Virgin Media and eir Sport join forces to combine sports offering for Irish viewers

schmoo2k

Great timing - as a Virgin Media customer was working out how I was going to be able to watch all the games!

https://www.the42.ie/eir-sport-virgin-media-4766809-Aug2019/

icdg

Virgin Media Sport - referring in this case to the channel specifically rather than VM generally - have no rugby rights though. VM do have a contract with EPCR to show one Heineken Cup game each round but my understanding is that specifically requires FTA coverage. Ditto for the Six Nations.

It may be bad news for Eir Sport customers on Sky, who will be losing eir Sport 2 which is being replaced with VM Sport.

awec

icdg wrote: »

Virgin Media Sport - referring in this case to the channel specifically rather than VM generally - have no rugby rights though. VM do have a contract with EPCR to show one Heineken Cup game each round but my understanding is that specifically requires FTA coverage. Ditto for the Six Nations.

It may be bad news for Eir Sport customers on Sky, who will be losing eir Sport 2 which is being replaced with VM Sport.

Isn't Eir SPort 2 where they traditionally aired the Pro14?

molloyjh

Oh FFS. This is all starting to really piss me off. The P14 was covered across 1 & 2 from memory. Everyone so eager to get their slice of the pie that in the end the customer, who ultimately pays for every bit of the pie, loses out. It explains why Eir never bothered responding to my query about what games they will and won't be showing because its starting to look like that could depend on who your TV is with.

awec

This is turning into a bit of a shambles.

When is Eir's contract with the Pro14 up?

molloyjh

The end of the 20/21 season.

PMC83

Two more years with eir. I wonder will we see Virgin put in a bid when its up? Or would it even make sense considering their newly announced deal. Its all pretty messy.

The winners here are definitely the Virgin customers. Pain in the arse for Sky ones, and for anyone who swapped from Virgin to Eir as a whole last summer.

Home of rugby my arse. Lost BT after a year and now sharing their sports channels with another provider. I'd be surprised if Eir lasts much long in its current form, seems an absolute mess.

Former Former

Games were shown on Eir Sport 2 because it is/was a clone of Premier Sports. If Premier were carrying the game, it would be on Eir Sport 2 by default and therefore no point in having it on Eir Sport 1. Am I right in that?

Now that Premier seem to be doing their own thing, there would be no real reason to have Pro14 games on Eir Sport 2 over 1?

Besides, the number of people subscribing to Eir Sport via their Sky box must be hovering close to zero at this point. So who does it affect?

This is a good news story for Eir subscribers and VM subscribers, surely.

PMC83

Former Former wrote: »

Games were shown on Eir Sport 2 because it is/was a clone of Premier Sports. If Premier were carrying the game, it would be on Eir Sport 2 by default and therefore no point in having it on Eir Sport 1. Am I right in that?

Now that Premier seem to be doing their own thing, there would be no real reason to have Pro14 games on Eir Sport 2 over 1?

Besides, the number of people subscribing to Eir Sport via their Sky box must be hovering close to zero at this point. So who does it affect?

This is a good news story for Eir subscribers and VM subscribers, surely.

Man I'm delighted, its as if my kids know theres a 7.35 kick off and decide to not go asleep. A least now I can pause the games

Squidgy Black

Former Former wrote: »

Games were shown on Eir Sport 2 because it is/was a clone of Premier Sports. If Premier were carrying the game, it would be on Eir Sport 2 by default and therefore no point in having it on Eir Sport 1. Am I right in that?

Now that Premier seem to be doing their own thing, there would be no real reason to have Pro14 games on Eir Sport 2 over 1?

Besides, the number of people subscribing to Eir Sport via their Sky box must be hovering close to zero at this point. So who does it affect?

This is a good news story for Eir subscribers and VM subscribers, surely.

Not quite, a few times eir sport 2 had separate programming to premier sports, particularly if there was two Irish teams playing at similar times, but premier sports had a different event showing.

Could mean the only way to 'legally' see some of the Irish games is deferred coverage.

mfceiling

PMC83 wrote: »

The winners here are definitely the Virgin customers. Pain in the arse for Sky ones, and for anyone who swapped from Virgin to Eir as a whole last summer.

Meh...I'm finished with virgin for good. Their tv box is rubbish...Like beyond bad. The amount of fcuking around with games is gone beyond ridiculous now. The pro 14 aren't doing themselves any favours with this crack.

PMC83

mfceiling wrote: »

Meh...I'm finished with virgin for good. Their tv box is rubbish...Like beyond bad. The amount of fcuking around with games is gone beyond ridiculous now. The pro 14 aren't doing themselves any favours with this crack.

Being honest the only thing I really watch on TV is rugby, and the pro14 provides some decent watching most weekends so I'll be sticking with it.

Eir are just so tricky to deal with, really bad customer service, Virgins isn't so bad.

Cookiemunster

mfceiling wrote: »

Meh...I'm finished with virgin for good. Their tv box is rubbish...Like beyond bad. The amount of fcuking around with games is gone beyond ridiculous now. The pro 14 aren't doing themselves any favours with this crack.

I doubt the Pro14 have any part in this. This is a decision Eir Sport have made to try to save themselves. Without football they are screwed. The tie up with VM gets them Champions League, Europa League and international football.

awec

Eir need to drop their price for Sky subscribers, but can't see it happening.

Tigerandahalf

awec wrote: »

Eir need to drop their price for Sky subscribers, but can't see it happening.

I think eir want to be off the Sky platform. They are paying Sky to be carried on it.

Delivering their product over the broadband they provide makes sense for them.

molloyjh

Does anyone at all know for sure what the status is of televised games in Ireland? Do Eir have all provincial games live or just all games played here in Ireland? Do they have deferred coverage of those games they dont have live? Is it possible to get all of the Eir channels necessary to watch the P14 and get BT for the HEC? Will Premier be geo-blocked entirely for the P14 or just not available on VM/Eir?

awec

molloyjh wrote: »

Does anyone at all know for sure what the status is of televised games in Ireland? Do Eir have all provincial games live or just all games played here in Ireland? Do they have deferred coverage of those games they dont have live? Is it possible to get all of the Eir channels necessary to watch the P14 and get BT for the HEC? Will Premier be geo-blocked entirely for the P14 or just not available on VM/Eir?

Can't answer first two questions, but:

Is it possible to get all of the Eir channels necessary to watch the P14 and get BT for the HEC?

Yes, but only via Sky, and it requires a subscription to Sky Sports Extra and Eir separately. Eir / Virgin TV customers cannot get Champions Cup coverage, bar the one game per round that's on FTA.

Will Premier be geo-blocked entirely for the P14 or just not available on VM/Eir?

Premier is likely to be geo-blocked entirely while showing Pro14 games, since Eir have exclusive rights for broadcasting the Pro14 in Ireland.

Riskymove

even before the current uncertainty Eir did not show all Pro14 games live. some were deferred coverage

however they did show all provincial games either themselves or via Premier sports coverage

it is not clear how they will be able to show all provincial games LIVE where they are on at the same time

awec

Riskymove wrote: »

even before the current uncertainty Eir did not show all Pro14 games live. some were deferred coverage

however they did show all provincial games either themselves or via Premier sports coverage

it is not clear how they will be able to show all provincial games LIVE where they are on at the same time

If Eir Sport 2 is to be a clone of Virgin Sport, as is suggested, then they can't. Eir will only have 1 channel, so for them to cover all games games will have to never clash with each other or with other sport.

Tigerandahalf

We can't be certain re coverage but we know eir/tg4 will be showing the vast majority of games.
Eir sport 1 and 2 will still be on the eir sports pack (only eir sport 1 on Sky).
The question is whether eir will cover any of the games on premier sports (ulster, scottish and welsh games mostly). Will they provide a separate feed with separate commentary of an Ulster game or just simply not show it.

I think we may see very few Ulster games on eir sport this year as Premier Sports will have them.

Some games may appear on Freesports HD. It is now on the eir sport pack but will be blocked on Sky. It is also on fta satellite.

Former Former

awec wrote: »

If Eir Sport 2 is to be a clone of Virgin Sport, as is suggested, then they can't. Eir will only have 1 channel, so for them to cover all games games will have to never clash with each other or with other sport.

Eir Sport 2 will continue, just will not be available via Sky dish. It will still be available on the Eir Sport app.

From looking at the fixture list, for a number of clashes, TG4 will have one game and Eir the other.

Be graaand.

Tomtom364

awec wrote: »

If Eir Sport 2 is to be a clone of Virgin Sport, as is suggested, then they can't. Eir will only have 1 channel, so for them to cover all games games will have to never clash with each other or with other sport.

Where is this coming from?
I cant see any mention of Eir sport 2 becomming a clone of VM Sport.
The article states

Under the agreement, Virgin Media Sport — will be available to eir customers as part of their sports pack, while in turn, eir Sport will now be available to Virgin Media TV customers.

Both broadcasters say the new offerings will come at no extra cost for existing customers.

Sounds like adding channels, not merging them.

Riskymove

Eir advertise it as:

•Home of the Guinness PRO14 - all 152 games including at least 40 Munster & Leinster matches

this is as part of the latest publicity with VM

note the word LIVE is once again missing

awec

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

We can't be certain re coverage but we know eir/tg4 will be showing the vast majority of games.
Eir sport 1 and 2 will still be on the eir sports pack (only eir sport 1 on Sky).
The question is whether eir will cover any of the games on premier sports (ulster, scottish and welsh games mostly). Will they provide a separate feed with separate commentary of an Ulster game or just simply not show it.

I think we may see very few Ulster games on eir sport this year as Premier Sports will have them.

Some games may appear on Freesports HD. It is now on the eir sport pack but will be blocked on Sky. It is also on fta satellite.

Most of the Ulster games have Eir listed on the pro14 site.

Riskymove

Former Former wrote: »

Eir Sport 2 will continue, just will not be available via Sky dish. It will still be available on the Eir Sport app.

so now the suggestion is non eir broadband subscribers who pay Eir 29 a month will not only lose BT but also have half the eir channels?

29 a month for just Eirsport1??

awec

Former Former wrote: »

Eir Sport 2 will continue, just will not be available via Sky dish. It will still be available on the Eir Sport app.

From looking at the fixture list, for a number of clashes, TG4 will have one game and Eir the other.

Be graaand.

But what channel will Eir show the Pro14 on? Is it going to be spread across 1 and 2? Or just on 1?

Tigerandahalf

awec wrote: »

But what channel will Eir show the Pro14 on? Is it going to be spread across 1 and 2? Or just on 1?

On a typical Friday evening 2 or 3 games were shown around 7.30.
Eir sport 1 normally carried an Irish game with maybe TG4 also carrying it.
Eir sport 2 carried the Premier Sports 1 game.

So what will eir do now they have only 1 channel.
Let themselves and TG4 carry the same game and not show the other live? Maybe deferred coverage?

It would be a shame to miss out on the Welsh and Scottish games. Sometimes they were far more entertaining than an Irish home game against the Dragons/Zebre/Kings.

Former Former

awec wrote: »

But what channel will Eir show the Pro14 on? Is it going to be spread across 1 and 2? Or just on 1?

I already said "be graaaand", I'm not sure how much clearer I can make it.

icdg

They will need both channels to show simultaneous kick offs. I don’t even need to look past Round 1 where Scarlets v Connacht and Treviso v Leinster kick off simultaneous. So yes, eir Sport 2 will be used. (Edit. That might be a bad example because eir isn’t showing Connacht- but in Round 4 they are promising coverage of the simultaneous Munster v Ospreys and Ulster v Cardiff).

It won’t be the case that eir Sport 2 will be carrying VM Sport programming as it once did Premier Sports programming. It is going to be closed completely on satellite and its EPG position given to VM Sport. It will still continue as a separate channel on cable and for Eir Broadband / certain eir mobile customers with access to the app.

Riskymove

Former Former wrote: »

I already said "be graaaand", I'm not sure how much clearer I can make it.

ah, sure look it

awec

icdg wrote: »

They will need both channels to show simultaneous kick offs. I don’t even need to look past Round 1 where Scarlets v Connacht and Treviso v Leinster kick off simultaneous. So yes, eir Sport 2 will be used.

It won’t be the case that eir Sport 2 will be carrying VM Sport programming as it once did Premier Sports programming. It is going to be closed completely on satellite and its EPG position given to VM Sport. It will still continue as a separate channel on cable and for Eir Broadband / certain eir mobile customers with access to the app.

So basically, Sky-based Eir Sport subscribers are losing a channel completely (Eir Sport 2), and all coverage of sport on that channel will be completely unavailable via any medium.

Right?

icdg

Yes, if you are a satellite only customer (who lets not forget, pay a cool €30 pm, the highest cost of any eir Sport subscribers!) If you have Eir Broadband you can still watch eir Sport 2 via the app, but it won’t be on the Sky EPG.

Riskymove

awec wrote: »

So basically, Sky-based Eir Sport subscribers are losing a channel completely (Eir Sport 2), and all coverage of sport on that channel will be completely unavailable via any medium.

Right?

TBH if that is the case, I do not see how they could continue to offer the eirsport pack to sky customers

Tigerandahalf

awec wrote: »

So basically, Sky-based Eir Sport subscribers are losing a channel completely (Eir Sport 2), and all coverage of sport on that channel will be completely unavailable via any medium.

Right?

It looks like a deliberate attempt to pull people away from the Sky platform and towards their broadband product. Or perhaps they cannot justify paying Sky the carriage costs for 2 channels (eir sport 2 and VM Sport) given that they have very little content on that 2nd channel.

Anyone in rural Ireland with poor broadband but plenty of cash still won't get everything they might want.

awec

icdg wrote: »

Yes, if you are a satellite only customer (who lets not forget, pay a cool €30 pm, the highest cost of any eir Sport subscribers!) If you have Eir Broadband you can still watch eir Sport 2 via the app, but it won’t be on the Sky EPG.

Yea, so it's 30 quid a month, for one channel, and there is no clarity whatsoever what content will be on that channel.

The sooner Eir feck off the better.

Riskymove

awec wrote: »

Yea, so it's 30 quid a month, for one channel, and there is no clarity whatsoever what content will be on that channel.

The sooner Eir feck off the better.

and even at that one channel, TG4 will show a certain amount of Pro14 and RTE have Irish and knock out RWC games

if this is what remains the pricing will have to considerably drop to keep any sky subscribers

awec

And the inverse, Eir vision and virgin media customers have no way of watching the Heineken cup, bar the game available free to air.

Riskymove

awec wrote: »

And the inverse, Eir vision and virgin media customers have no way of watching the Heineken cup, bar the game available free to air.

there is a BT add on available to them

PMC83

Riskymove wrote: »

there is a BT add on available to them

If you are a Virgin media customer (have a Virgin box) you can't add BT unfortunately, you can only add sky.

If you have a sky box you can add Bt.

Riskymove

PMC83 wrote: »

If you are a Virgin media customer (have a Virgin box) you can't add BT unfortunately, you can only add sky.

If you have a sky box you can add Bt.

sorry I was talking about Eir

you can add Sky Sports and/or BT to Eirvision

Former Former

awec wrote: »

Yea, so it's 30 quid a month, for one channel, and there is no clarity whatsoever what content will be on that channel.

The sooner Eir feck off the better.

You would get Virgin Media Sport instead of Eir Sport 2 though. Depending on what sports you watch, that is a big step up.

But realistically, selling Eir Sport as a standalone product is a legacy thing that Eir have zero interest in maintaining.

Riskymove

Former Former wrote: »

You would get Virgin Media Sport instead of Eir Sport 2 though. Depending on what sports you watch, that is a big step up. .

only if an Eir broadband subscriber (according to blurb)

Former Former

Riskymove wrote: »

only if an Eir broadband subscriber (according to blurb)

Blurb is pretty contradictory but I saw this:

https://www.eirsport.ie/new-content-update-to-the-eir-sport-pack

eir broadband, eir TV and selected eir mobile customers will now be able to watch LIVE UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League at no additional charge as part of the eir sport pack. The content will also be available to those paying for the eir sport pack on Sky.

Dave_The_Sheep

You know it's a bit of a joke when the people using illegal setups like iptv or other dodgy boxes are getting a far better service than any of the legit subscribers. I mean, so I'm told. Not that I'd be into any of that stuff myself.

Riskymove

thanks

there is no mention of that on the page here

https://www.eir.ie/sport/updates/

it says

This change is great news for Irish Sport fans and you do not need to do anything, Virgin Media Sport will be added to the eir Sport pack and you can watch so much more great content for no extra charge as an eir broadband or bill pay mobile customer.

pc7

With Smart TVs and people streaming online, the leagues themselves should just set up a subscription service directly. You want HC pay ERC, Pro14 etc. All this chopping and changing is a pain and as mentioned above no wonder people look to 'other' means to see the games.

Tigerandahalf

That won't happen. Who would refuse 3 years worth of subscriptions upfront and guaranteed versus possible subscribers on a monthly/yearly base. It would also kill ad revenue.

pc7

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

That won't happen. Who would refuse 3 years worth of subscriptions upfront and guaranteed versus possible subscribers on a monthly/yearly base. It would also kill ad revenue.

Probably, but would make my life easier!

mfceiling

So basically the viewing figures this year are not going to be great. Who other than the real hard core fans will sign up for a heap of different channels just to watch some league matches on a Friday night.
I'd hate for someone to install of those dodgy boxes in my living room to avoid this scenario.

Tigerandahalf

I was just replying on another thread there. I wonder is it possible that the games that were on eir sport 2 will now be on virgin media sport on satellite.

Why would you launch a channel with carriage fees to only show Champions League/Europa Cup games. Would it not make sense to put the extra pro14 game on the channel as well.

Perhaps there would be issues with the DOG (e.g. eir sport in the top right corner of the screen on a Virgin Sport labelled channel).
I wonder who is paying for the carriage charges on satellite? It would be surprising if Virgin were as they are a cable company. Could eir sport be covering the carriage charge?

Wikidy

I like to record the games and watch when the little one is in bed, rather than wait for the game to be over and then catch up. Not having all games recordable via EPG is a pain.