Bye bye Boots "n" All

[DavidM]

Boots n All is drivel and pure cheerleading stuff . The final straw was the discussion on Samkins , where they hardly dare criticise him ... Then smarmy Eddie finished off with ' he'll always be a superstar to us ' or some such dross . They'll probably replace it with the ' Sam Tomkins is wonderful show ' ... Sky rugby league needs ripping up and starting again

[Saintslass]

to be fair, the online games have been in addition to other games, a bonus if you like.

We still get a live game on a Thurs/Fri/Sat, plus Catalan home games on the tv.

I think you are mistaken. We get TV games on Thursday and Friday every week.  We get Catalans games on TV on the Saturdays they play at home care of a French feed. The extra Saturday TV game won't feature outside the Super 8s. If Sky really wanted to claim they had increased their coverage of rugby league matches then they should be showing more of them on TV, not online, along with video referees, multiple camera angles, pre-game discussion, halftime and fulltime analysis.  However, instead subscribers are being shortchanged and Sky think they can fool people into believing they have increased their coverage by sticking some matches online.  Well seemingly they CAN fool some people!  But not me.  I've watched a game on their Xtra channel and it's like going back in time.  One camera angle, no pre/mid/post match analysis or discussion, no video referee and dodgy connection.  Meanwhile, subscription charges rise.  We have been taken for a ride.  It's a pity that some fans are too naive or otherwise to see that.

[Saintslass]

Why not just plug the laptop/pc into the TV?

Because i don't have the technology to do that.  And no, I cannot afford to buy another TV!

[Saintslass]

Boots n All is drivel and pure cheerleading stuff . The final straw was the discussion on Samkins , where they hardly dare criticise him ... Then smarmy Eddie finished off with ' he'll always be a superstar to us ' or some such dross . They'll probably replace it with the ' Sam Tomkins is wonderful show ' ... Sky rugby league needs ripping up and starting again

It can be interesting, depending upon who they have on the show and what they discuss.  I watch it every week, mostly because I enjoy anything to do with rugby league. 

[Saintslass]

We live in a multimedia age. Sky offer a package. If you don't like the package, cancel your subscription. They seem to think folk will keep buying what they offer. And in my case, they will.

Good to know you are considering the wider rugby league community.  It's because of that myopic vision that rugby league is stuck where it is.

[DavidM]

I spent the entire show last week concerned that no one put the top back on the milk over at the cafe ... I kept waiting for the guy to do it but he never did . That's how much it took my attention.

[bamfordsbeans]

I agree Boots N All has gone downhill in recent years -but we surely deserve a magazine type programme.

Despite its faults I preferred Back Chat and would like to see that return to Sky in a revamped form.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Sky are cutting back in order to fund the massive payment they have made for the premier league soccer. 

 

Correct all other sports and minor soccer are being cut back for what the market considers to be more than the going rate paid for Premier Soccer. The Rugby Club would be cut now that SKY has minimal Union output. Cricket AM died out when BT Sport gazumped SKY by signing prospective host Graham Swann who only had the Caribbean Premier League T20 to commentate on until today... though Swanny is doing some general sports work for BT sport.

 

But we currently get more live games on Sky than I can remember and further ones on line. If you can't be bothered to use all the features available then that is your look out. It's like saying 'I only see half the games I could because I don't like Sky Sports 3'

 

Double edged sword - apart from the fact it is a seperate sub. it caters for a niche market and depresses the spectator base for the matches it covers still further as the very viewers prepared to log into SKY sports Xtra are the same diehards likely to go to these games.

 

A similar proposal came up in the Richard Lewis era when there was a suggestion that more than one Friday game would be covered on the red button IIRC and the RFL kicked this into touch for the very reason that it would affect attendances.

[weloveyouwakefield2]

I always cancel sky sports the day after the grand final. When I tell them that I only watch rugby and boxing bar the odd football game, they always offer me a dirt cheap deal until the new rugby season starts. I always decline and make a point of saying that I am unhappy at subsidising the ludicrous football deal.

You should cancel a month before the GF as you pay a month in advance, then you can pay right to the day and no more!

[Gav Wilson]

I watched 3 games online this month and for the first time I got a warning from my broadband provider that I was getting close to my 20gb monthly limit and listing the penalties for going over.   As a pensioner I will not be watching many online matches and if that is the future of RL on Sky then I will stick with Premier Sports instead and cancel Sky altogether.

 

You need to get a new broadband provider mate!

[Spidey]

Good to know you are considering the wider rugby league community. It's because of that myopic vision that rugby league is stuck where it is.

There's actually something for everyone. There's already extra coverage of Catalans plus Middle 8s plus summer bash, so that's an increase in live coverage from last year (cats started part way through from memory)

The online games are a bonus. More and more tv offerings are heading towards a converged offering. If they didn't offer some online coverage they'd probably be criticised for missing out on that particular demographic.

All in all more live coverage must be better than some cafe based magazine show

[Gav Wilson]

I think you are mistaken. We get TV games on Thursday and Friday every week.  We get Catalans games on TV on the Saturdays they play at home care of a French feed. The extra Saturday TV game won't feature outside the Super 8s. If Sky really wanted to claim they had increased their coverage of rugby league matches then they should be showing more of them on TV, not online, along with video referees, multiple camera angles, pre-game discussion, halftime and fulltime analysis.  However, instead subscribers are being shortchanged and Sky think they can fool people into believing they have increased their coverage by sticking some matches online.  Well seemingly they CAN fool some people!  But not me.  I've watched a game on their Xtra channel and it's like going back in time.  One camera angle, no pre/mid/post match analysis or discussion, no video referee and dodgy connection.  Meanwhile, subscription charges rise.  We have been taken for a ride.  It's a pity that some fans are too naive or otherwise to see that.

 

There have been 30 extra games on Sky this season - not including the online SSXtra trial.

[DavidM]

Aye it's all about football . That is skysports raisin detres. I'm paying for the likes of Merson , Thomson , carragher and ' siteation ' Nicholas .... And most of its tripe

[EastLondonMike]

Cancelled my SKY subs at the end of last season, and to be honest i haven't really missed it that much. on a few occasions i've paid for NOW TV, and had a weeks worth of coverage, whenever theres been a couple of decent looking games on, or for the magic weekend.. Not sorry to see the back of boots'n'all, it run its course many years ago.. but sad to see nothing replace it.

 

[Dave T]

I think you are mistaken. We get TV games on Thursday and Friday every week. We get Catalans games on TV on the Saturdays they play at home care of a French feed. The extra Saturday TV game won't feature outside the Super 8s. If Sky really wanted to claim they had increased their coverage of rugby league matches then they should be showing more of them on TV, not online, along with video referees, multiple camera angles, pre-game discussion, halftime and fulltime analysis. However, instead subscribers are being shortchanged and Sky think they can fool people into believing they have increased their coverage by sticking some matches online. Well seemingly they CAN fool some people! But not me. I've watched a game on their Xtra channel and it's like going back in time. One camera angle, no pre/mid/post match analysis or discussion, no video referee and dodgy connection. Meanwhile, subscription charges rise. We have been taken for a ride. It's a pity that some fans are too naive or otherwise to see that.

thank God you cant be fooled eh.

So, how many live games on tv did they show last year compared to this?

[weloveyouwakefield2]

They make you laugh at Sky, they pay £10 million pounds per football game and then can't afford the £2.50 it costs to make bootsnall... Logic?

[Just Browny]

Not a big fan of Boots n All, but Saintslass is right on this one; there are people who choose to get their rugby news this way and there are folk who watch it. Given that it must cost about a fiver an episode to make, the fact that it is no longer on TV (or another magazine show) is a real shame.

The fewer means of building up a narrative around the game, the poorer it will be and the more people will complain they are bored.

[Saintslass]

All in all more live coverage must be better than some cafe based magazine show

But that wasn't the point I was making (and until this season Boots n All wasn't in a cafe).

 

The point I was making was that they are no longer serving ALL those who pay their subscriptions.  Older people, for example, who either do not or are unable to use online services have now been marginalised and yet those same older people are the fans who have continued supporting rugby league for decades.  Secondly, they now lack breadth of coverage: no Superstars, no Fulltime (in its discussion format), no Back Chat and now no Boots n All either.  Yet subscribers are being asked to PAY MORE. 

 

If Sky had retained their breadth of coverage BUT ADDED extra games, including those on Xtra, then I would be impressed.  As it is they have robbed Peter to pay Paul and it is those who have been the most longstanding of fans and/or who enjoy a breadth of coverage who are losing out the most.

 

But excuse me for not thinking 'I'm alright Jack' and so it doesn't matter how little return rugby league fans get for their Sky subscription.

[Spidey]

But that wasn't the point I was making (and until this season Boots n All wasn't in a cafe).

The point I was making was that they are no longer serving ALL those who pay their subscriptions. Older people, for example, who either do not or are unable to use online services have now been marginalised and yet those same older people are the fans who have continued supporting rugby league for decades. Secondly, they now lack breadth of coverage: no Superstars, no Fulltime (in its discussion format), no Back Chat and now no Boots n All either. Yet subscribers are being asked to PAY MORE.

If Sky had retained their breadth of coverage BUT ADDED extra games, including those on Xtra, then I would be impressed. As it is they have robbed Peter to pay Paul and it is those who have been the most longstanding of fans and/or who enjoy a breadth of coverage who are losing out the most.

But excuse me for not thinking 'I'm alright Jack' and so it doesn't matter how little return rugby league fans get for their Sky subscription.

Making big assumptions there on "older people"

For any sports you're paying for live coverage. That's increased.

It's your choice whether you subscribe or not. I don't i go my local amateur club to watch games. SKY are a business and want to make money customers need to work out whether it's in their budget and choose accordingly. They don't pay the RFL for magazine shows very small viewing numbers compared to the games.

[zorquif]

But they are. The online stuff is additional. Everyone is getting the same as they did except the magazine site that was roundly slagged. And it's not like boots n all is off to the internet only

[Dave T]

Not a big fan of Boots n All, but Saintslass is right on this one; there are people who choose to get their rugby news this way and there are folk who watch it. Given that it must cost about a fiver an episode to make, the fact that it is no longer on TV (or another magazine show) is a real shame.

The fewer means of building up a narrative around the game, the poorer it will be and the more people will complain they are bored.

is BnA how anybody gets their news tgese days? Isnt this just a sign of the times? We do seem to get more coverage on SSN, and this seems a more relevant way to keep up to date with goings on.

I must admit, whilst it was nice a year or two back when we had two live games a week, Superstars, BnA, Fulltime and Backchat I rarely watched any of them, and suspect I wasnt on my own, even as a staunch RL fan.

[Cake Tiger]

I've heard the cancellation is because Eddie and Stevo are the new hosts of Pointless.

 

Stevo will be sat at Richard Osman's desk but, instead of a fake laptop, there will be a real bar where Stevo can pull a pint at any point during the show. If he does, Eddie will look at the camera and say "Oh Stevo!". Alexander's podium will be lowered so that we can see more than just Eddie's wig. In a controversial move, Eddie will be allowed to smoke Silk Cut cigarettes whilst hosting. The quiz subjects will be changed so that they relate only to rugby league. Any of the contestants who can sneak in a reference to a coach being "furious" or "getting the message out there" get extra points from Stevo. As a running gag, Rodd Studd will occasionally try and sneak onto the set but Barry and Terry always catch him and beat him up. The whole thing will be filmed in the BBC cafeteria with Brian Carney looking through an outside window - he's not allowed into the building because he refuses to pay his licence fee.

 

Premier Sports are rumoured to be in talks with Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman about hosting a new version of Boots 'n' All. Except it would be called Boots 'n' Tall........or something funnier than that. 

[hindle xiii]

I've heard the cancellation is because Eddie and Stevo are the new hosts of Pointless.

 

Stevo will be sat at Richard Osman's desk but, instead of a fake laptop, there will be a real bar where Stevo can pull a pint at any point during the show. If he does, Eddie will look at the camera and say "Oh Stevo!". Alexander's podium will be lowered so that we can see more than just Eddie's wig. In a controversial move, Eddie will be allowed to smoke Silk Cut cigarettes whilst hosting. The quiz subjects will be changed so that they relate only to rugby league. Any of the contestants who can sneak in a reference to a coach being "furious" or "getting the message out there" get extra points from Stevo. As a running gag, Rodd Studd will occasionally try and sneak onto the set but Barry and Terry always catch him and beat him up. The whole thing will be filmed in the BBC cafeteria with Brian Carney looking through an outside window - he's not allowed into the building because he refuses to pay his licence fee.

 

Premier Sports are rumoured to be in talks with Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman about hosting a new version of Boots 'n' All. Except it would be called Boots 'n' Tall........or something funnier than that. 

Go back to sleep and stop posting your weird dreams!

[BBR]

One has to worry what the long term plans are for sky and BT. Seems unsustainable to me. Bt paying for every sport going (other than rugby league) yet still offering their channel free to bt customers. Sky are paying way too much for football whilst neglecting other sports. Who will flinch first? I can't see how both can survive long term.

[tim2]

One has to worry what the long term plans are for sky and BT. Seems unsustainable to me. Bt paying for every sport going (other than rugby league) yet still offering their channel free to bt customers. Sky are paying way too much for football whilst neglecting other sports. Who will flinch first? I can't see how both can survive long term.

 

The splintering of sports across multiple pay channels might mean that I just stop watching them all.

 

BT are using this as a loss leader and as soon as they have snared enough customers will no doubt start charging Sky high prices.