This topic

Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

Greg708 — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 12:20:19 GMT

Usually I can't watch live football so the next day I watch the full replay on demand on my laptop. I go to great lengths to avoid the result or score in games I want to watch (not helped by the way the BT website is set out with results of all games in prominent and difficult to avoid locations).

But even worse, there now seems to be a new "feature" on the replays that puts a message at the top centre of the screen about ten seconds before certain events occur e.g goals, shots on target, yellow cards etc. This has seriously diminished my enjoyment of the replays and I'm at a loss to understand why it has been introduced.

Surely the message would be better just after the event has occurred. Either that, or is there some way I can disable this "feature"? Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

DarrenDev — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 17:57:42 GMT

Could you please give an example of what you're referring to? I can't picture it. A specific replay, with a time stamp, and the platform you're watching on would be ideal.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

Greg708 — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 17:30:01 GMT

The example I've chosen comes from the Maccabi Haifa v PSG Champions League game played on 14 September. I was watching a full replay the next day on my laptop through my.bt.com. The message in question (37' Messi scores) at the top centre of the screen appeared at about the 35.50 minute mark - Messi scored about 10 seconds later. Similar messages appeared approximately 10 seconds before every goal, shot on target, yellow card etc in this replay as well as other replays I've recently watched on BT.

Surely no need to tell you how these messages diminish enjoyment of the replays. Not so obvious perhaps is the effect of not seeing this message as your team goes on the attack - if you don't see the message you know straight away that your team is not going to score or even produce a shot on target in the next ten seconds. As stated previously, these messages would be less intrusive if they appeared just after the event has occurred. If that's not possible, is there some way I can disable this "feature"?

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

DarrenDev — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 18:09:55 GMT

Ah ok thanks. That's the web enhanced player.

It's not something we have any direct control over, but we are in the process of trying to make all matches available in our own player instead. This gives us complete control over the experience and allows us to provide options to turn features on and off - including goal alerts, which you're seeing here.

So, for now, we can't offer the option to turn them off ... but I will ask our suppliers why you're seeing them early. One thing I'll ask though - could you please confirm that your PC clock is correct? I don't know if it would have any influence on their player?

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

Greg708 — Sat, 17 Sep 2022 10:29:00 GMT

Just checked and my PC clock is spot on. Thanks for your response - I'd be very interested to know why I'm seeing these alerts early

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

DarrenDev — Sat, 17 Sep 2022 12:47:31 GMT

Which browsers have you tried?
The devs aren't aware of any issues.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

Greg708 — Sat, 17 Sep 2022 14:19:58 GMT

Google Chrome is the browser I've used.

What do the devs say about exactly when the alerts are supposed to appear on the screen?

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

DarrenDev — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 11:32:19 GMT

Sorry for the slow update on this one.
We can confirm that some replays are affected by issues with timing. The issue is in the source data (timestamps on events are wrong), so it's actually affecting all platforms - it's just more obvious on the web player.
It's currently with our suppliers to identify what went wrong on the affected events.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

Greg708 — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 12:35:41 GMT

Thanks for the update. Hopefully the problem will be fixed before the next round of the Champions League.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

Greg708 — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 11:34:07 GMT

This problem has still not been fixed. As a result, the full replays of Champions League games are still unwatchable. I do NOT want to know what happens 15 to 20 seconds before it occurs on the screen.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

DarrenDev — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 13:59:12 GMT

I've chased for updates on this. I'll let you know when I hear anything.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

Greg708 — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 10:58:45 GMT

Thanks. I've had to stop watching the full replays. Hopefully the problem can be fixed by the Champions League Round of 16 which starts on 14 February. If not, I'll have to seriously consider discontinuing my subscription to BT Sport.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

DarrenDev — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 11:08:52 GMT

Still no update on it for enhanced player, however there is a hack to watch it in our standard player instead:
* Open the page with the replay you want to watch
* Shrink the browser window down small
* Reload the page
* Make the window bigger again

This will trick the site into launching the mobile version, which disables enhanced player.

Re: Annoying Messages on On Demand Replays

DarrenDev — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 10:28:29 GMT

I've received an update on this today, and unfortunately the response isn't good.
I've been told that the timing of the goal alerts is all relative to the start of the stream, which is a manually set thing. If that initial time is set incorrectly, it knocks all the subsequent events out too. As it's a manual thing, all we can do is raise it with our suppliers when it's not correct - it's not a bug we can fix in code.
They've fixed the replay that started this conversation, but not all the others that have been wrong since.
I've raised it with the wider team to discuss options.