With the Socceroos taking on the Czech Republic tonight, now seems like as good a time as any to formulate our broadcast-watching plans for the World Cup.
These are unchartered waters when it comes to watching the world’s biggest sporting event.
And if you can make heads or tails of where Socceroos games are supposed to reside on Australia’s free-to-air networks – first SBS, then Channel Nine and now Network Ten – you’re doing better than most.
Tonight’s friendly with the Czech Republic from the NV Arena in Sankt Pölten will be broadcast live on One, as well as football’s usual home on Fox Sports.
You wouldn’t necessarily know it judging by the new Ten Daily website – which doesn’t even have a sports tab – and you have to click on the confusingly named Views to find any sports-related content at all.
However, Network Ten seems to have been stung by recent social media criticism over their lack of A-League marketing, and they’ve been busy online spruiking the fact they’re showing tonight’s Socceroos game.
The real test for dedicated football fans will come during the World Cup.
Call me a cynic, but I suspect Optus may have realised they had an impending public relations nightmare on their hands when they decided a month ago to make the World Cup available to non-Optus customers.
And while viewers who watch the English Premier League as part of their Optus packages have been largely complimentary towards the coverage – technical issues notwithstanding – the fact that Optus was the only place to watch every game of the World Cup live seems to have passed a lot of fans by.
Those same fans may have been in for a rude shock once the tournament rolled around and they flicked on their TV to watch every game of the World Cup – only to discover SBS has the broadcast rights to show just 25 games live.
The partly taxpayer-funded network effectively traded the rest to Optus in return for one live Premier League game per week.
Whether that’s a smart piece of business probably depends on who you talk to – I watched several Premier League games on SBS this season, but as a non-Optus customer I’ve never really bothered with their Over-the-Top content – but I will certainly be paying the $14.99 required to access every game of the World Cup.
I’ll probably buy it after the tournament kicks off, mind you, so that I don’t get stung paying for an extra month worth of games when the tournament opener and final is broadcast live on SBS anyway.
And no matter how many people tell me that streaming is “the way of the future,” I’m not really looking forward to having to set the whole thing up through my Chromecast, when in the past I could simply switch on my TV and watch a telecast that doesn’t crash.
Regardless of how many press releases Optus puts out, the fact is streaming technology has made it harder to watch football – not easier – and in the case of this World Cup, more costly too.
But that’s the world these days.
It will be interesting to see who Bert van Marwijk plumps for up front tonight at any rate, particularly with Jamie Maclaren being rushed into the training squad upon the news that Tomi Juric’s knee injury was worse than originally thought.
Now Juric is said to be on the mend again, so Maclaren might be surplus to requirements after all.
One player who certainly won’t be surplus to requirements is Peru skipper Paolo Guerrero. As if his drugs suspension couldn’t have got any more farcical, he was cleared overnight by a Swiss supreme court judge to appear at his nation’s first World Cup finals since 1982.
That’s good news for football fans everywhere – if not the Socceroos’ back four.
We’ll see that game on SBS, and use up plenty of bandwidth watching the rest.
MQ
Guest
anyone doing a live blog for tonights game?
Griffo
Roar Guru
Looks like BvM’s team is going to be fairly safe but a nod to experience if this report is true. Jedinak is rested, Milligan a centre back with Sainsbury, Kruse and Leckie on the wing, Nabbout lone striker again, Risdon and Behich at right and left back, Mooy, Luongo, Rogic in midfield.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
Meh.. since most games are on in the dead of night, I ain't watching live anyway. And there's plenty of options to view later on which aren't subject to buffering or any of that crap and you get a copy to keep if so desired.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Yeah I got that once...a rocket needs to be fired up the proverbial as far as bandwidth goes, or at least the way it is presented in 'plans' and should be based on available capacity at peak on off peak times, location, etc. that shows the realisted download and upload speeds. We have NBN in the area but there are so many issues when connecting and phone dropouts I'm waiting as long as possible. I had such high hopes in the beginning :-(
JamesH
Roar Guru
Optus did a free trial last year but unlike Foxtel it's not something they seem to do regularly. I can't find anything to suggest they would do it during the World Cup. I hope I'm wrong though. Optus Sport is also a lot more limited in scope and less established than Foxtel too, so the comparison doesn't necessarily work.
chris
Guest
Oh I do get that old line. "Oh sir you are 1.5km from the exchange" Me: "And"? Them: "Well youre quite far" Me: "Should I move closer to the exchange?" Them: "Have a nice day sir and thank you for choo....."
Griffo
Roar Guru
Yes this is the Telstra app from the mobile deal with FFA some weeks ago. Any live streaming pass that is purchased is restricted to only being viewed on your mobile device, so no Airplay (or I’m assuming Chromecast but isn’t mentioned specifically in the iOS version of the app, but maybe in the Android version). From the apps terms and conditions:
Mark
Guest
I thought the change of direction from Optus was pretty interesting as well. I suspect there a couple of factors at play: 1. The potential blowback from people wanting to watch the World Cup, as you describe 2. I wouldn’t be surprised if the EPL has pressured them to open their coverage up to a broader audience as part of their rights extension. While Optus’ coverage of the EPL has brought greater revenue to the EPL, there is a persistent view that it has come at the expense of a shrinking audience.
Mark
Guest
In many ways, yes, but at least the tournament will get off to a positive vibe for the host population. It may not get any better for them.
Griffo
Roar Guru
I'm surprised they didn't show you how far you are from the exchange, and that you can expect low bandwidth due to the distance...
Griffo
Roar Guru
That is mostly what I'm afraid of Mango Jack - unless using a temporary email you're theirs for the duration if you don't fork it over (or 'out')...
Griffo
Roar Guru
Looks like the 'My Football Live' app has just dropped from FFA, which will include latest behind the scenes of the National Team, live streaming of FFA Cup and A-League fixtures (or some of them)...is this the Telstra based app and subscriptions required to view said streaming? I haven't checked the app store yet so assuming the info on in app activation of special events will be there...
Ron
Guest
How can you compare the Champions League final, which is a fixture involving the 2 teams who've proven the best in that competition over 9 months, to a random draw opening match of a FIFA world cup? The opening match at the Euro in 2016 was France vs Romania. The draw is random. Keep it random. No one cares what the opening match is except the 2 nations involved.
Brian
Guest
Nah Russia a proper football nation. Lev Yashin, Dasayev, Cherchesov. The old USSR made it to the semis etc. Its also a big nation with lots of cities. Yes there are political issues but you can't compare it to a small country where women have to get their husbands permission to divorce, with slave labor building stadiums and having never made the World Cup before. Compared to Qatar Russia looks like the perfect host
Brian
Guest
The old system of opening with the champion was much better. Argentina losing to Cameroon in 1990, Brazil beating an enterprising Scotland in 1998, France losing in 2002. Now they have moved to the host they should at least setup a good opening game. I know it was somewhat random but Russia are there by design so why not the other team. If they stick with this for 2022 we could open up with Qatar vs Panama. Last week we had Real Madrid v Liverpool and now Russia v Saudi Arabia no wonder UEFA revenues are up and FIFA down.
Howie
Roar Pro
Sorry to hear about the poor internet trouble. Your issue is why the NBN started in the first place but they seemed to have largely stuffed it up because it should never have been operated by a government in the first place. My issue is slightly different. I can get full HD on Netflix with no problem and have multiple different sourced streams operating within the house simultaneously but Optus - No. i think their compression approach is the problem.
chris
Guest
Matt I have similar complaints. Unbelievable that all these companies are basing their operating models on an infrastructure that cannot support it.
Matt H
Roar Guru
This is the problem for me too. No NBN coming any time soon, assuming that works. My ADSL with Telstra is terrible. We often can't even load normal websites, let alone streaming. Repeated complaints to Telstra over weeks on end have finished up with: 1. The don't have a minimum speed guarantee so if your speed is too slow, bad luck 2. Apparently my speed is 'within acceptable limits'. Obviously those limits don't include steaming or watching Netflix. 3. They gave me some extra data, which was #$%^&ing useless since the internet is so slow we can't use even half our monthly data anyway. 4. they told me to try using the internet at times when others aren't using it. so basically when I'm not home and when no live shows I want to watch are on. Well done. 4G costs a fortune to get any meaningful data level. If there is no NBN, no access to cable, how the heck am I supposed to get enough internet to watch?
At work
Roar Rookie
I mostly like Fozzie's analysis, Lucy is flat out hard to listen to sometimes, and she will be in her element pronouncing all foreign names! I hope they're on location in Russia, I really liked their coverage on the beach in Brazil, or was that just a green screen. Anyway it was a big improvement on their basic SBS sets.
Mango Jack
Roar Guru
Fox offered free trials during tournaments like the rugby world cup. I guess they hope that a percentage will, intentionally or otherwise, not cancel their subscription and start paying for it. In any case, they've got your details and will pepper you with marketing material.