Westshore Beach Inn manager and RWC host Jeremy Bayliss prepares for kick-off. Photo / Warren Buckland
The opening whistle of the Rugby World Cup is set to blow in less than a week, but for those out there in Hawke's Bay viewerland who are not sure how to create a spark, don't panic.
The All Blacks' onfield exploits through Pool B will be screened on TVNZ (free to air), although what you'll see will be an hour behind what is actually happening.
It will also be screening four other matches live, and when it comes to the sharp end of the Rugby World Cup, the semifinals and final crunch, they will all be live on TVNZ as well as Spark.
So, it's not too tough for the unsparked.
Spark Sport, a relatively rookie player of the sports coverage game, and TVNZ both have broadcasting rights, although it is Spark which has the total, and all live kick-offs, coverage.
That has rattled a fair old swathe of the rugby viewing populace.
Apart from the uncertainty of how it will be filmed, decoded, sent, decoded again and finally sent to the screen, there is the challenge of getting the Spark set-up right.
Spark has, of course, set up "help" sites.
But those across the Spark-less landscape need not fear missing seeing their boys in black at work in Japan.
They simply need to accept the fact there will be an hour's delay in kick-off ... and likely ad breaks throughout the match.
Basically, the Spark coverage is about having access to its Spark Sport Rugby World Cup app.
App being the software which is created to be operated on a Smart TV, a tablet or a mobile device.
Those wanting the Spark rugger app need to go to the app store available within the TV and seek out Spark Sport, but before they can use it will need to sign up for a subscription.
That means they have to head to a web browser to sign up at www.sparksport.co.nz.
It's all about creating a profile with log-in details, then using those details to log into the app.
So what will watching the whole rugger event live with Spark cost?
To hook into what is called the Rugby World Cup Tournament Pass comes at a "one-off" cost of $89.99.
You don't have to be a current Spark or Lightbox customer — anyone can hook up.
You don't necessarily need a Smart TV.
There are "casting" devices on the tech' market like Google Chromecast and Apple TV which will show content you are playing on a mobile, tablet, computer on your TV screen.
They effectively turn a standard TV into a smart one and are not overly expensive.
There's also HDMI cables that can play your laptop's screen on your TV.
A Smart Sport spokesperson said by the time the Rugby World Cup kicked off it planned to have it available on a string of other models outside the widely mentioned Samsung 2017+ models, adding that people could get regular tech updates and the like from help.sparksport.co.nz
Rural access?
This is a tricky one as the Spark site shows Hawke's Bay is reasonably well covered by the clouds of colour showing internet access points to stream Spark Sport — although the shade is light to erased in some further off rural spots.
It's still a bit of a guessing game at this point.
The word from Spark Sport is that the "majority" of Kiwi households will have access to enough internet to stream the rugger from their site, but were aware of some areas where there was insufficient broadband connection.
Basically, it came down to those in questionable areas touching base with their internet provider to see what could be done, and anyone needing assistance to link their Rugby World Cup app to their TV could call upon that "we're a bit confused" site again — help.sparksport.co.nz
Sky have also come aboard, in the sense they are providing coverage for the hospitality trade side of things — access for bars and clubs, at a four-figure cost of course.
Sky "commercial customers" can buy access to a Spark Sport RWC pop-up channel through Sky, which includes all 48 matches live.
Under the terms of the partnership, Spark will cover the costs of Sky establishing the pop-up channel and will receive all related revenue from Sky commercial customers.
David Chalmers, executive lead for Spark Sport, said the partnership with Sky meant commercial businesses which already had Sky set up in their premises had options for how they screened the tournament, to ensure that as many commercial premises around New Zealand as possible can show the Rugby World Cup in its entirety.
Where to watch?
Westshore Beach Inn boss Jeremy Bayliss said he had adopted both Spark and Sky to ensure his spectators got the goods.
"So we've got it covered."
He said that for every past Rugby World Cup he had set up a new screen and that was in the process happening again in the form of a giant 82in job, and a high-tech projection system.
"We've gone for high quality pictures."
The tavern has also set up a "book a leaner" system where those wanting a spot to watch can book that spot.
"And we've had quite a lot of bookings so far," Bayliss said, adding it was a challenge to set up as some games would draw spectators in and some would not — but staff and refreshments still had to be organised to cope either way.
The other challenge was the time variance factor which ranged from a 7pm start through to games with 10.30pm starts.
"It'll really warm up for the semis and the final," Bayliss said.
"And I can't see the All Blacks not winning it."
All matches screened live on Spark Sport.
TVNZ's free-to-air coverage takes in all four Pool B All Blacks matches but they will be delayed by one hour.
They will also show four other pool matches which do not feature the All Blacks and they will be live.
Also set to screen live through TVNZ will be the All Blacks quarter-final outing, the two semifinals and the grand final on November 2.
TVNZ's coverage kicks off on Friday, September, to cover the opening ceremony live from 9.30pm and the opening game, Japan up against Russia from 10.30pm.
Kick-off times (for TVNZ free-to-air coverage games)
September 20: Opening ceremony (9.30pm) followed by Japan vs Russia (10.30pm)
September 21: New Zealand vs South Africa (10.30pm) — delayed 1 hour
September 28: Tonga vs Argentina (live 4pm)
October 2: New Zealand vs Canada (10.30pm) — delayed 1 hour
October 4: South Africa vs Italy (live 10.15pm)
October 6: New Zealand vs Namibia (5pm) — delayed 1 hour
October 9: Fiji vs Wales (live 10.15pm)
October 12: New Zealand vs Italy (5pm) — delayed 1 hour
TBC: New Zealand's quarter-final as four different kick-off times— (will be delayed 1 hour)
October 26: Semifinal (live 7pm)
October 27: Semifinal (live 9pm)
November 2: Final (live 9pm)
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