Cuplikan adegan via HBO
At best, watching TV legally is Australia in a painful task. When it comes to importing popular US prestige shows, free-to-air TV networks are infamously slow on the uptake. Anything produced by HBO, such as last night's Game of Thrones premiere, is particularly difficult to get.Technically, you need a subscription to Foxtel, which can cost more than $100 per month. But after a wave of new Australian ISP regulations cracked down on torrenting and streaming, many GoT fans had no alternative but to fork out the cash to indulge in the season opener.Unfortunately, they were punished for their efforts to do the right thing when Foxtel's online streaming service repeatedly crashed during the show.On Facebook, Foxtel informed its followers its Foxtel Now streaming service was "experiencing problems" last night. "We are devastated that due to unprecedented demand, we are experiencing problems with our online services this evening," the post said.Check out a sneak peak of VICE's new documentary series "Australiana" premiering 8 PM Wednesday, July 19 on SBS VICELAND.
But it wasn't just Foxtel. People all over the world who were just trying to do the right thing and watch a bit of lighthearted dragon drama—without the old VPN/torrent site approach—faced a myriad of technical difficulties. In the US and across South America, HBO's own streaming faced similar issues to Foxtel."Tonight's global premiere of the new season of GAME OF THRONES has caused technical glitches around the world, with online sites crashing in the United States, Latin America, and Australia," Foxtel wrote in a press release."The show's producer and U.S. broadcaster, HBO, reported its technical systems could not cope and in Australia, the surge of demand for Foxtel's recently launched online product, Foxtel Now, also experienced customer meltdown."Game of Thrones is a TV phenomenon that reliably draws millions of fans from every demographic. After six seasons, who knows why HBO and Foxtel didn't anticipate the demand they got. There's a solution to all this, and I don't want to spell it out for you or anything, but it involves not paying for a cable subscription and instead sourcing the world's most popular television show from literally anywhere else on the internet.Follow Kat on Twitter
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But it wasn't just Foxtel. People all over the world who were just trying to do the right thing and watch a bit of lighthearted dragon drama—without the old VPN/torrent site approach—faced a myriad of technical difficulties. In the US and across South America, HBO's own streaming faced similar issues to Foxtel."Tonight's global premiere of the new season of GAME OF THRONES has caused technical glitches around the world, with online sites crashing in the United States, Latin America, and Australia," Foxtel wrote in a press release."The show's producer and U.S. broadcaster, HBO, reported its technical systems could not cope and in Australia, the surge of demand for Foxtel's recently launched online product, Foxtel Now, also experienced customer meltdown."Game of Thrones is a TV phenomenon that reliably draws millions of fans from every demographic. After six seasons, who knows why HBO and Foxtel didn't anticipate the demand they got. There's a solution to all this, and I don't want to spell it out for you or anything, but it involves not paying for a cable subscription and instead sourcing the world's most popular television show from literally anywhere else on the internet.Follow Kat on Twitter