Exclusive EM game - Due to technical problems: Magenta TV shows Turkey vs. Austria free of charge on YouTube
The EM quarter-final between Turkey and Austria can be watched online in the evenings without access restrictions on the Internet. The match is an exclusive production of MagentaTV, originally requiring a paid registration with the streaming service of Telekom. Due to numerous new registrations for the match, there were waiting times, as social media reactions indicate. The provider decided to offer an alternative solution.
"The response to our exclusive EM quarter-final Austria – Turkey has been overwhelming and exceeds our expectations by far," MagentaTV stated. "Therefore, we are also showing the match in our digital waiting room, so that our customers do not miss a single second of the match while registering with MagentaTV. This also had the effect that even more interested parties visited our booking platform. The basis for the stream in the waiting room is YouTube."
Exclusivity caused criticism
That the match could not be seen in free-TV, i.e. neither on the publicly-funded broadcasters ARD and ZDF nor at RTL, caused criticism before the game. In Germany, there are around three million Turkish descent people living.
Background: MagentaTV is allowed to exclusively broadcast an EM quarter-final. The senders did not comment on which position a game could be chosen. ZDF decided on the German national team against Denmark. MagentaTV, when it was its turn, chose the match between Turkey and Austria.
"Despite the waiting times due to the high number of registrations, many viewers in the digital waiting room were able to watch the EM quarter-final between Turkey and Austria on YouTube, provided by German Telekom's MagentaTV."
"Some critical responses were noticed on social media, as the match wasn't broadcasted on free-TV channels like ARD, ZDF, or RTL in Germany, which has a significant Turkish population of around three million."
"As a result of MagentaTV's exclusive EM quarter-final broadcast rights, the match between Turkey and Austria was also available for streaming on YouTube, offering an alternative solution for those still waiting in the digital registration queue."
