Optus learns the world cup is pretty popular

in #news6 years ago

I don't know how many people have been watching the farcical situation that is the coverage of the World Cup in Australia.

Optus (Australian telco) paid $8 million for the rights to games that didn't involve Australia, and select matches that SBS wished to cover.

Budget cuts forced SBS' hand in terms of selling some of the rights to sure up their financial situation.

Optus underestimated the popularity of the World Cup and was unable to provide consistent streaming for 400,000 subscribers. For comparison, Australia's opening world cup match attracted 2.1 million viewers to SBS.

The prime minister became involved, calling the Optus CEO for a resolution. Optus has been left with egg on its face, forced to allow SBS to broadcast the remainder of the games, and possibly providing refunds to customers who paid for the coverage.

I guess its called the world game with good reason...
1200px-2018_FIFA_World_Cup.svg.png Image Source

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