I bought one of these the other day as I couldn’t (easily) cast from my tablet to the TV, could have used a Chromecast but it needs power and as the TV is wall mounted it would have meant putting a 4 gang behind the TV…
Came with all the popular KODI plugins pre-installed but KODI kept hanging when I was exiting so I uninstalled it and downloaded a “proper” version from the Play store, then installed the Sportsmania plugin.
Seem more than powerful enough for what I want to do, obviosuly I ain’t going to be playing any games on it.
BTW I sort of resurrected this thread so Cobham can ask questions…
Cheers mate
1st question
What the fuck were you talking about in your last post?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 upon which I have KODI installed, I use it (the S2) a lot to watch streaming television (Sky Go, BT, KODI, Plex etc. etc.). You can cast Android to compatible hosts (sort of like an iPad to Apple TV). One of those compatible hosts is a Chromecast device, costs around £30. You plug the Chromecast into an available HDMI port on your TV and it acts like a Smart TV plugin.
Trouble is Chromecast needs power to it, it doesn’t draw off of the HDMI (HDMI doesn’t have power lines AFAIK), so that menas a power adapter. TV is mounted on to the wall so, unless the power adpater has a really long lead, it need to be plugged in behind the TV, therefore I would have had to get a power strip (4 gang) put behind the telly so that I can plug the Chromecast in.
The Bqeel box plugs in via an HDMI lead and is cheaper than a Chromecast, I already had a spare HDMI lead going to my TV from where I had removed the PS3 so it was a no-brainer.
(Now I’m writing this down I realise I could have got a HDMI male-female adapter and plugged the Chromecast into the spare HDMI lead where the KODI box is!!! )
seriously though. It’s as simple as buying a Bqeel for £29.99; uninstalling KODI and downloading it again and then installing Sportsmania?
Too easy…what’s the catch?
You need a decent WiFi signal or network cable from your router to the Bqeel box but, yes, simplistically that’s it!
This is a genuine question. Am I missing something here? I have an Xbox One and a Smart TV (not very Smart admittedly) - these things appear to do everything I want. What’s Kodi going to bring to the party?
Is it basically a way of streaming stuff illegally?
Kodi brings everything to the party. All the film, sport and TV programmes from literally the whole world. The choice is endless.
I have watched our football games on American, Canadian, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Czech channels and i’m pretty sure yesterdays game was in Arabic. Can’t stand Sky’s bullshit punditry and foreign channels show every game played.
Kodi is basically open source (free) media streaming software which, with the right add ons installed, enables access to sources streaming pretty much any game live in HD quality. That’s what it brings to my party anyway.
Kodi itself is not illegal, it’s just a media player, an enabler. It’s some of the the add ons (sources you stream from) that are contentious and the whole issue is being fiercely debated by a plethora of legal eagles at the moment.
Kodi is a superb piece of software, maybe the corps should seek an actual modern way of revenue streams as this isn’t going to go the way of limewire etc etc
Viewing figures for Sky Sports’ live Premier League matches have dropped by a massive 19% this season despite showing the Manchester derby and several high-profile Liverpool games live.
They claim to be unworried by the figures as they have still broadcast the ten most-watched Premier League games this season, but that will be little consolation after Sky and BT Sport paid over £5billion between them for their new three-year contracts.
The rise of illegal streaming is a massive threat to Sky Sports, whose managing director Barney Francis said in July: “It’s our biggest season ever. Our opening set of fixtures offers our viewers some mouth-watering fixtures and we’ll show every club at least once by the end of September.”
Funnily enough, I can’t remember Saints being on Sky so much - they’re on again this weekend…
That being said, I generally can only get to 1 or 2 games a season but want to see the action…streaming sites fill that need. With a good ad blocker they’re pretty good these days.
That being said, if we could get every match, every week like you can in the USA (or similar for all games in Germany) then I’d pay for it (they can then drop match ticket prices to get bums on seats for the atmosphere)
Funnily enough, I can’t remember Saints being on Sky so much - they’re on again this weekend…
That’s more to do with playing on a Sunday than anything else.
That being said, I generally can only get to 1 or 2 games a season but want to see the action…streaming sites fill that need. With a good ad blocker they’re pretty good these days.
Kodi obviates the need for ad-blockers completely on account of not being a browser
That being said, if we could get every match, every week like you can in the USA (or similar for all games in Germany) then I’d pay for it (they can then drop match ticket prices to get bums on seats for the atmosphere)
Rant over.
Be careful what you wish for. That deal works with overseas markets because it’s unlikely to cost us anything in attendance, save those rare people that jet around the world to see Saints. Over in Italy, where clubs sell their own rights individually, attendances plummeted, never getting back to their peak.
Easy to see how it happens. It might actually be happening now as a result of stuff like Kodi.
Sky, who’s pricing is so expensive because they’re paying so much for the screening rights.
The clubs themselves, who are raking in fortunes from Sky but won’t cut ticket prices for the fans.
People want to watch football and see their team play. If they can’t afford either of the above routes, they will find alternatives.
Not only that but most people don’t even see illegal streaming as being wrong. After years of being fleeced on two fronts, even the most honest just look at it as payback.
My kids and their friends don’t see “mainstream” media as the way forward - their viewing is internet based and there is no “morality” about how they source the programmes they want to watch. I’ve argued the case with them, but no change in views. The “media” need to wake up to the new way in which their future paying customers view programmes
But if clubs used the extra broadcasting wealth to halve ticket prices, for example, would attendances still suffer ?
I think most fans would rather go to an actual game if it was at home and they could afford it. As for the die hards who travel to away games, they’ll continue to do it just for the outing, irregardless of if it’s on TV.
But if clubs used the extra broadcasting wealth to halve ticket prices, for example, would attendances still suffer ?
I think most fans would rather go to an actual game if it was at home and they could afford it. As for the die hards who travel to away games, they’ll continue to do it just for the outing, irregardless of if it’s on TV.
I honestly don’t know how much price incentivises. The Sunderland game was cheap as chips, but poorly attended. Makes a huge difference to the family that needs several tickets. It’s probably the cheapest component for anyone that does beers and/or travel as well. Price reductions on tickets may not be a huge incentive to those people.
If we are going to do reductions, I’d sooner see that directed toward people that really can’t afford it, kids. Back in the day, I could go to Saints games on my pocket money, and I didn’t get that much. Think it was three quid in for a boy, but I’d probably give the kids their own stewarded section. Could be a goer, especially if safe standing is back on the agenda.
