Optus to change the rules

[40yearBLUE]

Big day for interstate fans in the Federal court today. Optus won their case.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/live-sport-win-for-optus/story-e6frf9jf-1226259694084

For those that dont know about it, Optus offer a service called TV now. In a nutshell they allow subscribers to record FTA tv and watch it on their phones on delay. Some delay is as little as 2 minutes. Included in this is of course AFL football.

Theres a slight catch. They offer the TV shown in the state you subscribe to them (Optus) so in order to get Melbourne TV you have to take out a phone contract in Melbourne. But after that you can view Melb TV anywhere you get Optus coverage. So I will use my mums address to subscribe if I go down that road.

I have been waiting on Telstra announcing if they will sell games on pay per view to phones and tablets and the price before signing a contract with either them or Optus. I only want to buy Blues games. I have foxtel but wont pay for the footy channel because I dont want all the other crap that comes with it and they force you to buy. If they just sold the footy channel at a reasonable rate or even just games on PPV I would sign up but not at the prices they currently charge. And with so many Blues games on FTA TV in Melb, for me Optus have a Telstra deal breaker. Or at least one that might curtail their ability to gouge on prices. I just want Blues games and not have to wait up until 2am to see the game finish. Up here games are shown at 11.30 pm after they show some stupid 70's movie for the 1000th time before some inane B grade sitcom just to rub our noses in it. This move might mean I am pushing Z's by midnight happy having watched us win nearly every game this year!

About the only other issue you might want to consider before deciding, is do you get decent optus cover. The new telstra 4g will be super fast but wont be rolled out across the country for a couple of years, CBD's will have it by year end. Hsdpa is pretty fast but optus's cover of that is not great yet. You need high speed for smooth streams.

And before you say why would you want to watch tv on a 4 inch phone screen, I wont, most new phones have HDMI out, so you can watch the stream on any screen.

All of that geeky tech stuff aside, the Fed court gave Telstra and the AFL a shit sandwich for lunch today.

 

[mediumsizered]

Big day for interstate fans in the Federal court today. Optus won their case.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/live-sport-win-for-optus/story-e6frf9jf-1226259694084

For those that dont know about it, Optus offer a service called TV now. In a nutshell they allow subscribers to record FTA tv and watch it on their phones on delay. Some delay is as little as 2 minutes. Included in this is of course AFL football.

Theres a slight catch. They offer the TV shown in the state you subscribe to them (Optus) so in order to get Melbourne TV you have to take out a phone contract in Melbourne. But after that you can view Melb TV anywhere you get Optus coverage. So I will use my mums address to subscribe if I go down that road.

I have been waiting on Telstra announcing if they will sell games on pay per view to phones and tablets and the price before signing a contract with either them or Optus. I only want to buy Blues games. I have foxtel but wont pay for the footy channel because I dont want all the other crap that comes with it and they force you to buy. If they just sold the footy channel at a reasonable rate or even just games on PPV I would sign up but not at the prices they currently charge. And with so many Blues games on FTA TV in Melb, for me Optus have a Telstra deal breaker. Or at least one that might curtail their ability to gouge on prices. I just want Blues games and not have to wait up until 2am to see the game finish. Up here games are shown at 11.30 pm after they show some stupid 70's movie for the 1000th time before some inane B grade sitcom just to rub our noses in it. This move might mean I am pushing Z's by midnight happy having watched us win nearly every game this year!

About the only other issue you might want to consider before deciding, is do you get decent optus cover. The new telstra 4g will be super fast but wont be rolled out across the country for a couple of years, CBD's will have it by year end. Hsdpa is pretty fast but optus's cover of that is not great yet. You need high speed for smooth streams.

And before you say why would you want to watch tv on a 4 inch phone screen, I wont, most new phones have HDMI out, so you can watch the stream on any screen.

All of that geeky tech stuff aside, the Fed court gave Telstra and the AFL a shit sandwich for lunch today.

Actually they gave a number of sporting bodies a shit sandwich for lunch today, not just the AFL. In fact this will hurt the other bodies a lot more than it will hurt the AFL. David Gallop will be absolutely seething, but as Gillon McLachlan stated today, this is just the pre-season for this case. There is a shitload of water to go under the bridge before this is resolved.

FWIW, if you already have the sports package on Foxtel, you won't pay any extra for the Fox Footy channel.

 

[Sublime]

Just buy an xbox for $150 and you can get foxtel streamed through it for $20 a month which will allow you to watch every AFL game (if you have a fast internet connection with plenty of downloads). Win.

 

[40yearBLUE]

Actually they gave a number of sporting bodies a shit sandwich for lunch today, not just the AFL. In fact this will hurt the other bodies a lot more than it will hurt the AFL. David Gallop will be absolutely seething, but as Gillon McLachlan stated today, this is just the pre-season for this case. There is a shitload of water to go under the bridge before this is resolved.

FWIW, if you already have the sports package on Foxtel, you won't pay any extra for the Fox Footy channel.

I only have the basic package. I think the sports upgrade, which includes a bunch of channels is about another $50 a month for a year, so $600. I cant justify that, I have zero interest in any of the other sports channels. I am not even interested in the footy channel, I just want Blues games at a reasonable hour. Something my fellow aussies that live in Melbourne get. Its not much to ask, now that each channel have 2 extra digital channels. And to be fair to 7 they have started showing some games on 7mate at the same time Melbourne gets them. 10 didnt. They had a dedicated sports channel and still didnt show games at just 1 hour delay into Sydney unless Sydney was playing.

That may all change now that 7 is the sole FTA.

What will be interesting will be if the AFL/NRL or TV channels are able to lobby the govt to cave on it and amend the legislation. Because as far as the federal court is concerned, Optus have not broken the law by allowing subscribers to access FTA via their airwaves. I think there is only the High Court that could overturn it, and provided the Judge did not err in law, its likely that the ruling would not be overturned unless the legislation changes.

There is still a way to go, such as is Optus stream any good. Or will Telstras stream not cost a fortune. This is a bit like the whole pirate issue. If the cost is not prohibitive, people will buy it from Telstra, if they try to gouge they will buy it via FTA from someone else. (If Optus can do it, so can Voda!).

 

[40yearBLUE]

Just buy an xbox for $150 and you can get foxtel streamed through it for $20 a month which will allow you to watch every AFL game (if you have a fast internet connection with plenty of downloads). Win.

I would do that in a flash, I have unlimited ADSL2 internet. But I live 4km from the exchange and cant get decent speed. We average about 2mbs, but you need 3mbs for xbox stream to work. Bring on the NBN!!

Ironically I often get faster downloads using my phone as a mobile hotspot with Optus!

 

[Sublime]

I would do that in a flash, I have unlimited ADSL2 internet. But I live 4km from the exchange and cant get decent speed. We average about 2mbs, but you need 3mbs for xbox stream to work.

Ahh that sucks bad. I'd recommend buying a new house nearer to an exchange then

 

[40yearBLUE]

Ahh that sucks bad. I'd recommend buying a new house nearer to an exchange then

Yeah Nah. If I was gonna do that I would just move back to Melbourne. But then I wouldnt have the waterfront life I have now.

I think streaming is going to be the answer. It may mean that 7 have no choice but to get with the times and show games at a reasonable hour or lose audience to streams. I am so over pretending the game is live starting at midnight and having to turn my phone off, because if we are losing one of my knob mates would be smsing me to ruin my "live" viewing. Some nights I was buggered I couldnt stay up and would have to go online to see the score to see if it was worth staying up.

Hopefully those days are over for long suffering "non AFL" state fans.

 

[Aphrodite]

Why would anyone want to watch footy on their mobile. !!

No doubt the Optus 3G network will be congested.

Thank goodness for Foxtel.

 

[mediumsizered]

I only have the basic package. I think the sports upgrade, which includes a bunch of channels is about another $50 a month for a year, so $600. I cant justify that, I have zero interest in any of the other sports channels. I am not even interested in the footy channel, I just want Blues games at a reasonable hour. Something my fellow aussies that live in Melbourne get. Its not much to ask, now that each channel have 2 extra digital channels. And to be fair to 7 they have started showing some games on 7mate at the same time Melbourne gets them. 10 didnt. They had a dedicated sports channel and still didnt show games at just 1 hour delay into Sydney unless Sydney was playing.

I gather you have the Get Started package?? You can add the sports package for $16 per month.

 

[40yearBLUE]

Why would anyone want to watch footy on their mobile. !!

No doubt the Optus 3G network will be congested.

Thank goodness for Foxtel.

You dont have to watch it on your phone, most new phones have hdmi out sockets so you just plug the cable into any newish tv (any lcd will have hdmi in) and watch the live stream on your big screen. Samsung phones even have wireless DLMA so you can watch on a Smart tv without the cables. Next gen phones will even have cable-less charging.

Having said that, I watched games I had recorded and loaded onto my phone on a flight to LA last year. Works fine. 4 inches screens are fine for watching anything. You should check out the quality of video on new phones. You will be quite surprised.

 

[40yearBLUE]

I gather you have the Get Started package?? You can add the sports package for $16 per month.

To be honest I dont know what we have, we dont get all the channels but we do have an IQ box.. We sure do get a lot of the "girls" channels, I can tell you that much. I have to sit through some serious crap, Real housewives, Pretty Hurts, Dance Moms, Toddlers and Tiaras, Teenage and Pregnant, you name it, my wife watches it! Have taken to watching last years games again on my laptop just to escape some of it.

I make sure I get my fair share of Discovery and NatGeo though so it evens out.

$16 is reasonable. Thats a lot less than I was told it would cost. I was told $50 a month and you must sign up for 12 months. Considering I dont watch any other sport on TV other than the Ashes and the F1 gp's which are on FTA, that was too much for me. I will have to check this out again, maybe I have bum information, thanks.

 

[Aphrodite]

You dont have to watch it on your phone, most new phones have hdmi out sockets so you just plug the cable into any newish tv (any lcd will have hdmi in) and watch the live stream on your big screen. Samsung phones even have wireless DLMA so you can watch on a Smart tv without the cables. Next gen phones will even have cable-less charging.

Having said that, I watched games I had recorded and loaded onto my phone on a flight to LA last year. Works fine. 4 inches screens are fine for watching anything. You should check out the quality of video on new phones. You will be quite surprised.

I need to watch the big screen. I can't watch anything on a 4 inch screen plus I go to all the Melbourne games.
I also record our games & watch them on Foxtel when I get home from the footy.

TV now is good for those that can't get to games especially for our supporters seeing though we have 19 games televised live this year, that is if they are Optus customers.

I certainly won't be switching from Telstra to Optus.

As MSR mentioned 40yr, it is $16 a month for you to add on the sports package & there is NO contract, not that I am aware of anyway.

All you would be doing is varying your package.

I have the old Basic package which is now the Get Started package & I also have the sports channels.
I pay $61 per month and I don't have IQ.
IQ is an extra $10 a month.

It's all here 40yr :-

http://www.foxtel.com.au/discover/packages/build-your-own/default.htm

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Too many words for me champ.

My god you waffle on.


Drunk, bored.....igt22

 

[Aphrodite]

Too many words for me champ.

My god you waffle on.


Drunk, bored.....igt22

Time for a herbal tea numb3rs.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Time for a herbal tea numb3rs.

It's a Blue Room business, A-Girl.

Grow your hair long.

..and smile.

 

[BlueBanger]

Just buy an xbox for $150 and you can get foxtel streamed through it for $20 a month which will allow you to watch every AFL game (if you have a fast internet connection with plenty of downloads). Win.

Is this new for this year?
I looked into this last year and was told Foxtel didn't have access to the online rights.

 

[Sublime]

Is this new for this year?
I looked into this last year and was told Foxtel didn't have access to the online rights.

New for this year, there was no AFL channel last year and its been included in the basic package for this year.

http://www.foxtel.com.au/xbox/packages/default.htm

That link will show you all the packages. Its a bargain way to watch all the AFL games live and i'd be doing this if i didn't already have payTV.

Hope it helps.

 

[Salaryman]

Bloody thieves, I'd probably grab an Xbox and basic package if it included a movie chanel or two.

can't stand the way they package it

 

[Sublime]

Bloody thieves, I'd probably grab an Xbox and basic package if it included a movie chanel or two.

can't stand the way they package it

If you've got a hefty enough internet connection to stream the footy, then you'll be able to download any movie you please for nix

Win win.

 

[BlueBanger]

New for this year, there was no AFL channel last year and its been included in the basic package for this year.

http://www.foxtel.com.au/xbox/packages/default.htm

That link will show you all the packages. Its a bargain way to watch all the AFL games live and i'd be doing this if i didn't already have payTV.

Hope it helps.

Cheers Sublime

 

[Franc de Borges]

To be honest this just sounds like a tight arse trying to justify being a tight arse. You already have Foxtel man, just upgrade to a decent package and you'll have all the footy you could ever want without buggering around.

No way would I would be watching football on my phone if I couldn't make it to the games. Jesus.

 

[Franc de Borges]

Just get a decent Foxtel package and stop buggering around.

 

[40yearBLUE]

To be honest this just sounds like a tight arse trying to justify being a tight arse. You already have Foxtel man, just upgrade to a decent package and you'll have all the footy you could ever want without buggering around.

No way would I would be watching football on my phone if I couldn't make it to the games. Jesus.

I swear some of you are just baitin me. Cant you flickin read dude. YOU DONT WATCH IT ON YOUR PHONE! The phone is just the stream tool....you watch it on a big screen.....welcome to the new millennia cave dweller. The phone or the xbox both stream via the intermanet dude. And with HSDPA or 4g the speeds are as fast or faster than many currently get with adsl2.

And call me what you like, I am semi retired, on a lesser income because I choose not to work any more than I do. You choose what suits you Rockerfella..... Let them eat cake sound fam to ya? Sheesh.

 

[blue gunslinger]

Why would anyone want to watch footy on their mobile. !!

No doubt the Optus 3G network will be congested.

Thank goodness for Foxtel.

I agree aph but nothing bugs me more (other than the wife and the ATO) than not being able to see CFC play live.wablues have always done pretty well but often it is listening to a radio broadcast on AFL.com a few times a year we are left with. Will be a shame if our gatherings at the Odin suffer a bit with the new changes but you cannot win them all

 

[Salaryman]

fair enough, no need to call him a tool, sheeesh :