Latest news with #sportsbroadcasting
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Football and other premium TV being pirated at 'industrial scale'
A lack of action by big tech firms is enabling the "industrial scale theft" of premium video services, especially live sport, a new report says. The research by Enders Analysis accuses Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft of "ambivalence and inertia" over a problem it says costs broadcasters revenue and puts users at an increased risk of cyber-crime. Gareth Sutcliffe and Ollie Meir, who authored the research, described the Amazon Fire Stick - which they argue is the device many people use to access illegal streams - as "a piracy enabler". Amazon told BBC News that it remained "vigilant in our efforts to combat piracy". Sports broadcasting is big business, with the total value of media rights across the world passing the $60bn (£44bn) mark last year. The increasing cost of rights deals results in higher prices for fans at home, especially if they choose to pay for multiple services to watch their team play. To get round this, some resort to illegal streams of big events. Enders say there are often multiple streams of individual events - such as high profile football games - each of which can have tens of thousands of people watching them. Bosses of big rights holders, Sky and DAZN, have previously warned piracy is causing a financial crisis in the broadcast industry. Nick Herm, chief operating officer of Sky Group, said the Enders research "highlights the significant scale and impact of piracy, particularly on premium live sport". "It's a serious issue for anyone who invests in creating and delivering world-class content," he added. "We'd like to see faster, more joined-up action from major tech platforms and government to address the problem and help protect the UK creative industries." There is a risk for users too. The Enders report says fans watching football matches, for instance, via illegal streams are typically providing information such as credit card details and email addresses, leaving them vulnerable to malware and phishing scams. Many supporters, though, argue that lowering the cost of legally streaming sport would be the most effective way of minimising such risks. The researchers looked at the European market and focussed on Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft. While Meta, the owner of Facebook, was criticised for being the source of adverts for illegal streams, the technology of the other three was blamed for the increase in piracy. The Amazon Fire Stick is a major cause of the problem, according to the report. The device plugs into TVs and gives the viewer thousands of options to watch programmes from legitimate services including the BBC iPlayer and Netflix. They are also being used to access illegal streams, particularly of live sport. In November last year, a Liverpool man who sold Fire Stick devices he reconfigured to allow people to illegally stream Premier League football matches was jailed. After uploading the unauthorised services on the Amazon product, he advertised them on Facebook. Another man from Liverpool was given a two-year suspended sentence last year after modifying fire sticks and selling them on Facebook and WhatsApp. According to data for the first quarter of this year, provided to Enders by Sky, 59% of people in UK who said they had watched pirated material in the last year while using a physical device said they had used a Amazon fire product. The Enders report says the fire stick enables "billions of dollars in piracy" overall. A spokesperson from Amazon, who are sports rights holders themselves, told BBC News: "Pirated content violates our policies regarding intellectual property rights, and compromises the security and privacy of our customers." They said Amazon worked hard to protect customers from the risks associated with pirated content, and warned customers about installing or using apps from "unknown sources". Amazon has also made changes to its Fire devices to make it harder for people to stream pirated content, they added. Meta has made no comment. The researchers also pointed to the role played by the "continued depreciation" of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems, particularly those from Google and Microsoft. This technology enables high quality streaming of premium content to devices. Two of the big players are Microsoft's PlayReady and Google's Widevine. The authors argue the architecture of the DRM is largely unchanged, and due to a lack of maintenance by the big tech companies, PlayReady and Widevine "are now compromised across various security levels". Mr Sutcliffe and Mr Meir said this has had "a seismic impact across the industry, and ultimately given piracy the upper hand by enabling theft of the highest quality content". They added: "Over twenty years since launch, the DRM solutions provided by Google and Microsoft are in steep decline. "A complete overhaul of the technology architecture, licensing, and support model is needed. Lack of engagement with content owners indicates this a low priority." Google has highlighted a number of measures it does to protect content, stating that it takes "the ever-evolving challenge of copyright infringement" seriously. Microsoft has made no comment. Man jailed for selling online access to TV football TV gang illegally streamed Premier League matches Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Football and other premium TV being pirated at 'industrial scale'
A lack of action by big tech firms is enabling the "industrial scale theft" of premium video services, especially live sport, a new report research by Enders Analysis accuses Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft of "ambivalence and inertia" over a problem it says costs broadcasters revenue and puts users at an increased risk of Sutcliffe and Ollie Meir, who authored the research, described the Amazon Fire Stick - which they argue is the device many people use to access illegal streams - as "a piracy enabler".BBC News has contacted Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft for comment. The piracy problem Sports broadcasting is big business, with the total value of media rights across the world passing the $60bn (£44bn) mark last increasing cost of rights deals results in higher prices for fans at home, especially if they choose to pay for multiple services to watch their team play. To get round this, some resort to illegal streams of big say there are often multiple streams of individual events - such as high profile football games - each of which can have tens of thousands of people watching of big rights holders, Sky and DAZN, have previously warned piracy is causing a financial crisis in the broadcast industry. There is a risk for users Enders report says fans watching football matches, for instance, via illegal streams are typically providing information such as credit card details and email addresses, leaving them vulnerable to malware and phishing scams. Fire Stick in the firing line The researchers focussed on Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft. While Meta, the owner of Facebook, was criticised for being the source of adverts for illegal streams, the technology of the other three was blamed for the increase in Amazon Fire Stick is a major cause of the problem, according to the device plugs into TVs and gives the viewer thousands of options to watch programmes from legitimate services including the BBC iPlayer and are also being used to access illegal streams, particularly of live November last year, a Liverpool man who sold Fire Stick devices he reconfigured to allow people to illegally stream Premier League football matches was jailed. After uploading the unauthorised services on the Amazon product, he advertised them on man from Liverpool was given a two-year suspended sentence last year after modifying fire sticks and selling them on Facebook and WhatsApp. According to data for the first quarter of this year, provided to Enders by Sky, 59% of people in UK who said they had watched pirated material in the last year while using a physical device said they had used a Amazon fire Enders report says the fire stick enables "billions of dollars in piracy" overall. Depreciation of tech allows piracy to flourish The researchers also pointed to the role played by the "continued depreciation" of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems, particularly those from Google and technology enables high quality streaming of premium content to devices. Two of the big players are Microsoft's PlayReady and Google's WidevineThe authors argue the architecture of the DRM is largely unchanged, and due to a lack of maintenance by the big tech companies, PlayReady and Widevine "are now compromised across various security levels".Mr Sutcliffe and Mr Meir said this has had "a seismic impact across the industry, and ultimately given piracy the upper hand by enabling theft of the highest quality content".They added: "Over twenty years since launch, the DRM solutions provided by Google and Microsoft are in steep decline."A complete overhaul of the technology architecture, licensing, and support model is needed. Lack of engagement with content owners indicates this a low priority." Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
National Post
5 days ago
- General
- National Post
An Abbotsford Canucks announcer was hit with a chair and no one will talk about it
So the long and short of this all is that yes, it does seem Abbotsford Canucks announcer Brandon Astle was struck in some way with a chair allegedly thrown by a Colorado Eagles fan during the broadcast of Monday's series-clinching win for the Canucks at Blue Arena in Loveland, Colo. Article content 'Got some yahoo chirping at me from behind,' Astle said late in the first period of the game, after Phil Di Giuseppe scored to make it 2-0. Article content 'I'm fired up. He threw my chair at me. Hit me right in the back of my leg. What was he doing here?' he then said about 20 seconds later, after a whistle had stopped play. Article content 'Unreal. Have another beer,' he then quipped to the viewing audience. Article content Astle later posted to X about the incident, first posting a classic WWE clip of Stone Cold Steve Austin attacking The Rock with a chair, then a later post where he commented on a post of the audio of the incident. Article content 'I could have handled this better, but was in shock & fired up as you can tell, as that has never happened to me before… I know that one yahoo does not reflect the Eagles organization or their fans & apparently was found and kicked out,' he wrote. Article content ummm @brandon_astle, are you good? 😮 — Lizz Child (@LizzChild) May 26, 2025 Article content An account on X then went at him, suggesting they were the fan and that Astle's account was incorrect. Article content Astle did not respond to an inquiry about the event, though another source told Postmedia that Astle's claims were indeed legit. Article content But no one else is really talking either, leaving a few questions. Article content The Canucks' director of communications Craig MacEwen declined to comment: 'we don't have any comment. Feel the incident has been dealt with and is over.' Article content Kevin McGlue, the Eagles' vice-president of communications, also declined to further clarify what had happened: 'Thank you for reaching out. We have had discussions with Brandon over the past 24 hours, and the two teams are not going to be providing any further comment on the matter.' Article content McGlue wouldn't even confirm or deny that the fan who is alleged to have thrown the chair was ejected from the building. Article content The silence is a bit odd, though perhaps the Canucks would rather concentrate on their outstanding playoff run: they're set to face the Texas Stars in the AHL Western Conference championship, starting Thursday at the Abbotsford Centre. Article content Often road announcers in the AHL are left to broadcast from a table in or adjacent to the stands. What Colorado's setup is isn't known. Was there a security guard posted in Astle's area? How did the fan get so close to him in the first place? Should the Canucks have had a staffer sitting with him? Article content
Wall Street Journal
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Cut From His High-School Sports Teams, Bob Costas Tried Broadcasting Instead
Bob Costas, 73, spent nearly 40 years at NBC Sports, covering most major sports, hosting a dozen Olympics and winning 29 Emmys. He is a commentator on the Major League Baseball Network. He spoke with Marc Myers. Sports broadcasting was always a childhood dream, but it made even more sense after a couple of minor high-school setbacks.
CBS News
6 days ago
- Sport
- CBS News
How to watch the Golden State Valkyries vs. New York Liberty
The Golden State Valkyries will be on the road for two games against the New York Liberty, and KPIX will be airing both games on Tuesday and Thursday. How to watch the Golden State Valkyries On TV: KPIX 5, Channel 5 KPIX 5, Channel 5 What: Golden State Valkyries vs. New York Liberty Golden State Valkyries vs. New York Liberty Date : Tuesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 29 : Tuesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 29 Time: 4 p.m. PST 4 p.m. PST Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York Pregame show KPIX 5 will also have pregame coverage. On TV: KPIX 5, Channel 5 KPIX 5, Channel 5 What: Golden State Valkyries Pregame Show Golden State Valkyries Pregame Show Date: Tuesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 29 Tuesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 29 Time: 3:30 p.m.
