
There is not much at stake when England’s footballers play Ukraine next week, but for Digital Britain, it is a crunch match. Under the Italian Capello England are already qualified for the World Cup in South Africa, but is our broadband infrastructure world class?
The collapse of satellite TV sports company Setanta means that this will be the first England international only available to view online (and in some selected cinemas).
This will test how good our broadband pipes are at delivering digital content (the ‘poetry’ in Stephen Carter’s odd phrase). It has also revived the debate about public access to major national sports events. Here are the pitfalls awaiting:
1. Price. People don’t like paying online, although iTunes is thriving and I know people who pay for unofficial sports streams. So is the charge of at least £4.99 going to put people off? An informal BBC Poll suggests 97% of people would NOT. Read here how many fans are put off or will find ways around it.
2. Power. A lot of people may well find that their broadband is not powerful, or consistent enough to stream the entire match smoothly and clearly.
3. Practialities. I know the fact that I could never programme our DVD player shows that I am a techno-klutz, but I am not alone. How easy will it be for people to log in, pay and stream?
4. Culture. In pubs or with friends in the sitting room is still the most enjoyable way to watch football – do you really want to spend 90 minutes in front of your PC – or are you all going to gather around the laptop? It is arguable that it could heighten the experience as we connect to other people online watching the game.
5. Audience. Sports that have gone to satellite tend to get smaller audiences. They pay a premium price so the carrier doesn’t mind. But is it a good idea to keep your product niche? The producers of this event don’t want more than one million subscribers because it will crash their servers.
Overall, I think it will work but I don’t think it will herald an immediate shift from TV to Internet. This game is an oddity. But it will be closely watched, not just for the audience figures but what it tells us about the public appetite and aptitude for more online only sport.
As for the public service debate? Yes, it would be nice if all England games were on terrestial TV for free. But I am not sure that a relatively meaningless game like this can really claim that kind of public service status.
The only people with the kit and the knowledge to make this viable, know how to get it for free. It won’t work as a PPV option now.
The BBC hate sport as sport – they like it if it’s a world event (Olympics or FIFA World Cup – not ICC World Cup) or it’s not really sport (Ascot, Wimbledon, F1). The BBC had to be shamed into sending a proper TMS team to SA this winter – there are other examples too. Highlights, if there are any at all, are on terribly late at night, but at least you can see sports stars on prime time through Strictly or Hole in the Wall etc.
For a sports fan, the licence fee is a waste of money – I only watch Sky.
Interesting to watch from Scotland this debate going on in England. The Scots have long suffered a second rate service from the ‘British’ Broadcasting Corporation along with the rest of the English dominated ‘British’ media.
Within Scotland, this recently was brought into sharper relief with some Scottish international matches at a crucial stage (i.e. when we were bound to heroically close) only available on on a single pay-to-view channel. To add insult to injury, English matches were readily available on ‘British’ terrestial channels. The attempts within Scotland to raise this as a public service matter got absolutely nowhere.
As for Gary’s point “For a sports fan, the licence fee is a waste of money”… well as not-really-a-sports-fan who pays the fee, I find myself very regularly finding that, for example, the bulk of Sundays on both (repeat both) BBC1 and BBC 2 are now a no-viewing area for me becuase they are dominated by hour upon hour of sports coverage.
Edward – I have some sympathy with that view, but I think that’s the Catch 22. many sports fans barely bother with BBC TV sports as it’s Formula 1 or highlights of stuff already shown live on Sky. Or it’s big setpiece stuff like Wimbledon (but not the French, the US or the Australian Slams). Next Sunday, BBC TV has snooker and rugby league on BBC 2 – minority sports just filling the schedule. Audiences must be very niche indeed.