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BT Sports Channel (Part 2)
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d'@ve
05-10-2013
Well I've had no problems with the Sky box version of BT Sport but I've found that these 12:45 kick-offs are too early in the day for me. I'm just not interested enough in regularly watching 2nd pick PL games masquerading as 1st pick games at lunchtime, too many other things I'd rather be doing at that time.

I would watch them on my PC while doing other things though - except that I have still never succeeded in viewing BT Sport on my main Windows 8 PC and I have tried all their FAQ suggestions to get it. Everything. But it works fine when dual booting into Windows XP (but my XP doesn't have all the programs I use).

The bottom score bar doesn't bother me but because of the other reasons, I won't be renewing my BTS subscription when they start charging for it (unless I can get a deal to offset the BTS subscription price).
1andrew1
05-10-2013
Originally Posted by derek500:
“Even more 'free' days from BT. And their TV ad spend hasn't abated either.

Struggling with new sign-ups after the initial surge?”

Whilst I don't think that's the case, I've come across a couple of articles which express that opinion as well.

The Telegraph: BT aims to net more viewers with free football http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...-football.html

The Times: BT discovers sport on TV is not an easy game
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/busine...cle3887234.ece

Interestingly, the Telegraph states that 45% of BT Sport's subscribers are via Virgin Media. Of the remaining 55%, 80% watch them via Sky equipment and almost all of the non-VM customers get BT Sport together with a BT broadband package.
derek500
05-10-2013
Originally Posted by 1andrew1:
“The Times: BT discovers sport on TV is not an easy game
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/busine...cle3887234.ece”

Here's The Times' article

Quote:
“Signs of strain have emerged in BT’s first season of sports coverage as it tries to muscle in on the pay-TV market.
The telecoms company, which is giving away sports coverage to its broadband customers, has said that it will offer free access to its channels for two weeks, but only one weekend, to Freeview and Virgin Media customers who have yet to turn on BT Sports.
BT will show a handful of live games midweek, including an England Under-21 qualifier with Lithuania and a World Cup qualifier between Spain and Belarus. It will then try to entice new viewers with free access to the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal and several Premiership Rugby games, including Wasps v Leicester, on the final weekend in October.
Channels often lift restrictions briefly to tempt new customers, but the length of BT’s sampling window surprised some observers, given that it could anger customers already paying for the channels.
BT launched its sports channels nine weeks ago and quickly surpassed the one million-user mark as former ESPN customers switched their subscriptions and existing broadband users took advantage of the free offer. The group subsequently signed a deal with Virgin Media that added its channels to the cable company’s top packages, so three million subscribers have access to BT Sports.
The company has not said how many people are watching the channels. Data compiled by the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board suggested that its weekend Premier League matches and Rugby Union matches attract reasonable numbers, but that its midweek coverage is performing poorly. The three channels are attracting an average of 30,000 viewers between 7pm and midnight, according to Barb.
BT, which is spending up to £500 million a year on its sports channels, denied that the decision to open a free window to non-BT customers was a sign that it was struggling. It said it was “pleased with how things are going”.”

Dancc
06-10-2013
Very poor piece of biased journalism there from The Times.

Their case seems to be that the free window they are offering is longer than what would be normal (ignoring the fact we are dealing with a major new sports service only a couple of months old, a fairly unique beast) and the midweek coverage rates worse than at the weekend (which you'd expect anyway) so they must be struggling, which is utter nonsense.

People pay for that shit?
TheWireRules
06-10-2013
I don't mind their coverage to be honest. I especially like the player cam...it caught Benteke being shoved back on the pitch them him dramatically collapsing in a heap when he came back on. The main camera was elsewhere and missed it. The DOGS at the bottom don't bother me either.
popeye13
06-10-2013
Originally Posted by bhr1:
“What is ultimately disappointing is what seems like the sheer arrogance of BT to ignore what their customers/viewers are saying.

Going back a fair few years, Sky tried starting a football season with a bottom screen score bar. Within a week it had gone, purely because of the uproar from their viewers. And that was in the days before Twitter and social media had even taken hold.

By all means experiment and be creative BT but when you get it wrong, admit it quickly and fix it quicker. This is the only way you will create a loyal following and keep hold of all those subscribers that will no longer get the channels free with your broadband next year.”

Fully agree with you on that. Especially the part i have made bold.
There is weekly comments regarding the DOG and scorebar aswell as that bloody ticker at the top of the screen, yet BT seem to just simply not give a toss what their customers have to say.
On twitter, before BT Sport launched, they were answering questions, friendly and interactive, now, they are ignorant and act as though nothing is wrong.

I like BT Sport, i like their coverage and even the pundits, but the onscreen mess is one HUGE off-putting factor for me.
And the second off-putting factor is as you said, they are acting oblivious to the complaints and comments and that is something that cannot continue.
But a major issue is the fact that alot of these decisions are coming from the BT Sport boss. So untill that goon wakes up, nothing will change. Which is actually rather sad
bhr1
06-10-2013
I actually have a Slingbox hooked up to my cable package in the US and when my location permits, I would actually watch the coverage on NBC Sports Network than put up with screen garbage on BT.

I did notice yesterday that the way they use the PiP has changed a little. Less frequent and putting the live image in it whilst showing the replay on the main picture. This does actually work better. Those first games with continual pop ups of managers and players on the bench was highly frustrating.

I suppose, as BT are relatively new to broadcasting to the masses, they are not used to accepting criticism and feedback in this way. I wish them well but long-term, I still think their decision to invest so heavily in this area was a mistake. They could have put so much more into exploiting their IPTV option.
D.M.N.
06-10-2013
A bit lower than usual for BT Sport yesterday - 0.9% for BTS1, while ESPN both had less than 0.05%.
gomezz
06-10-2013
Just treated myself to a new Hudl tablet and disappointed to find that BT Sport player does not run true full screen. Googling shows this to be a problem with the Android version of the app so beware.

(ITV Player is also not true full screen, though in a more minor way but BBC iPlayer, 4oD and Eurosport Player are fine)
IanFergus
06-10-2013
Originally Posted by derek500:
“Here's The Times' article”

Remind me who owns The Times?
derek500
06-10-2013
Originally Posted by Dancc:
“Very poor piece of biased journalism there from The Times.”

Which parts are biased? Telegraph saying much the same.

Quote:
“Its massive investment in football rights does not appear to be paying off yet. Despite paying three times as much as the last Sky Sports rival, ESPN, for its 38 matches per season, BT Sport audiences are so far 10pc lower on average.”

BT Sport is doing as well as many of us thought it would, i.e. roughly on a par with ESPN/Setanta but with much higher expenditure and (possibly) lower income.

Their biggest bonus has come from VM paying £2 more per household than they did for ESPN.
PaulLFC
06-10-2013
Originally Posted by derek500:
“Which parts are biased? Telegraph saying much the same.



BT Sport is doing as well as many of us thought it would, i.e. roughly on a par with ESPN/Setanta but with much higher expenditure and (possibly) lower income.

Their biggest bonus has come from VM paying £2 more per household than they did for ESPN.”

That quote makes no mention of the difference in timeslot, for a start. In fact it doesn't consider any influencing factors at all, either potentially positive or negative.
derek500
06-10-2013
Originally Posted by PaulLFC:
“That quote makes no mention of the difference in timeslot, for a start. In fact it doesn't consider any influencing factors at all, either potentially positive or negative.”

True, but BT paid a lot of money, knowing what time slot they were buying.

If BT Sport fails, it can't blame the timeslot. They can only blame their executives for paying big money for it.

Of course they've still got the midweek and Bank Holiday matches to come, but one swallow doesn't make a summer.

And when next summer does come, what will they have to keep their paying subscribers? Inertia along with a £15 re-activation fee and no free HD?
1andrew1
06-10-2013
Originally Posted by derek500:
“Inertia along with a £15 re-activation fee and no free HD?”

Definitely inertia, and nearly half their subscribers are via VM who have a three-year deal so that's half the problem taken care of. I guess they must be hoping that the do get rights to some form of successor to the Heinken Club and to acquire other rights that come up.
popeye13
06-10-2013
Originally Posted by derek500:
“Inertia along with a £15 re-activation fee and no free HD?”

But Sky doesn't give free HD an the activation fee isn't the fault of BT (On Sky)
Its because they have to pay for conditional access)
SnrDev
06-10-2013
Originally Posted by popeye13:
“But Sky doesn't give free HD”

? I watch BTS a lot on Sky in HD and don't pay extra for the HD. £12 a month all in.

It's easy to knock it and their numbers but there aren't that many blockbuster matches per season; Sky nab a good chunk of those that do exist but BT are doing a good job. I like their coverage, the two Dannies show is brilliant and it's nice to have presentation that isn't err.... Sky.
ShaunW
07-10-2013
If the can give me the channels for free for a weekend, why do they need to charge me a £15 activation fee if I decide to subscribe ?

This charge was the deal breaker for me.
Li4m
07-10-2013
I've read that BT Sport will be free to watch from 7pm Monday to Friday during October. Does anyone know what time it becomes encrypted again? I'm going to be at my parents' house later this week, and they only have Freeview. I'd like to watch the baseball on the TV, but if it goes off-air at midnight that's not much use.
Spider Rico
07-10-2013
Originally Posted by Spider Rico:
“Sorry if this has been asked already but my parents have BT Broadband and Freeview. Am I right in thinking that from the end of October they'll be able to watch the BT Sport channels for free once they have activated online?”

Anyone?
derek500
07-10-2013
Originally Posted by casinoman13:
“I know I keep bagging on about it but Saturday's game featuring Chelsea will give as a good indication on what they can achieve on the bigger games....personally I think it should be higher than the 500,000 mark.”

Originally Posted by mlt11:
“Yes, would expect Spurs v Chelsea to be around 500,000 or marginally higher.

ESPN got 551,000 for Man Utd v Spurs on the same weekend last year - interestingly not that big a premium over their Sunderland v Liverpool rating of 504,000.”

Originally Posted by D.M.N.:
“Under 485k according to ITV Media (http://www.itvmedia.co.uk/highlights/ratings ) - although I don't recall seeing BT Sport 1 pop up before in their top 10, so they may not have the ratings for it.”

443k in the officials.
Rascar_Capac
07-10-2013
At the risk of stating the obvious, doesn't BT need at least one more big set of rights in it's stable?
The EPL is rating reasonably well, the Aviva probably better than expected (though not great on a Friday). That's about it, the foreign football leagues and the odd youth football/foreign qualifier are not going to get many people excited. There is not a great deal happening in the week.

I think some form of cricket rights would be a good catch. It would help fill up the daytime schedule, as Sky does, with reasonable numbers. It would also mean the 3 main team sports all have some sort of content on the channel, giving the casual fan of say, football and cricket, or rugby and cricket, an incentive to sign up when they might not have done so just for one sport.

Probably easier said than done as Sky have all the rights tied up in one package IIRC, but they could try and get the IPL or some domestic rights next summer.
whedon247
07-10-2013
well i hope BT sports is a huge success, their europeon coverage is amazing

in a typical week i watch (in terms of priority)

1.Sunday Night Football panel show with james richardson 645pm & 10pm sundays
2.Europeon Football Show highlights package mondays 11pm
3.sat premier league match of the week sat 12.45pm
4.UFC events whenever they are on
5. UFC TUF reality show every week
casinoman13
07-10-2013
Originally Posted by Rascar_Capac:
“At the risk of stating the obvious, doesn't BT need at least one more big set of rights in it's stable?
The EPL is rating reasonably well, the Aviva probably better than expected (though not great on a Friday). That's about it, the foreign football leagues and the odd youth football/foreign qualifier are not going to get many people excited. There is not a great deal happening in the week.

I think some form of cricket rights would be a good catch. It would help fill up the daytime schedule, as Sky does, with reasonable numbers. It would also mean the 3 main team sports all have some sort of content on the channel, giving the casual fan of say, football and cricket, or rugby and cricket, an incentive to sign up when they might not have done so just for one sport.

Probably easier said than done as Sky have all the rights tied up in one package IIRC, but they could try and get the IPL or some domestic rights next summer.”

Without wanting to go over old ground, the Champion's League rights will show us just how far they want to go and indeed if they pick up any kind of rights, Europa League if they fail with those and for their sake I hope its a better offer than what ESPN had, at least getting a semi final, apart from those Sky have most of the rights tied up as far as football is concerned.

Domestic Cricket, Rugby League and Golf is all pretty much tied up however maybe Boxing may figure shortly.
casinoman13
07-10-2013
Originally Posted by derek500:
“443k in the officials.”

I would say they would be a little disappointed with that, however it again proves that Man Utd are the biggest draw as BT found out a few weeks ago and that was only against Crystal Palace!!
derek500
07-10-2013
Originally Posted by casinoman13:
“Without wanting to go over old ground, the Champion's League rights will show us just how far they want to go and indeed if they pick up any kind of rights, Europa League if they fail with those and for their sake I hope its a better offer than what ESPN had, at least getting a semi final, apart from those Sky have most of the rights tied up as far as football is concerned.”

But on their performance so far, which has hardly set the world alight (despite the massive spending), how much more will they be willing to commit?

The executives will need to convince the board that they're not throwing even more good money after bad.
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