Diamond_Jim

Take care....those places don't exactly sound like the Greek Isles

what a wonderful piece of info Gaawn....thanks... I'm sure that will be of interest to many. Here's the link if any want to look at it on the MFC membership site. (You even get one free admission). https://membership.melbournefc.com.au/packages/view/970/international-member

thanks ... have heard of maotai but have never tried it. Spending a lot of time in Asia myself I am aware of the paint stripper taste that you describe. It is also used to describe the taste of durian which is also an acquired taste. The taste you describe is often associated with raw alcohol. Never thought of it as an expensive taste so it's very useful to know. Mind you I have a bottle of campari that I can never seem to finish either. cheers

completely off topic but perhaps relevant to our followers in China.. After years of trying to work out who Hisense were I think the arena for the Australian Open Tennis has been renamed 1573 Arena. A google search showed up a brand of Chinese Liquor. Any of our China residents care to comment. Cheers PS.. found this on the net: "Australian Open officials announced in Shanghai last night one of the biggest sponsorship deals in its history with an aspirational Chinese distillery that dates back to The Ming Dynasty. "

Careful... Gil will have us playing games in Splitz if he thinks he can make a bob or two?

Hi Matt this article may be helpful to you. It suggests you need a minimum steady speed of just under 8mbs to enjoy Kayo in HD. https://www.finder.com.au/kayo-data-usage Interestingly enough I was reading elsewhere that if we ever see 4k streaming it will require a speed of 20mbs. I also saw a comment saying that a 4k television camera costs around A$1M so I doubt we will be seeing much 4k content. And of course they are just about to release 8k televisions. Boy this area has come a long way fast. Here's the article about why we don't see much 4k streaming. The comments are very instructive. https://www.residentialsystems.com/blogs/2018-finally-be-year-4k-broadcast-tv-content

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Anyone have Foxtel Go and can comment on the present set up. 6 of 9 may be exclusive to Foxtel in Melbourne but not Australia wide. In the example above the Adelaide game, the Sydney game and the Brisbane game would also be broadcast by Ch 7 FTA into home markets. That would make 6 of 9 with Channel 7 coverage

Heated debate now on the Whirlpool site about whether the Kayo AFL coverage will be either; what Foxtel show ie: Foxtel commentary and HD picture with no ads; or what Foxtel Go shows: ie Channel 7 commentary and standard definition with ads. Seems no one is sure and Kayo support is giving conflicting answers. O well we'll know soon. Still no sign of the television app.

amazing growth by that company. A giant logistics machine which has sufficient power to become a price maker to its sellers, warehousers, trucking companies you name it. Similar on a much larger scale to what the two big supermarkets in Australia did to the farmers. You have to wonder if it will fall foul of the anti trust rules in the US as it increases its dominance. Their deal of free delivery in the US for a fixed annual fee (think it's around US$20) is the best loyalty scheme any online seller has ever devised.

keep a watch as many have recently been bought in by a quarter. The pace of the roll out really picked up in the second half of 2018

NBN should be fully rolled out by end of 2019 save for those premises deemed difficult which should all be finished by end 2020. Aussie Broadband is the favourite provider these days because it limits it subscribers and in most cases you get the speed that you pay for. It has a $55 a month for 100 Gbs a month with a speed of 25mbs and unlimited at $69 a month also with 25mbs speed. A bit more than $40 but it will allow streaming at the highest level. The GB cap could be an issue as streaming in standard definition eats up about 1Gb an hour whereas streaming in HD eats up about 3GB per hour as I understand it. From the Kayo thread on Whirlpool they were saying if I recall you needed a minimum speed of around 7-8 mbs to run it.My ADSL is closer to 3mbs and thus it's no go for me at present.

Are you on the NBN RBG? I'm still on ADSL so kayo is not for me at present. Should have NBN by the second half of this year at which time the product definitely interests me.

An interesting perspective Jako as Foxtel are trying desperately to ensure that this new product does not canibalise their existing Foxtel brand. I suspect that even if they are moderately successful it will mean the end of any growth in Foxtel as most of their new subscribers would have been gained as a result of their sports broadcasts. The Kayo product will not be as good as the foxtel product simply because Foxtel are hamstrung with the deal they have done to share digital rights with Telstra. It will make for a very robust negotiation next time the rights are up for grabs. One also must ask if this product is extremely successful will the FTA stations continue to engage in their unholy partnership with pay TV that has now pervaded cricket, soccer (A League) and football. As they say we live in "interesting times."

Just thought I would bump this thread and mention a couple of things being discussed on the whirlpool forum (link in post above) now at 170 pages. Still no android app for your television so one needs to use a device to stream it to your TV. (It was suggested that the TV app would be out by the end of 2018.) On the AFL coverage it seems that it will be the coverage that was available on Foxtel Now and not the Foxtel set top box coverage. This means when Channel 7 shows a match you get their feed and I assume the replay is delayed. Lots of talk about connectivity but in the main most seem happy with the streaming quality. A few complaints about the What's on capability and how it can be difficult to browse between the multiple offerings.

I would gladly subscribe to Kayo if only they had a no commentary selection or even a low key commentary selection. AFL commentary teams could really take a leaf out of the soccer commentaries. Come to think of it the NFL commentaries are generally low key as well. Not sure why we need all the artificial hype.

IIIRC Eddie bought the old ABC broadcast vans and got the contract to telecast the VFL games for Seven. Wonder how this decision affects the contract. Perhaps also the vans are getting a little old and require major investment. My cynical self is wary of a further downgrading of the VFL product.

as mentioned it's a money saving exercise by seven. Interesting thing was that the televised VFL match was on Saturday and these are being televised on Sunday. I assume no Saturday televised VFL on the weekends of the Sunday game. VFL games call out for streaming... a few fixed cameras and some IT ... commentary optional... would be a very cheap product.

One has to wonder about how close the club is to the wheels of power. This plan had pipe dream written all over it from day 1. Can't think of one group that came out in favour. Politics 101... perception and short term perception is where it's at. The best spin is that it was an ambit claim and that we are now going for option B but you really have to wonder.

don't get too excited... around 60 games per year on the MCG and they are offering 4 VFL games "An agreement, in principle, struck on Monday between the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) and AFL sees four VFL fixtures set for the MCG prior to AFL matches next year. In a boost for fans, it will also result in the AFL reducing the time between the end of a curtain-raiser and the start of an AFL matches from around 60 minutes to a minimum of 35-45 minutes." And why is it happening: AFL.com.au understands the move was originally raised by Channel Seven in a cost-saving strategy to create a VFL-AFL double header prior to their broadcast Sunday 3.20pm AFL game.

not many children in those shoe boxes in the cbd and even then North Melbourne is probably closer to many. Southbank is relatively well serviced by Port Melbourne ovals

that and taking the air out of the exposure window for other sports

T20 came from the English Counties... so the other way may be possible. I liked the community feel of the early AFLW. Seems that the AFL want an immediate television success which perhaps explains the approach.

not meaning to be facetious but I suspect there aren't that many children in the immediate area. The nearest concentration would probably be at the Collingwood and Richmond high rise areas. Heard on the radio this morning that the Bulldogs got another $5M today to upgrade the Whitten oval. Cannot find a link

Don't disagree with the concept but why not trial it at VFL and AFLW level. Similarly get the kids playing at school etc. Even bring a team or two from overseas if the scheduling allows. Then if and when the momentum and demand are there move it to the seniors level. It would also have the benefit of giving the VFL players exposure similar to the big bash. At the moment it just has too much of a gimmick factor to it and is heading for a flash in the pan type destiny. I could be wrong but it just seems to me they have the cart before the horse. PS: I particularly like the idea of playing on a rectangular field but why play it at Docklands where the crowd is then miles from the action. My first game at AAMI park during the Soccer Asian Cup blew my mind at how close you could be to the action.