After a number of years where the Irish rights to the Champions League were shared between RTE and Virgin Media (the latter would broadcast some games FTA, and put the others on their platform-exclusive channel), VM have now withdrawn from the next contract, and been replaced by the sports app, LiveScore. The strangest aspect is that all games will be free, with the viewer merely needing to Chromecast their match of choice from their device to a smart TV. Is this a trial measure to test out larger markets for similar experiments?
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The future of sports broadcasting
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It's the best device I've bought in years. It effectively turns my phone into a remote control, and I have a screen on my mobile phone with all the apps that I know I can cast from, and it seems to work much better than the native YouTube/Prime/Netflix (etc) apps that are baked into my TV.
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LiveScore have had Serie A, some of La Liga and the Eredivisie free to watch on the app for the past year or so, which has been OK on occasion, although I've never been brave enough to ChromeCast it for fear of the consequences of interrupting Mrs D's 247th viewing of an old Morse episode.
They seem to be evolving from a simple scores app into a gambling app, judging by the way they bombard me with invitations to bet on the outcome (they don't know me, as if I haven't already bet on the outcome), so that will be their angle. I can see other gambling companies taking this approach and bidding for the smaller leagues - subscribers are harder to find and retain than punters.
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Originally posted by Discordant Resonance View PostIn plain English, if you subscribe to any streaming service, a Chromecast essentially beams the transmission from your phone/tablet to your TV, by physically connecting both.
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Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View PostYou're lucky. There's virtually no free-to-air football left in Germany. with the exception of the Europa League. Even the 3. Liga's on pay-TV.
Long term the idea of television channels is over. We'll see service providers like Sky and Virgin stop being broadcasters. People will pay for a basic broadband and set top box contract and then subscribe to individual content providers. Want TV shows? You'll pay Amazon, Netflix or the networks like HBO or CBS. Want sports? NFL App. NHL app. Individual sports league apps. Why go through a middle man when the technology moving predominantly to video of demand will allow content producers to sell directly to the audience?
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Originally posted by Gangster Octopus View PostEee, the modern world...
It sounds like the kind of thing I'd buy, everyone assuring me how amazingly simple it is, and then I'd not be able to make it work. Incompatibility issues - mainly my incompatibility with new technology.
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Originally posted by BallochSonsFan View PostLong term the idea of television channels is over. We'll see service providers like Sky and Virgin stop being broadcasters. People will pay for a basic broadband and set top box contract and then subscribe to individual content providers. Want TV shows? You'll pay Amazon, Netflix or the networks like HBO or CBS. Want sports? NFL App. NHL app. Individual sports league apps. Why go through a middle man when the technology moving predominantly to video of demand will allow content producers to sell directly to the audience?
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Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View PostBroadcasting will be replaced by Narrowcasting - this is basically happening in UK lower league football with iFollow etc. You will be able to buy a 'pass' to see all the games by the club you care about.
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Originally posted by BallochSonsFan View Post
I'm eternally frustrated that Magenta Sports refuses to allow me to subscribe for their hockey content. Need a German address for subscription and before they introduced this requirement, they were very fussy about german bank accounts for method of payment.
Long term the idea of television channels is over. We'll see service providers like Sky and Virgin stop being broadcasters. People will pay for a basic broadband and set top box contract and then subscribe to individual content providers. Want TV shows? You'll pay Amazon, Netflix or the networks like HBO or CBS. Want sports? NFL App. NHL app. Individual sports league apps. Why go through a middle man when the technology moving predominantly to video of demand will allow content producers to sell directly to the audience?
Until the content providers actually sort their shit out in this regard, they'll lose revenue and drive would-be customers back towards satellite TV, or to piracy and torrents.
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There is a fundamental problem with a platform like ESPN+ that ties live sport to which rights are sold on a geographic basis and journalism, which needs to have as broad a potential audience (paying or otherwise) as possible.
ESPN are particularly hampered in this respect, because Disney (their corporate parent) have made billions out of restricting access to their content.
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