Re: TV games : Tue Jan 23, 2024 8:33 pm  

Finally sitting down and giving it a bash on my smart tv through the internet browser, this is the same way that i always used Watch NRL also with no issues.

Immediately i noticed on the first highlight video i tried watching (Wigan vs Hull KR rd 1) that the video was quite choppy and was genuinely starting to mess with my eyes even in the short highlights package. So i went on and tried a couple of others (Hull FC vs Cas / Saints vs Huds) and noticed these did not have the same issues, everything is running smooth.

I then notice that these 2 games where not on tv, so were using a lower quality static camera to film the games. I then put on another game that i knew was on tv Wire vs Leeds) and again it was choppy and hard to watch.

I am now wondering if the website is struggling to playback the higher quality footage of the tv games compared to the lower quality single angle games?

I understand this is literally day 1 and hopefully it is something that will be fixed by round 1, because if this is how it plays them games it would be unwatchable.

I also don't want to come across like i am just bagging this for the sake of it, i actually think this is a very positive step forward for the sport and something that should have happened sooner. I just feel it is important to also point out it's current flaws and any decisions you may feel are incorrect / seem counter productive.

Re: TV games : Tue Jan 23, 2024 11:16 pm  

Not sure there is enough distinctive value in the new streaming service. I assumed when this was first reported that Sky would screen two fixtures leaving four games to be exclusively streamed. This would mean Sky subscribers (such as myself) would consider signing up to streaming as well and then you potentially have something that can bring in substantial revenue. As it is Sky showing everything means it will only appeal to a very limited audience i.e. RL followers who don't have Sky and maybe a small group of international subscribers.

Re: TV games : Wed Jan 24, 2024 9:28 am  

MadDogg wrote:

Not sure there is enough distinctive value in the new streaming service. I assumed when this was first reported that Sky would screen two fixtures leaving four games to be exclusively streamed. This would mean Sky subscribers (such as myself) would consider signing up to streaming as well and then you potentially have something that can bring in substantial revenue. As it is Sky showing everything means it will only appeal to a very limited audience i.e. RL followers who don't have Sky and maybe a small group of international subscribers.

You’d imagine there are plenty of RL fans or RL watchers who don’t have Sky given the cost of it. When a game is on BBC/C4 it can have an audience multiple times higher than Sky games, so there are people watching games on there who aren’t watching them on Sky. Now a great number of them might just have happened to flick it on and won’t pay for this service but some will.

The match passes could be the big money spinner for the game IMO. When Wigan go to Hull for example and it’s not on Sky, we might take 500/600 fans with us but that leaves thousands of regular fans who might want to watch it and plenty of casual viewers as well. That soon mounts up, especially when the same scenario is played out across the league each weekend. I’d be more than happy to pay £6.99 to watch it if I wasn’t going. It won’t suit everyone but it will be ideal for enough people to make it work really well.

Re: TV games : Wed Jan 24, 2024 10:34 am  

I'm similar to what sergeantpepper said on here. I have a ST so that's all the home games covered and I usually go to at least the Lancashire aways. We are also on Sky quite a bit so there are even more games there for me to watch and to be honest I wouldn't really be interested in say a Hudds v Salford game for example.

The bigger games not involving Saints (Wigan v Warrington/Catalan etc) will probably be on Sky anyway so as they say on Dragons Den "I'm out"

Re: TV games : Wed Jan 24, 2024 12:09 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

You’d imagine there are plenty of RL fans or RL watchers who don’t have Sky given the cost of it. When a game is on BBC/C4 it can have an audience multiple times higher than Sky games, so there are people watching games on there who aren’t watching them on Sky. Now a great number of them might just have happened to flick it on and won’t pay for this service but some will.

The match passes could be the big money spinner for the game IMO. When Wigan go to Hull for example and it’s not on Sky, we might take 500/600 fans with us but that leaves thousands of regular fans who might want to watch it and plenty of casual viewers as well. That soon mounts up, especially when the same scenario is played out across the league each weekend. I’d be more than happy to pay £6.99 to watch it if I wasn’t going. It won’t suit everyone but it will be ideal for enough people to make it work really well.

Maybe I underestimate the number of people who follow RL but don't have Sky. But I've never known an RL fan who doesn't have it nor have I known anyone who has Sky Sports purely for the rugby league. For me its a shame that both platforms don't have their own exclusive content - that for me would have a far greater chance of success.

Re: TV games : Wed Jan 24, 2024 1:17 pm  

MadDogg wrote:

Maybe I underestimate the number of people who follow RL but don't have Sky. But I've never known an RL fan who doesn't have it nor have I known anyone who has Sky Sports purely for the rugby league. For me its a shame that both platforms don't have their own exclusive content - that for me would have a far greater chance of success.

I know a good few, especially the older generation who might be on more of a budget. My old man would never pay for Sky because he has absolutely no interest in any other sports but he’d go for this. Same with a couple of mates and their parents. There’s a huge difference between £129 a year and the cost of having Sky sports, which as part of a package might cost £1,000 or so.

It won’t be for everyone but it looks a positive step to me.

Re: TV games : Wed Jan 24, 2024 4:07 pm  

What I found, watching the NRL was, although in theory I could log in to watchNRL on the internet bit of my smart TV, in practice, it kept falling over, and was generally unsatisfactory. I went with the low-tech, if clumsy, solution of playing it on my laptop, with a HDMI cable connecting it to the TV, so the TV is just 'mirroring'. I found this much more satisfactory. I put it down to pea-sized 'brains' in a smart TV compared to a laptop.

Re: TV games : Wed Jan 24, 2024 7:14 pm  

moto748 wrote:

What I found, watching the NRL was, although in theory I could log in to watchNRL on the internet bit of my smart TV, in practice, it kept falling over, and was generally unsatisfactory. I went with the low-tech, if clumsy, solution of playing it on my laptop, with a HDMI cable connecting it to the TV, so the TV is just 'mirroring'. I found this much more satisfactory. I put it down to pea-sized 'brains' in a smart TV compared to a laptop.

I watch WatchNRL on my TV by Airplay via my phone. Never have any issues, no wires or cables needed.

Re: TV games : Wed Jan 24, 2024 7:37 pm  

Sure, Stu. But if you watch 'via your phone', surely you are mirroring?

Re: TV games : Wed Jan 24, 2024 7:47 pm  

I've always used Chromecast to send watchNRL to my TV, never had any problems