like yesterday (perhaps harsh but it was frozen for several minutes at one point during the hurling).

Anyway, I can get something like cyber ghost vpn for 12 months for £25 and just watch RTE player like the locals as well use it for my usual proxy stuff. What would this new service give me over that?

my only hope would be that the pay version works better simply because the numbers accessing it would be limited - and at the price thats being charged it'll be very limited!

theres a lot of folks with a passing interest (/masses of cork emmigrants who ONLY ever watch cork) who watched the hurling who wont be paying the 110 euro

Squareball

Have to say I was very disappointed with the quality on Sunday. I just hope the digital signal is better when we have to pay.

munchkin_utd

no complaints about the live game on Sunday here or other fourms so I presume it was ok this time.

News from RTE has it that theres an extra game being streamed

The Cork v Waterford Munster SHC replay will be streamed live worldwide on http://rte.ie/sport and @RTEplayer on Sunday 8 June

https://twitter.com/RTEgaa

Nice that this is allowed yet other conflicting fixtures like Cavan v Armagh "cant" be shown.

King Cantona

Was very excited by this as have been living in Europe for years now and always had to go to the pub to watch the game.

Price is way too expensive for my liking. I was thinking it would be around half of the amount they are charging.

Imo - the only thing that will happen with this is pubs will buy it and use it commerically.

For personal users, there´s cheaper ways (<$5) a month ways of getting an Irish IP address to enable you to watch games on rte player live.

ParkRunner

Anyone else have trouble with RTE player recognising what time it is? Basically I am three hours ahead of Ireland and RTE player also thinks it is 3 hours ahead.

The link to the matches is available three hours before throw in (saying currently showing), which obviously doesn't work, but when the match should be on RTE player there is no link, only a picture saying Remind Me for the next available match....e.g. when the KK v Offaly match was on Sky yesterday, RTE player said next available match is tomorrow, Cork v Waterford

Squareball

Coverage for the Dubs V Laois was not great yesterday, regular short interruptions.

I have a question for someone more tech savvy than I:

I have an I-Pad and my mac book. We were not able to download the live feed yesterday one either device? Anyone know why?

I was able to get it on my regular lap top no problem.

MassDeb8r

So putting this in context - Back in March, RTE and the GAA launched the new on-demand streaming service. At a cost of €110, 45 games would be available via a live internet stream. If yesterday’s live coverage of the Cork v Waterford game in Thurles is anything to go by, this new initiative is nothing short of shambolic.

As a neutral, I was looking forward to the replay following the drawn game. Though RTE advertised coverage of this game, it left a lot to be desired. One would think that the same week that Sky Sports rolled out a very thorough and professional broadcast, that RTE would have at least matched it. After all, RTE have been covering GAA in Ireland for decades now. In Thursday yesterday however, you would not think this to be the case. The streamed coverage from Thurles which available on the rte.ie website was a jittery, flustered broadcast and featured only one commentator. Though he tried his best, one wonders if said commentator was on work placement from Transition Year and this was his first time viewing a hurling match. There were sustained periods of 20-30 seconds without commentary but most of all, the coverage lacked a feed of the time played. The silence was excruciating, coupled with the misnomer that the actual score was also not on screen either. Ironically it was via the Sky Sports Twitter feed that I found out the score midway through the first game.

There also appeared to be just one camera in Thurles, a far cry from the 20+ in Nowlan Park on Saturday and there were no pitch side microphones to carry the sound of the crowd, and by extension, the atmosphere. This resulted in a very sterile affair which was simply substandard and inadequate. Whether this is a revenue-saving initiative remains to be seen, I did tweet @RTEGaa to enquire as to why the coverage was so minimalistic but received no reply. I muse as to whether the person responsible for the Twitter feed was also trying his best to commentate on the match.

If you chase to rabbits both will escape, isn’t that what they say.

But seriously, cop on RTE. If you want to showcase the GAA, do it properly or let someone else have a go.

Prop Joe

MassDeb8r wrote: »

So putting this in context - Back in March, RTE and the GAA launched the new on-demand streaming service. At a cost of €110, 45 games would be available via a live internet stream. If yesterday’s live coverage of the Cork v Waterford game in Thurles is anything to go by, this new initiative is nothing short of shambolic.

As a neutral, I was looking forward to the replay following the drawn game. Though RTE advertised coverage of this game, it left a lot to be desired. One would think that the same week that Sky Sports rolled out a very thorough and professional broadcast, that RTE would have at least matched it. After all, RTE have been covering GAA in Ireland for decades now. In Thursday yesterday however, you would not think this to be the case. The streamed coverage from Thurles which available on the rte.ie website was a jittery, flustered broadcast and featured only one commentator. Though he tried his best, one wonders if said commentator was on work placement from Transition Year and this was his first time viewing a hurling match. There were sustained periods of 20-30 seconds without commentary but most of all, the coverage lacked a feed of the time played. The silence was excruciating, coupled with the misnomer that the actual score was also not on screen either. Ironically it was via the Sky Sports Twitter feed that I found out the score midway through the first game.

There also appeared to be just one camera in Thurles, a far cry from the 20+ in Nowlan Park on Saturday and there were no pitch side microphones to carry the sound of the crowd, and by extension, the atmosphere. This resulted in a very sterile affair which was simply substandard and inadequate. Whether this is a revenue-saving initiative remains to be seen, I did tweet @RTEGaa to enquire as to why the coverage was so minimalistic but received no reply. I muse as to whether the person responsible for the Twitter feed was also trying his best to commentate on the match.

If you chase to rabbits both will escape, isn’t that what they say.

But seriously, cop on RTE. If you want to showcase the GAA, do it properly or let someone else have a go.

Hold your horses there,How could the GAA send 20+ camera's to Thurles? Comparing RTE On-Line covering a game (that wasnt expected to be played) the same time they have games on all over the country to the same standard as SKY is a bit rich

Hidalgo

Prop Joe wrote: »

Hold your horses there,How could the GAA send 20+ camera's to Thurles? Comparing RTE On-Line covering a game (that wasnt expected to be played) the same time they have games on all over the country to the same standard as SKY is a bit rich

In fairness it was pretty rubbish. Maybe it was just the computer I watched it on,
but no score, up, and no time. And the less said about the commentary the better.
On the highlights of the Sunday Game, they had Gary MacDonnacha, yet it wasn't him on the live stream.

Prop Joe

Hidalgo wrote: »

In fairness it was pretty rubbish. Maybe it was just the computer I watched it on,
but no score, up, and no time. And the less said about the commentary the better.
On the highlights of the Sunday Game, they had Gary MacDonnacha, yet it wasn't him on the live stream.

Yeah,I remember i watched the Dubs v KK on it last year,Wasnt great but got to see the game and threw on some radio commentary

munchkin_utd

MassDeb8r wrote: »

So putting this in context - Back in March, RTE and the GAA launched the new on-demand streaming service. At a cost of €110, 45 games would be available via a live internet stream. If yesterday’s live coverage of the Cork v Waterford game in Thurles is anything to go by, this new initiative is nothing short of shambolic.<snip>

The waterford cork game was an unscheduled bonus game to pacify folks who felt entiitled to watch that game (and somehow I amnt entitled to watch Cavan v Armagh ). It was a relay of the sat stream back to RTE so was more basic than you'd normally have. Still, it was better coverage than 50+ other championship games which are NOT shown live at all.

back on topic of trying to see games from abroad, I watched both football games and switched to and from and hurling on Sunday and found it ok.
Also watched the hurling on Saturday evening on the GAA go sky feed and found it ok too.
Equipment was an ipad+apple tv and then a mac + apple tv, with a 10meg connection on Saturday and 50+ on Sunday.

thats ok as in watchable picture, no glitches but far from proper HD.
the Cork Waterford game was noticably worse, but not sure if thats as it was using the old RTE infrastructure rather then the new fangled Gaa Go servers.

anyhow, thats all of the free "test" for GAA go. Its 110euro for the remainder of the season from now on.

Dublin's win over Laois drew our month-long free trial on RTÉ Player to a close, and the premium GAAGO service will launch in full later this week, right here at www.gaago.ie, your home for the match.

Squareball

Leaving it late if they for the pay version with games scheduled for Saturday????

munchkin_utd

Squareball wrote: »

Leaving it late if they for the pay version with games scheduled for Saturday????

tis.
not too worried myself as I'll not be signing up anyhow and will just watch them in the pub for the same money, or probably less (when theres 2 games on the same day especially).

munchkin_utd

its now live at the same address as before.
interestingly you can buy in advance any match from now till the end of the season on the pay per view option
(setanta/ ustream was limited to the next couple of games)

also an interesting comment on the FAQ:

Do I get a reduction because I’m a member?
There are currently no special rates for members, but watch out for special discount codes on GAAGO’s Facebook or Twitter and our newsletter.

Squareball

I just signed up for the Dublin game on Saturday. Will decide about the season ticket after I see the quality. I tried to use a debit card and a credit card and both were rejected. Then tried my American Express card and it works.

Squareball

Have to say the quality was first class yesterday!!!!

Squareball

Bought the season ticket yesterday and watched both games. Fantastic quality I have to say.

Squareball

Have to say the best purchase I made all year. HD is crystal clear and the signal is very reliable.

Fr Tod Umptious

Squareball wrote: »

I just signed up for the Dublin game on Saturday. Will decide about the season ticket after I see the quality. I tried to use a debit card and a credit card and both were rejected. Then tried my American Express card and it works.

Squareball wrote: »

Have to say the quality was first class yesterday!!!!

Squareball wrote: »

Bought the season ticket yesterday and watched both games. Fantastic quality I have to say.

Squareball wrote: »

Have to say the best purchase I made all year. HD is crystal clear and the signal is very reliable.

Welcome to boards.ie Padraig Duffy

You will probably be posting on the Sky Sports thread next

munchkin_utd

Squareball wrote: »

Have to say the best purchase I made all year. HD is crystal clear and the signal is very reliable.

well, it does seem to be a fairly decent product but theres a lot that would have to be improved for me to consider spending that amount of cash on it.

There really aught to be more games available. Not necessarily live, but even delayed full coverage or proper highlights beyond the couple of minutes afforded to a match on the Sunday game (which isnt available abroad till the middle of the next week anyhow).
If I could go to the game, well I'd obviously be there, but I live abroad so have to put up with the few scraps that are shown on the Sunday game.
In the previous rights package there was deferred coverage of a big game at 6pm on a sunday evening, so even bringing that back would be a start.
But realistically there should be even more seeing as the footage is there anyhow and the market is abroad and thus not going to afffect gate attendances in any way or shape.

For example the upcoming qualifiers sees a div3 final rematch between Cavan and Roscommon and an attractive clash of Down v Kildare which will not be shown presuming the 1 live slot for 2B qualifiers goes to the Tyrone v Monaghan/ Armagh game.
Obviously all cant be shown live, but to leave it to a couple of minutes on the Sunday game is the other extreme.

BTW, my county has now played 2 games. Neither was televised. The next one will not be either. And they have to win 2 further games to be guaranteed to be (viewable abroad) on TV in a quarter final.
As I said, so much for providing a service that is tailored for the emmigrant fan abroad who wants to follow their county

Squareball

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Welcome to boards.ie Padraig Duffy

You will probably be posting on the Sky Sports thread next

UGH....You stalking me?? Any issues with me giving my opinion on the new service?

keeponhurling

Just bought this.
Actually find it good so far ,i like the way you can watch the matches later and it doesn't show you the final score before you open, like Rte player used to

jommer01

keeponhurling wrote: »

Just bought this.
Actually find it good so far ,i like the way you can watch the matches later and it doesn't show you the final score before you open, like Rte player used to

Jeez lads... I'm glad it's working out so well for the rest of ye! Where are ye watching from as a matter interest? Initially I thought the new TV deal was the best thing since the internet with games being shown on free-to-air TV in Australia. That was before I realised they were being shown deferred by an hour and for me, it's live or nothing.

The option of watching in the pub is completely which was always my preference for the bit of craic and atmosphere. This year I've watched one match on RTE player and one on GAA GO but like many in Australia, my internet speed is average at best so found the service only OK.

I now find myself in South East Asia for work and I basically can't get to see the games at all. I had heard GAA GO is completely useless here so instead of watching from the hotel on my own I headed out to the Irish pub for the Munster final. Apparently there was a massive crowd for the same fixture last year when Setanta had the rights. This year there was no more than 8 frustrated Cork and Limerick watching a piss poor stream that stopped every few second, had no sound and streaming out of sync commentary on loudspeaker over a phone.

"Think of the expats" cried Liam O'Neill when people suggested that the GAA had sold it's soul to the devil in Sky Sports. There are thousands of GAA members here in Asia that are both upset and enraged by the whole thing. It's probably too late to anything about it this year but HQ have a lot to answer for if my opinion

It seems GAA GO is working well for lots of people but curious to hear what the situation is like in other parts of the world? What's the deal in North America this year and other parts of Europe?

Cheers

munchkin_utd

as i said above, t'is spot on in Europe.
The internet connection is key though, and as I found to my cost last year trying to watch over a stream on a holiday in Italy, often free connnection = sh1te connection (as theres dozens of people sharing a single DSL connection).
But regarding Setanta..... to be honest its their own fault they werent somehow recognised as providing the comprehensive service that they did.
They had a half arsed internet service that few knew about, and those who did were still enough to crash it for important games, and they had live cable and satelite services across the world - but again such a disjointed mish mash of multiple websites and options and prices and cable operators and who knows what, that nobody knew anything or could even find an answer on it.
That said, you now have GAA go which relies on the internet, and how the internet works is that your computer connects to the next, and then the next, and the next, in a chain till you have a connection to your host. SO.... if anywhere along that chain theres a bad/ slow connection you're knobbled - and being half ways across the world probably has more chance of a bad link in the chain happening than from Europe to be honest.