10 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

So Stan won the EPL rights (formally announced today) and also announced today a $5 per month price increase.

As Stan Sports is an add on to the movie/TV Stan the price is now $32 per month

Let the games begin

If you remain an optus Customer you can get the following through the optus subHub website

$9.99 access to stan premium and Stan sports until 7 January 2026 and then it reverts to $9.99 a month Optus-Sport on Stan only.

So they are giving you a little taste test to get hooked on the service before leaving you only the optus products. i'm happy to be paying $9.99 which is about what I was already paying for Optus Sport anyway.

Kayo to have in game ads in the form of side bars etc. If anyone has watched the VFL you'll be aware of the practice.

Among the new advertising initiatives coming in 2026 is the L-Bar format, which displays branding around the live screen without interrupting play. The format is designed to appear at moments of heightened attention, such as goals or tries.

Pause ads will also be introduced, taking over the full screen only when a viewer pauses live or on-demand content. A brand will then take over the screen in what Foxtel describes as “premium real estate that is viewable, completely uncluttered, and impossible to skip.”

Kayo Sports will add three to six-second bumper spots prior to live matches, including during key fixtures such as the opening rounds of the AFL and NRL. According to the company, these formats create opportunities for advertisers while maintaining an uninterrupted sports viewing experience.

Not happy but we all knew it was inevitable. Was watching the Sky F1 stream on a Canadian streaming channel recently. A couple of times mid race it went to a split screen and played an ad with sound. So it could yet get worse

Kayo/Fox have already started putting ad bars at the bottom.

This goes along with Kayo often failing entirely on Friday night matches.

And then there is the actual telecast which is getting worse and worse. I've ranted before about:

• the unnecessay close-ups of the player with a mark/free rather than showing what options are ahead of him

• the ball disappearing out of the field of view when it is handpassed - it's a guess whether it's going to a teammate or if it is, if he is in the clear. Presumably because the unertainty is extra exciting for us.

• A new 'feature' is endless replays of a goal where they don't switch to the next ball up till after it has occurred. Even if they do get to it in time, there is never enough time for the viewer to take in the setups each team is using. (I'm not talking about re-showing the actual play - extra showing of the player celebrations.)

• In the finals, in short breaks, not only do we get the usual pics of 'celebrities' in the crowd rather than a chance to see where all the players are, but now we are treated to multiple drone views of the stadium which tell us nothing about the game. They must have hired a drone and want to get full value from it.

A lot of this is because we now have 'entertainment' rather than footy.

/end rant

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by sue

43 minutes ago, sue said:

Kayo/Fox have already started putting ad bars at the bottom.

This goes along with Kayo often failing entirely on Friday night matches.

And then there is the actual telecast which is getting worse and worse. I've ranted before about:

• the unnecessay close-ups of the player with a mark/free rather than showing what options are ahead of him

• the ball disappearing out of the field of view when it is handpassed - it's a guess whether it's going to a teammate or if it is, if he is in the clear. Presumably because the unertainty is extra exciting for us.

• A new 'feature' is endless replays of a goal where they don't switch to the next ball up till after it has occurred. Even if they do get to it in time, there is never enough time for the viewer to take in the setups each team is using. (I'm not talking about re-showing the actual play - extra showing of the player celebrations.)

• In the finals, in short breaks, not only do we get the usual pics of 'celebrities' in the crowd rather than a chance to see where all the players are, but now we are treated to multiple drone views of the stadium which tell us nothing about the game. They must have hired a drone and want to get full value from it.

A lot of this is because we now have 'entertainment' rather than footy.

/end rant

Yeah I complained to them about the repeated dropouts and freezing during the Crows Hawks game.

We're paying enough that they should be able to offer us which camera view we want. I'd love a high level view down the ground from behind goal

Sooo as a mostly retired person looking at getting a very good coverage for 2026 with minimum cost should I go with Kayo??? Or keep paying through the nose for 2 boxes and netflix ( which I love) but at exhorbitant rates with Foxtel? Any adivice duly considered! Thanks in advance!

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by picket fence

4 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

.....

Pause ads will also be introduced, taking over the full screen only when a viewer pauses live or on-demand content. A brand will then take over the screen in what Foxtel describes as “premium real estate that is viewable, completely uncluttered, and impossible to skip.”

.....

I guess that mean if you are watching live (or otherwise) and you decide to go back 10 seconds to review something, an add will appear. Is it clear if that is a video ad or h=just the screen filled with a static ad for x seconds. Either way, yuk.

1 hour ago, picket fence said:

Sooo as a mostly retired person looking at getting a very good coverage for 2026 with minimum cost should I go with Kayo??? Or keep paying through the nose for 2 boxes and netflix ( which I love) but at exhorbitant rates with Foxtel? Any adivice duly considered! Thanks in advance!

PF do you watch sport outside AFL season?

13 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

PF do you watch sport outside AFL season?

No but watch the cricket on commercial channel!

Just now, picket fence said:

No but watch the cricket on commercial channel!

Okay... makes it easy

Kayo taken out the week before AFL starts. One month before GF you cancel. $40 per month for say 7 months.

Netflix.... Share an account with a family member. It costs extra to include another location but the more "sharers" you have the lower the unit cost. If no one to share Netflix varies between $10 (with ads) to $29 for 4kHDR

Buy an Apple TV Box ($219). You could use your smart TV but Apple TV or Nvidia Shield is simply more powerful

For Kayo 4k you need a reliable internet. Netflix is easier as it buffers

Good luck

4 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Okay... makes it easy

Kayo taken out the week before AFL starts. One month before GF you cancel. $40 per month for say 7 months.

Netflix.... Share an account with a family member. It costs extra to include another location but the more "sharers" you have the lower the unit cost. If no one to share Netflix varies between $10 (with ads) to $29 for 4kHDR

Buy an Apple TV Box ($219). You could use your smart TV but Apple TV or Nvidia Shield is simply more powerful

For Kayo 4k you need a reliable internet. Netflix is easier as it buffers

Good luck

Also, Ethernet rather than rely on wifi