When live doesn’t mean live: how Optus’ out-of-sync EPL coverage is letting fans down
In this guest post Kevin Bradford provides a fan's view on why Optus' delayed EPL coverage is letting down fans and undermining an otherwise decent proposition.
Football is my vice. It’s the mistress that comes calling at ungodly hours and whose beckoning I cannot ignore, whatever the fixture.
The desire to get my weekly hit of the Premier League means curtailed social engagements, late nights and red-eyed early mornings.
So the news my supplier was to change shocked the system and promoted cold sweats at the prospect of having to go cold turkey for a season.
I was in the process of sourcing a new internet provider at the time, so Optus with its EPL offering was the obvious, if slightly reluctant, choice.
I already had the Foxtel sports package, so signing another long-term contract with a different provider for just one sport was an unwelcome burden I felt forced to bear. But with the countdown to the new season underway, time was of the essence to ensure I could secure my fix for the the opening weekend.
And early indications suggested this was not going give me the satisfaction levels I had become familiar with under the previous deal with Foxtel.
It took a week for Optus to reject my initial online application for an internet service at my address. Despite the online check showing Optus could provide a connection, I had to go into a store to hammer out the details.
I was then forced to spend hours on desperate calls to its customer support to organise the phone connection (who needs a home phone now-a-days?) before they could even make an appointment with an installer.
The kick-off was fast approaching and being without internet, let alone the Fetch TV service that would stream the games, was like waiting for a blind date to arrive – you don’t know if it’s even worth sitting around for or whether you should just cut your losses.
It certainly added to the debate around whether I should go with the official broadcaster, or choose a basic internet provider and trawl the backstreets of the web to find games via streams. I know plenty of people who have gone with the latter choice and have reported being able to see every game at the time it kicks off.
However, the clincher for me was that surely the official Optus service would be cleaner and more reliable.
When the service was finally installed, I was pleasantly surprised by the picture quality, and the amount of content available during the build-up to the opening fixtures. The presence of non-time sensitive interviews, classic matches and previews – via both Fetch TV and the Optus Sport app – enabled me to get a good dose of EPL ahead of the kick-off.
But the fact the offering is packaged up so seamlessly shouldn’t really have been a shock. Most of it is not original programming from Optus, but the syndicated content from the Premier League. It’s the same stuff that is broadcast around the world, and indeed, the same packages Foxtel was showing in previous years.
The only difference is Optus is providing more of it on demand. That’s all well and good, but there aren’t enough hours in the day to consume it all, and the only real buzz comes from the live matches. That’s the draw card. That’s the selling point.
Problem is, when it matters most, the coverage regularly features a delay, sometimes of up to a minute. It’s a problem that has already been flagged with the ACCC and is unlikely to go away without significant technical improvements.
Ok, so I can shut off from all social media and watch the game ‘as live’, but that’s not the point. I know it isn’t live. The events I’m watching have already happened, and the removal of the social media support network only emphasises the isolation from the passion, banter, and analysis avid fans have become accustomed to.
Delayed is delayed. Whether it’s a minute, or an hour. Optus sold it as being live. Fact is now, it isn’t.
It means the decision by Foxtel bosses to offer delayed coverage of every game from six club TV channels such as Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, has become even more of a masterstroke.
Even if you don’t follow those teams, you could watch at least 12 full league games a season featuring your team through the previous host supplier with it’s sports package (which I still have).
For many people, that will be plenty. Who in their right mind wants to stay up until gone midnight for the sake of a live game anyway? Well, addicts like me.
We thrive on the buzz that is delivered every match day, and whether in a pub with fellow supporters, or on the sofa with a cup of tea, we want to know the events unfolding in front of us are in real time.
As it stands, Optus is depriving us of that. Yes, we can watch every game through their service, but we can also do that via a whole host of streaming sites, without the minimum term lock in contract.
Sure the added features of the multiple channels, goal rush, and the app provide a holistic experience, but none of that helps when watching in a bar at midnight.
Although the service has streamed well in the venues I’ve watched it, there’s always some clever-dick close by ready to shout out “he’ll miss that” as he checks the latest Tweet from ‘the future’.
The thing that would provide me with such an adrenaline rush has now crashed to become an experience where the only purpose of viewing is for confirmation.
Optus always knew it held the power. We football fans were already addicted. We’ve had the taste for it our whole lives.
Now the supplier we are forced to rely on for our kicks is offering up an inadequate substitute to appease rather than satisfy.
I am now tied to a two-year contract with Optus, facing a bill for hundreds of dollars to cover two seasons of half-baked coverage.
It needs to quickly find a way to resurrect the live experience fans have come to expect to make me believe the expense is worth the investment.
Kevin Bradford is a West Ham fan and content marketing manager
It’s not like every Premier League fan knew this was going to happen. Oh…no…wait…
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Great article, your opinion mirrors mine to the letter on this issue!
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The fact that Optus have now restricted me to watching football on my iPad, or iPhone really frustrates me.
I loved watching the football on Foxtel as it was a sociable way to do so. I don’t want to have to rely on sub-standard internet speeds and pixelated, delayed screens to watch football. As a Leicester fan i’ve never been more excited to watch football, however when i see the spinning buffering wheel, i become un-explainably angry!
Until Optus create a paid-for satellite channel, there will be a lot of incredibly unsatisfied customers.
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Just wait until people realise they have the world cup as well. What an absolutely disaster.
This is easily the worst season since pre Fox Sports days for the Premier League. Every single weekend has been such a struggle.
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Whilst we all criticise the manner in which Optus have taken in screening the best sport in the world, maybe we should examine the stupidity and short sightedness shown by FOXTEL in thinking they could blindly get away with having their cake and eating it. Buying the EPL gave Rupert Murdoch the clout to dictate what would happen with football both in the UK and Europe (its since expanded to all corners of the globe at prices Rupert could only have dreamt of). Its beyond me how FOXTEL have systematically destroyed the golden calf in a half baked attempt to pull the wool over football fans eyes in their bid to monopolise the sport to suit their own ends. If greed is the all determining factor, then they have certainly done football fans a massive disservice. Is there anybody out there amongst this tv cabal who are mature enough to acknowledge they made a mistake. Football has long been an institution that far outweighs a tv monopoly, irrespective of size or intent. If you play around and disregard it in the way Fox have, you can’t expect much else. Sooner or later the penny will drop and Fox will realise the myopia of their actions. When will Fox begin to realise its the many millions of fans whose pay tv licence fees are what make this chicanery possible. Do something about it now before it’s too late. You’re a smart man Rupert, pull these ‘would be’
executives into line before your error becomes permanent and fans have walked away. Football is a religion not someone’s play toy!
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i think its just aussies complaining like usual what whingers..at least optus did something brave not like afl who only care about money and stupid fans..BT sport do wonders in uk but all we do here is cry, at least optus say football not like the arrogant wanks that call it soccer still living in the 70’s..bravo optus, maybe spend taxpayers cash on creating a better internet then we can stream better..football rules…cricket afl suck
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I think the service is great! I do live in a metro area and have the NBN and the fetch mini box($5 a month), so my experience might be lot better than the other users have mentioned above. I also can travel to other peoples houses and plug my laptop into the tv and stream that way. The one second delay is common when streaming – its just a roadblock in the technology – I can understand the frustration of previous satellite users however.
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Reason why I wouldn’t give Optus my hard earned cash , I stuck with foxtel .
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I don’t mind Optus making a content play and disrupting the market, but it is the delivery of their EPL broadcast and digital rights that is all wrong.
For starters, there is now no “broadcast” of EPL in Australia under a traditional terrestrial or cable delivery (apart from one game per week on SBS). You can’t just switch on your TV and watch. Optus is delivering its broadcast rights through digital means – i.e. streaming over the internet, as the only option for fans. As we have seen, this relies on fast internet connection and also has a delay so is not “live”.
Secondly, forcing fans to sign up to contracted telecommunications plans that they just don’t want is wrong. All we want to do is watch EPL games live. As an example, Telstra holds the digital rights for the AFL and NRL. Telstra mobile customers get an AFL and NRL footy pass included in their plan, but non-Telstra customers can pay $90 for an AFL or NRL season pass to watch all games live. NFL Game Pass is $265 per season. NBA League Pass is $45 per month. If Optus had made EPL free on their mobile/broadband plans and charged non-Optus customers a season pass subscription fee, that would be a fair model. I would pay up to $150 for an EPL season pass to stream games on my tablet or mobile.
But that still doesn’t solve the non-broadcast issue. The AFL is broadcast on Ch7 and Fox Sports, the NRL is broadcast on Ch9 and Fox Sports. So as a fan you have a choice – watch all games broadcast live on TV or stream it on your mobile when you’re away from a TV. With Optus’s EPL delivery it is all streaming and as they have no traditional broadcast capability the only solution would be to on-sell to Foxtel or a free-to-air broadcaster. I’m surprised the Premier League has allowed Optus to deliver its broadcast rights through a streaming solution as the only option for fans in Australia.
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Wow what a wanker you are. I play both sports and when if I call the world game as football to most Australians they think AFL….so wtf do you think is the better reference? You must have a stick up your ass if that bothers you so much.
Yes Australians do whinge a lot but I dont have a problem with them whinging about this. They have every right. It is not good enough.
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– Optus does have a satellite service available for those who don’t have suitable internet.
– Pubs and commercial venues use this satellite feed, which is as ‘live’ as Fox Sports. This ‘guy in the back’ you are talking about could do this to any sport.
– (@Wayne) SBS has one game a week, in an identical deal to other sports you described
– Fox Sports never showed the full IMG package that Optus does
– The EPL is available on $35/month mouth-to-mouth plans, so the minimum term is 1 month
There are valid critiques of Optus, and then there is this article.
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Thanks for the ‘facts’ disturbingly retrospectively detailed ‘person’. Almost like you worked at Optus to know all that – oh wait..you do
#clumsyPR
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Kevin,
Live venues have a satellite service the same as what Fox Sports use, not a streaming service like your home Fetch service.
Have you really been to a venue to watch a game on Optus Satellite????
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It is broadcast; in this case through the Internet. Devices you can use include your web browser, tablet, Yes TV (Fetch) etc.
You can very much just switch on your TV at watch using Fetch TV.
As for ‘not live’ no broadcast in Australia is “Live” there are delays in terrestrial broadcasting too.
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As I wrote in the original post, there is no broadcast in a terrestrial or cable sense i.e. not relying on an internet connection (apart from the one game on SBS).
People living in Australia have traditional broadcast options for all other major sporting competitions, but not EPL because of Optus’s method of delivery.
As for your comment on there being delays on terrestrial broadcast, they would be minuscule compared to the streaming delay on Optus’s EPL delivery.
Like I said, good on Optus for buying the rights to great sporting content. But if you have those rights you should be delivering them to customers and fans in the best possible way. Something Optus has struggled with so far.
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They would enable me to chromecast the app to my TV – boom! If Optus continue to not allow me to do this (I pay $120 per month on my phone plan), it will only be a matter of time until YouTube (Google) buys the epl rights and allows users to utilise fast services and beam to any device. Plus YouTube would have so much scale that the price could come down for users: are you reading Google? Make a bid!!!! Get it globally and free the epl. I still prefer Optus having it than Murdoch.
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be gone troll
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do you have a laptop and HDMI cable?
watch it on the website and steam it to your TV?
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Hi “Anonymous”, while its clear you’re having a shitty day and you’re very negative, the point that the article made that you blatantly missed is that the viewing experience that OPTUS is providing is below par. If you think that Aussies “cry” because they’re unhappy with crap service that inhibits their viewing experience, then you’re obviously lacking any intellect to understand what the actual issue is at hand.
Making comments about the AFL fans and cricket is also ridiculous. The AFL is the best run code in the country with the broadest fan base which includes the highest female viewership of any major sports code. Do your homework before you post comments such as this.
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I grudgingly went to Optus but its been one huge disaster because my internet speed isn’t quite up to scratch. Its like going back in time with the picture quality [ when I can actually get a picture] & there hasn’t been one week that hasn’t had tech , streaming or log in issues. I have cancelled my mobile Ph deal with Optus & will be relying on MUTV from now on. Absolutely disgraceful service from Optus , both technically & customer wise. They had sales people telling me lies to sign up for FetchTV , one told me he would boos my internet speed if I signed up to Fetch TV . Why in this day & age is it not broadcast in clear HD ? I hope they lose millions on this, a PR disaster for them
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No wonder you stayed anonymous. Optus brave ? They weren’t brave, they were stupid & greedy. I would hazard a guess you work for them
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And you’re a salty Foxtel fanboi who’s crying because you lost out.
I’ve watched the live matches and on demand videos on both Fetch and Mobile and it works fine.
And I get all for free on top of the deal I already had.
#DontHateOnTheWinnersCircle
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Well well, what do you know. This weekend (17th Sept) the general Optus Sport app now supports Chrome cast. Well done Optus and welcome to 2016! I watched the games on a big screen, casting from my phone. (I have been doing this from the play store and YouTube for 2 years.)
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I have to say that now I am ultra stoked with the Optus app. Chrome Cast has changed everything. Pic quality was great, no issues with reception or speed: keep it going Optus and you will attract more punters for sure!!
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All this waffle from people who see only part of the picture. Hardly anyone above has addressed the articles main point. In the age of Social media a delay of around 1 minute is NOT live. if Optus tried this with the AFL or NRL they would get absolutely murdered by the Aussie public and the regulators.
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GJ “Thanks Optus PR”! You rebutted nothing, you proved nothing, so next time you feel like wasting pixels on my screen go back to facebook and twitter and post your garbage at the garbage dump, and leave the rest of the internet clean of your crap.
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