Spark Sport says a buffering issue that affected its streaming of the Black Caps’ cricket test against Bangladesh only kicked in after four-and-a-half hours of continuous viewing.

Though the first test is now over, the issue remains unfixed. 

Spark Sport subscribers took to social media from the first day of the test on Jan 1 to complain that the live stream of the five-day match was pausing to buffer and load continuously.

Spark spokesperson Cassie Arauzo told BusinessDesk the issue had only affected customers who were using Chromecast devices – the plug-in Google product used to stream video content from a mobile device onto a TV. Chromecast functionality is also built directly into some newer TVs. 

“It’s an issue identified with some customers who stream on Chromecast devices,” Arauzo said.

“The issue is intermittent buffering, and it only kicks in after an event has been running for four-and-a-half hours or longer.”

But some fans had complained of the problem occurring after just a few minutes of viewing. 

“I've been watching for five minutes and I'm already a full minute behind live because the stream keeps pausing to buffer. Very frustrating,” one customer tweeted to Spark Sport on Jan 1. 

On Wednesday, Arauzo said Spark was working with Google and other partners to find a fix. Shortly after, the Black Caps were beaten by Bangladesh in the first test at the Bay Oval.

“NZ will be glad it was on Spark Sport, which no one can see,” quipped Twitter user Andy Knight.

Apology and a fix

Spark Sport won the rights to broadcast New Zealand Cricket (NZC) matches from Sky Sports in a six-year deal that started in April 2020. Sky retained rights to NZC matches played in Australia and other international cricket. 

On Jan 3, Spark emailed customers it could detect were using a Chromecast to stream the cricket to offer an apology and informed them of a fix whereby it split the day of cricket into three separate live streams to avoid any of them broadcasting for four-and-a-half hours.

Users were told to manually change to the next session once the previous had ended. 

“In the context of the large number of viewers we have watching our content at the moment only a very small minority have been impacted – less than 5% – but we appreciate that is cold comfort for anyone whose experience of watching the test was negatively impacted by buffering, and we apologise for that experience,” Arauzo said. 

It appears the issue could affect all live streaming via Chromecast on Spark Sport. Arauzo suggested it had only come to light during the cricket due to the test match’s long run time compared to other sports. 

She encouraged customers to get in touch with Spark Sport if they have issues and to discuss if they are eligible for a refund.

Spark Sport also came under scrutiny when streams buffered and suffered bad picture quality during the 2019 Rugby World Cup. 

The service currently costs $24.99 per month on a rolling subscription basis and also has the rights in NZ to show the English Premier League, the Champions League, and the Formula One, plus some NFL and NBA matches, among other sports.

Cricket fans who have become used to getting their fix fully from Sky have recently faced paying for both providers’ services.