Optus have agreed to let SBS broadcast all World Cup games during the next 48 hours as they urgently seek to resolve the streaming saga, which has already prompted the intervention of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
SBS onsold broadcast rights for most World Cup games to Optus Sport, with Fairfax Media reporting that deal was worth approximately $8 million.
It threatens to cost the telco much more in reputation damage, with technical issues – causing poor-quality match footage or no vision at all – having plagued its broadcast of the tournament’s opening weekend.
Many football fans, including those who signed up for a $15 package specifically to watch World Cup games, are furious because they’ve been unable to access the Optus broadcast.
Optus chief executive Allen Lew apologised “unreservedly to all Australians” on Sunday, but there were further issues that night.
SBS confirmed on Monday night it will air all World Cup games for the next 48 hours following talks with Optus.
“I have spoken with the Optus CEO, Allen Lew. He assures me he is giving the World Cup streaming problems his personal attention and he believes it will be fixed this evening,” Mr Turnbull tweeted on Monday.
The scandal, which is being monitored with interest by many sporting bodies in Australia given streaming is widely considered the future of broadcasting live sport, has already attracted the interest of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
“We are seeking further information from Optus on what steps it is taking to comply with the Australian Consumer Law,” an ACCC spokesperson said.
“Under the Australian Consumer Law, services must be fit for the purpose and deliver on what was promised.
“Consumers impacted by the streaming problems are advised to contact the service provider directly.”
Optus offered some disgruntled customers a free ‘Fetch’ set-top box on Monday. However, this created more angst as some users reported difficulties collecting these units from local stores.
Industry sources told AAP it’s likely the provider spectacularly underestimated demand for the service.
Demand is likely to grow as the tournament unfolds; Optus has exclusive rights to broadcast some quarter-finals and round-of-16 games.
Aside from issues during live matches, some users have complained about difficulties in accessing highlight packages and replays on demand.
An Optus spokesperson apologised to customers affected, but insisted “the majority of customers are having a good broadcast experience”.
Ebeid supported that claim, suggesting it’s now less than five per cent of Optus’ World Cup viewers who are encountering problems.
The World Cup is on the nation’s anti-siphoning list, but only the final and matches involving Australia.
Ebeid cited 2014 budget cuts as part of the reason his network, Australia’s World Cup broadcaster for the past 32 years, signed the Optus deal.
“It enabled us to retain the World Cup, where we may not have been able to afford to do it on our own,” Ebeid told radio station SEN.
“SBS is very limited in things like its advertising revenue.”
Neil
Guest
Because I work away from from home base, I bought a 4G optus service with the Optus Sports App on a year contract. I feel so stupid paying for this. Football supporters are still regarded as second class citizens by our Government and Businesses. The last person to do anything for football was Julia Gillard setting up the WSW.
bwm
Guest
Its not people power, just a worried corporation going into damage control, trying to salvage the reputation of their brand. They will always do things for the wrong reasons, benevolence is not in the corporate dictionary. Business needs to make profit for sure, but man does not live for bread alone.
bwm
Guest
Nice work & very funny! And maybe it will turn out to be quite accurate too.
Rocc
Guest
As usual, FIFA took the broadcasting money and ran with little thought of acess for football fans.
sittingbison
Guest
They will sort this out in 48-72 hours ;)
James
Guest
it's so rare that people power wins over money in aus sport so this is a huge (albeit brief) win. If only we could get angry enough to get some juice back in the test match pitches
Cugel
Roar Rookie
It's like they've never heard of bittorrent.
Basil
Guest
Great. Next problem then is, how can I watch Australia play without David Basheer’s yawn fest commentary?
mrrexdog
Roar Guru
I dont begrudge sbs for trading the rights. 39 World Cup World Cup games over a month for 114 EPL games over 3 years, clearly a commercial decision, but given the budget cuts sbs has received over the years it understandable. Although I think they have a similar deal in place for next years women’s World Cup, it’ll be interesting to see how that goes
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
This. It isn't the worst technical disaster in the world, but it's certainly the most prominent. I'd hate to be a fly on the wall during meetings between executives and Optus' technical team tomorrow morning. Or tonight.
User
Roar Rookie
No, think they've been given a 48 hr stay of execution.
Rilo
Guest
Does anyone think they will fix this in 48 hours???
Andrew
Roar Guru
Even thought I currently live in the UK and have the excellent FTA coverage on BBC and ITV, this whole shemozzle with Optus still makes me angry as it punishes all football fans in Aus, not to mention the World Cup is sacred viewing in IMO and should never be messed with.
Jarijari
Guest
Fizza's fraudband foils Floptus.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Same experience here. Whatever they are doing at Optus land it shows how far behind they are compared to other streaming services. They want to be more than just a data bit pipe but they have a long way to go.
Eddie Groves
Guest
Every morning I’ve gotten up to watch a replay on demand from the previous night, skipping spoilers. Every morning it’s take 10 minutes of trying to get the actual right video to start - often it plays the live broadcast (which may spoil the overnight scores) or some other random clip. This surely has nothing to do with demand, the service is technically flawed and riddled with bugs. The AppleTV app didn’t even work until the day of the opening game after a series of last minute updates and patches. We all have Netflix and so know what a quality service should be like. Not good enough at all.
Mark
Guest
The whole episode is just absolutely extraordinary. Let’s be honest, if the issue really was limited to such a small proportion of their subscribers, and was because of faults at the user end, there is no way they would be taking the drastic action they have. I don’t think anyone’s buying it. The fact that the SBS app works fine for ppl, but the Optus app doesn’t shows it’s a problem at Optus’ end. Giving the games for the next 2 days over to SBS is a clear admission that they have no confidence they can fix the problems by tonight, as they promised the PM.
Frank
Guest
So the issue is with traffic? They will then have the system up and running in time for testing with a Socceroos match? How about to test it before this they give all soccer fans free access for tomorrow night, and that way they can test the load but also potentially gain new customers for the next night. Optus have certainly added a retro twist to this world cup. Giving fans a glimpse of how it used to be like watching soccer 50 years ago.
AGO74
Guest
To date I've given SBS the benefit of the doubt in this, however in a statement by the CEO Ebeid he says "that it is less than 5% of customers affected" it is clear that he is lieing and his organisation is somehow complicit in this. Everyone I know has been affected in terms of those wanting to stream. Based on roar feedback I am not convinced that I am an outlier somehow. And if it was truly only myself, my friends and roar posters in this 5% then there is no way this action of putting games on SBS would have occurred for such a small percentage. Im pleased that Optus have done the morally right thing but there brand is virtually destroyed- I pity the poor people in the Indian call centres earning $1 an hour answering calls for Optus.
User
Roar Rookie
Great news, let's hope it continues for remainder of tournament.