Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: All right, then – take me to Rio

simon g

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 11:13:54 +1200

I was going to give Prime a solid silver medal for their coverage: from midnight to 6 a.m. it's only slightly delayed (depending on the event) and has both the NZ interest and a good range of other events. No complaints at all really, for a free network.

However, I've…

Russell Brown

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 10:57:34 +1200

Today is a memorable day. For today, three quarters of the way through the Rio Olympics, is the first day that Sky NZ's Olympic coverage website has worked.

All channels, including pop-ups, are streaming live. The quality is fairly Sky Go-ish, but it's there.

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 07:33:48 +1200

Ignore this – well done Lisa Carrington.
I got confused by the interactive graphic in this story
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/83248025/rio-olympics-2016-lisa-carrington-powers-to-new-zealands-third-gold-medal
I thought they'd cloned her for the race – but it seems to be a league table of past victories...

simon g

Sat, 13 Aug 2016 11:04:54 +1200

A quick note: Valerie Adams will be live on PRIME in her final, around 1 pm.

According to their Facebook page, anyway. Their schedules so far have been ... flexible.

Tom Semmens

Fri, 12 Aug 2016 09:52:29 +1200

Thank you for this hot tip

The two NZ surprise silvers, the shooting and canoeing, have both provided the two best moments of the games coverage for me, and both were simple honesty that cut like a tasty, sharp vinegar through the usual saccharine overloaded coverage.

First was the delightful…

oga

Thu, 11 Aug 2016 05:48:14 +1200

Try the BBC for more extensive coverage

Thank you for this hot tip. I was wondering how to stream the Olympics on my second screen and found that your comments about the BBC were indeed not too good to be true. I switched my VPN to the UK and watched…

simon g

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 23:25:20 +1200

The wider anti-siphoning debate is already lost in NZ, I fear. There's no way we can return to one-channel coverage (if we had a time machine to watch the Olympics of the 1980's we'd be amused/angry at our passive role, all viewing decisions left in the editors' mighty hands) so…

nzlemming

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 19:10:55 +1200

Horse Parking. Great description. Still cackling over it.

dave stewart

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 10:53:14 +1200

Couldn't agree more.
Try the BBC for more extensive coverage and more balanced commentary WITHOUT ANY ADS!!!
Oh yeah and they cover all events, not just rowing heats and dancing with horses.
On the other hand if you think NZ coverage is bad, try Australian coverage – I could only…

Rob Stowell

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 10:13:10 +1200

Nah, there’s quite a lot on through the day.
Which is fine if you have all day to watch. Evenings don't offer much. So this looks like an Olympics where as a family we see absolutely nothing. Hey ho. Might tune in Saturday.

Tom Semmens

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 08:34:20 +1200

I don’t mind the Olympics, some sports I quite enjoy. Then our sports coverage kicks in. Then I hate them and count down the days until this fiesta of puerile patriotic nonsense is over.

Has NZ sports coverage always been this cringingly obsequious and insecure? Or has only occurred since…

Russell Brown

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 07:29:49 +1200

Horse Parking. Great description. Still cackling over it.

I confess to stealing it from Eddie Izzard.

oga

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 06:50:44 +1200

In Mexico, the Olympics coverage has several channels on the main pay TV provider (there is no real ‘free-to-air’ in Mexico unless you live in an area with excellent reception). To get a quality signal, one has to subscribe to pay TV at a princely sum of about NZD$20 per…

Ross Mason

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 23:52:37 +1200

Horse Parking. Great description. Still cackling over it.
Shooting was good eh?
Even had a mid aged woman ask me to take her to try out shooting today too!!!

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 17:55:20 +1200

NZ pay TV offers less Olympics coverage than is available on free TV in the other English speaking countries we like to compare ourselves to (UK, Australia, US, Canada).

Hmmm. Not sure about that. In Australia, TV coverage will be on three channels. Sky is offering nine channels + Prime.…

artig

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 17:48:24 +1200

Isn't Linda Villumsen openly gay as well? She also competed at the London Olympic games.

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 17:06:31 +1200

Given how conservative NZ sport is about sexuality, it’s just lovely that Robbie and Katie are proudly representing their country, hopefully making the path a little smoother for other LGBT athletes.

Tautoko that.

Robyn Gallagher

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 16:47:00 +1200

I would have mocked the uniforms of the teams from Norway and Sweden, but as a New Zealander I’m not in a position to mock anyone’s kit.)

I will not hear a bad word spoken about the Swedish uniform. Designed by H&M, it was bold and athletic and oh-so-Swedish.

Sure, New…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 15:05:57 +1200

As to that Aussie swimming sledger – no surprises there I guess – but I thought that kind of behaviour was up there with doping as a something contrary to the Olympic sporting ethos...
Maybe they'll offer 'Bullying' as a demonstration sport at the next Olympics – though those seem…

Bart Janssen

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 14:10:51 +1200

George Bennet did well to finish the road race without any bone fractures.

“That was the most brutal day I’ve been through.” says a guy who completed the 3,500km Tour de France just two weeks ago.

Ayup, that course was just plain nasty – cobblestones!!! and the foot deep gutters…

Bart Janssen

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 14:05:33 +1200

When the last defender fouls an attacker who would otherwise have a clear shot at goal, they referee

pfft see now that's what a football fan would say but, we know it's just the ref awarding points for artistic impression.

Tom Semmens

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 14:04:42 +1200

Which book did Hemingway write in Hawke’s Bay?

Death on a Frozen Taupo Road Afternoon.

II see that it is 38 and sunny in Seville today.

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:50:14 +1200

I loved what I saw of the opening ceremony – a real ingenious hands on approach (though gawd knows what those huge on floor screens cost) – a real Creative Junk solution to a low budget but high spectacle – this is before the athletes arrive.
Disappointed that the Herald…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:40:09 +1200

in Hawkes Bay, where I am currently on holiday,
Which book did Hemingway write in Hawke's Bay?
or should I say welcome back...
:- )

dave stewart

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:33:03 +1200

As taxpayers we've paid a good chunk of funding to support the Olympic athletes, plus our patronage of businesses which support those athletes with additional sponsorship funding, and we own a couple of TV stations with employees actually in Rio to cover the Olympics. So I am feeling a bit…

Tom Semmens

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:13:25 +1200

I thought Mack Horton did quite the number on his opponent. I guess he gets to repent at liesure. As the reigning Olympic champion. I play MMO games and get called all sorts of horrid things by Chinese people all the time. Now I can ask them in return if…

Zach Bagnall

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:10:11 +1200

George Bennet did well to finish the road race without any bone fractures.

"That was the most brutal day I've been through." says a guy who completed the 3,500km Tour de France just two weeks ago.

Hugh Wilson

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 12:54:33 +1200

Bit of a goose move to bad mouth your opposition, but somewhat predictably that’s the Aussie way (i.e. look at the cricket team) and as such I’ve no sympathy for the young man. Organising committees have been fretting athletes getting themselves into trouble on social media for months, but as…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 12:12:20 +1200

Just when we thought communal toilets in Sochi 2014 set records, along comes #RioProblems.

Richard Stemson

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 11:16:40 +1200

If there is a mechanism whereby the red can be rescinded, it may be on this point. They may be reluctant to overrule on whether it was a foul or not, but the attacker's trajectory was not towards goal. To get a red card, the defensive player must prevent a…

Rich of Observationz

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 11:11:16 +1200

It's not really anomalous that they hold the Olympics in a corrupt, semi-dictatorship, it's a requirement. Big Sport is pretty much incompatible with a proper liberal democracy – look at the London Olympics with its Zil lanes, or closer to home the Major Events Act.

Mind you, I'm looking forward…

Tom Ackroyd

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 11:08:47 +1200

Worth noting Prime is still only standard def on Freeview.

Nick Russell

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 11:01:33 +1200

Which is really the only viable explanation for the referee whistling not only a foul, but a red card. That was bonkers.

When the last defender fouls an attacker who would otherwise have a clear shot at goal, they referee quite often gives a straight red card. The analogy with…

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:49:05 +1200

I dunno. I kind of agree that if an athlete has been found guilty of doping, then they shouldn’t be at the Olympics.

Fair point. And now the Aussie is getting death threats from Chinese fans.

Chopper

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:27:13 +1200

Further in keeping with tradition, a young Australian sportsman has been a bit of a dick

I dunno. I kind of agree that if an athlete has been found guilty of doping, then they shouldn't be at the Olympics.

I hate doping. I can't enjoy a performance like Katinka Hosszu's…

Rob Stowell

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:24:32 +1200

Yeah, I was surprised to find nothing on Prime. Then again, I have no idea what time Sunday night here is in Rio.

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:18:50 +1200

Meanwhile, Sky's Olympic coverage website – launched two days late – is a real shambles.

It proved literally impossible to access the women's Sevens live coverage via Sky's "live coverage" page. I was only able to get it by going back out and through Sky Go. But that only worked…

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:13:12 +1200

I’ve always viewed diving as part of football so a really good acting performance gets rewarded as much as the athleticism. Much like rhythmic gymnastics.

Which is really the only viable explanation for the referee whistling not only a foul, but a red card. That was bonkers.

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:12:19 +1200

But only on Sky, right?

No, on Prime too, which Sky has finally upgraded to HD.

Russell Brown

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:11:31 +1200

Wandered through the channels looking for Rio for a while before twigging: ah, Sky. Oh well. No Olympics for most of NZ.

Most of Prime's schedule for the two weeks is Olympic coverage, so there's plenty to watch free-to-air.

Rob Stowell

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:01:40 +1200

Wandered through the channels looking for Rio for a while before twigging: ah, Sky. Oh well. No Olympics for most of NZ.

Bart Janssen

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 09:58:20 +1200

I kind of like this early phase of the Olympics, sports you don't normally see, a lot less hype and everyone seems to be having fun – exhausting, soul shattering fun but still fun.

Even the (lack of) crowds* that is always the case seem to make it more about…

Bart Janssen

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 09:53:05 +1200

Football seems to take a different view of these things.

I've always viewed diving as part of football so a really good acting performance gets rewarded as much as the athleticism. Much like rhythmic gymnastics.

Shaun Lott

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 09:52:18 +1200

nine channels of pin-sharp colour
But only on Sky, right?

Rosemary McDonald

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 09:50:59 +1200

So yeah, take me to Rio...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg97DXOKTu4

Public Address

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 09:50:59 +1200

Discussion from blog post.