Sky Racing

Television Subscription and International
8
1 Like
9

This deal makes a lot more sense then the NFL RedZone one - NBA the largest sports market for TAB (and the broader betting industry), coverage is regular and the viewing time is decent for Australia.

Call me cynical, but this move to get these rights deals strikes me as a play to improve in-venue betting revenue and maybe attract back punters who have moved to other services.

It wil be interesting to see what else Tabcorp go after

3 Likes
10

Some NBA games will clash with NFL RedZone it appears, if I am reading the schedule correctly. Will the TAB pub and club outlets have multiple screens showing the NBA, NFL and Sky Racing, in addition to the usual Fox Sports and maybe a music video channel, in house promos etc, on Monday mornings? The channels are mostly visual wallpaper except for Australian live sport, mostly.

11

I would hope they do. Or is this a deal only for existing venues taking the Sky Sports/Optus Sports channels for EPL?

12

Having a couple of drinks at Star Casino and I saw a couple of TVs with Sky Racing 1 & 2 both with HD watermark logos… Didn’t know they were in HD now…

1 Like
13

I first noticed it mid 2018 on Sky Racing 1. At the time Sky Racing 2 was still SD but it has since been upgraded too. AFAIK, Foxtel viewers still only get both 1 and 2 in SD, with Thoroughbred Central in HD. Venues and online streams are HD.

4 Likes
14

Thanks, didn’t realise that venues were getting an alternate feed. I hadn’t noticed it on FOXTEL the Q.

15

Venues have always received channels from Sky’s own satellite transponder rather than using the channels on Foxtel’s platform. This is probably because originally Sky Racing on Foxtel was different to Sky Channel for venues. I think they’re all the same now but these new sports deals might prove me wrong.

2 Likes
16

Surely at some point in the future, Foxtel viewers will be able to watch Sky Racing 1 & 2 in HD? It seems a bit poor that as we approach 2020, there are still sports channels on the platform only available to watch in SD when thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing is content that would probably benefit from a decent quality HD picture!

3 Likes
17

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an interesting showdown between Tabcorp and Foxtel - Tabcorp are keen in get into other sports, but will possibly need delivery partners

4 Likes
18

Might push them to get on Kayo once and for all!

19

I imagine there’d be a lot of country racing venues that could only supply an SD feed anyway, so probably wouldn’t have a whole lot of value if there were significant levels of upscaled content.

1 Like
20

I’ve never watched Sky over Foxtel, but I’ve seen some particularly poor feeds of it in pubs where it is clearly being fed over an analogue link to a TV and it is very hard to read all the text, so HD would help a lot.

If Sky have ambitions of branching out, then I wonder why it’s not available through Fetch?

3 Likes
21

Most (if not all) of the TAB racing venues were connected to Telstra’s DVN over the last few years

3 Likes
22

My Foxtel is showing the HD Sky Racing Watermark.

2 Likes
23

So have they finally added the HD versions of Sky Racing 1/2 to Foxtel or is it just a playout mistake?

1 Like
24

Could be a playout mistake and they just put an ad in a different position than usual.

2 Likes
25

It must have been a mistake. Just did a fresh satellite scan and the only HD versions up there are on the Sky-owned transponder.

Also noticed Sky Sports 3 has been recently added to the same transponder. I’m still yet to see what’s on these channels. Are they just straight dirty Optus Sports feeds or are they rebadged?

2 Likes
26

Sky Racing 2 on Foxtel to be included in basic pack from March 26

1 Like
27

I often wondered how many people actually pay the extra $5 a month for Sky Racing 2. Because it can’t have been that many if it’s going to be part of the basic package from the end of the month!

2 Likes