Stunned
I am slightly stunned.
At present I have internet TV from Síminn, the main telecomms supplier here in Iceland, which provides me with over sixty channels for just over 4000 kr a month. Not too bad, even allowing for the fact that I only regularly watch about ten of them. This is generally a perfectly good arrangement and it provides me with plenty of audio (and occasionally visual) stimulation throughout the week.
Of those ten channels, one of them is Skjar einn, one of the two independent channels and the one which provides me with my weekly dose of House, Heroes and the CSI variants. The other independent channel, Stöð 2, is cable-only and has many of the other big series such as The Simpsons and 24. They also do the sports coverage, which was what prompted me to phone my provider about adding them to my subscription so that I can see the Superbowl this weekend and the Formula 1 later on (it's got the rights this year instead of the local PBS, RÚV).
What I found out was that if I want the single sports channel then it'll cost me more for that one channel than I currently pay for my entire current service - 4500 kr a month. To add Stöð 2 would be a further 5590 kr a month. The second sports channel (the one that regularly shows LFC matches) is yet another 4300 kr a month. That's over a £100/€130/$200 a month for three channels, and I certainly draw the line somewhere far short of that. Methinks the government has given the company behind it a license to print money - I wonder who's friends with which minister?
As a result I think I'll be following anything sporting over the internet (although I can watch the Superbowl in German tomorrow night on ARD, should I be so inclined). That's not a problem - after all, ESPNRadio will give me the whole superbowl while I sew, which is probably a good way of doing things. :)
At present I have internet TV from Síminn, the main telecomms supplier here in Iceland, which provides me with over sixty channels for just over 4000 kr a month. Not too bad, even allowing for the fact that I only regularly watch about ten of them. This is generally a perfectly good arrangement and it provides me with plenty of audio (and occasionally visual) stimulation throughout the week.
Of those ten channels, one of them is Skjar einn, one of the two independent channels and the one which provides me with my weekly dose of House, Heroes and the CSI variants. The other independent channel, Stöð 2, is cable-only and has many of the other big series such as The Simpsons and 24. They also do the sports coverage, which was what prompted me to phone my provider about adding them to my subscription so that I can see the Superbowl this weekend and the Formula 1 later on (it's got the rights this year instead of the local PBS, RÚV).
What I found out was that if I want the single sports channel then it'll cost me more for that one channel than I currently pay for my entire current service - 4500 kr a month. To add Stöð 2 would be a further 5590 kr a month. The second sports channel (the one that regularly shows LFC matches) is yet another 4300 kr a month. That's over a £100/€130/$200 a month for three channels, and I certainly draw the line somewhere far short of that. Methinks the government has given the company behind it a license to print money - I wonder who's friends with which minister?
As a result I think I'll be following anything sporting over the internet (although I can watch the Superbowl in German tomorrow night on ARD, should I be so inclined). That's not a problem - after all, ESPNRadio will give me the whole superbowl while I sew, which is probably a good way of doing things. :)