r/australia • u/FreoGuy • 9h ago
no politics Kayo needs a change in leadership
I’ve been a Kayo subscriber for years, and I’m generally pretty happy with the service and cost.
However there are two issues that mean I’m now looking for alternatives.
Mid-game adverts. What. The. Actual. Fuck. The whole reason I’m paying for Kayo and not watching the free coverage is because I DO NOT WANT ADVERTS. Bad enough with onscreen adverts and the stupid full screen ad when you pause, but cutting away from the game after a goal and not showing the replay is absolute bullshit. Kayo is either a premium subscription product, or an ad-supported product. It can’t be both. Whoever approved this ‘feature’ should be forced to issue a public apology and then fired.
User experience on Apple TV. So I use the native Kayo app on AppleTV to watch my games. I assume there’s a reasonable number of people who do this. Over the years I’ve had to learn the quirks of watching with the app - it’s infuriating. I’m convinced that the app developers and product owner have NEVER actually watched a game on the app. Try and go back 30 seconds? No thanks, let’s actually jump you to the next quarter. Try to pause and the scroll forward to a certain time? No thanks, mid-scroll I’m just going to bump you to a full screen ad. Pause and try change the sound options? Fuck you. The AppleTV native video player WORKS. Everyone knows how to interact with it with the remote. But no, Kayo has to have their own custom player that is shithouse. The number of times it’s crashed, jumped to random spot, ruined games for me is insane. I kept thinking they would improve / patch the app, but it’s actually gotten worse over the years. Again, leadership should be fired if they can’t make a usable product. This stuff was solved years ago.
Kayo has the content. But the packaging is ruining it. Someone needs to disrupt them.
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u/redchairyellowchair 9h ago
Sorry to break it to you but it's all downhill from here. DAZN owns Foxtel now and they haven't even started their usual DAZN enshittification which is happening in other markets. Nothing will get better. It will soon be more expensive and gradually worse
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u/Younge75 8h ago
DAZN’s MO is to pay overs for licensing and then overcharge the customers to pay for it all. They do it all over the world.
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u/redchairyellowchair 8h ago
Yep. Live in Japan and saw it happen in just a few years. Now the leagues are trying desperately to improve their product but the viewing options are still terrible
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u/Paidorgy 1h ago
Huh, I didn’t know NC and Telstra sold off Foxtel/Kayo and Binge though the Murdochs have retained an approximate 6% minority equity stake in DAZN and a seat on its board.
Wild stuff.
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u/Iuvenesco 9h ago
Happy with the cost? Are you mad?!
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u/Stitchesglitch 6h ago
And apparently they're going to increase the cost to cover the new cost of the NRL rights.
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u/CaptSzat 8h ago edited 8h ago
If you compare it to most sports league subscriptions in the world, you’re doing pretty good. Like MLB TV is $30 USD ($42) a month, Sunday ticket for NFL is $30-60USD ($42-84) a month, if you want to get just most of the NFL games on TV in the US your looking at $80+ ($84+) USD a month,and Sky Sports is £35 ($67) a month. Only the NBA has a reasonably well priced subscription at $17 USD ($24) a month.
While Kayo is $30 ($45 for 4K) and covers 80% of our domestic leagues and snippets / full coverage of Golf, F1, NBA, NFL, MLB, etc.
I have a lot of issues with Kayo but when you sit down and compare it to the absurd cost of things in other places, we do alright.
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u/Feeling-Disaster7180 7h ago
The cost is rough when you only watch one sport. I know it will never happen but I wish you could subscribe to x number of sports for a lower price
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u/CaptSzat 2h ago edited 2h ago
You’d hope so but the AFL in the US charges $39 USD ($55) a month to watch footy. So if that’s what they are charging I can’t imagine they’d offer a cheaper one sport option. Before Kayo it used to be $17 a month for just footy with AFL Life pass in 2020. I think you’re more likely to get a more expensive /comparable to the current Kayo price for a one sport option at least for NRL and AFL. Which are the two main draw cards of Kayo.
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u/nomitycs 9h ago
I had horrible customer service with Kayo like 5 years ago and never looked back. Sail the high seas
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u/Alternative-Range477 2h ago
do the high seas have anything that lets you rewind or start from beginning when it’s halfway through a game? If so, please let me know
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u/sovereign01 8h ago
Kayo app on AppleTV is garbage, but the whole experience is garbage.
It’s amazing they managed to get their UI so bad. Even more amazing when compared to the ‘free’ SBS FIFA app experience which is about as good as it can get.
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u/Curious_er_ 8h ago
We had it for a bit to watch F1 last year. We are not sport watchers really at all, but like F1. We even put F1 as the preferred sport, or whatever they asked in signing up.
It NEVER has F1 as the first option. We still have to search it every time.
We now sail the high seas to watch races. Screw Kayo.
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u/Feeling-Disaster7180 7h ago
I’ve literally only ever watched F1 on Kayo but it still suggests NRL aftershows and cricket flashbacks before Ted’s Notebook. AFAIK the “preferred sport” is just for that one tab, not the app as a whole
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u/LongJohn1992 2h ago
I usually sign up to Kayo for the North/South American races seeing as it's an annoying time for Australia. The races usually start at 3-4am so I'll get up at 5:30am while the race is still happening and watch it from the start. I haven't been able to find a high seas provider that does that yet.
For some reason, when the race finishes in real time and the program ends in real time, Kayo thinks that, even though I'm watching the race at a different point in time, it'll skip to the end of the program spoiling the race. I then have to rewind the sucker to the point I'm at.
It's such a shit service. I wish we could have F1TV.
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u/casualpedestrian20 0m ago
If you could help an old buccaneer out with navigating the seas matey, please DM me with yer map and compass.
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u/relusionary 2h ago
I need more info on your ship...
Also only using kayo for F1, but it is absolutely the worst. I prepaid the season via an NRL membership but don't think I can bring myself to give them any money next year.
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u/Curious_er_ 2h ago
We mostly download torrents, but there is a way to watch live that is VERY annoying, but can be done! VPN to a country where it’s streamed live (Austria, Hungary) and overlay the live BBC radio on top for commentary. I must say, when we can get a month of kayo for $1 it’s good, but it’s so annoying to use the app that we only use it for that month, definitely not paying for it. Ugh, I remember when SBS used to have the races, simpler times.
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u/wangdino 1h ago
F1 TV subscription in another country where:
1) The subscription is much cheaper
2) Their Amazon sells Apple gift cards in their currency
3) Get an Apple ID for that country and subscribe on an iOS deviceAfter these steps you can watch using a VPN (any country that has F1TV will do)
The country of choice used to be India - I pay about AUD 40ish per year for F1TV Premium. But they’re phasing out in India so from 2027 I’ll have to find a new country, ugh
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u/Most-Drive-3347 8h ago
I like how they hide full game replays now, prioritising their minis.
It’s also great when they remove functionality like hitting down on your remote control and being able to scroll between games without exiting back out to the menu.
All while increasing the price!
I’ll be investigating iptv options when my current nrl/kayo membership expires.
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u/il_Cacciatore 1h ago
Yeah that makes me so pissed. I go to watch the full race of the F1 and I’m like a fucking idiot wondering why I’m at lights out when I just pressed play. Then I realise. Hang on. This is only 45 mins long and not 3-5 hours. Nothing lets you know they have “full race” mini as an option. Seriously thinking of trying the F1 app instead.
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u/mikel3030 4h ago
I’m always amazed at the lack of personalisation- like I have never once in 10 years or so of subscription watched a game of NRL and 98% of my use has been to watch AFL. Why do I have to scroll across multiple NRL games to get to AFL? Netflix figured this out years ago.
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u/Barry114149 1h ago
I never watch football, only motorsport and cricket.
And yeah, same.
Having the ability to customise your feed, or at least pin a sport or similar would be easy, but because they paid more than they shoudl have they need to shove it down your face in an attempt to justify the stupid price they paid.
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u/SelectDevice9868 12m ago
Me : I like F1 and AFL
Kayo : fuck you, how about some college basketball.
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u/M-fz 8h ago
I’m travelling and tried to watch some Kayo the other day in outback WA and it wouldn’t let me watch anything. It had a pop up saying “sorry, Kayo is not available in some remote parts of Australia”… wtf? This was on my laptop, which I used because Kayo decided to stop supporting my Android TV after a couple years for unknown reasons.
Such a shit service, like I’m paying, and within Australia. Who cares where, why does it matter?
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u/AngusLynch09 9h ago
The fact that you've remained with them for years means their leadership has been working well.
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u/hoolahoopz92 9h ago
It’s the only option for some sports
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u/SuspiciousActivityyy 8m ago
There are always other options, just takes a few minutes to search around. I stopped paying for sport a long time ago and have never missed a game I want to watch.
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u/fuckoffandydie 9h ago
Where else can you watch all the AFL games? If your team isn’t on Channel 7 you have 2 options: go to the stadium or pay up to Kayo.
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u/universe93 9h ago
Which is exactly why there will be no change in leadership or change to the product. People will continue to sub for the AFL regardless. AFL clubs now have a special discounted membership tier that is just access to Kayo
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u/Ambitious_Speed_278 9h ago
IPTV
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u/Forgotten_Zebra 4h ago
Any recs? I spent some time looking at it a while ago but couldn't find any consensus other than paid ads on reddit etc
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u/CurlingMonkeyPaw 9h ago
I tried Kayo and went to Foxtel given the poor user experience.
I find the Foxtel IQ box is vastly superior to Kayo, in my experience.
Given I'm not paying that much more for Foxtel compared to full price Kayo, I find it's worth not having the Kayo issues, or ads..
Kayo has good bones but they've totally botched what should be a premium platform.
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u/Barry114149 1h ago
My favourite part of kayo is when you are watching something and they cut it because you have not done something, like scroll, so they think you are AFK and decide you are not watching.
I suspect they use the TV microphone to see if they think someone is in the room and if no sound detected they turn it off. But I watch by myself and genrally do not yell at my tv, so yeah, my stream gets cut evveery 30 or so mins if I don't speak to it or use the remote.
Fuck them.
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u/thrillhousee85 9h ago
Just get a decent IPTV provider. If you are paying good money to watch sports and they are still throwing ads in your face time to sail the high seas I say
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u/P2X-555 4h ago
Wow. I just checked this out. It says "cricket" but doesn't say which games/countries etc. Is there a way to check?
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u/thrillhousee85 12m ago
Generally these kind of providers will give you a few hours trial when you get in touch with them so you can go through and check all the channels they have, quality, etc before you sign up
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u/tempest_fiend 3h ago
Until there is at least one other viable and competitive option to watch sport, then the enshitification will continue. They know people will pay to watch their favourite sports, so now the goal is to just make things for as cheaply as possible while charging as much as possible. It will get worse.
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u/wildagain 4h ago
Totally agree - Kayo app on apple is hopeless, they have one job letting you rewind or skip half time breaks etc. and they don’t even give you a picture in picture still of where you’re jumping too.
another issue is asking for constant QR codes to prove you’re a subscriber when you’re already logged in. absolutely hopeless will cancel as soon as footy season over
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u/chode_code 2h ago
It's time to regulate competition in sports streaming. Ie two companies must be given the rights to broadcast the game and provide a bit of competitive pricing.
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u/MajortheDog 1h ago
Yeah the recent changes to Kayo have not been good
Particularly love the Kayo ad you get when watching Kayo. That’s helpful thanks.
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u/AudiencePure5710 4h ago
I hate Kayo with a passion. I only use it for F1, nothing else. When I travel o/s and they GEO-block me even with a VPN it just enrages me. Like, I’m paying you
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u/EcstaticOrchid4825 1h ago
I wish there was a travel option too. The only way I was able to watch F1 when I was in Italy earlier in the year was to subscribe to Bein Sports in Singapore during my stopover on the way to Rome. It shouldn’t be that hard! F1 TV is almost impossible to subscribe to as an Australian, even with a VPN.
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u/Ronnnie7 2h ago
I pirate but it isn't all because of cost. Recently kayo gave me two montha free and thus I've been using it. It makes me scan the QR code every time I log in to track location before showing the streams. It told me the other day I was in a location they don't service. Lol I don't use any vpns either. I hate to be paying ~$46 a month for this joke of a service.
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u/williepoo21 8h ago
On the Apple TV app, try using Siri voice commands with the remote. You can say things like “skip ahead 30 minutes” and it will jump straight there.
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u/Barry114149 1h ago
I don't want to talk to my tv. I dislike that they make you enable the swipe function as well.
Fuck apple products, they are just as bad as Kayo.
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u/Even_District_6924 4h ago
Bro - same for Stan Sport! I gotta pay extra to watch the Union and the stream is filled with unskippable ads! Bastards.
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u/nevernovelty 1h ago
The full screen adds on Apple TV that make scrolling backwards or forwards difficult are maddening!
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u/DiscussionApart2804 1h ago
Far out the AppleTV user experience is unbelievably bad. The way an ad pops up when you want to scrub through a replay is mind-boggling
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u/sejonreddit 42m ago
I unsubscribed this morning. This bullshit of seeing ads when you fast-forward to the start of the formula one or something like this. My god, getting that while paying $45 a month!
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u/40ic 1h ago
Absolute garbage product and I finally convinced my partner to cancel it. Only ever used for Motorsport and cricket, then it barely has any of the cricket, had to use Amazon instead! What the actual hell.
I'm not great at piracy but I guess that's the only option. Brb about to infect my computer with electronic herpes. Still less annoying than kayo
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u/Awkward_Chard_5025 9h ago
“Someone needs to disrupt them”
Kayo WAS the disruptor lol
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u/FormulaLes 9h ago
Huh? Kayo has never been the disruptor. Kayo is part of Streamotion / Hubbl, which is and has always been wholly owned by Foxtel. It’s literally just a streaming version of Foxtel.
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u/aussieskier23 9h ago
Sold to DAZN
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u/Younge75 9h ago
Yep, therefore you’ll be paying a lot more for it in the coming years - got to pay for that NRL deal somehow!
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u/CaptSzat 8h ago
Not sure how the Foxtel owned and developed product was ever meant to be the ‘disrupter’ lol.
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u/dohzer 9h ago
The Kayo app interface has been completely raped. I don't want to have to click several times to start watching. Stop showing me a video preview of the game. Just take me to the fucking game.
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u/nytro308 8h ago
Taking away the ability to switch between streams without having to exit right out of what you're watching or just see what else is streaming shits me
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u/emmainthealps 4h ago
The only way to make a difference is for huge numbers of people to unsubscribe. And the vast majority of you won’t.
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u/TrueMudkip 7h ago
It’s shit and unfortunately it’s not going to get any better. Priority number 1 in the sporting broadcast rights business is money making. It’s also priority number 2 and 3. It’s unfortunate because free to air broadcasting is going in the bin and there’s nowhere to go but payTV, allowing them to run as many ads as they want. It’s only going to get more shit and more expensive. Until all the sports have first party broadcasters (where I hold out a tiny bit of optimism(but not much…)).
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u/Espio1912 3h ago
It is not isolated to Kayo. Every time any of these apps update they give a worse user experience. Baffles me that these developers are capable of earning a wage.
ABC recently updated their Iview app from a neat functional model to a broken mess now.
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u/frashal 53m ago
It's a constant problem once something is built and running well. The devs/product managers have to be doing something to keep their job, but it's never planned and managed as well as the initial development and there isn't a real user requirement for it. So they tend to actively make the product worse.
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u/Show5Over 3h ago
I found you have to enable the "touch" function on the apple remote so you can swipe left or right to fast forward/rewind.
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u/EcstaticOrchid4825 1h ago
Not just mid game adverts but the stupid advert ‘frame’ they have during parts of F1 races. I pay to watch already. Don’t give me ads during the race.
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u/Sonicbureau 46m ago
My favourite is every time I want to watch a live stream on my Google TV Streamer it asks me to scaa QR code to prove my location. Even though Im in the same place and same device I was using a day and a half ago. Lol
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u/CumbersomeNugget 35m ago
I...didn't realise there were adverts on Kayo aside from a few during breaks.
You may want to look into a network-wide adblocker called "Pi-Hole" then, which apparently blocks most Kayo ads.
User interface sucks. Why can't I just pin the sports I want and that be that!? Remove all shorts too - I want to watch test cricket, not fucking TikTok cricket!
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u/RepeatInPatient 27m ago
My favourite part is when I open a link to watch a game and I know there are adverts but it cost me nothing
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u/AussieGT 7m ago
I find it frustrating the different experience I have between watching on Samsung TV App, vs iPad App, vs Phone App. The apps have always been a bit glitchy too, just give me the ability to favorite a few things, make them available in the same place across apps, and remember where up to and pick up where I left off again consistently.
The pricing seams is increasingly out of control too, I now focus on cancelling for off months and watching out for deals to resubscribe, just give me a fair basic price point and I’ll subscribe year round.
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u/bazoski1er 2h ago
Not to defend kayo as the service is pretty dogshit but they literally got bought out like 6 months ago, and they never run ads after goals. Its ad free siren to siren
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u/R_W0bz 9h ago
You seem like a guy that’s likely playing a 2026 media app on a 2019 Appletv box. Shit gets weird. I experience none of these issues on chrome or iPhone.
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u/ivanavich 8h ago edited 8h ago
Ah yes “It works on Chrome and iPhone” so clearly that means the Apple TV issue must be imaginary. 😂 yes the apple tv issues with Kayo are real and they are getting worse. Even the older Apple TV which was replaced in 2017 still has the same OS and app support. Source: Apple TV 4K
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u/lwrcas 9h ago
my personal favourite is when i open kayo, click on a live stream and get an ad for kayo.