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Ton TV live match broadcasting


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Going by a Facebook post from Gerry, it looks like the live match broadcasts on Ton TV will not continue next season, at least not with Gerry and Andy. Don't know if this is a club or Scottish League decision, I know there was talk of the League limiting access to overseas viewers from next season, so maybe the club decided it was no longer financially viable to continue with overseas fans only. But either way, I'm more than a bit gutted. One of the very few good things to come out of the pandemic for me was being able to reconnect with this club and the team. Saturday afternoons won't be the same. 

Gerry and Andy were excellent commentators, always honest and fair to both teams, and Andy was often very insightful and informative. Very entertaining as well, some of Andy's one-liners (e.g., 'he was like a drunk man chasing a balloon') will be long remembered! The very fact that they still managed to make some of the games under Hoppy and Gus enjoyable was a remarkable achievement in itself. Thanks for the memories guys, really sorry it's had to come to end!

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It's not entirely clear if streaming is actually stopping, or if it's just not known yet whether or not it will continue.  I had access to streaming through having a season ticket, but there's no way I'd buy a season ticket without the streaming option as I can't get to enough games to make it worthwhile.  If there's no streaming, i'll just pay in for the games I can attend, and that won't be many.

"Any nation given the opportunity to regain its national sovereignty and which then rejects it is so far beneath contempt that it is hard to put words to it."

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Going by Gerry's post it was quite cleat that it's stopping, since confirmed by someone at the club who contacted me. Although it's obviously very disappointing for fans who can't make it to the games for whatever reason, if they would lose money by continuing it then of course they didn't really have a choice.

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I'd be sorry to lose Ton TV. i must admit that I did not make much use of it this season, but I enjoyed what I did see. I would be prepared to make some kind of a commitment, perhaps a Ton TV season ticket for next season. I'm sure that other out-of-towners would be interested in seeing the service continued.

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1 hour ago, The Bewilderedbeast said:

The Raith Rovers commentary team said the same thing during our recent game up there.

Looks like I'm back to every second Saturday afternoon in the company of Jeff and Co

Jeff's retiring as well

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Clubs own PPV streams was only ever a temporary agreement with Sky Sports due to the pandemic. I don’t know if it was ever officially mentioned but Neil Doncaster said at the start of the month that he can’t see it continuing for another season

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1 hour ago, Waverley said:

I'd be sorry to lose Ton TV. i must admit that I did not make much use of it this season, but I enjoyed what I did see. I would be prepared to make some kind of a commitment, perhaps a Ton TV season ticket for next season. I'm sure that other out-of-towners would be interested in seeing the service continued.

I would certainly be happy to pay for live coverage without commentary. Although there would still of course be some other overheads in supplying such a service, it may make it financially viable with the reduced overseas only audience. 

It would obviously be nowhere near as good without Gerry and Andy, but it would at least mean I can still get pished and swear at the TV every Saturday afternoon, which has become my ritual. 

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WTF has it got to do with Sky Sports?  Do they have an agreement to cover the Scottish Championship and if so, why don't we ever see Championship games on their channels?

Streaming was a move into the future.  Apart from the folk who moaned about it because some folk local to Greenock might watch the stream rather than actually going to Cappielow, and thus allegedly reduce the atmosphere for attendees, streaming seems to have been pretty popular.  It's great for away games (chances of me ever going to Arbroath in person are about nil) and it's also great for out of towners who don't have the time of the money to travel to home games.  It was a real bright spot for me when I was unable to travel to games due to covid site effects and it must be a real lifeline for people who are confined to the house for health or other reasons.  But hey, let's just throw away the potential and anyone who doesn't like it can just watch the bigot brothers on Sportscene.  Next they'll be seliing off the rights to Scotland games to some unknown streaming company.

 

"Any nation given the opportunity to regain its national sovereignty and which then rejects it is so far beneath contempt that it is hard to put words to it."

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5 minutes ago, Alibi said:

WTF has it got to do with Sky Sports?  Do they have an agreement to cover the Scottish Championship and if so, why don't we ever see Championship games on their channels?

Streaming was a move into the future.  Apart from the folk who moaned about it because some folk local to Greenock might watch the stream rather than actually going to Cappielow, and thus allegedly reduce the atmosphere for attendees, streaming seems to have been pretty popular.  It's great for away games (chances of me ever going to Arbroath in person are about nil) and it's also great for out of towners who don't have the time of the money to travel to home games.  It was a real bright spot for me when I was unable to travel to games due to covid site effects and it must be a real lifeline for people who are confined to the house for health or other reasons.  But hey, let's just throw away the potential and anyone who doesn't like it can just watch the bigot brothers on Sportscene.  Next they'll be seliing off the rights to Scotland games to some unknown streaming company.

 

There has been a temporary suspension of Uefa Article 48 which in the UK, prohibits matches from being broadcast between 14:45 and 15:15 on Saturdays.

The suspension is expected to be ended and the regulations restored for next season.

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2 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

There has been a temporary suspension of Uefa Article 48 which in the UK, prohibits matches from being broadcast between 14:45 and 15:15 on Saturdays.

The suspension is expected to be ended and the regulations restored for next season.

I could be wrong, but I believe this restriction only applies within the UK, and they would be free to livestream the matches abroad.

For a club of our size, it seems that there simply aren't enough overseas fans to make it financially viable to continue. That's why I hope they could maybe look into the possibility of providing a livestream without commentary, which may make it more viable. 

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30 minutes ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

I could be wrong, but I believe this restriction only applies within the UK, and they would be free to livestream the matches abroad.

For a club of our size, it seems that there simply aren't enough overseas fans to make it financially viable to continue. That's why I hope they could maybe look into the possibility of providing a livestream without commentary, which may make it more viable. 

Yeah, others who had streaming before covid seemed to be overseas only.

The club must not see it as viable with overseas only. Whether they have looked at the data to see how many overseas viewers they had is anyone's guess.

Your only option will likely be the SPFL match centre where you can pay for the matches to stream overseas. Uses the Pixie Lotte system though.

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2 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

Yeah, others who had streaming before covid seemed to be overseas only.

The club must not see it as viable with overseas only. Whether they have looked at the data to see how many overseas viewers they had is anyone's guess.

Your only option will likely be the SPFL match centre where you can pay for the matches to stream overseas. Uses the Pixie Lotte system though.

When you register your account on TonTV you enter your address so they can easily tell how many who livestream are from overseas. They've obviously done their sums and concluded there simply aren't enough overseas fans to justify continuing it in its current form, which I totally understand. That's why I'm hoping they're at least looking into the possibility of offering a very basic commentary free service for overseas fans next season. If they could supply that basic service at minimal cost to the club, it may still be possible to make a bit of money from it. 

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I understand why it's being closed down. We're not exactly a global brand. How many overseas viewers would they get on a weekly basis. I think fifty at the absolute most and that includes away fans.

I probably bought around two thirds of them this season, missing the occasional game due to prior commitments or being able to watch it legitimately online. So while that's a couple of hundred quid going to the club, multiply that by 50 (again, very, very generous estimate) and it's maybe ten grand of income. Assuming the commentators and the production staff are getting a modest stipend, then the equipment costs on top of that, they're probably not making much out of this at all. 

Presumably, then, it's Pixellot or nothing next season. It's a real shame, but I do understand it. 

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23 minutes ago, TRVMP said:

I understand why it's being closed down. We're not exactly a global brand. How many overseas viewers would they get on a weekly basis. I think fifty at the absolute most and that includes away fans.

I probably bought around two thirds of them this season, missing the occasional game due to prior commitments or being able to watch it legitimately online. So while that's a couple of hundred quid going to the club, multiply that by 50 (again, very, very generous estimate) and it's maybe ten grand of income. Assuming the commentators and the production staff are getting a modest stipend, then the equipment costs on top of that, they're probably not making much out of this at all. 

Presumably, then, it's Pixellot or nothing next season. It's a real shame, but I do understand it. 

Indeed, it's obviously not viable to continue it in its current for just with income only from overseas fans. I payed for every game since it started in October 2020, except for the one I actually attended, and I was the 'safe pair of hands' sponsor on one of them, so overall I estimate I paid around 450 quid since it started. It's a pity that revenue stream is no longer there, but of course if expenses outweigh the income then of course they had no other choice other than to pull the plug on it. Still hope they can come up with something for us Johnny Foreigners next season though.

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To be fair I always used a VPN to buy Falkirks and Dundee Utds overseas services and you'd probably get as many of those as actual fans abroad. No way for a club to calculate the potential of that though. 

Good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but only with religion do good people do bad things!

 

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The overseas thing isn’t really a problem. A VPN sorts that out. I’d rather pay for a Morton stream than have to find a dodgy Pixellot one. And if the linesman is a baldy, even that probably won’t work.

"Any nation given the opportunity to regain its national sovereignty and which then rejects it is so far beneath contempt that it is hard to put words to it."

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If streams are to be sold abroad I’d hope that rather than through the clubs individually, they’re sold through the SPFL. We’re constantly hearing about Scottish football being undersold to TV companies but what chances does the game have of maximising it’s revenue if clubs are allowed to sell their matches individually (including away matches, which I believe is permitted for overseas broadcast)?

Rangers and Celtic are being allowed to sell the SPFL’s product as their own and as a knock on effect it becomes impossible to sell the whole league to foreign broadcasters. I’m afraid if we want to sell our matches to a couple of interested observers in Belgium or elsewhere, we’d have to accept the bigger clubs doing likewise, which does us and the other 39 clubs no good at all.

Unfortunately though, SPFL TV would probably be the best way to do this, sharing the revenues around and selling to individuals rather than broadcasters, and I’ve got no faith in the league to do this successfully. I’ve not really got any faith in them to upset Rangers and Celtic by centralising they rights either, given that they won’t even make Rangers promote the league’s sponsor so I suppose it’s a hypothetical concern.

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