Pizza? Check. Snacks? Check. Game of Thrones recorded on Foxtel? THINK AGAIN. A nation of potential do-gooders vowed Arya Stark-style vengeance on the Aussie subscription service yesterday as the streaming app crashed, and recordings of the massively hyped first episode of Season Seven were wiped.
In what appears to be a deliberate cash grab scheme by the streaming giant, a ‘taster’ of the aptly-named ‘Drama’ subscription package had been available to all Foxtel users in the weeks leading up to the Season Seven premiere. A tasty little teaser of previous episodes and commentary to get everyone jacked for the new season, what a great idea! Yet despite having had the Showcase channel in our subscription for years prior to this season, Foxtel felt the need to tease us with this little morsel as well. Of course, Mama Dougs clicked record on Sunday evening. After a day of intense restraint and a self-imposed social media black out, we sat down family style for the premiere…only to be kindly informed by Foxtel that the channel was no longer in our package, and the recording was null. Needless to say, we were flaming like a pair of imprisoned dragons.
With a slew of other technical issues throwing the Seven Kingdoms into disarray, Foxtel has completely passed the buck: claiming “unprecedented demand” for the subscription service worldwide sent its live stream to the bottom of Blackwater Bay. Guys, you had over a year to prepare… quit scrambling your dragon eggs and admit your shortcomings.
#GoT tech faults around the world. We are working with broadcast partners to resolve the issue. https://t.co/fmoIt17FxU #FoxtelNow pic.twitter.com/sXJRXzyeWl
— Foxtel (@Foxtel) July 17, 2017
Look, there is no doubt that Australia has a piracy problem. But people want to support their favourite television series, they really do. All we ask for is on-time, affordable access – is it really that difficult? Netflix and Stan are affordable, and we’re more than happy to pay for these services, even if they’re incredibly behind on most of our favourite shows… ahem, Brooklyn Nine Nine. Heck, our generation obviously tried to do the right thing this year and pay for the cheapest Foxtel NOW app. But with faulty live streams and ad breaks reaching up to 4 minutes, can they really blame us for seeking the reliable torrents of the Trident.
Here’s to hoping the only drama that Foxtel brings next week is the second episode in full AND glitch-free, or I swear to the Old Gods and the New that my IQ will meet a Tommen-style demise.
