Temporary suspension of Premier League 3pm Saturday in Italy...

radiowaves

...by order of the Premier League.

How much more dilution of their paid-for rights will overseas broadcasters accept?

lertsnim

One would hope that the broadcasters tell the Premier League to jump when the rights are up next but it will never happen

azzeretti

Any source for this? Seems mental if it's the case.

byte

God, that's a mad decision.

I didn't even think Sky IT was that popular an option anymore for EPL games.

What's the chances the same enforcements will be pushed on CANAL+ et al?

radiowaves

azzeretti wrote: »

Any source for this? Seems mental if it's the case.

It's the case.

radiowaves

byte wrote: »

God, that's a mad decision.

I didn't even think Sky IT was that popular an option anymore for EPL games.

What's the chances the same enforcements will be pushed on CANAL+ et al?

I would imagine that part of the issue is all the prepaid cards that were sold.

Regards Canal+ - I'm surprised they weren't one of the first.

denis1501

The prepaid cards were a problem for sure but those have been getting blocked for PL games for a while now.
Bloody joke, I have a proper subscription here in Italy which I only took out for the football, especially the 3pm's. Lots of very unhappy Italians here right now!

radiowaves

denis1501 wrote: »

The prepaid cards were a problem for sure but those have been getting blocked for PL games for a while now.

Unless it had become across the board in the past few weeks the blocking seemed very haphazard and wasn't applied to every card.

It is hard to understand why Sky Italia has been targeted when other providers are as easily and cheaply available.

I still scratch my head wondering why they didn't simply move all Premier League matches to a time outside the 3pm window. That way the value of the package rights would have been maximised both in the UK & Republic of Ireland and abroad and this ridiculous situation would have been avoided.

denis1501

Sky Italia could block every one of those prepaids in 5 minutes if they wanted to so why every card hasn't been hit is a mystery to me.
The 3pm kick off is sacred ground in the UK, do you remember the Sun's 'save our saturday soccer' campaign a few years back?

radiowaves

denis1501 wrote: »

The 3pm kick off is sacred ground in the UK, do you remember the Sun's 'save our saturday soccer' campaign a few years back?

That is true and I love the 3pm kick-off myself.

But, Premier League matches are regularly moved, some even not for TV scheduling purposes, so to move the rest of the matches would not be too great an imposition.

The 3pm would still be sacred, all other matches could continue to kick-off at that time (with the added bonus that if they really believe fans of Premier League teams would flock to lower-league matches if there were no PL games on offer on TV then having no PL football at all at that time would boost attendances even more!).

radiowaves

Apart from the original announcement this, using Google Translate, is the only explanation I can see so far offered to subscribers.

The decision was made ONLY from the Premier League and Sky is that Mediaset could not interfere. Obviously we will work for the withdrawal of this bad news.

denis1501

Mediaset show the games here on terrestrial tv, Fox Sports is part of their Premium pay tv package. Ridiculous that the 3pm's have to be blocked in this case, apart from a bit of overspill into Switzerland it's impossible to pick up the signals outside of Italy.

radiowaves

Possibly nothing in it but livesoccertv.com are listing 3pms for online only on JSC - apart from Arsenal v Southampton.

This is mirrored on liveonsat.

Is it possible they now face the same satellite restrictions as their European counterparts ie one 3pm only?

Ironically, the easiest channels of all to get without an official subscription (Bulgarian), continue their coverage unhindered by the Premier League!

Amazingly if the Premier League just allowed UK & Ireland customers the same option of being able to watch every league game then they wouldnt have this issue to begin with.

Just sell all games to the highest bidder and spread the money fairly to the lower clubs so they dont miss out.

I dont for one minute buy this rubbish that nobody would go to the games.

radiowaves

Deleted User wrote: »

Amazingly if the Premier League just allowed UK & Ireland customers the same option of being able to watch every league game then they wouldnt have this issue to begin with.

That's a fair point and one that's set me wondering.

Republic of Ireland has always been crippled as far as 3pm kick-offs are concerned (and other "extra" games that are not on UK television). Was the reason for this that any channel showing the matches here is available on the Skybox and people in the UK would find it easy to source Irish cards? If so is our single 3pm match under threat?

Could Setanta be forced to show their match on cable/online only?

It might not be as crazy a notion as it even looks now that my thoughts have been typed!

radiowaves

radiowaves wrote: »

Possibly nothing in it but livesoccertv.com are listing 3pms for online only on JSC - apart from Arsenal v Southampton.

This is mirrored on liveonsat.

Is it possible they now face the same satellite restrictions as their European counterparts ie one 3pm only?

Ironically, the easiest channels of all to get without an official subscription (Bulgarian), continue their coverage unhindered by the Premier League!

For my own reasons I haven't been able to check Jazeera's website but it now looks like it is the case that they are restricted to just one 3pm match on satellite (but are not restricted online unlike European providers).

So they went to so much trouble restricting their signal and still they face restricted coverage.

Madness really.

Tom Hanks

Sooner the better all games are available Live in the UK.

This 3pm block-out is all very draconian.

lertsnim

Move the games to times outside of the 2.45 - 5.15 blackout and make them all available through TV or online. Problem resolved and a guaranteed cash cow. They are too stupid to realise this.

I notice that the blackout means that the Barcelona game will not be shown as that is also at 3pm this week.

abarkie

denis1501 wrote: »

Sky Italia could block every one of those prepaids in 5 minutes if they wanted to so why every card hasn't been hit is a mystery to me.
The 3pm kick off is sacred ground in the UK, do you remember the Sun's 'save our saturday soccer' campaign a few years back?

Call me a cynic but who owns the Sun?

Not a vested interest in keeping kick offs to 3pm but dressing it up as though they are "supporting" the football supporter?

radiowaves

And the final nail in the coffin - 2 channel(s) scheduled to show a match other than Arsenal v Southampton at 3pm are showing boxing (Nova Sports) and an ancient movie (Diema) instead. They are the Bulgarian providers.

Interestingly they haven't switched to covering the Arsenal match (if that was the problem) so we have to assume they've been forced to stop 3pms too.

I'm not in a position to check Viasat Sweden who also had a different match scheduled.

lertsnim

Maybe they are just showing filler until the Arsenal game starts. It's been delayed

abarkie

Viasat Sweden showing Arsenal match

Slovak Sport showing Arsenal

Al Jazeera HD1 showing Arsenal

Was arsenal delayed kick off or delayed coverage?

My Vivacom card not clearing for some reason - probably because I have used it for about 6 weeks - so cant check Diema

Not a good state of affairs

lertsnim

Kick off was delayed due to delays on the tube

loughside

Fox Sports showing Barcalona,

how about Canal+ Poland?

abarkie

loughside wrote: »

Fox Sports showing Barcalona,

how about Canal+ Poland?

Showing Arsenal on Canal Sport

radiowaves

lertsnim wrote: »

Maybe they are just showing filler until the Arsenal game starts. It's been delayed

I knew about the delay and no they weren't (their PL coverage is studio-based and they were showing the 12.45).

JSC are showing the Arsenal match only on their website.

The farce is complete.

radiowaves

abarkie wrote: »

Viasat Sweden showing Arsenal match

Slovak Sport showing Arsenal

Al Jazeera HD1 showing Arsenal

Was arsenal delayed kick off or delayed coverage?

My Vivacom card not clearing for some reason - probably because I have used it for about 6 weeks - so cant check Diema

Not a good state of affairs

Diema was mentioned earlier in the thread.

Viasat Sweden also had the Newcastle match scheduled - that's not on?

abarkie

Sorry I was looking at Viasat Football not Viasat Sweden

radiowaves

abarkie wrote: »

Sorry I was looking at Viasat Football not Viasat Sweden

Can you confirm that Viasat Sweden are showing their 2 scheduled 3pm matches today?

Out of interest what size dish are you using?

Thanks mate.

abarkie

I am using a Triax 1.1M Dish,on my Vu Duo, with a JSC card and a Viasat card and a Viacom Card in CI,

Also got a Vu Solo on a 43cm dish for 23.5e and Slovak Sport

I am based 2 miles from Britannia Stadium

abarkie

JSC HD6 showing the goals / highlights at half time

Andy Gray & Keys discecting the Wes Brown sending off

radiowaves

abarkie wrote: »

I am using a Triax 1.1M Dish,on my Vu Duo, with a JSC card and a Viasat card and a Viacom Card in CI,

Also got a Vu Solo on a 43cm dish for 23.5e and Slovak Sport

I am based 2 miles from Britannia Stadium

Thanks for that, thought you were in Ireland were the signal on 4.8 is very difficult.

And Viasat are showing the two matches, yes?

snaps

Seems people are being pushed to illegal streams. The EPL need to look at the Bundesliga otherwise they will be losing out to the Germans. Every Bundesliga match is shown on TV, 90% of grounds are full.

Its all about the greed and the money in the UK now, The EPL needs to change its business plan other wise the bubble will burst.

Here in Poland now, NC+ are really pushing the prepaid/subscriptions with an official receiver. I reckon its only a matter of time before they go paired. Prepaid is a huge chunk of the NC+ subscriptions here.

What with BT sports winning Champions league, it looks like pay tv in UK will soon have a wake up call.

abarkie

snaps wrote: »

Seems people are being pushed to illegal streams. The EPL need to look at the Bundesliga otherwise they will be losing out to the Germans. Every Bundesliga match is shown on TV, 90% of grounds are full.

Its all about the greed and the money in the UK now, The EPL needs to change its business plan other wise the bubble will burst.

Here in Poland now, NC+ are really pushing the prepaid/subscriptions with an official receiver. I reckon its only a matter of time before they go paired. Prepaid is a huge chunk of the NC+ subscriptions here.

What with BT sports winning Champions league, it looks like pay tv in UK will soon have a wake up call.

Agreed

Look at the price of admission too

Also I think that all the matches are on TV - I think

A bit like red button eg pick your match

Also a central channel like Sky Sports News with a rolling update

I may be wrong though

radiowaves

Can anybody else confirm what match(es) Viasat Sweden showed today, please?

denis1501

snaps wrote: »

Seems people are being pushed to illegal streams. The EPL need to look at the Bundesliga otherwise they will be losing out to the Germans. Every Bundesliga match is shown on TV, 90% of grounds are full.

But it's not about the attendances in the PL or Bundesliga, it's about the effect of the PL matches being shown live at 3pm on the lower leagues. The argument they make is it is these fans who will stay home and watch the PL instead of going to the grounds leading to many small clubs going to the wall.
Is their a second/third division in Germany and how are the attendances at these? I apologize if you were including these lower leagues in your figure of 90%.

radiowaves

denis1501 wrote: »

But it's not about the attendances in the PL or Bundesliga, it's about the effect of the PL matches being shown live at 3pm on the lower leagues. The argument they make is it is these fans who will stay home and watch the PL instead of going to the grounds leading to many small clubs going to the wall.
Is their a second/third division in Germany and how are the attendances at these? I apologize if you were including these lower leagues in your figure of 90%.

Surely the national team shares the lower league's fanbase moreso than the Premier League teams?

Guess what...blackout doesn't apply when international matches take place.

Surely the exact same arguments for the 3pm blackout apply to full midweek programmes?

Guess what.........

jaykay74

radiowaves wrote: »

Can anybody else confirm what match(es) Viasat Sweden showed today, please?

Arsenal

radiowaves

jaykay74 wrote: »

Arsenal

Thanks.

Newcastle not shown on a second channel?

jaykay74

radiowaves wrote: »

Thanks.

Newcastle not shown on a second channel?

Not 100% sure but since the 3pm clampdown here last season its usually only been one game with a 2nd one advertised on channel 20 (I think) but always blocked out. Think its for danish audience or something.

denis1501

I think you're being a little naive if you believe that live Premier League matches on Sky at 3pm on saturdays would have no effect on the attendances at the lower league games. Who's going to go watch Huddersfield on a wet and windy december afternoon if they can watch a PL game in comfort at home? Only the die hards and that's all. It would kill football in the UK and none of us want that.
The only way it would work is to move all the PL games to Sunday afternoons (which I believe you suggested yourself earlier?) and show them all live. Allow people to order a single match and also have season tickets for each club, home and away or your choice of either the home games or the aways. The revenue created would also compensate the PL clubs for any loss of attendance which I believe would be tiny anyway.

radiowaves

jaykay74 wrote: »

Not 100% sure but since the 3pm clampdown here last season its usually only been one game with a 2nd one advertised on channel 20 (I think) but always blocked out. Think its for danish audience or something.

Ah, thanks for that.

radiowaves

denis1501 wrote: »

I think you're being a little naive if you believe that live Premier League matches on Sky at 3pm on saturdays would have no effect on the attendances at the lower league games. Who's going to go watch Huddersfield on a wet and windy december afternoon if they can watch a PL game in comfort at home? Only the die hards and that's all. It would kill football in the UK and none of us want that.
The only way it would work is to move all the PL games to Sunday afternoons and show them all live. Allow people to order a single match and also have season tickets for each club, home and away or your choice of either the home games or the aways.

I didn't say it would have no effect.

What I said is that the arguments put forward for the blackout apply equally (if not more) to midweek matches (what about a wet and windy December Tuesday night?) and actually apply moreso to the national team. Yet no blackouts apply in each of those cases.

I have been advocating throughout this thread for a move of the Premier League matches. But not necessarily to be shown on a PPV basis (why not do that now). The Premier League seem intent on killing the golden goose, and that might not be a bad thing for the match-going supporter anyway, but they are approaching the perceived problem all wrong.

snaps

Move all EPL matches away from 3pm saturday....Simple. Money to be made everywhere then.

Im currently watching Dortmund V Munich. Bundesliga is as good as EPL.

radiowaves

European providers all well aware that they could only show one 3pm match when bidding.

Jazeera bid for their rights knowing (or assuming) they could show every match.

What clause is written into these contracts?

Court case?

Who'd love that?

denis1501

radiowaves wrote: »

I didn't say it would have no effect.

What I said is that the arguments put forward for the blackout apply equally (if not more) to midweek matches (what about a wet and windy December Tuesday night?) and actually apply moreso to the national team. Yet no blackouts apply in each of those cases.

Don't clubs have the right to claim compensation from the PL in these cases though?

radiowaves

denis1501 wrote: »

Don't clubs have the right to claim compensation from the PL in these cases though?

So why not at 3pm Saturday? Most of the big clubs rarely play at that time, and the money acquired from selling all 380 matches would cover any compensation issues.

Any argument for or against the 3pm Saturday blackout applies at other times too but the simplest solution, move the matches.

denis1501

I would guess because there would be no-one at the games every week.
There aren't PL games every wednesday night and when there are they're not always live on tv.

radiowaves

denis1501 wrote: »

I would guess because there would be no-one at the games every week.
There aren't PL games every wednesday night and when there are they're not always live on tv.

And when there are live PL matches on a Wednesday night there's not empty stadiums everywhere else! I think you're being naive now if you think supporters would ditch their clubs just because there is live football on TV.

Speaking from an Irish point of view - boats and planes are jam-packed full of supporters every weekend leaving this country to watch matches that are (wait for it) actually available to view in the warmth and comfort of their own living room. The expense involved would also make your eyes water.

I think the effect televised football on a Saturday at 3pm has been overstated to be honest but if football is in such a fragile state then it's probably not worth saving.

But we are both in agreement on one thing - move the PL matches out of the window.

denis1501

It's a fact that the Champions league matches involving English clubs lead to a massive drop in attendances during midweek games so yes, I think supporters do ditch their clubs because there is live football on TV.
And the picture quality on Setanta is enough to send anyone heading for the boat to England!

radiowaves

denis1501 wrote: »

It's a fact that the Champions league matches involving English clubs lead to a massive drop in attendances during midweek games so yes, I think supporters do ditch their clubs because there is live football on TV.
And the picture quality on Setanta is enough to send anyone heading for the boat to England!

We get Sky and BT here too mate!