Sky sports+ tennis

[PhilHampson-Sky]

Can we start a discussion specifically on Sky Sports+ coverage of tennis please.

Sky have been saying that their tennis coverage was evolving and hinting that it's deficiencies would be sorted when Sky Sports+ came along.

I don't think tennis fans would agree that this has happened and would like the opportunity to post their views on this.

[PhilHampson-Sky]

Can I start the ball rolling.

It seems to me that the arrival of Sky Sports+, despite the usual hype,  has brought absolutely nothing new to the table for tennis - the same content just packaged a little differently.

You can only jump in Live  - no watching from the start of the match.

The icons display the current score so even the option to watch from the start would be spoiled 

The stream then disappear immediately the match is over.

Anyone any different thoughts ?

It is very sad for Sky that tennis fans can only look forward to good coverage of tennis tournaments when Sky are NOT covering them i.e. the OZ & French Opens, covered by Discovery Plus

It is a great shame that Sky now cover the US Open, since many matches will just not be available to watch, unless you are prepared to stay up all night.

[ftballman]

I've said it in other threads but to reiterate,  plus has changed nothing for tennis coverage. The half hearted (or another word) ability to rewind the live coverage is utterly pointless when you are already in the live coverage and have seen the score.

Without adding a watch from start, or at least earliest point, sort of suggests to me there were no sports fans involved in the development. Why on earth will I rewind 90 minutes of a tennis match if the score is right in my face when I click in.

[Stenic69]

This makes depressing reading.

So basically all the shortcomings people on here highlighted a year ago around the US Open ie no full match replays, no watch from start etc have not been addressed and this years coverage is looking like being the same.

I only check in on this issue now and then so apologies if i have missed the answer to this - have Sky actually addressed whether the service will ever improve to give us what we want and get up to BBC Wimbledon/Eurosport French Open/Amazon US Open standards or has the silence been deafening? My gut feeling is if things havent improved by now after a year then sadly they probably never will. ☹️

[Tennis2000]

Agree with everything above I really thought with sky sports + things would improve but sadly this is not the case. The olympics on discovery plus  has been brilliant with every event is on demand and in full just after it finished plus the ability to watch from start so I was able to watch any match of the tennis event when I wanted. Even on the iOS sky sports app there's no rewind function and only pause is available. This is shocking from sky and they remain well behind their competitors. Amazon prime done an amazing job with the tennis but sadly sky provides a second rate service

[Doc5907]

The Rugby League fans have it a lot worse than you tennis devotees. They have lost, in many cases, more than half of their weekly fixtures since Sky Sports + ! .. 🤔

[Stenic69]

I think to be affected the worst you have to be;

Scottish - our football coverage is so second rate (no Atmos, no multi match coverage)

Tennis fan

Rugby League fan

If anyone is all three of the above (i'm two), you have my deepest sympathies. 😮

[carolineb68]

100% agree with all the above. We were promised improvements but there have been none. And I don't think there will be any now. 

[PhilHampson-Sky]

I have written yet again to viewerr@sky.uk, given them the link to this thread and said

I guess you are fully aware already what your customers feel about your tennis coverage.

However, if you were honest, came clean  and said that you had no intention of providing what your customers want and what other services provide, it would save us all a lot of trouble feeding back info. which is never going have any impact on your service.

I have no doubt your reply will be the usual bland one about your system evolving etc, etc

If I get a meaninful reply I will post it.

[TateTaylor2022]

I haven't used Sky Sports + at all since last year. I can't remember if it allows you to watch full replays of completed matches from the US open. If it does I suppose the best way to watch matches, without staying up all night or getting score spoilers, is to watch the replays. If you can avoid news updates like the plague, which is difficult nowadays.

[Tennisfan2024]

Will sky sports + at least give the option to choose from a few different tennis matches that happen to be on at the same time? 
This feature wasn't even possible last year when I was forced to watch cam norrie on some outside court when medvedev was playing on Arthur Ashe. 
please tell me we will at least have the option to choose specific courts this year on Nowtv?

[carolineb68]

@TateTaylor2022 No this is the major complaint, there are no replays available. 

[carolineb68]

@Tennisfan2024 there is court choice available as bonus streams on NowTV. I don't have it but a friend does. I don't know if you can watch more than one stream at a time though. What I do know is that they regularly cut off before the match finishes, if there's a court change they often don't pick it up and if the tournament schedules matches on a court that it wasn't planning to, Sky/Now TV miss that too even though the schedule is released the night before (happened last week for Montreal).

[TateTaylor2022]

So basically they think fans in the UK want to stay up all night watching tennis? 

[carolineb68]

@TateTaylor2022 yep, that's it in a nutshell. They've had a year to fix this but have done nothing. 

When I complained after last year's USO they told me they are limited by what the host broadcaster gives them. I replied that they were talking rubbish because they are provided with exactly the same content as Amazon Prime were! Plus, the host broadcaster is ESPN and their ESPN+ streaming platform has full replays available!