# Who has the English Premier League rights in UAE for the new season?!



## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi guys

I'd assumed that Abu Dhabi Sports had the rights to the Premier League, but I've just seen on a few sites that Al Jazeera won the rights a few weeks ago for the next three seasons. Does that mean only Al Jazeera will show them?

I really hope not! We're stuck with a rubbish Du box that only has two Al Jazeera Sport channels and loads of AD Sports channels!

Any idea? I can't find anything about the new season on either AD or Al Jazeera Sports' sites!


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

It's Al Jazeera. Just ask Du to give you the rest of the AJS channels.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Ah, ok, wasn't sure if they had them all and couldn't find a way of scanning for new channels. I'll call them (and cancel AD Sports as well - sounds like they have ****** all of interest now!) Cheers


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

The quality of websites out here is pretty basic isn't it! Any idea what sports AD Sports do still have? Best to check before I ditch them in case they still have some footie.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Nothing's simple to do here, is it....!

I've called Du. I was told to ring another number as it's a business account (because it was taken out in my wife's employer name because her visa was taking too long). I phone that number but they can't give me any information and told me to email a business care email account. I emailed that and have had a reply saying "Here is a list of our packages" with a link. Brilliant. Completely ignored my email then!

So can I ask, if anyone currently has Du TV and is paying for Al Jazeera Sports, what HD channels do you have through your box? Only HD1 and HD2, or do you have more? 

I'm hoping they automatically swap over some of the AD Sports HD channels (1-8) to Al Jazeera automatically, but I'm not holding my breath (certainly not based on how bad the general Du TV service is - the box only shows/records one HD channel at a time and the EPG rarely shows what is actually on (usually no info from provider) and when it does its usually wrong!)

I now realise how high quality a service Sky and Virgin provide in the UK....! ray:

Thanks!


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

I've got at least 12 Al Jazeera Sports channels. Your wife's employers will need to go to the Du business centre and submit a request. They may be able to do it by fax, I can't remember. They're not going to change you over from Abu Dhabi sports.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Ah, ok. We have 15 Al Jazeera Sports channels but only two of those are HD, the rest are all standard definition (Al Jazeera advertise 6 HD channels on their site - Al Jazeera Sport Global - I didn't know whether or not they're all available through Du). 

I think Du update their available channels periodically (ie add some, drop others - Sky News HD recently changed from 500 to another channel), but I didn't know if the available channels vary depending on where you are (the IP TV system presumably works better where there are better connections - our connection here is pretty slow and the TV often freezes or pixelates). 

Looking on the Du channel selector they currently only advertise two Al Jazeera HD channels, I didn't know how effective they are at changing them, and presumably AD Sports will lose a lot of subscribers (ie anyone paying for it for the EPL). 

I'll get my wife to ask her man at work to look into it. Thanks.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

OK, so to update on this, I've spoken to Du and they don't actually carry Al Jazeera Sports HD3, HD4, etc at the moment, they only have HD1 and HD2, so Gavtek, I presume only two of your AJS channels are HD and the rest all SD like mine. I was trying to establish whether or not they actually carry those channels but it wasn't apparent on their website, etc. 

The woman I spoke to said that she did not know if/when Du will be getting the other AJS HD channels, but once they do customers should be notified and generally they will be automatically added so should show up. 

On Abu Dhabi Sports, does anyone know what they actually show through on their channels? Do they have any of the tennis opens? Or any European football? I can't find any details on their site about what the have (other than wrestling, which is no interest to me).

Thanks


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## Carefree1979 (Dec 6, 2011)

On their web streaming service Al Jazeera are listing HD3 to HD6 - none of which are coming through on the Du EPG. Also apparently not on Etisalat.

The Community shield today is on HD6 - so it does not seem they are too concerned about broadcasting on channels most of Dubai cant receive (I thought they may have broadcast on those available while they introduce the new ones.)

They have paid a fortune for these rights so I assume they must be wanting to capitalize as soon as possible - but who knows.

Abu Dhabi sports carries a few tournaments - but without the football is now going to be mostly wrestling and Tennis. They have lost the rights to all the football now apart from, I believe, the prestigious UAE national league.

Cheers


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## davecowie (Feb 17, 2013)

As a tag on to this...does anyone have the rights for the (saying it very quietly out of shame) Scottish Premiership? I'm a Hearts fan(maybe the only one in Dubai?) who is missing the derby today and want to try catch highlights. 

Cheers


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

There hasn't been Scottish football on TV since the TV rights debacle when the Huns died last summer.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

The Charity Shield match is on JSC+9 and JSC+10 and JSC HD1 on Du.


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## davecowie (Feb 17, 2013)

Fair enough! Here was me thinking that this new look "Scottish Premiership" complete with 'multimillion pound' TV rights deal that was signed over the summer wasn't a complete load of bullsh**t!! haha

Anyway I'm sure I can find a link somewhere to the games, just so happened that I' able to listen to bbc scotland in work so caught the 2nd half of the derby


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## fudzzz (Oct 9, 2011)

Glad I ran into this thread!

Guess I'll be canceling my AD sports subscription from Etisalat and keep my Al Jazeera sports. AD was only good for the premier league. 

So does this mean Al Jazeera now has the rights to BOTH the premier league AND Champions league?

The only thing I'm worried about with Al Jazeera is they are quite dumb when it comes to assigning English audio to the matches. They often have a different Arabic commentary on the 'English' audio option, especially on the HD matches. Whereas AD Sports was always reliable with their English commentary option. Hoping they'll handle it right, especially after paying so much for the rights. Otherwise they'll have even more hooligans sending them complaints this time round, ha.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

I've just put the Man U Wigan match on.... it's on AJS HD1 but both audio streams are Arabic, no English. It's often like that? Surely it should be something easy to get right! So it's either HD and the Arabic commentator yaddering away or a ropey SD picture with English today.... SD it is then. Hope they do better with the league matches, although given the general quality of the Du box, EPG, etc I'm not getting my hopes up too much. 

I may as well cancel AD Sports if that's all they carry. You'd hope that Du are in the process of getting the additional HD channels onto their boxes - I noticed AJS advertising that they're available the satellite channels they're on yesterday.


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## fudzzz (Oct 9, 2011)

I wasn't so lucky with my Chelsea vs Roma match at 4AM today. Neither the HD nor SD had English commentary and I had to use the audio from a free live stream on my laptop.

*sigh* I can't believe these guys are still making such novice mistakes in running their channels.

I'm thinking I'll just cancel both my AD and AJ subscriptions (since only 2 AJ are HD anyway), and instead purchase a 1 year subscription to AJ's online streaming service. At least you get all their sports channels in HD, and I think the English audio issue isn't there. 

Just need to know how 'seamless' their online streams are, especially during big matches.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

The SD picture looked fine on my TV, after 10 seconds or so you don't even realise you're not watching it in HD.


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## Carefree1979 (Dec 6, 2011)

The CL games in the early stages last year were not always in English. It was only when there were only a couple of games being played on the night that more languages were available (as the games were each repeated on about 3 separate channels)

SD would be fine - though I understood they are only going to broadcast the EPL on the 4 new channels (not even the 2 existing HD ) - so come next weekend I think the sound may be the lesser issue ..


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Gavtek said:


> The SD picture looked fine on my TV, after 10 seconds or so you don't even realise you're not watching it in HD.


I guess it's down to personal opinion. I've been used to good quality HD in the UK and can easily notice the difference between HD and SD, especially a relatively low quality stream like the one coming through Du's IP TV box. It looks pretty poor on a 60" TV IMO. 

Still, better than not having it at all. 



Carefree1979 said:


> The CL games in the early stages last year were not always in English. It was only when there were only a couple of games being played on the night that more languages were available (as the games were each repeated on about 3 separate channels)
> 
> SD would be fine - though I understood they are only going to broadcast the EPL on the 4 new channels (not even the 2 existing HD ) - so come next weekend I think the sound may be the lesser issue ..


Maybe that's Al Jazeera's tactics for negotiating getting their additional HD channels onto Du and Etisalat.... I imagine they need to help subsidise the payments to the EPL!


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

Gavtek said:


> I've got at least 12 Al Jazeera Sports channels. Your wife's employers will need to go to the Du business centre and submit a request. They may be able to do it by fax, I can't remember. They're not going to change you over from Abu Dhabi sports.


Yep I have 12 JSC channels as well, it was an extra on the normal channels. 

Ps if my wife was involved, I wouldn't have any of the sports channels!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

blazeaway said:


> Yep I have 12 JSC channels as well, it was an extra on the normal channels.


It was the HD channels I was looking for, not the 12 standard def ones. As per above comments, Du don't carry them yet, only HD1 and HD2 (Al Jazeera Sports have up to HD6).


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## Carefree1979 (Dec 6, 2011)

This might give a bit of hope (from Al Jazeera Sport - Help)

*What happened to the old channels +5 to +8?*
These channels were replaced with channels HD1 to HD4. The channels currently showing are mirror channels of the old SD channels, and will become HD soon. The channels show the same great content, but the picture quality will be improved (please note that full HD is dependent on your bandwidth - please contact your Internet supplier for details on your bandwidth).

So maybe the same will happen on the TV service. The SD5 to SD8 positions to be replaced by the new channels on Du??

Also...

*
I'm an existing subscriber - what happens to my subscription?*

Great news - you will have access to all ALJAZEERASPORT.TV premium channels on your current subscription, regardless of which of our previous packages you purchased. On your next bill date your subscription will change to the new monthly package, and you can decide whether you want to upgrade from this.

Again, if the same happens with the TV service at least there wont be a mad last minute rush down to the Du shop....

Who knows.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Hopefully. I guess it depends how quick Du are to make the changes and how important what their customers want really are....!


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## Carefree1979 (Dec 6, 2011)

Email from Du customer services

EPL will be broadcast on Al Jazeera Sp+1 to +10 & HD which price is AED 70 per month.
Al Jazeera will add new HD channels to the package. However, we cannot provide the details yet.. We will update you as soon as the new channel details are confirmed. Please visit our website to check the latest service updates Service updates | du

Meanwhile you can watch the games in the existing SD (standard definition) channels JSC+9/+10

So good news i think


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## fudzzz (Oct 9, 2011)

Carefree1979 said:


> Email from Du customer services
> 
> EPL will be broadcast on Al Jazeera Sp+1 to +10 & HD which price is AED 70 per month.
> Al Jazeera will add new HD channels to the package. However, we cannot provide the details yet.. We will update you as soon as the new channel details are confirmed. Please visit our website to check the latest service updates Service updates | du
> ...


Thanks for that update!

So yep, I'm definitely cancelling the now-useless AD sports.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

That's definitely encouraging, thanks for the update!


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## motojet (Mar 11, 2008)

Emanef said:


> On Abu Dhabi Sports, does anyone know what they actually show through on their channels? Do they have any of the tennis opens? Or any European football? I can't find any details on their site about what the have (other than wrestling, which is no interest to me).
> 
> Thanks


Besides the EPL justabout the only thing on Abu Dhabi Sports is Formula 1, WWF professional wrestling and the local Eltisalat Football games.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Thanks motojet, that's what I wanted to know. I'll get AD Sports removed, none of those are any interest to me so no point paying for them.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Does anyone know if it is possible to get the Al Jazeera Sport app working on an iPad with a UK store? Is it just a case of signing up to a UAE iTunes account and logging in to that, or does it get funny once you log back into the UK one?


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Ol FFS.... England V Scotland on HD1 has Arabic on both audio streams. No worries though.... Switzerland V Brazil is on HD2 with English commentary.... face/palm


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

Emanef said:


> Ol FFS.... England V Scotland on HD1 has Arabic on both audio streams. No worries though.... Switzerland V Brazil is on HD2 with English commentary.... face/palm


It's English on +10


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yeah, that's what I'm watching it on, not HD though.


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## fudzzz (Oct 9, 2011)

Emanef said:


> Ol FFS.... England V Scotland on HD1 has Arabic on both audio streams. No worries though.... Switzerland V Brazil is on HD2 with English commentary.... face/palm


Yea, AJ better step up their game, otherwise I'm disconnecting my cable altogether and purchasing a premium online stream. 

I only use my cable to watch football. And if this is how they're going to run it, paying AED 400/month to Etisalat is definitely not worth it!


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## Gwayland7 (Jan 7, 2012)

HI folks, Here is the complete list of sports that Al Jazeera has the rights to this year.

Football / Soccer

English premier league
UEFA European Championship
UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
UEFA Super Cup
English International friendlies
Spanish Super Cup / La Liga
AFC Asian Cup
Africa Cup of Nations
FA Cup
Copa del Rey
League Cup
Italian Calcio Serie A + Serie B + Coppa Italia
La Liga
Serie A
Ligue 1 
Liga Sagres
Eredivisie
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Primera División Argentina
Liga MX
DFB-Pokal (German Cup)
Coupe de France
Sudan Excellent Cup
Coupe de la Ligue
Botola
Saudi Professional League
Qatar Stars League
Russian Premier League
Jordan League
J. League
Major League Soccer
CONCACAF Champions League
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Copa America
AFC Champions League
AFC Cup
Super Cup
CAF Champions League
CAF Confederation Cup
CAF Super Cup
FA Community Shield
Greek Football Cup
Turkish Cup
Coupe du Trône
UAE Presidents Cup Final
Algerian Cup Final
Ukrainian Cup from Semifinal
Portuguese League
Dutch League
World Cup (NB Al Jazeera will be offering upgrade for World Cup)


Rugby

Heineken Cup
Six Nations Championship
Aviva Premiership


Tennis

French Open
US Open
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
WTA Tour Championships
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 
ATP World Tour 500 series 
ATP World Tour 250 series


Cricket

Bangladesh Premier League


Basketball

NBA Playoffs
NBA
NBA TV
EuroLeague
EuroCup
FIBA Asia Champions Cup
FIBA World Championship
FIBA Asia Champions Cup
WABA Champions Cup
Lebanese Basketball League


Athletics

IAAF World Athletics Championships 
IAAF Diamond League
IAAF Golden League
IAAF World Junior Championships


Motor Sports

Superbike World Championship
MotoGP
Speedcar Series
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters


Volleyball

Italian Volleyball League
Volleyball World League
FIVB Club World Championship


Winter Sports

Winter Olympics
Asian Winter Games
Al Jazeera Sports, JSC Sports, Abu Dhabi, ADMC, Premier league, EPL, BPL


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## fudzzz (Oct 9, 2011)

Just received an SMS from Etisalat:

'eLife TV is pleased to include 6 new HD channels for all the English Premier League (EPL) action to your subscription for this season, effective from today. Enjoy the EPL kick-off match on Saturday. As per the Al Jazeera charges, your monthly subscription to the package would be AED 58 from September.'

So that's sorted. Now one can only hope Al Jazeera fixes their English audio.


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## Carefree1979 (Dec 6, 2011)

fudzzz said:


> Just received an SMS from Etisalat:
> 
> 'eLife TV is pleased to include 6 new HD channels for all the English Premier League (EPL) action to your subscription for this season, effective from today. Enjoy the EPL kick-off match on Saturday. As per the Al Jazeera charges, your monthly subscription to the package would be AED 58 from September.'
> 
> So that's sorted. Now one can only hope Al Jazeera fixes their English audio.


Looks like Du may be following suit

All Barclays Premier League games in HD on du TV | du

Below now appearing on their web site that yesterday was still referring to AD sports

Channel Numbers (Dont know if they are working yet)

532 Al Jazeera Sports HD2
533 Al Jazeera Sports HD3
534 Al Jazeera Sports HD4
535 Al Jazeera Sports HD5
536 Al Jazeera Sports HD6


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Excellent news! They're not available just yet on Du. I'm away for the first weekend now anyway but hopefully they'll get them on and available by kick off on Saturday. Yeah.... just hope AJS sort out the audio streams!


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## motojet (Mar 11, 2008)

I have Etisalat E Life with Al Jazeera Sports. Going through the channels right now, HD6 is in English the other 5 HD channels are Arabic, 3 of the SD channels are in English the rest are Arabic. Not sure if it will change for the actual EPL games.


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## Roadworrier (Jul 3, 2012)

Carefree1979 said:


> Email from Du customer services
> 
> EPL will be broadcast on Al Jazeera Sp+1 to +10 & HD which price is AED 70 per month.
> Al Jazeera will add new HD channels to the package. However, we cannot provide the details yet.. We will update you as soon as the new channel details are confirmed. Please visit our website to check the latest service updates Service updates | du
> ...


It looks like ESPN is dropped though! For all 3 ESPN channels I get the comment on screen that the channel "is no longer available from the provider". Victims to the Al Jazeera Sports expansion?


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## fudzzz (Oct 9, 2011)

They had one HD and two SD streams on Al Jazeera for the ManU match today, and one of the SD streams had english commentary, but it had a delay for like 5 seconds or so...

I had to use an online stream side by side for audio...

Hope they implement the HD1 to HD6 on this eLife thing soon.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

Worked perfectly on Du, I have all the extra channels without having to ask for them.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

The price should remain the same as well at 70 a month and would be worth it for EPL, La Liga and the CL; first time in many many years that all 3 have been on the same provider. It was always split between AUH and Jazeera as far as I can remember.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

Great to see Richard Keys and Andy Gray back where they belong! Gonna be a good seasons coverage.


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

Felixtoo2 said:


> Great to see Richard Keys and Andy Gray back where they belong! Gonna be a good seasons coverage.


What off mainstream tele!


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## stamboy (Apr 1, 2013)

Carefree1979 said:


> This might give a bit of hope (from Al Jazeera Sport - Help)
> 
> 
> Great news - you will have access to all ALJAZEERASPORT.TV premium channels on your current subscription, regardless of which of our previous packages you purchased. On your next bill date your subscription will change to the new monthly package, and you can decide whether you want to upgrade from this.
> ...


First of all thanks for the tip.

Secondly, does anyone know if the quality of ALJAZEERASPORT.TV is any good when watching on a 40inch tv and what about the download speed - what is the minimum required? When I was watching it on Sky Sports it kept buffering all the time which was extremely annoying


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## stamboy (Apr 1, 2013)

Felixtoo2 said:


> Great to see Richard Keys and Andy Gray back where they belong! Gonna be a good seasons coverage.


Guessing they're jobs will be safe no matter how many sexist remarks they make


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## JonGard (Aug 18, 2013)

Was happy with James Richardson & Trevor Sinclair hosting a lot of stuff on AD last year. Gutted to see Keys & Gray on Al-Jazeera. 

Back to the stone age


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

JonGard said:


> Was happy with James Richardson & Trevor Sinclair hosting a lot of stuff on AD last year. Gutted to see Keys & Gray on Al-Jazeera.
> 
> Back to the stone age


Yep, but retro!


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## ziokendo (Jan 7, 2012)

stamboy said:


> Secondly, does anyone know if the quality of ALJAZEERASPORT.TV is any good when watching on a 40inch tv and what about the download speed - what is the minimum required?


It's perfectly fine on my 42" inch tv, with firefox in full screen on my mac notebook connected via hdmi cable at 720p res (1280*720) in "screen duplication/mirror" mode.
Admittedly I am not a HDTV enthusiast, for me it's enough that the ball is not stuttering and you cannot distinguish pixels big as a thumb... so I set quite a low bar, I just care to see the match.

I have a standard 8mbit etisalat connection, the basic bandwidth one, and no buffering occurs. I don't know if when a big match happens the server will become crowded, but one month coverage is pretty cheap if you just want to test, that's what I am doing.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

Pfffft, if you can't see Richard Keys' nosehairs, you may as well throw your POS TV in the bin.


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## JonGard (Aug 18, 2013)

Gavtek said:


> Pfffft, if you can't see Richard Keys' nosehairs, you may as well throw your POS TV in the bin.


It's a well-known fact that you can see Richard Keys hand-hair from space.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Anyone know why only one of the 3pm kick offs are on Al Jazeera channels today?! 

They're on .TV but none of the standard or HD channels, only Arsenal Southampton, and when I try to watch one of the .TV channels I get a streaming error (I do have an AJS we subscription as well).


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Ol FFS. This explains why...

3pm Premier League matches- FA limiting availability to broadcasters - The Sat and PC Guy - Sky TV Spain, Freesat TV Spain, Satellite TV and Spanish TV Installations for the Costa Blanca, Costa Azahar and Valencia areas of Spain

So to make sure we in the UAE go to live matched in England on a Saturday afternoon they're restricting viewing to only one 3pm kick off. I hope they back down on that. AJS paid a lot of money for the rights to show all games and subscribers are paying for them as well!


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Emanef said:


> Ol FFS. This explains why...
> 
> 3pm Premier League matches- FA limiting availability to broadcasters - The Sat and PC Guy - Sky TV Spain, Freesat TV Spain, Satellite TV and Spanish TV Installations for the Costa Blanca, Costa Azahar and Valencia areas of Spain
> 
> So to make sure we in the UAE go to live matched in England on a Saturday afternoon they're restricting viewing to only one 3pm kick off. I hope they back down on that. AJS paid a lot of money for the rights to show all games and subscribers are paying for them as well!


This is friggin stupid. I couldnt figure out either yesterday what was happening. As it is we miss most of the sunday matches because its a working day, and now this.
No wonder Al Jazeera had a lot of "warning" notifications saying that the feed was only meant for the MENA region.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

I'm hoping it's the EPL forcing AJS into tightening up on how people can access their web channels. I know a lot of people in the UK access AJS through north African VPNs using fake accounts details, plus lots of pubs in the UK seem to be showing the channels through sat cards. 

With the amount of money AJS spent on it for ALL matches it must put that agreement into doubt and the EPL in breach of it. Hopefully AJS will take legal action and the EPL back down, but I guess that depends on how good AJSs lawyers are! 

I don't think they blocked north American channels from showing the matches from looking on some forums. Seems to be more European and ME channels. Perhaps that's because US satellites are too far for UK users to access them but not European/ME channels (correct if I'm wrong)?


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Strange that I can't find anything about it on any news sites, UAE or other. 

Having a search I can see there are UK companies selling dodgy IPTV boxes now available that say they get all AJS channels as normal channels without any geo restrictions. Maybe that's the sort of thing that are causing the problems.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Emanef said:


> Strange that I can't find anything about it on any news sites, UAE or other.
> 
> Having a search I can see there are UK companies selling dodgy IPTV boxes now available that say they get all AJS channels as normal channels without any geo restrictions. Maybe that's the sort of thing that are causing the problems.


I was googling yesterday as well, and found nothing.
Not going to lose my sleep over it but I hope they sort it out. Not like the World Cup bullsh!t where after crappy telecasts they said that their transmission signals were "sabotaged" and then never ever mentioned anything else about it.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

We weren't here for the last world cup - what happened?


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Emanef said:


> We weren't here for the last world cup - what happened?


Sabotage to blame for - World - Cup fiasco - Al Jazeera - World - ArabianBusiness.com
and the bad transmission continued for almost a week before they could resolve the "sabotage"


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

UAE fans up in arms over cut to UK football broadcasts | The National
Unfortunately AJ claims it is not their responsibility


_

Dave Spours, a British expatriate who lives in Dubai, was unable to watch his team Newcastle play Norwich. 

“I was furious,” Mr Spours said. “Only the Arsenal versus Southampton game was being shown. Al Jazeera didn’t mention it at all, not a word. It’s so bad. 
“There was nothing on their website about this, no response from Twitter either. All you could watch was Arsenal or a replay of Brighton against Wigan – and even that was in Arabic.” 

He pays Dh60 a month in subscription to watch all of the live Premier League games.

“If the problem isn’t solved I’ll cancel my subscription. I’m not paying for one game a weekend,” Mr Spours said.

There was no indication on the Al Jazeera Sport website as to why the service had been changed.

“The changes to the English Premier League will only affect Saturday 3pm kick-offs, which means that we can only show one live Saturday 3pm GMT match in each match week,” the broadcaster’s customer service centre said.

“We are still able to show all games on delay, which means that the game must not start until two hours after its original kick-off time. All other games are unaffected.”

The company claimed it was not responsible for the reduced service. “These changes are from the EPL committee and we have nothing to do with them based on the contract.”_


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

I doubt it is AJSs fault, but their contract with the EPL is to show every match live so presumably the EPL are no longer fulfilling that contract. They shouldn't just roll over and accept it and should take strong action. 

The frustrating thing is that cancelling my AJS subscription would be cutting my nose of to spite my face, as I'd not get any of the other football.

Also, from what I understand they're not doing the same with the US broadcasters, so they are picking on AJS. I bet the US channels have pretty good lawyers....


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## Carefree1979 (Dec 6, 2011)

I understand that a lot of it is to do with the lack of effort AJS are making in preventing piracy on various IPTV platforms - and in response why AJS were putting up "warnings" every 5 minutes of each game they showed about piracy. A number of English pubs are now using through these channels and, interestingly, I understand AJS in North Africa was not restricted in the same way as here.

Richard Keys (the authority on all such matters) did make some comments though that he expected the problem to be solved - so maybe a bit early to be cancelling subscriptions.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

I have AJS with Du and also signed up for the online content so I could watch a second 3pm match if I want to (or watch one if my wife is watching TV). I emailed AJS to moan about the situation and ask about how I'd go about getting a refund on my web subscription (just enquiring) and they replied saying they'll cancel it immediately and give me a refund! No messing about there! That's quite handy for me as I've rarely used it as it plays back really jerkily on my laptop (an i7 so no slow - flash is rubbish!) and I can't get it on my iPad because I can't sign up to a UAE iTunes account as I can't understand a word of Arabic to do it! 

Looking on a couple of more dubious forums and they're already making provision for AJS no longer showing the 3pm matches and will be switching to another channel to stream them. They'll never stop them unless they ban them globally and don't let the video out of Sky central!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Seems to have gone all quiet on this. Presumably AJS/BEIN have just accepted it. 

On another note, does anyone else with DU have problems recording two HD channels at a time? I can record two channels, but only one can be HD otherwise I get a message saying HD services are in use. I though they'd be able to record two HD streams at the same time, but I don't know if it's a limitation of these crappy Du IPtv boxes or a limitation because of the maximum speed connection in my location (palm jumeirah) will only allow a single HD stream.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Well it looks like there has been progress on the 3pm kick offs, although it doesn't look all good. 

Hairy man Keyes said during the Chelsea Everton match that they will be broadcasting all 3pm matches from 1 March, but through an encrypted signal and you have to register your smart card at https://sbs.beinsports.net/SelfService/frmSignUp.aspx to be able to access the channels. 

That's fine for people with the couple of satellite receivers that are compatible (I can't remember which he said, one was a Humax), but for all of us on IPTV systems like Du's I'm not sure if it'll be so straight forward. I've emailed Du for advice, see if they have any info. 

They're not usually that helpful and when they stopped showing the channels they seemed pretty clueless (although to be fair when I reported my internet connection had pretty much died this week they did finally send someone out after a couple of days or passing me back and forth, who found that the whole building had the problem - seems I was the only one who noticed it being a fraction of what it should be!)


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## BravoMike (May 21, 2013)

Emanef said:


> Well it looks like there has been progress on the 3pm kick offs, although it doesn't look all good.
> 
> Hairy man Keyes said during the Chelsea Everton match that they will be broadcasting all 3pm matches from 1 March, but through an encrypted signal and you have to register your smart card at https://sbs.beinsports.net/SelfService/frmSignUp.aspx to be able to access the channels.
> 
> ...


Please let us know how you get on with Du. I have thir box too and really want the 3pms back!!


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

Emanef said:


> Seems to have gone all quiet on this. Presumably AJS/BEIN have just accepted it.
> 
> On another note, does anyone else with DU have problems recording two HD channels at a time? I can record two channels, but only one can be HD otherwise I get a message saying HD services are in use. I though they'd be able to record two HD streams at the same time, but I don't know if it's a limitation of these crappy Du IPtv boxes or a limitation because of the maximum speed connection in my location (palm jumeirah) will only allow a single HD stream.


Did you sort this out?


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

No mate. I can only record/watch one HD channel at a time, don't know if that's standard with Du receivers or a limitation of our connection. No one has replied to say if they can or can't.


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## BravoMike (May 21, 2013)

Just tried this and I can record 2 HD channels and watch another.


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

Emanef said:


> No mate. I can only record/watch one HD channel at a time, don't know if that's standard with Du receivers or a limitation of our connection. No one has replied to say if they can or can't.


This is a tricky one. You can almost certainly watch/record two HD channels at once. When I moved into Marina Residences at the Palm Idid this regularly. One day, it just stopped and I could only watch/record one HD plus one non-HD channel.

Things then got very strange and annoying. Du sent a guy to fix the situation. He couldn't do it with the existing box, so he got a new box and left it to warm up. It still didn't work.

They sent another guy to fix it. He couldn't. The next time I called about it, Du told me that it was impossible for anyone in my building to watch/record two HD channels due to insufficient bandwidth. I told them I used to be able to do this, which they denied.

I spoke to neighbours in the building who confirmed they COULD watch/record two HD channels simultaneously. When I told Du about this, they had a new story. They said it only MY apartment that could not do this.

It seems that Du then put a note on my file so that ever single time I called them, the customer service person repeated the same claim that my apartment couldn't enjoy two HD channels at once.

I took my Du box to Arabian Ranches when I moved there. When the Du guy hooked me up to the system, guess what? I couldn't watch/record two HD channels at once.

The Du man simply called his office and someone did some reconfiguration and, just like magic, two HD channel availability was immediately restored.

It seems that some people at Du can fix this but most don't know about it. Best to try to get a tech guy to sort it out with his office. The issue seems to be in the way the box is configured.

It was maddening how all of the customer service stayed on message and were adamant that it couldn't be done.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Thanks Mike and Stewart. I'll contact Du's support and log it with them, see if they can get someone out. 

We'll have been here a year on the 1st May so need to decide whether to stay or move to somewhere else anyway.... we like it, other than the fact that the kids upstairs seem to have lead feet and more energy than Mo Farah and we're not sure we can cope with another year of being woken up at 7am every weekend and listening to them charging around for three or four hours (not good, especially with a hangover!) 

I have a sort of update on the Du/Bein issue. I've not heard back from Du so I called them to find out. The guy's English wasn't very good so I'm not 100% clear we understood each other properly, but he said they've not heard anything from Bein and are advising customers that it should all be ok unless they are notified otherwise. Quite how they will notify people if there are any problems I'm not sure, as he either didn't understand my question or I didn't understand his answer, but I did notice during yesterdays matches that they were showing information saying that all Bein HD sports channels (I think it was channels 4 to 11) will be encrypted from 1 March. Now I presume that either means that Du (and presumably Etisalat) customers will continue to receive all the channels fine as they're sent to some sort of encryption anyway, or we'll not get any of those channels! 

I don't know how this IPTV is set up but I really hope it's the former....!


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

We (Du customers) should be OK as you have to be in the UAE to receive it. The issue was with people in UK getting AJ/Bein boxes or cards. Nut as it's Du, you never know for sure.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yeah, I've seen other boxes on some sites, not satellite, like Mag-250 though. From what I understand of them they're linux based boxes that connect directly to IP streams but they connect to a third pay server to authenticate the streams. I've seen people paying £20-£30 a month to get Bein and Sky channels... crazy really, if the premier league allowed people in the UK to pay for them legitimately they've wipe out a huge chunk of the piracy and get paid for it! 

LIke you say, hopefully it's just the satellite versions and we'll all be OK!


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## BravoMike (May 21, 2013)

Fingers crossed then!!!!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Just had an email back from Du support;



> As per update from Du TV team, Al Jazeera requested to register the smart card and decoder only applies to satellite customers.
> 
> Du customers do not need to register their decoder.


Looks like we'll be ok then!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Hmmm...ok. So all channels are available fine, but according to the EPG (which admittedly is option wrong when actually showing anything) there's only the Arsenal Stoke showing this afternoon. Looks like the other two 3pm matches are not on....

Equally strange is that they're currently showing QPR v Leeds on two channels, but only with Arabic or French commentary. Can't imagine there are too many French or Arabic QPR or Leeds fans....! lol


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## gillythered (Mar 1, 2014)

Hi to anybody that has Beinsports and able to record matches please help me. I am looking for Nottingham Forest matches from this season and upcoming games to be recorded and sent as either dvd or videofiles, i am willing to pay for this service or trade matches, please someone help.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

gillythered said:


> Hi to anybody that has Beinsports and able to record matches please help me. I am looking for Nottingham Forest matches from this season and upcoming games to be recorded and sent as either dvd or videofiles, i am willing to pay for this service or trade matches, please someone help.


Bein only seem to show the Championship matches that are on Sky.


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## gillythered (Mar 1, 2014)

bein have an exclusive deal with Forest to show all their Saturday 3pm kick offs thats why im asking


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Ah, ok, I didn't realise! Sorry, I have no way of capturing them!


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Emanef said:


> Hmmm...ok. So all channels are available fine, but according to the EPG (which admittedly is option wrong when actually showing anything) there's only the Arsenal Stoke showing this afternoon. Looks like the other two 3pm matches are not on....
> 
> Equally strange is that they're currently showing QPR v Leeds on two channels, but only with Arabic or French commentary. Can't imagine there are too many French or Arabic QPR or Leeds fans....! lol


BEIN sports are a bunch of cheats and liars! They kept crying about how it was illegal usage of their cards that was forcing them to not show all the matches but now that it's supposedly secure, they still don't show them! Yes only Arsenal v Stoke and Liverpool v Southampton was shown live. You had to wait for a few hours at least to see a replay of the other games. Makes you wonder why bother paying for a sports channel when they're not showing important games!

As for commentary, unless it's on their 11HD channel, expect them to put whatever language they deem suitable. I wouldn't be surprised if the next game I see just has animal sounds


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

They are a bit rubbish. It's probably laziness as much as anything else. They probably can't be arsed to spend the time and money challenging the EPL when you'd have thought it was the EPL who breached the contract to allow them to show all matches halfway through the first year. 

It's frustrating that there's never any public announcments about what's happening other than the (very) occasional apologetic comment from Keyes on Twitter.


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## BravoMike (May 21, 2013)

I was wondering why all the Forest games were always on! No idea how to capture though sorry.


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## gillythered (Mar 1, 2014)

BravoMike said:


> I was wondering why all the Forest games were always on! No idea how to capture though sorry.


They negotiated a contract with the Forest owners the Al Hasawis to show all saturday 3pm kick offs


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

I tweeted Keyes to find out about the 3pm matches. He's replied saying they "haven't got permission to show them all yet, will keep us informed". 

Hmmm. I'd love to know what the AJS/Bein legal team do to fill their days....!


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

Probably need a few weeks to see if the anti-piracy effort as worked.


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

BEIN Sports "Well it's been a few weeks and it looks like this piracy crap has blown over so we can now show you all the live matches that you rightfully paid for! Oh but wait, all the leagues are over! Did we even tell you who won what? Who cares, we have your money and next year we will make up another lame reason to screw you legit subscribers over!"

Almost looks like I got this from the future! Oh and the F1 is coming to BEIN as well! I have to wonder what do Abu Dhabi Sports show now? Cartoons?


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

TV Guide | beIN SPORTS EN

Does anyone notice that even though there are several EPL games on tomorrow/today (Saturday), it doesn't look like the "best sports network in the world" is showing any of them?! To be frank when I wanted to watch the Europa League games on Thursday I checked their TV guide site and found no mention of them but they were showing them.....are we paying more for less again?


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

No, it seems they've not got permission yet - seems crazy they need 'permission' to show the games they paid ####loads of money for. I guess Bein don't care too much.... us mugs will still pay the subscription. 

Pffft....


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Quite ridiculous! Checking their tv guide this morning and it seems they have edited their guide to show they are playing the games, only 3 out of 8! Guess all that talk of not showing more games because of piracy was just BS. Still don't think they're the best sports network if even AD Sports used to show more EPL matches!


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

Moe78 said:


> TV Guide | beIN SPORTS EN Does anyone notice that even though there are several EPL games on tomorrow/today (Saturday), it doesn't look like the "best sports network in the world" is showing any of them?! To be frank when I wanted to watch the Europa League games on Thursday I checked their TV guide site and found no mention of them but they were showing them.....are we paying more for less again?


One thing is you can't rely on TV guide it is often misleading


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

The EPG on mine is rubbish. Half the time it has 'no program information' on all the Bein channels. 

Is anyone else getting a block of random letters coming up every now and then when they're watching football? I'm wondering if we've all got a unique code and they're using it to try to work out where illegal streams are coming from or something...? I've been getting it since they went encrypted and it seems to be the same code every time for me (not written it down to check though!)


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

code has a few letters h and g. they just the put the price up for this too


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## JonGard (Aug 18, 2013)

Normally the code comes up in bars as that's the encrypted channels.

If you're struggling for the tv guide try liveonsat.com , that's better than BeIn Sports own site!


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Yeah never used to get them on my eLife TV set top but now I do! I have seen them in a cafe I frequent for some games and those letters/codes have been up there for months. Annoying since they do block views sometimes!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

FFS... Bein advertised relegation scrap Palace v Cardiff as the 3pm kickoff the other day. Now they're showing the mid-table 'battle' between Newcastle and United?! Is there a less meaningful match on today?! Pffft!


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Yup they often only show 1 game at a time now even though they have lots of free channels to show the games


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yeah, but during the midweek Champions League matches they advertised on the program (ie Richard Keys said it as well) that they would show the Man City early kick off, Cardiff Palace 3pm and Chelsea late game. They've changed the 3pm from a very important bottom of the table match to a pretty much pointless mid table match. Just because it's Man United.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

Why would anyone be interested in watching the current Premiership Champions fighting to get into a Champions League spot when they could watch a match between two of the worst teams in the league!! 
I'm sure there were literally dozens of people on the planet who shared your horror at missing Cardiff/Palace, LoL!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

United have been pretty awful this season and there's no way they'll get a Champions League spot. Newcastle are mid table. 

I'd much rather watch a match of relevance, ie where both teams have something to play for, than a match that is pretty much a meaningless end of season run out. 

As it turned out the United v Newcastle (who have nothing to play for) match was one sided and utterly dull. You must be a United fan, hope you enjoyed it...


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## JonGard (Aug 18, 2013)

Emanef, I'm not a United fan, but I manage a bar. I have to tell you that you're one in a thousand in Dubai if you'd rather watch that than United. 

Over here it's even worse than home for being fixated on the glamour clubs.


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## DaveD (Apr 15, 2012)

Not really the point, we have all been promised every English premier league game live by BEin sports including all sat 3pm kick offs, even more so since the supposed GoSecure on the receivers.

I'd urge everyone to bombard them with contact asking why isn't this hasn't been the case since the 1st March

Goodness knows what's going to happen for the World Cup


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Gah! Fair enough! Personally I'd rather watch a good relgation scrap than a one sided match any day but, as you say, too many people would rather just watch United regardless. 

The sooner they get permission to show all those 3pm kick-offs the better! :fingerscrossed:


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

I agree that the way United have struggled this year it seems unlikely however if Arsenal win the FA cup then 5th place in the Premiership will qualify and as of today United are 3 points off 5th place and 7 points off Arsenal in 4th so they still have plenty to play for.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Good luck with that then...! 

Not sure why you think Arsenal winning the FA cup will give the league five CHampions Leage places! If Arsenal win the FA cup (which I'm sure they will do given who else it left) that would only get them into the Europa League. If they finish top four they pass on that for Champions League so it will go to the league, but it doesn't mean fifth will get a Champions League spot. United need to get fourth to get back in to the Champions League. Either that or win it. Arsenal are more likely to win the league than lose out on fourth to United (Everton are in a better position with their two games in hand, although one will drop points today). After Everton Arsenal have a pretty easy run in and I can't see them dropping 7 points in addition to dropping points today. 

Anyway... it's always good to see a positive United fan. You don't get too many of them these days...!


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

Whilst its unlikely that United will catch Arsenal its highly likely that they will finish above Everton as they have a very tough run in, they even have to play Palace lol!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yes, but they will still not get into the Champions League with fifth, even if Arsenal win the FA cup. 

I was referring to this bit of your post; 


Felixtoo2 said:


> ....if Arsenal win the FA cup then 5th place in the Premiership will qualify


If Chelsea win the CL there will still only be four English teams in next season. The only way there will be five is if United win the CL this season, and UEFA allow the fourth place to still go qualify (not sure if there will be no fourth or whether third and fourth will then have to go through the qualifiers instead of just fourth). The only time it happened was when Liverpool won but came fifth ad Everton came fourth. They went out in the qualifiers though.


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## JonGard (Aug 18, 2013)

As Everton have Sunderland (away) and Crystal Palace (home) before Arsenal play another league game, it could get very interesting for us blues


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

It'll be tough, but you've got a great chance. Those two home games against the Mancs will be massive. 

I think it's great that Moyes has finally got Everton above Man U!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Did anyone see the brief interview with EPL Cheif Exec Scudamore at half time last night? He said they are working to try to get piracy down to a workable level and then they'll be able to reinstate the 3pm kick offs, but no time scale given. He gave the normal excuse about why 3pm kick offs are not shown in the UK, to protect grass roots football, etc (like the EPL really cares about that more, it's not about them losing revenue!) He said they're trying to identify where the illegal streams are being shown and taking action.

So it's fine to continue to punish the genuine paying punters like us whilst they do that.... ****s... 

Maybe they have a load of grunts going from pub to pub around the UK looking for Bein streams. Spending your afternoon in a boozer watching football.... nice work if you can get it! lol


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

I got an SMS from Etisalat today saying the Bein Sports package will now cost 78 per month. I am not sure what I am paying till now, but definitely an increase.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Probably had to increase it to pay for the extra lawyers that've got them nowhere....!


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Anyone know who will show the World Cup? I'm guessing BEIN Sports? Perhaps this is why they've increased prices? Or is it just Etisalat cheating us again!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Bein have been advertisting it, I think they have it exclusively.


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

BBC and ITV have all the world cup matches.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Satbill said:


> BBC and ITV have all the world cup matches.


For showing in the UK only though! No good out here! :lol:


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

Haven't you heard about slingbox ?


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Using your conventional internet to stream video isn't always reliable here.


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

2 mbs only is enough for live streaming in hd quality


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Not in the UAE. One second it's fine, next it's super slow and jittery. Something's are fine but it's just not reliable enough


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

A lot of people are already using it with no problem . Also slingbox/ slingplayer can lower the streaming quality if there are bandwidth issues.You can always try one...


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Not good enought quality for me, plus it needs someone back home to have it set up at their end. 

Why bother when Bein has it in reasonably good quality HD?


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

Try and compare Bein and sky uk as complete packages . Not only in sports . As for the " someone back home " , i agree , that's why there are companies in Uk already supplying it .
The point is to find someone who can send it with high upload speed . I have ...


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

Compare Sky UK and Bein prices too (although I agree the Bein service provided by du is atrocious in many ways).


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

Yes it is not cheap.I pay 60 pounds per month for the sports pack but it is the best package ever.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

You mean an IPTV box and a paid auth server access?


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

Noooo . slingbox is legal . It is about a sky hd box that you pay the subscription ( through a company ) but only you can watch it and remote control it , because only you have the viewing password .


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Ah, ok. I know Slingbox is legal. I thought you meant you were getting it another way. 

I'm fine with Bein. It's overpriced but they have more matches than Sky anyway, and there's nothing I can't get as I download all TV shows I want from usenet and torrents at 1080p, which is more than the 720p/1080i Sky can give me, even if I could find someone in the UK with a fast upload speed willing to leave a box connected 24/7. 

I bought one of those Mag250 IPTV boxes a while back to try which streamed all the channels and connected to a third party server for auth but the quality just wasn't worth it (for what I expect anyway).


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

I used to download from torrents but i am tired of it . Slingbox's sky box is a pvr . I download to it's hard disk every show i want whenever it is showing and i watch it when i want. Plus i can watch it where ever in the world i have an internet connection . You see i travel to Dubai often and i watch my favorite tv everywhere , even in my iphone through 3g. I also use a media player directly to my tv through wi fi without using my pc.
Mags is sh** .Terrible picture quality , not reliable .
Bein is cheap for my standards but i am talking for uk tv , not only sports .
But for answering about the world cup here is sky's schedule : BBC, ITV FIFA World Cup 2014 coverage schedule - full details - Media News - Digital Spy


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yes, that's why I've never used the mag, it was pretty poor, and I already have a small PC under the lounge TV running XBMC so we watch everything off that. Torrents are a pain, but I only use it as back up for the odd thing usenet has not picked up - a usenet sub + sickbeard + sabnzdb = a pretty automated PVR, just downloads new episodes for all shows I've told it to. The only thing I've not been able to get off it is Coronation Street! I rarely used to watch live TV (other than news and sport) in the UK anyway so it's not that much different to when we were in the UK. I only watch on my TV and for me the picture quality is important, and if it's not good enough for my liking I'd rather wait until I have got it at high quality.

I don't mind paying the Bein sub to get all the football, it's around £20 than I paid in the UK for phone/tv/BB. I just begrudge it more now that they've cut all but one of the 3pm matches. Not much I can do about it though.

BBC and ITV always have the world cup. It's one of the "crown jewel" sporting events that has to go to terrestrial TV (although there has been speculation about some of those not being protected in the future). 

As there'll not be more than two matches at a time (and mostly just one) I'm hoping that Bein can get it right this time. I presume they'll just buy the feeds from the broadcasters and commentary, etc from someone like BBC and ITV anyway, as they seem to do with UK football - post match interviewers seem to vary from Sky to BBC reporters (that idiot Jeff Shreeves seems to have been throwing is inane questions at players post match lately!)

The main two things that annoy me about Bein are that my EPG rarely shows what's actually on (although that may be Du's doing), and I hate the way they cut events short they've finished - I watched the Pacquio fight rerun on Sunday and they ended the show just as they were about to interview him! Gah! And it wasn't for a live event, just ads then a pre-recorded show. Pretty poor.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

There are UK TV hosting companies that have dedicated uplinks and data centers with Sky boxes connected to Slingbox. Expect to pay the service fee GBP 40-60 + Sky packages fee. It requires you to have 3000-4000Kbps constant connection to their server in order to get quality HD streams. Remember it has nothing to do with your speed line as having 24 or 100 Mbps connection doesn't guarantee you the same or anywhere close to the same speeds to UK servers.

Anyway, having one of the best sports tv package in the world which I personally consider Al Jazeera/Bein is, it must be crazy to pay GBP 100-120 to get sky sports. Bein is probably 80% cheaper and offers at least 40x more football matches than sky sports do  Football fans in UK would love to ditch Sky for Bein. The only major thing missing is Bundesliga in fact.

There were no issues with EPG when I used to watch Bein via satellite, so perhaps it's DU issue?


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yes, very likely. I still need to call them out to look at why I cannot record two HD channels so that may be linked to the problem. It's annoying on a Sat avo when I want to record as I just have to record blocks of 1 hour long "no program information" programs to cover all the matches!


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

I agree that bein has more football matches and is cheaper but seeing it as a whole package there is no comparison. As for the slingbox speed you get hd quality with only 2 - 2.5 mbs at your side. You can always ask for a free demo to check it yourself.
As for the price is 80 GBP for the full pack + 20GBP for BT - Espn .
Right now i am testing a new slingbox rental from USA . The comcast package . IT is a chaos ..
800 channels and it is working well . The stream is constant but the picture is not so sharp as the uk slingbox .


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

Satbill said:


> I agree that bein has more football matches and is cheaper but seeing it as a whole package there is no comparison. As for the slingbox speed you get hd quality with only 2 - 2.5 mbs at your side. You can always ask for a free demo to check it yourself.
> As for the price is 80 GBP for the full pack + 20GBP for BT - Espn .
> Right now i am testing a new slingbox rental from USA . The comcast package . IT is a chaos ..
> 800 channels and it is working well . The stream is constant but the picture is not so sharp as the uk slingbox .


Full pack including movies, entertainment, sports and BT would GBP 120...
Are you using UKTV2C perhaps? I was using them before I moved to Asia. The problem here in Singapore is that despite super extra high speed "1st world" connectivity of up to 1Gbit (yes 1Gbit) I was struggling at 600-700Kbps to their UK servers...

It seems internet is better in UAE compared to Singapore at least...


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## Satbill (Feb 28, 2014)

No i do not use this company . And it is 80+20 . As for the connectivity problem you had , i am surprised . I am sure it is a matter of good uploading than downloading. Would you like to lend you my sling for a couple of hours to check it ?


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

Satbill said:


> No i do not use this company . And it is 80+20 . As for the connectivity problem you had , i am surprised . I am sure it is a matter of good uploading than downloading. Would you like to lend you my sling for a couple of hours to check it ?


If you do not mind, please pm me your details and the company you are using.

The company I mentioned is quite reputable and solid, I used them since 2011. When I was in Europe I had no issue with 3-4Mbps streaming from them, in Singapore however international connectivity sucks which is often the reason of streaming issues. And yes, I know how strange it may sound: Singapore "1st world" country with "fastest" internet speeds in the world is having issues with 3Mbps streaming from UK.... Go figure. However here "fastest" internet is on paper and achievable only locally, using local speedtest, once the connection reaches outside of Singapore it is crawling.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Is anyone else trying to watch the QPR v Derby match and their picture just gone off from nearly all Bein channels (ie 5 to 15)?! All other channels work!


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Works fine for me


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Sodding thing. Came back on in the 91st minute.


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Apparently you didn't miss much. Only shot on goal, scored, QPR promoted!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yeah, we put it on the radio until it came back on. Wasn't the greatest match ever. Sometimes those playoff finals are really exciting. There was definately not the quality on show that there was in the big final later on last night!


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

The playoffs are always tense and interesting for real fans.


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## NazneenKhan (Nov 11, 2013)

That was the saddest moment for every English Premier League football fans all over the UAE. 

Does anyone know who has the AFC Asian Cup rights in UAE for the 2015 season?


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