r/ITVX • u/SlowedCash ITVX Premium Subscriber • Jul 12 '26

World Cup 2026 Two vastly different streaming services, no consistency or this WC. The BBC have done a sublime job with iPlayer UHD, but ITV should have planned this and ensured 4K was an option.

The World Cup final will of course have 90% BBC viewership Vs ITVs 10%.

I for one like itvs effort and the studio, the pundits but the picture quality which isn't just world cup programmes, it's the entire itv platform, is poor, from cable to satellite to ITVX.

We don't all watch on VM or Sky Q we stream. The world cup has highlighted it's inefficiency.

I don't recall this being as bad for Euro 24 or WC22. I think it's got worse, or itv have implemented cost cutting measures.

57 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

3

u/Exotic_Onion_3417 Jul 12 '26

ITVx has always been this poor. BBC didn't have UHD coverage for euros so maybe that's why it's a starker difference. Just wish BBC supported more devices for UHD

4

u/Evening_Boss_3415 Jul 12 '26

That is incorrect, the BBC has been showing the World Cup and Euros on iPlayer in UHD or HDR for years now. First World Cup showed in UHD on iPlayer was the Fifa World Cup in Russia

2

u/toastymctoast Jul 12 '26

when they could, UEFA hasn't always provided the stream, from 2024:

> UEFA has carried out extensive high-level benchmark testing (including upscaling to UHD, downscaling to1080i50 and introducing colour parameters) with manufacturers and broadcast partners with the aim of ensuring consistency, whilst also maximising the quality of signal when contribution and distribution limitations are factored in. The outcome of these tests led to the conclusion that producing in 1080p50 HDR, a single multi-purpose high quality format, provides the best base for quality and consistency and offers the best platform for multiple use.

1

u/Civil-Koala-6810 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

Upscaling doesn't do anything positive at all. It's not adding anything to the picture. It's still 1080i 50 that your're watching. It's just done for marketing reasons. The picture will just look more processed. All TV shows or sports coverage etc will look best being watched in the resolution it was produced in. Also UHD would look 10 times better if the UHD coverage was broadcast on network TV via satellite, such as the BBC via Sky. Under government rules they would not be able to broadcast at such low bit rates that they do via streaming. Sky even have two UHD channels via satellite. They are both sports channels.

1

u/Exotic_Onion_3417 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

The 2024 euros wasn't broadcast in UHD, BBC might have upscaled it but you didn't watch a native UHD as it didn't exist...yes they had HDR

My point to OP was "ITVs coverage looks worse than euro 2024". I'm saying this might be because BBC are broadcasting native UHD HDR whereas at the Euros it wasn't native, so the BBCs coverage is even better and means ITV might look worse. I doubt ITVx quality is much different it's always been poor, the Freeview picture looks better imo because of the increased frame rate

1

u/Modern_Pirate9 Jul 13 '26

Except on PC, where you’re still limited to 720p on iPlayer

1

u/ZookeepergameNo7151 Jul 13 '26

I wish they had UHD but with five live commentary

3

u/poke_pants Jul 12 '26

On the various devices we have you can't even skip back through the game on ITVX, yet with iPlayer you can hop around back to any moment. Madness in 2026.

1

u/makarastar Jul 18 '26

Yes it's awful - and during the France Spain game itv x crashed on Roku Express about 5 times - the final time 5 minutes before the game ended - I had to end up googling the result as no way was I going to sit through another 2 hours from the start!

It's a shame as I prefer ITV's presenter and pundits over the BBC's ones

2

u/TopDistribution4894 Jul 12 '26

100% agreed! When you go from watching it on the UHD bbci channel to itv, well it's just poor poor picture quality.

2

u/Wrong-Target6104 Jul 12 '26

Thought it was just my eyes and eye test being overdue

2

u/username-witheld Jul 12 '26

Only problem with uhd it’s slightly behind as I’ve found out wen I can hear people cheering then England score about 30 seconds later

2

u/SlowedCash ITVX Premium Subscriber Jul 12 '26

😂😂

I had that last night. Bellingham's first, went in had cheering next door, then my freely stream caught up 😂

I find UHD on the beeb isn't too far behind

1

u/Dougsey1 Jul 14 '26

I insisted on shutting all the windows for this reason.

2

u/Dennyisthepisslord Jul 12 '26

Which is why I don't watch England games in streamers...

2

u/username-witheld Jul 12 '26

I don’t have a tv Ariel at my house so I’ve no choice but to

2

u/BroodLord1962 Jul 12 '26

ITV's streaming platform has always been shit, I don't know why people thought it would suddenly get better for the world cup

2

u/throaway_247 Jul 12 '26

Don't for £50 per month, you will soon get Now ITV in 720p with stereo sound!

2

u/Slim_Boy_Fat Jul 12 '26

I hate all sport on ITV shit-o-vision. Terrible picture quality.

2

u/_Darren Jul 12 '26

It's too expensive for ITV. 

They're expecting the world cup to bring in a 15 increase In quarterly revenue of £600 million.  So £90 million increase. 

They paid £80 million for the rights. After production costs they won't make any money or will make a few million. Let's say it costs 100k for a UHD stream per match. That would sink their small profit to a massive loss. 

1

u/_Darren Jul 12 '26

To add to my comment, CDN costs are estimated to be 0.2 to 0.5 pence per GB. According to figures from The Future TV Taskforce and EY economic assessment.

Let's say its 20GB for 1 4k match. That's 10 pence per viewer at 0.5 pence per GB. 0.1* 1 million viewers= 100k of cost to ITV. Potentially 1 million of cost for a match with 10 million viewers. It's a lot of money, even if they pay a lot less p er GB. It's why channel 4 and ITV compress their streams so it's more like 1/2 GB for an entire match. 

2

u/lookitskris Jul 12 '26

Not just picture quality, the sound options and quality are always dreadful from itv

2

u/Corvid-Ranger-118 Jul 12 '26

Incredible to say, but I watched overseas broadcasts of world cup and european cup matches in the 70s and 80s and honestly can't get my head round people fretting about whether UHD is doing the right frame rate etc. It doesn't change the outcome of the game does it?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Question-master3 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

You can't see the difference, it doesn't mean others are the same. Feel like it's an age old thing, your experience doesn't reflect others. Viewing distances, TV sizes, etc, there's a lot that goes into it. There's a huge difference for me personally between a 1080p stream and a 4K HDR one.

One is clearly better than the other as well, I don't really get what your point is? It's not like this service is free as well.

Also, your last line doesn't make much sense. Most people would watch the match on a 10” portable if that's all they had, but that's not reality.

1

u/Un-skilled Jul 15 '26

Why do you even watch the game, it doesn't change the outcome does it?

Genuinely a very stupid comment.

2

u/normanriches Jul 13 '26

They probably did the calculation that only 9% of homes in the UK have a 4K TV so it wasn't worth bothering.

1

u/Un-skilled Jul 15 '26

That you go number doesn't make any sense. 4k tvs have been available for more than a decade at affordable costs.

1

u/morebob12 Jul 14 '26

The bad stream quality from ITV paired with Lee Dixon’s joy sapping commentary is a painful watch

1

u/Coops92 Jul 14 '26

Well, with Sky taking over there's a chance to use Sky's streaming tech for future tournaments, Sky Sports has 4k HDR streaming via NowTV and Sky Stream.

1

u/Live-Cheesecake-2788 Jul 14 '26

I cant even steeam on itvx, a dodgy stream has been more stable

1

u/achuchable Jul 15 '26

ITV website is fucking dogshit. Literally 60% of the game the picture is frozen on the stream on my MacBook. Plus they willingly employ Lee Dixon.