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 The guys at the Abu Dhabi Media Company are a smart bunch of people, but they may just have tangled with the wrong crew: English football supporters.
ADMC’s chief exec, Edward Borgerding, announced yesterday on the sides of the MENA Cristals in Lebanon, that the media group would be broadcasting its recently-acquired English Premier League games... on the internet.
Oh, hell.
The report in ADMC-owned The National, outlining the broadcaster’s plans, does make it clear that there will be several delivery mechanisms for EPL games, with online streaming being the primary one, followed by Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) delivery, and, for those regions without good broadband penetration, a pay-TV satellite service.
Borgerding makes clear why his company didn’t want to look at traditional pay-TV models as the primary channel for its EPL rights, which kick in next season.
“We bought the English Premier League, and you can look at this, and you can buy boxes and you can buy cards, and you can ship it out to something that the pirates in six months will hack, but the costs just sink the business. We’ve seen it sink the pay-TV industry here since it started,” he said, quoted in The National.
So, seeing as so many people have broadband here nowadays (er...), why not use that?
“Broadband is growing. Etisalat and du are taking broadband to people’s homes. Why don’t you just distribute football games online at zero cost? Well, that’s what we intend to do,” added Borgerding.
Well, there’s all sorts of reasons why not, Ed.
This is a tricky area: on the one hand, it’s great to see a regional firm try out an innovative new delivery system for its premium content. On the other, this particular delivery system, for this particular content, has not been wildly successful..
Late last year, a Fifa World Cup qualifier between England and Ukraine was, for UK-based fans, broadcast exclusively online, for a fee ranging from £4.99 (Dhs30) to £11.99 (Dhs70), or even for free if one placed a bet with a particular online book-maker.
Here’s some of the reactions to the move from around the internet (unedited, for amusement value):
“Personally, I think it’s b£ll^cks. I am an England supporter. I pay my TV licence, taxes etc. Why do I need to pay to support my country. Personally, I will be looking for a free way to watch this and not pay a penny.” – James
“3lions [another, happier, user] u are not watching for free cos u had to pay for a 10 pound bet first so unless u win ur bet u have payed more than the 4.99 it already is to watch it what an idiot.and also it’s people like u that gives these idiots who think up these ideas to put this game online a big smile on there face for fuxxing everyone over and make them think this is a good idea so they will do this again and again idiot” – Pxssed off England fan
“It is an absolute disgrace that an England match is not being shown on TV! I urge everyone to boycott this scandal. I hope that nobody at all pays even 1p to watch this match online as this is the most likely way to get the message across - THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE AND MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN EVER AGAIN!” – remypurr (demonstrating the well-known British sense of restraint and proportional response. See also: the British empire)
In the end, the whole thing proved to be something of a disappointment, or so our sources tell us: the video stream, while stable, was not great quality (remember, football has been at the forefront of getting high-def out there), and fans sat at their computers or laptops missed the atmosphere of the sofa, or the pub.
Also the game was crap and we lost.
Now, it looks like things may be rather different with ADMC’s Premier League offerings.
For a start (and we’re trying to clarify all of this with ADMC, so this could potentially be wide of the mark), the report in The National suggests a) online won’t be the only way to watch, and b) games online will be free (see Borgerding’s quote above).
Now b) would certainly take the edge off having to watch a game on one’s computer or laptop, if true – and a) may offer hope to normal folks without the means or inclination to use the internet stream. There’s also the suggestion that “all offerings will be able to viewed on television screens if desired” – but that could mean almost anything.
On the other hand, the report also suggests that the only thing between the online stream and paying out for a satellite subscription is IPTV – which means only Du and Etisalat E-Vision customers in the UAE.
The risk, of course, is not just pissing off punters, but – worse – not making the most of the massive advertising potential of the EPL – by pissing off punters, who then don’t watch.
ADMC will probably be hoping that regional fans of English football are committed enough to use the offerings available – but this path is certainly not without risk.
Stay tuned for more details on what exactly ADMC will be doing.
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