Viaplay pull out of UK market

[dolf_lundgren]

The annoying thing about hanging off is that if they do cover the URC (and my guess would be they will) it may be too late to make use of some of the discounts and be asked to pay £15.99/month

It is a really odd business decision to actively discourage people from giving you money. Even if they said we will give a 25/50% discount for Uk subscribers if we don't, they still fin financially.

Would be interesting to know how many UK subscribers they have and how many if for URC, im guessing it is low.

[Pitfitter1105]

I’ve mentioned Viaplay to people and get back “who?” not good enough marketing?

[dolf_lundgren]

£99 has been taken from my account. If URC is included then Im happy with that to be honest.

Interestingly the Hearts European game is on viaplay tomorrow night. So it suggests that even though they are withdrawing, they are still active as this will have been a very recent arrangement, so I am hopeful we will get a full season of URC.

Im off to watch the speedway......

[bignose]

I got in touch with them and told them that I wanted to cancel, given my conversations with them (details earlier in this thread). The day that my payment would have been due, they emailed me to say that they were sure that they would still be broadcasting the URC this time next year. Films and other non-sport stuff will not be available in the UK though.

I cancelled anyway and I'll look again at the start of October.

[The Chiel]

Just to say I renewed today to get the round ball game tonight. Tortuous stuff trying to use the web site route, perhaps because I was previously a subscriber but not currently. Also possibly because I get Viaplay via Sky. But good luck if anyone goes down that route.
Eventually after a clueless agent on chat, I rang the Satellite Team on 0333 003 3773 and got it sorted pretty quickly. There's still a £99 deal for a year if you pay up front.

[Pitfitter1105]

Thanks for the info, I may be the other subscriber via Sky.

[Impega]

Looking at the TV schedule on the Viaplay website, the games are all being shown live this coming weekend.

There is also a 'one-month free' offer that has been sent to the Glasgow Warriors mailing list.

I'm going to renew now in the hope they manage to at least broadcast the whole of the coming season.

[dolf_lundgren]

I think they will, or you would have a good case for a refund. Unless they are losing money by paying the production companies I see no benefit from them not showing. I would hope also there is a clause in the contract that hey have to show all the games, it was one of the main reasons they got it, its particularly important in a cross border comp

[Pitfitter1105]

Unable to get on the website to check our status but tried a password reset and got in? £99 taken end of September and all channels showing fine, no debit from bank account yet!

[The Chiel]

Viaplay are going to exit their sports coverage, and Premier Sports will it take over again. No exact date.

I'm not massively surprised that Viaplay are going. As the thread title says, they announced a while back they were wanting to exit the UK market. Bit surprised it's Premier - I can only assume they're getting it back for not very much (and certainly a lot less than they sold it to Viaplay for, which was apparently £30m !). The worry of course is how much time and effort PS will put into future coverage after this season.

Everything I read implies subscribers via TV don't have to do anything - it just changes back, and will continue on the same Sky & Virgin channels. There is apparently a new Premier Sports streaming service to be launched next year, which may impact on the app. And of course the web site for signing up etc will presumably move back to PS.

Rugby Broadcast ( @rugbybroadcast ) on twitter seem to be in the know. They do mention the deal is subject to competition approval.

No news as yet on the Swedish speedway !

Apologies that this is a duplicate of my comment on the Glasgow site - I know a number of us read both.

[The Chiel]

I'm assuming Viaplay subscribers have received an email from Premier, saying how easy it is to now transfer to the Premier Sports site. Of course it isn't. For those who watch through Sky, see below, courtesy of gonesouth on the Glasgow forum :

"For those that access the app but have the package on Sky. Note; if we do not have your email address on file or you do not know the email address you signed up with, a password reset email will not be sent. Please email support@premiersports.com to verify your name, address and Sky viewing Card number you have active with us. Once that has been confirmed we will update your email which will allow you to login and access your account."

Premier apparently don't have my email address, although they sent me the email mentioned above. Bodes well . . .

[Pitfitter1105]

Yep, had the same problem with email and passwords this morning, since we watch premier through tv with sky I haven’t jumped in to sort it but it’s not a good start.

[bignose]

I've not heard anything at all from either Viaplay or Premier Sports

[dolf_lundgren]

My email from them was in junk so worth checking there.

Had to change my password but seems to be working, havent tried to watch anything yet though, and agree Viaplay seemed a slicker system.

[Pitfitter1105]

Changed bank accounts and updated Premier payment details when it was completed, yesterday got an email telling they were unable to take payment, they didn’t try the new details even though I’d marked the card to use as required, after messing about on the website I ended up calling them, 10 minutes later all ok, all unnecessary cards deleted at the time too, what a fuss.