Clampdown on TV 'Dodgy Boxes'

SteM · 21-09-2023 8:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140004#Comment_121140004

Case in point. 😂

alzer100 · 21-09-2023 8:32pm

Sky are a rip off, can be quite aggressive and have been known to get a UK debt collection company to go after loyal customers who have subscribed to Sky for over 25 years for the sake of 45 euros.

K-9 · 21-09-2023 9:20pm

Just on that podcast again, a former tv executive who has worked in the area said both the PL and Sky are in a bind here.

The PL can't make too big a deal of it because, come rights negotiation time, they can hardly say to Sky; "lads, we've a serious problem with pirating, oh, and it's getting worse." Sky will say, "right then, let's knock half a billion of that offer then."

Sky can't go too hard about it because of the Streisand effect. The more you make the public aware of it, the more the pirates will gain customers. Catch 22.

Loads of people have said the bubble will burst for the last 10 or 15 years. This could well be what breaks the camels back. IIRC, the last rights deal didn't go up much, if at all. BT admitted openly that they regretted paying way too much the deal before. I think strategically, they don't want to bid for PL rights from now on.

The Napster comparison is very apt actually, the podcast covers how it made the music industry change.

Nigzcurran · 21-09-2023 9:59pm

I used to spend hours torrenting on the likes of piratebay and limewire and then ripping everything onto blank discs rather than pay for it, along comes Spotify and its the best money you'll ever spend

Fr Tod Umptious · 22-09-2023 8:58am

The EPL are going to meet about the number of games broadcast.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66886022

I doubt this rights auction will contain drastic changes like the EPL going it alone or the scrapping of the 3pm window, but you can be damn sure Sky and BT will be reminding the EPL amount how much of a problem piracy is and how much it will affect the value of the rights.

On another note I got Sky Sports last month on Now TV for €15 for 12 months with a code from the bargain alerts thread, no contract, cancel anytime.

Now I think that's good value.

Sugarlumps · 22-09-2023 9:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121141696#Comment_121141696

What's the quality like on Now Tv?

irishgeo · 22-09-2023 10:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121141927#Comment_121141927

720p

1080p if you pay 5eur extra for the HD Boost.

It's adaptive quality which means that if you're broadband slows down the picture quality will drop off to keep the stream going.

Fr Tod Umptious · 22-09-2023 10:07am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121141927#Comment_121141927

I'm not into quality much, it's better than SD that's all I can say.

moycullen14 · 22-09-2023 10:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140684#Comment_121140684

This. I have a spotify premium/family: 17.99 a month and it's great value. music, podcasts, audiobooks (some). The whole family use it (but eejit here pays for it :-). The 'balkanisation' of the TV/Sports market makes it hideously expensive to pay for all the services you might want. They'll come around to the spotify model eventually.

irelandrover · 22-09-2023 10:26am

I dont live in Ireland and got IPTV to watch the rugby. I couldnt legally get the rugby in my country so IPTV was the only choice really rather than not watch.

Now I use it to watch other sports as well but I wouldn't be paying for those anyway. If i lost the IPTV tomorrow then I wouldn't be subscribing to watch the premier league so it isn't lost revenue for any broadcaster. And my guess is there are a lot of people like me.

I also pay for GaaGO for the hurling but quite often watch it on the IPTV anyway as the stream is better quality and more reliable.

cal naughton · 22-09-2023 10:37am

I've got burned so many times with iptv it's nearly cheaper to get back on sky. You pay 100eur for 12 months then it stops working after 2 months with no comeback.

K-9 · 22-09-2023 10:49am

You shouldn't really pay for a year, I wouldn't pay for more than 3 months at a time.

GreeBo · 22-09-2023 11:51am

Ive found it cheaper to pay for 12, even if you dont get the 12 it works out better.

K-9 · 22-09-2023 11:59am

It would just annoy me if after 2 months they are gone. If you accept there's a good chance the service could go down at any time, fair enough.

Nigzcurran · 22-09-2023 3:00pm

I'm with the same crowd about 5 years now

jj880 · 22-09-2023 3:09pm

I buy mine from a lad I know locally last few years. I know him well enough and a lot of my friends buy from him too.

80 euro per year. Im aware a few here think thats overpaying but I dont mind as hes there via PM if anyone has any hassle and calls to your house if needed. No down time so far also.

Maybe people getting burned should try to buy off someone they know well locally if possible.

shmeee · 22-09-2023 3:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143432#Comment_121143432

The lad I'm with a number of years isn't local (UK based) but rapid on the 'customer service'. Like yourself, I don't mind paying a bit more for the service/dm's when needed along with updates every day on the daily schedule. Word of month is key, and feedback from others. I've no problem referring my provider as I've experienced no issues over the last number of years. People I've heard of with issues have brought a sub off twitter and have nothing more than a random email address to follow anything up with when it goes pot after a few months.

jj880 · 22-09-2023 3:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143505#Comment_121143505

Yes good point. If possible always go with a recommendation from someone who's been happy with service for a few years.

lawred2 · 22-09-2023 3:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121050961#Comment_121050961

the return on investment?

lawred2 · 22-09-2023 3:57pm

had ours for about three years... 30GBP per year. Generally it's pretty good.

occasionally a popular football game will stutter a bit but a quick whatsapp and they throw a few extra resources at it..

I do think they waste an awful amount of configuration and compute power on replicating far too many provider feeds... like who is out there looking to watch Fx or Dave on a dodgy box

HBC08 · 22-09-2023 6:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143432#Comment_121143432

Same here,

The lad has popped around to the house a few times when I couldn't figure it out (maybe once a year since I first got it)

Also has a chat group.

Couldn't give a flying fck about any English soccer franchises and they don't care about you,so if you're into that muck get it as cheap as you can.

Life is too short to be moralising over "stealing" from the likes of Sky.

Fr Tod Umptious · 23-09-2023 7:48pm

I just noticed that there were only three 3pm kickoffs in the premier league today out of 10 games.

With the EPL considering adding more games to their package offerings for the next round then there will be even less 3pm games.

So really the 3pm could almost vanish on it's own without the need to explicitly change the UEFA rule governing it.

I know soccer fans are all about tradition and have this weird logic that the the game is never as good as it used to be, but the 3pm kickoff has zero relevance in the world of 2023.

It there because back in the late 1800s industrial workers got paid and a half day on a Saturday.

There are plenty more timeslots on the weekend that would make just as much and more sense as a kickoff time than 3pm on a Saturday.

dxhound2005 · 23-09-2023 8:01pm

With very few exceptions, Saturday fixtures in the other three divisions in England are played at 3 o'clock.

"The intention of the blackout rule, when it was created, was to protect attendances at matches throughout the soccer pyramid, particularly those in lower leagues more reliant on match-going fans than television revenue for their income." 17 Jul 2023

Fr Tod Umptious · 23-09-2023 8:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121147870#Comment_121147870

But if there's very few EPL 3pm games then it will not adversely affect the lower divisions.

Rather than get rid of the 3pm blackout get rid of the 3pm game in the premier league.

dxhound2005 · 23-09-2023 11:28pm

People can only watch one game at a time. If there was just one game on TV, it would still have the potential to take an aggregate of hundreds of thousands of fans away from their local matches. Including in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

John arse · 24-09-2023 12:24am

Are those IPTV €60 a year deals a bad move then?

24-09-2023 12:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121133773#Comment_121133773

"the UK and Ireland, which is it's biggest market".

The question I've always asked is: why is the UK and Ireland treated as one market? At the end of the day the Premier League is the football league of another country, just like Spain, Germany, Italy etc. The FAI have alot to answer for with their infamous Sky for floodlights deal back in 1992. We should have stayed as a separate and far smaller market which would have been cheaper for consumers as a consequence.

Fr Tod Umptious · 24-09-2023 1:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121149323#Comment_121149323

It's got nothing to do with the FAI and floodlights back in the 1990s even though I'd say people would love to be able to blame the FAI for it.

The reality is Ireland is too small a market.

The only rights any broadcaster bought exclusively for Ireland is the 3pm Saturday, and the two that Amazon have in the UK that Premier Sports bought.

Both make sense because the 3pm is something that could be shown in Ireland but not the UK and the nature of the Amazon deal was that it was UK only so having an alternative available in Ireland was a good investment.

No other bundles would be worth it for a broadcaster to buy for Ireland because the Irish market is too small.

And in reality if someone did buy rights for Ireland the cost for the consumer would be more expensive than it is now because they would not have the economies of scale, as I said the market is just too small.

24-09-2023 1:30am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121149359#Comment_121149359

Why is Ireland too small a market? RTE and VMTV pay less for American imports than their UK rivals because the Irish market is smaller. They won't refuse to sell their products to Ireland because the Irish market is small. They'll still make money from it. Why not the same for English football?

batistuta9 · 24-09-2023 1:54am

Irish rights are separate afaik, they just happen to be bought by the providers that have the same packs in the UK.

Sky sports being dominant here is more of a reason someone else doesn't bid for them than the size of the market. Livescore have most of champions League here

Clampdown on TV 'Dodgy Boxes'

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