Watch the Australian Open live on the web - maybe

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 19 January 2012 12:13

Your IT - Entertainment

Free live streaming from the Australian Open is being delivered by Ooyala - but not to Aussies, Kiwis, Poms... (the list goes on).

Tennis Australia is working with Ooyala to deliver live streaming video of Australian Open matches, but fails to live up to the claim of "free live viewing around the globe."

No live video for you, sonny!

Despite the assertion that "visitors to australianopen.com, the official website of the 2012 Australian Open, can watch live matches from all seven of the tournament's courts, as well as special features, highlights and interviews from one of the year's most popular events in tennis", it turns out that live content is not available in Australia, New Zealand, Europe (including the UK) or Japan "due to rights restrictions".

However, the sponsor's static ad appears even if the promised content doesn't, which is poor form at best.

And talking of advertising. Tennis Australia selected Ooyala for its video-advertising tools (you don't get something for nothing, and given the choice of watching ads or paying directly for the content, a lot of us choose the former), as well as the ability to deliver video content to smartphones, tablets and other devices.

"This is an important first for tennis and the world of sports, delivering the excitement and action of the Australian Open to people around the world who otherwise may never experience the tournament," said Tennis Australia CEO Steve Wood.

"Ooyala's combination of technology and services are the perfect solution to the myriad of challenges involved in sophisticated delivery of a live video project of this scale. We are thrilled to be working with their team to take the Australian Open to the web for free for the first time," he added.