It’s here!
Pay Per View on the Internet has arrived but is it here to stay?
The upcoming football international between the Ukraine and England on Saturday is to be shown as a pay per view service on the Internet and not on TV – satellite or terrestrial.
The rights were sold to Setanta for the game but since the company collapsed the digital sport company Perform thought it best to stream the game online. The crux comes when you look at the price – £4.99 if viewers sign-up before midnight on Wednesday rising to £9.99 and the £11.99 the closer the games gets.
Cost will be a major factor as newspapers have found out when offering services online. The way TV differs from newspapers is that the content on newspaper website can be found elsewhere but as in this case the content can’t. Does that mean the take up will be large? I honestly don’t know. Perhaps for a World Cup Final but possible not for a qualifier.
There are various arguments for and against in this case but surely Internet Connection speeds in the UK are putting people at a disadvantage. You could argue that subscribing to Setanta did the same thing but at least people had a choice. In some areas it will be practically impossible to get good coverage due to these short-falls.
Video seems to be everywhere on the web but can they find away to capture the imagination of the Internet population? We will wait and see………….
Tags: Broadband access, media, newspapers, speeds, streaming
Simon Willans
It’s hardly a special match. If it was the final, then I might have bought it. But even then, I’d rather go to the pub or sports bar and watch it.