Forget the prefectural orders, the thousands of police officers mobilized disguised as Robocop, the lanes cut off from traffic. No, if you want peace in households, in the streets and in all the establishments broadcasting the semi-final of the World Cup, Wednesday, between France and Morocco, put all the televisions on the same frequency. Everywhere. History that some do not have a few seconds in advance by seeing the goal of Mbappé after a crazy ride. Finally, late, especially.
TV box, TNT, streaming platform… Depending on the (legal) broadcast source via which you watch the World Cup matches, and more generally football in general, you can have up to forty seconds (or even a little more) of difference. Enough to create confusion and put some out of them. Example in 2018, during France-Argentina and the famous second post Pavard.
The neighbor war
While the author of these lines was quietly sipping his grenadine in a bar, his eyes riveted on the screen, the nearby bar was already celebrating the goal of the one who is now the third right back of the Blues. Scandal among the audience, who ordered the neighborhood to wait before celebrating. In vain. “Since then, we have changed operator, explains to us today a waiter from Trois Maillets, a bar in the capital (1st arrondissement). Before, we went through Canal. Now we are on Orange and the problem is solved, we are no longer behind the neighbour. We really changed for this reason. »
This volley from Benjamin Pavard is also in the memories of Sylvain, who lives in Lille. At the time of the miracle, the manager was working in his store, one eye, all the same, on the computer: “I was out of step with the TV in the bar next door. Each more or less dangerous action, which provoked reactions in the bar, warned us that we had to be attentive to the screen. Pavard’s goal was celebrated so much in the bar that I saw the husband of one of my clients running to come and see the goal in my office. »
A history of segments
But how to explain this discrepancy that puts the nerves to the test? “There is classic television, with DTT, satellites or operator boxes, which use flows that do not go through the Internet, and therefore arrive directly on the air, explains Nicolas Lellouche, journalist at Numerama. We then have delays of the order of two to six seconds, but it is rather real direct. While streaming, like MyCanal, Molotov or operator apps, it uses a technique that cuts the video into several pieces, from six to eight seconds. »
So, when you open your MyCanal application, for example, “we will download two to three six-second segments, continues the specialist. But, often, we arrive on the video in the middle of a segment. So there aren’t enough of them available, so it’s going to download four or five, each six to eight seconds long. That’s how we end up with a forty-second delay. Enough to create chaos.
We cut the phones and cover our ears
So, to prevent the party from being spoiled by neighbors or friends, whether live or remotely, some have their own little technique: “It’s the main subject of discussion with my friends, who are always ahead on me, explains the Bordelais Arthur. So, on my phone, I mute the conversation temporarily. Otherwise, when you receive too many notifications, even without looking, there is a doubt. »
Our colleague Nicolas tried a slightly more old-fashioned method: putting his hands over his ears to avoid spoiling the outcome of Harry Kane’s second penalty on Saturday against the Blues: “I heard all the same a cry which implied that there had been no goal. I worked in my office with MyCanal while my family watched the match in the living room on TF1, via Orange. When Tchouameni scored the first goal, I exploded, they came to me to tell me that the goal had been scored thirty seconds ago. »
The radio fines everyone
Another solution, a little more barbaric, is to put the sound on full blast to avoid hearing the neighbors rejoicing at Olivier Giroud’s new goal. But, good news, soon everything will be settled. “There are technologies being deployed, particularly at Apple and Google, which allow segments to be measured in milliseconds, and more in seconds,” continues Nicolas Lellouche. So it will allow to have a delay almost in real time. We can imagine, in a few years, that there will be no more problems and that we will even be ahead of normal TV. »
In the meantime, we have to be content with what we have. And the preferred solution, for the Numerama journalist, is “DTT, which is ahead of everything else. Otherwise, I believe Orange is a bit faster than the others, as they have the most reliable streams and their in-house technology. Otherwise, if you really want to show off to your friends, turn on the radio. And there, a new world opens up to you. Without images, of course, but with the feeling of being one step ahead of the whole world.