Was Spark Sports streaming fail just a blip? Or game over for our titanic telco and sport on screen - and a knockback for digital innovation? Would politicians arriving at the breakdown really usher in free-to-air rugby on TV? Depends on which of the many loud voices in the media you’ve heard this past week.
Photo: RNZ / Martin Gibson
“This is now a political issue,” said Newstalk ZB’s Tim Roxborough gravely before introducing Winston Peters on his Weekend Collective show last weekend.
Getting the New Zealand First leader on the line to talk about Spark’s streaming failure against The Springboks was a sure way to turn a technological and business issue into a political one.
Spark had to break the emergency glass and flick the switch to screen the game on TVNZ’s Duke instead last weekend - a big-boost for much-overlooked channel.
It did the same again for all three games last Sunday, though Italy vs Namibia in the afternoon was probably not a ratings winner.
NZ First has a longstanding policy of free-to-air TV coverage for sports events of national significance. For many years there was was a long laundry list of them in its manifesto, including a number of handpicked horse races.
But when asked if he would be prepared to put his hand in the public purse to pay for free-to-air TV coverage of the Rugby World Cup in future, Winson Peters dodged the question.
The same day the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Kris Faafoi - also the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs - had already contacted Radio Sport to tell them he was on Spark’s case.
He followed up with a statement:
The broadcasting minister got involved the day after. Photo: screenshot / Newshub at 6
24 hours later Winston Peters - as acting PM - revealed in the post-cabinet press conference he and Kris Faafoi had also met with Spark.
But while Winston Peters was widely reported to have “stepped in” he really sidestepped the issue. It was - in the end - nothing much to do with the government.
Last Monday on Three, The Project asked if it was time for the All Blacks on TV free-to-air again even though no-one had actually proposed this.
Only old school Aussie rocker and working class man Jimmy Barnes stood up for the idea on the show when old-school sportscaster Brenden Telfer dismissed the idea out of hand.
In Jimmy Barnes’ lucky country, sports events of national significance are on free-to-air TV by law. In the UK they have the so-called “crown jewels” rules for coverage of several top tournaments too.
Earlier that day ZB’s Mike Hosking reckoned this could now be on the cards here:
“Politically this is Winston Peters' moment. This is a government looking to potentially mess with TVNZ, Radio New Zealand and Māori Television. Free to air sport would suit the plan down to the ground,” he told his listeners.
But Winston Peters has been part of two coalition governments and so far it hasn’t been a hill he is prepared to die on - even when one of his one MPs got a bill before Parliament.
The last government to cough up public money to get the All Blacks on air for free was John Key’s National-led one in 2011 when it ensured no fewer than four broadcasters ended up showing the Rugby World Cup.
Rucked and mauled by panicky pundits
In the meantime, Spark endured a prolonged media pile-on this past week for the problems with the South Africa game.
“New Zealand rugby fans now feel like guinea pigs for future generations that will be entirely unfussed by streaming-only services,” said the Otago Daily Times editorial last Tuesday.
“Some of those guinea pigs feel like they have been plonked in a frightening cage,” the paper claimed breathlessly.
Heather du Plessis Allan was a lone voice on Newstalk ZB on Monday in defence of Spark Sport - but could it be a coincidence Spark Sport sponsors her show . . . ?
People who knew and understood the problem were harder to find in the media.
This week’s Listener has a handy explainer. Expert tech journalist Chris Keall reeled off an anatomy of a streaming meltdown in the Herald.
TUANZ spokesman Craig Young got a few minutes on Radio Sport to say the problem had probably already been sorted out.
In an opinion piece for Stuff this week, broadcaster, adman and social media expert Vaughn Davis pointed out that "almost everyone who paid Spark to see the game got to see it. And lots of people who didn't pay got to see it too.”
He also said Spark reacted quickly to let viewers know what was going on, but that cut no ice with sports writer Hamish Bidwell in an opinion piece for RNZ.co.nz
Vaughn Davis runs Auckland advertising and social media company the Goat Farm Photo: Supplied
“They and their highly-paid PR folks are merely trying to put out a fire of their own making,” he said.
“Products are only as good as the consumers' confidence in them,” he concluded.
But the lack of confidence was inflated by near-hysterical media responses that have given streaming a bad name among people who don't understand the technology.
But those calling it New Zealand’s worst ever tech fail this past week had forgotten the failure to launch of Telecom’s XT network 10 years ago.
Would the Rugby World Cup fail have been a big deal without social media grievances and the 'always-on' digital news media to amplify them?
“The reaction has been way over the top,” Vaughn Davis told Mediawatch.
"It's a good example of the squeaky social media wheel getting a hell of a lot of mainstream media oil," he said.
"The media radar has been pretty finely tuned to this story so it was almost pre-written," he said.
But it wasn't for nothing that people complained. Spark signaled it was expecting a seamless performance even after similar problems with English football, hockey and Formula 1.
As long ago as April 2018, digital expert Richard McManus identified the key issues that let Spark down in a piece for Newsroom.co.nz. He feared shortcomings of Spark's Lightbox app were a warning sign.
Spark also knew it could not control all the links in the chain from Japan to screens here.
"Sometimes in technology new things don't work perfectly. Back in the Sky days, we had rain fade where your screen would turn into Lego bricks until the clouds passed. If you buy a ticket to the match your car might break down on the way," he said.
"If we're holding people to a standard of 'make it perfect or don't do it' then we will end up not doing it at all," he said.
Could the backlash set back innovation in broadcasting sport?
“I really hope it doesn't," he said.
“The amount we're prepared to pay for data – via fibre or wireless – is heading downhill. Offering paid content like sport is one way to fund a network all of us can rely on in the future,” said Vaughn Davis.
