Sydney (dpa) – Angry Australian fans of Game of Thrones have
unleashed a barrage of criticism on streaming service Foxtel, after
the much-anticipated season seven premier was marred by technical
glitches due to unprecedented demand.
Fans took to social media late Monday to blast the pay television
company, which is the only way in Australia to watch the popular show
legally.
“Dear HBO – this is why Australia leads the world in illegal
downloads of Game Of Thrones. You licensed to the wrong company
Foxtel,” Julie Bright wrote on Twitter.
“Seriously … Foxtel … winter has been coming for year and still,
you couldn’t prepare for this on foxtelnow … free 1 month of
service?” Peter Gatt wrote.
Many fans even suggested they would go back to streaming it
illegally.
“When you get FOXTEL Now so that you can legally watch GoT and then
it doesn’t even load. I’ll go back to illegally obtaining it then,”
Twitter user Bleepity Bloop wrote.
Foxtel issued an apology to fans, saying the surge of demand for its
recently launched online product, Foxtel Now, had crashed the system.
“We are devastated that some customers experienced technical issues,”
Foxtel spokesman Bruce Meagher said.
“Foxtel engineers are working through the night to resolve the issue.
It’s most unfortunate and we apologize to those affected.”
Foxtel also said the technical glitches had affected the premiere
around the world, with online sites also crashing in the United
States and Latin America.
