Lots to pick up on today but a Bloomberg article on “Soccer Pirates” grabbed my attention. The US business news broadcaster focussed on a recent fundamental technical shift which has seen high quality and reliable feeds of Sky and BT broadcast football games illegal appearing on TV sets across the globe.
The days of illegal content consumers scavenging around their laptop for a feed in the minutes leading up to kick off are on the way out. Now you can subscribe to a feed of your chosen content in Eastern Europe or China and it will be streamed to a device attached to your TV, where it will appear pretty much as it does direct from Sky.
This is important for several reasons. Subscription football is expensive. Thousands of Scottish football fans pay a significant portion of their monthly disposable income to Sky and BT to follow their team on television. They also get English and Spanish football as part of these subscriptions, but there is a dysfunctional market for football content.
While Sky earn 8% of their UK subscription income from Scotland, they send only 1% of their football outlays north of the border. English Premier League football is the key to entry into the UK subscription TV market, own this content, and you have market control. Cost per eyeball paid for Scottish football is a tiny fraction what is paid for English football (or English rugby league, for that matter), which has fostered a feeling among Scottish subscribers that they are being exploited by an oligopolist.
For some time now the comments section of CQN has seen discussions on how to organise a boycott of Sky, with many making the unilateral declaration “Just cancelled Sky Sports”, but there is a fundamental truth: if we have the money, we are going to watch Celtic.
Scrambling around for an illegal feed minutes before kick-off, fighting pop-ups or coping with lags is not how I want to watch my football, however, as the Bloomberg article makes plain, these issues are irrelevant if, like 2.4 million others, you subscribe to an Eastern European or Chinese feed. To force an oligopolist to change, you either need regulators to step in (they have abandoned us to a fragment of the UK market), or you need to find a way to take your business elsewhere.
One of the main advantages of being paid a pittance is you can take bold steps; Scottish football has nothing to lose by burning bridges with those who collect revenues here and pour the money into the coffers of clubs elsewhere.
The more fundamental question, even than losing Scottish subscribers, to Sky and BT, is the risk this technology poses to the value of their English Premier League broadcast rights. Viewers in England (and across the globe) also pay a substantial levy to watch English football. If the pick-up rate of Eastern European subscriber numbers continues, and assurances given to Bloomberg that prosecutions for use are unlikely, Sky and BT will see collapsing revenues – and maybe then we’ll see the English football bubble burst. Indeed, if Scottish viewers prove the concept and move en-mass, English viewers will not be far behind.
This is an important subject, we’ll talk more about it. I’m not going to advocate breaking even an unenforceable law, although others will, but there is no point playing TV money-victim anymore. This technology will eventually remove the enormous discrepancies in our game, so I’m off to buy one of the boxes, just to take a look, of course.
4-in-1-row DVD, £10.99, on CQN Bookstore, still available for Father’s Day (Sunday)!
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Sandman
Bravo the Magnificent 7 Henrik Larsson!
DD,
I hope we can fit them all in. I think we have a venue for the Saturday night.
Thanks for all your support,
Clogher.
Delaneys Dunky
01:21 on 18 June, 2015
Sandman
Bravo the Magnificent 7 Henrik Larsson!
======================
Aye, there’s a good t-shirt in there for one of those clever RhebelRhebel bhoys to design.
Clogher
Ireland will fit us in nae probs. :)
DD,
That is great to read. I am away to listen to Irish music for a bit.
Clogher
GNGB
.
Brazil Struggling in the Copa..
0-1 Columbia
001
.
FT
Brazil 0-1 Columbia..
001
Hooper imo would be sensational in this team
Hooper was clinical. Different type of forward to Thomas Muller, but in terms of out-and-out finishing, they both have similar qualities.
Deadly.
It would be a step backwards though if we did resign Hooper, he isn’t capable of playing upfront alone.
As someone else already pointed out earlier – you’d be better off bringing big Samaras back, none better than him playing that one upfront role.
HH.
St stivs
4min 50 sec in to that clip Jaba says “they had to agree, as a NEW club, to get a licence, pay debt to football clubs.
I know Jabba talks p*** but this time I agree with him
HH
Muller technique:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju3AMycJinE
HH.
Hooper sublime:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N-O-EPmMQUE
HH.
However … If we have to pay anymore than £2m for Hooper then it simply won’t happen.
They will…. Eventually unearth a budget striker who will be a star ….
But I reckon we’ll get a big money loanee
Great post about Maureen o hara earlier
That’s the gingers for you
Also I am cynical with regards to this theory that Ronnie won’t entertain strikers that won’t chase back, said to be lazy or don’t work hard enough to regain possession.
I mean if Ronnie was offered the chance to sign Muller or Lewandowski in the morning – would he say thanks but no thanks? They don’t work hard enough or chase back?
Wee Messi is probably one of the worst for not trying to regain possession of the football when the opposition defence gain control – but nobody can say that Messi is lazy – Messi could be justified for saying that isn’t his job to do.
This issue isn’t black and white – there has to be a balance of some kind. Certainly the manager can sign a striker, then attempt to get the player to adapt to the and play to Ronnie’s own system.
Football is more complicated than that.
HH.
Good morning friends from a dry, breezy but still far-from-June-like East Kilbride.
Great wee 5-minute cornflake watch thanks to this wonderful post from last page
——————————————————–
Saint Stivs at 00:16 on 18 June, 2015
i rambled about this game a few times recently when the bold skinny viking , harrald. stopped the ten.
that game versus kilmarnock
nit one, pearl one, miss four, score four.
but seriously,
he could have scored eight, it wasnt poor finishing, it was woodwork and defending.
valhalla awaits
celtic 4 kilmarnock 0, 1998.
better than hooper.
ps, look how bloody good henrik is in midfield positions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD2xq19Osss
Morning Timdom
‘WarChest Gone for a Burton’
How long till we read these words
HH JamesGang
“Taps aff” – alert over “smelly water” in areas of North Lanarkshire http://t.co/q5jGRAJUhH http://t.co/K5KcFfU3sc
FYI
HH
Morning all.
Lashing down here. Looks set for the rest of the week. Flaming June is turning out as bad as May.
I hope Pope Francis’ encyclical to be published today will make us think of Global Warming and what each of us has to do to improve things for those who are to come after us.
Heading to Liverpool then leafy Cheshire, normally a pleasant mid summer catch up with some old mates in a nice beer garden. Looks like we will be huddling around the open fire inside…..something no` right with the weather.
Sounds like some US nutter has been celebrating his right to bear arms by shooting down 9 people in a church in S. Carolina.
May their souls rest in peace.
From the currant bun so probably made up nonesense. But would be a great signing if true..
RONNY DEILA wants £2 million Belgium striker Jelle Vossen to lead Celtic’s assault on the Champions League.
The highly-rated hitman, who has 12 caps, made a major impact on loan to Middlesbrough from Genk last season.
Aitor Karanka wants to take the 26-year-old back to the Riverside Stadium on a permanent deal.
And new Sheffield Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal is also keen to land Vossen.
But SunSport can reveal Celts have soared ahead of the SkyBet Championship clubs and are in pole position to land the star.
Vossen is desperate to showcase his talents in the Champions League in order to secure a place in Belgium’s Euro 2016 squad at the end of next season.
He has played for his country at every level from Under-15 upwards and he has already managed to score two goals at senior level.
He has also bagged more than 100 goals for Genk and impressed during his season-long loan on Teesside last term.
Hoops boss Deila has landed Belgian defender Dedryck Boyata on a four-year deal from Manchester City already.
He is eager to sign Dutch left-back Mitchell Dijks as he builds for Europe — with the first qualifying round draw due to take place in Nyon on Monday.
And Vossen, who was first on the Hoops’ radar in the summer of 2013, has been identified to bolster Celts’ frontline.
John Guidetti has left the club after his loan spell ended, while Teemu Pukki and Amido Balde have no future at Parkhead.
Doubts remain over Anthony Stokes’ future, while Stefan Scepovic has yet to convince after last summer’s £2m move from Sporting Gijon.
It leaves the Hoops with little cover for last season’s leading goalscorer Leigh Griffiths as they embark on a Euro campaign which starts on July 14/15.
Meanwhile, bookies reckon former Celts favourite Gary Hooper could be set to team up with his old Hoops mentor Neil Lennon.
Striker Hooper left Parkhead to join the Canaries in a £5m deal two years ago.
But bookies are now convinced that his future lies elsewhere.
Bolton — bossed by Hooper’s ex-Celts boss Lennon — are 3/1 joint favourites with Huddersfield to sign him for next term.
Celtic are listed at 6/1 to snap up the hitman — who scored 82 goals in 138 games over three years — for a second time.
Brighton, Cardiff City, Middlesborough and Wolves are all available at 12/1.
Gary67
I hope we sign him. For no other reason than it would enable us to moan at some point about ‘that gink fae Genk’
;-)
HH Jamesgang
jamesgang
08:36 on 18 June, 2015
And we always need some Jelle to go with our ice cream as the car crash continues
bournesouperecipe
You seen this!!!!
@HOOP588: Just posted a photo https://t.co/HBRynbsR8v
HH
Sandman;01:17
I am sure Eli Wallach was the baddie in the Magnificent Seven,the one missing from your list is Horst Bucholz if memory serves me well.
HH
Brasil 0 – Columbia 1.
Goal scored by Murillo..A recent Inter purchase .10 million euros.Inter are skint, deeply in debt and are reportedly operating in breach of UEFA FFP rules – but hey !-spend 10 million on a player – no problem – go ahead..
One more from the Udinese prospects conveyor belt..Scouted , signed for peanuts , spent some time at Udinese, loaned out to Granada ( owned by Udinese ) and then punted for a good profit.
Scorchio – way down south.
Bomb alert on our street last night evacuated at 4 oclock this morning
A day off work at least
Them dissidents are good for somethin
B-)
dont know what you all think of this vossen that we are now looking at. i personally think he would be a great signing as long as we can also get osa guobadia from beiter jerusalem.
think theses two would be a fantastic combination
Just so happened to watch both their games against Brentford(for betting reasons only),Vossen played really well to be fair.
HH.
Top of the morning to you all from a grey un-summer like Fife where I have just switched on my central heating!
Interesting article on android boxes. Is there one particular reliable supplier of the box and stream?
green oak tree, thank you for the facts on Maureen O’Hara, who I have always liked but now love.
The spin is in full motion now, rob keirnan never failed a medical at Birmingham there just raging because he knocked them back to sign for the mighty sevco.
Everybody wants to sign for the up and coming 52 year old rookie haha
Radio Scotland said yesterday that Kiernan was from the north of Ireland……turns out he played for The Republic of Ireland’s under 21 team ……. how pathetic are their efforts to placate the bigoted hordes…..’tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies’
“but will take root and flourish there”
Now bordering on insanity it is.
If you didn’t know any better one could easily be forgiven for thinking that Celtic are a club in crisis, and that the zombie club were flourishing.
The Gospel according to Keech Jackson.
Deluded crackpot.
HH.
never mind all this sevco nonsense, are we signing vossen and osa guobadia or not. thats the biggest question
Where is everybody?