Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Telecom and TV

Kyle Matthews

Fri, 07 Mar 2014 12:59:27 +1300

Unfortunately, I'm also a sports fan, which means I won't be able to dump Sky any time soon ...

I'm wondering if sky have protections on their isky to prevent multiple households logging in at once on one account. Half a dozen people could contribute to a sky subscription and…

Jimmy Southgate

Thu, 06 Mar 2014 06:54:56 +1300

Yes. I want to hear more about using Apple TV – which is a vastly superior device to anything inside a smart TV.

The main failing of the AppleTV is the continuing lack of an app store. I have no idea why they can't open it up at least slightly…

Sacha

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 22:18:12 +1300

on really straightforward lounge-hardware

have they said they're using a box?

Dan Slevin

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 17:53:51 +1300

was it really not possible to come up with a name that didn’t trample on the brands of two existing and closely related New Zealand companies who already make television?

Or a name that hadn't been used for years by a successful local short film festival...

http://www.showmeshorts.co.nz

Gareth Ward

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 15:31:31 +1300

Which means it's set on a contest with Sky that it basically can't win.
I'm not completely sure that's true. Certainly the US experience suggests a SVOD player can "win" against cable TV interests (although Netflix's recent outsize growth is at least partly down to their $2b annual content-production budget)…

Russell Brown

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 15:01:07 +1300

Ah. I see Telecom has said (it's paywalled on NBR) that it plans to produce no local content as part of ShowmeTV. Which means it's set on a contest with Sky that it basically can't win. Brilliant.

Steve Barnes

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:05:31 +1300

As I said to te Herald a few weeks back "Its bad enough that they changed their logo to something resembling a cat's rear end and now, to compound that, changed their name to Kraps spelt backwards. Do people actually get paid to be this stupid?."

Anyhoo, a few tips…

Gareth Ward

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 11:25:45 +1300

Yes. I want to hear more about using Apple TV

Well my AppleTV is set to use a US DNS service (trivial instructions/$) and then set to the US iTunes Store, giving me acces to the Netflix app (and/or Hulu Plus if that seems preferable). I only watch Netflix via…

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:36:09 +1300

First one to make it easy gets my money.

Sometimes you just need to state the bleeding obvious, because "plug in and play" is a siren call to me. :)

Martin Lindberg

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:20:43 +1300

And how do I do this?

Orcon have detailed instructions on their site.

This is possibly what either Telecom or the NZHerald reporter referred to as: Netflix isn’t legitimately available in New Zealand, when ShowmeTV was announced last week (More choice for viewers as Telecom takes on Sky).

Russell Brown

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:19:05 +1300

Yes. I want to hear more about using Apple TV — which is a vastly superior device to anything inside a smart TV.

Unfortunately, I'm also a sports fan, which means I won't be able to dump Sky any time soon ...

Paul Rowe

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 09:05:14 +1300

I'm going to go so far as to say if it isn't available as an icon on my Apple TV then it doesn't exist. After ditching Sky and getting US iTunes and Netflix, AppleTV is the only remote we use.

And how do I do this? Do I need to…

Jimmy Southgate

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 06:33:31 +1300

I'm going to go so far as to say if it isn't available as an icon on my Apple TV then it doesn't exist. After ditching Sky and getting US iTunes and Netflix, AppleTV is the only remote we use

Only if you turned your AppleTV to the US iTunes…

m76k

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 21:09:46 +1300

Telecom wanting to get into content is smart. But with Spark now competing with other 'channels', will they start to shape and throttle traffic?

We need to get Net Neutrality on the agenda, and make it a redline issue...

Myles Thomas

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 21:04:10 +1300

"The great irony of the current broadcast TV environment is that the government has contrived a state where there’s not enough broadcast spectrum to allow it to meet its own policy commitments. Community television either can’t afford a full presence – which means paying Kordia for both terrestrial and satellite…

BenWilson

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 17:31:29 +1300

Suspect you might be talking about Chorus.

Probably. That's Telecom by another name too, right?

llew40

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 17:12:24 +1300

Suspect you might be talking about Chorus. Different company. They are largely responsible for rolling out fibre (along with some smaller rollouts including Northpower and Enable), and they are the only monopoly aspect of the NZ telecommunications sector now.

Richard Aston

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 17:01:51 +1300

Over the weekend someone pointed to the reverse spelling of the new name..
oh dear...

Rich of Observationz

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 16:39:40 +1300

most people still don't have a good way of watching web video on their televisions

That's an artefact of a couple of things:
– most people don't have a computer hooked up to their TV and need to mess with cabling rather than just pick up a remote.
– navigation…

Ross Mason

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 16:20:02 +1300

Over the weekend someone pointed to the reverse spelling of the new name......

bob daktari

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:57:35 +1300

Anyone know how much content 20 million gets? I suspect not a lot of what one would call quality – which is what will drive subscribers outside of the sporting options avail.

Like most, I figure, I'd just like to get netfix or... an established and content heavy service rather…

barnaclebarnes

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:45:19 +1300

I'm going to go so far as to say if it isn't available as an icon on my Apple TV then it doesn't exist. After ditching Sky and getting US iTunes and Netflix, AppleTV is the only remote we use. Free to Air TV goes on maybe once every month…

BenWilson

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:44:22 +1300

They can change their name all they like, but I still know who they are. I expect they'll be as proactive with 'net TV as they were with the fiber required to deliver it.

I can't think of a way to make their big monopoly model work in this space.…

Russell Brown

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:28:34 +1300

Sorry are you saying a Telecom venture should do that? They’d never be able to monetise that and/or gain the sort of scale they operate at. I think it’s (very) valid as a differentiator on your broader television play, but not as a standalone play. Not for them anyway.

Oh,…

Chukkkker

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:18:41 +1300

Anyone willing to stab in the dark how much Showmetv could cost per month?
Or will it be an annual subscription? Or pay as you go / VOD?

Gareth Ward

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:18:24 +1300

there's low-hanging fruit out there. Local webseries are being made, they're even being funded by NZ On Air. But most people still don't have a good way of watching web video on their televisions. Why not aggregate the best stuff, run live feeds from events and shows, do all the…

Glen Wright

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 14:34:07 +1300

Live TV ratings are not helped by networks running directly competing shows at the same time. Makes time shifting somewhat inevitable and self-fulfilling.

davesparks

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 14:30:25 +1300

First one to make it easy gets my money. I've tried pretty much all the options at one time or another and the honest truth is that pretty much any faffing around required means the abandonment of said options each in turn.

Pretty often we can't even be bothered finding…

BLeeuw

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 14:16:15 +1300

If you're interested, local webseries can be viewed at webserieschannel.co.nz – a local initiative from the people behind Viewfinder magazine. It's not IPTV, but it's a start :)

Public Address

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 14:16:15 +1300

Discussion from blog post.