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Why so few Live TV options ?
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Old 03-05-2017, 17:20   #1
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Why so few Live TV options ?

1 month contract and available on a device of your choice , why do we have so few options over here ?

With the exception of Now TV and a few smaller apps we have very little choice for Live TV after the main platforms. I'm thinking services like Sling TV , PlayStation Vue , Google TV , Hulu Live offering etc.
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Old 03-05-2017, 18:18   #2
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

I would hazard a guess its because the TV companies and suppliers would like to keep the status quo of trying to force us to buy bundles of channels we don't want in order to gain access to the channels we do want.
If we could just pay for what we want many channels would go out of business and the bundles offered by the suppliers would look far less appealing.

As I've posted elsewhere on these forums I am fortunate enough to have a very good friend in the US who allows me to use their cable TV login, its not only the paucity of live TV options we have here compared to America but also with the exception of BBC Iplayer most options we do have are light years away from those offered to our colonial cousins in terms of quality, when I watch an online stream from most US broadcasters they are almost on a par with broadcast HD, over here I've found only Iplayer comes close to that, BT Sport and Now TV are not bad but not a patch on what I see on the US services.

Hopefully we're just a tad behind the times and our broadcasters will see sense in the next year or two.
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Old 03-05-2017, 18:26   #3
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

Kodi!
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Old 03-05-2017, 18:58   #4
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

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Originally Posted by pip08456 View Post
Kodi!
Take it from someone who's been using the software for nigh on 15 years when it was named XBMP, Kodi is not the answer for most people unless you're pretty IT literate.

Don't believe the hype, what your "fully loaded" box seller hasn't told you is that they opened that factory delivered box and installed Kodi and the mostly crap addons it came with.
Kodi isn't sandboxed so unless you're willing to take the chance on having your network and accounts compromised people should leave the wizards, builds, fully loaded boxes well alone.

The third party Kodi addon scene has become the wild west in the last few years, as well as the previously mentioned compromises your IP could well be being reported somewhere.
If anyone has been foolish enough to subscribe to a Kodi addon be aware you have shared your payment details with a criminal enterprise.

I personally wouldn't install any repo not approved by the XBMC Foundation and would only install an addon not from the official repo after I'd gone through its Python code.
If people must install these addons I'd advise to only ever install from a zip file and not from its repo.

Oh and before I get off my high horse I'd say ALL Kodi addons break (usually when you most want to use it) and as they are being maintained on the whole by someone in their spare time you could have a bit of a wait for it to be fixed.
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Old 03-05-2017, 23:01   #5
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by buckeye View Post
Take it from someone who's been using the software for nigh on 15 years when it was named XBMP, Kodi is not the answer for most people unless you're pretty IT literate.

Don't believe the hype, what your "fully loaded" box seller hasn't told you is that they opened that factory delivered box and installed Kodi and the mostly crap addons it came with.
Kodi isn't sandboxed so unless you're willing to take the chance on having your network and accounts compromised people should leave the wizards, builds, fully loaded boxes well alone.

The third party Kodi addon scene has become the wild west in the last few years, as well as the previously mentioned compromises your IP could well be being reported somewhere.
If anyone has been foolish enough to subscribe to a Kodi addon be aware you have shared your payment details with a criminal enterprise.

I personally wouldn't install any repo not approved by the XBMC Foundation and would only install an addon not from the official repo after I'd gone through its Python code.
If people must install these addons I'd advise to only ever install from a zip file and not from its repo.

Oh and before I get off my high horse I'd say ALL Kodi addons break (usually when you most want to use it) and as they are being maintained on the whole by someone in their spare time you could have a bit of a wait for it to be fixed.
Great post and a true reflection of the experiences everyone I know with a "loaded box" has had over the past 36 months.

Totally unreliable. Usually works for a period after purchase then stops. Reading forums and watching videos on Youtube will only get you so far in terms of trying to fix your issues. If you're IT minded or a wiz with tech I'm sure these are just little bumps that can be ironed out. For your general punter who has bought it on the promise of free football and movies, once it goes South it's game over.

There was a real boom in these boxes in my area about 2 years ago. Now you hardly hear of them. It's a small town. Once word gets out they're a waste of money then demand stops.

I've never had one. Got sick of trying to watch other peoples. Streams freezing, breaking up or going offline. I've not got time for that. Far too frustrating.
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Old 04-05-2017, 12:54   #6
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad View Post
Great post and a true reflection of the experiences everyone I know with a "loaded box" has had over the past 36 months.

Totally unreliable. Usually works for a period after purchase then stops. Reading forums and watching videos on Youtube will only get you so far in terms of trying to fix your issues. If you're IT minded or a wiz with tech I'm sure these are just little bumps that can be ironed out. For your general punter who has bought it on the promise of free football and movies, once it goes South it's game over.

There was a real boom in these boxes in my area about 2 years ago. Now you hardly hear of them. It's a small town. Once word gets out they're a waste of money then demand stops.

I've never had one. Got sick of trying to watch other peoples. Streams freezing, breaking up or going offline. I've not got time for that. Far too frustrating.
TBF never had a issue with mine but that is most likely because i bought a legit Android box that only had android on when it arrived none of this rubbish these sellers put on, for my live tv i installed tvplayer and filmon however filmon is dead to me now as they want £14.95pm which is silly for what it is.
However for my tv shows i use a service called real debrid it costs about £3pm and i have never had any tv show, movie buffer.
Also as i installed the addons myself i know exactly what is on my box despite what scaremongers will claim, live sports not a problem but then again i use kinda legit addons anyway such as nbcsport and foxsport which are both in kodis own repo, kodi have openly stated they want to work with networks to bring more services onto the kodi platform.
I do agree however with what has been said never buy a fully loaded box you can pick up a T95 without any rubbish on it for around £40 these days.
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Old 04-05-2017, 15:29   #7
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by muppetman11 View Post
1 month contract and available on a device of your choice , why do we have so few options over here ?

With the exception of Now TV and a few smaller apps we have very little choice for Live TV after the main platforms. I'm thinking services like Sling TV , PlayStation Vue , Google TV , Hulu Live offering etc.

Apart from sports, fans, I'm not sure who really wants live TV. Catch up is available pretty soon after broadcast.


Hulu ATM are selling their own content to UK broadcasters or Netflix or Amazon. CBS online exclusive shows are treated the same way. I can't see Hulu or CBS launching internet services in the UK. Same for Showtime, HBO and AMC as they are tied to UK outlets on a show by show basis.


I think the subscriber rates to these services in the UK would be too low, so selling shows to current UK media outlets is the way it will stay for a long time.
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Old 04-05-2017, 16:05   #8
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

The examples I listed above are proving to be pretty popular and offer the user the choice of live or On Demand they also offer Cloud DVR. As you say Sport is watched live as is News and certain entertainment shows.
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Old 04-05-2017, 16:24   #9
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

i watch most things on catch up with the exception of ITV as they have yet to embrace HD catch up!
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Old 04-05-2017, 16:56   #10
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by theone2k10 View Post
TBF never had a issue with mine but that is most likely because i bought a legit Android box that only had android on when it arrived none of this rubbish these sellers put on, for my live tv i installed tvplayer and filmon however filmon is dead to me now as they want £14.95pm which is silly for what it is.
However for my tv shows i use a service called real debrid it costs about £3pm and i have never had any tv show, movie buffer.
Also as i installed the addons myself i know exactly what is on my box despite what scaremongers will claim, live sports not a problem but then again i use kinda legit addons anyway such as nbcsport and foxsport which are both in kodis own repo, kodi have openly stated they want to work with networks to bring more services onto the kodi platform.
I do agree however with what has been said never buy a fully loaded box you can pick up a T95 without any rubbish on it for around £40 these days.
Most of what you say is the point I was trying to make, if you control what you put on the device you're far less likely to fall foul or the shysters and criminals trying to profit from Kodi.
I would reiterate my point about not installing 3rd party builds, wizards and repo's though, I've seen all sorts of shenanigans go on from these over the past 4 or so years, even from places and people I'd thought relatively trustworthy.
I'm amazed a major virus or malware hasn't been released through 3rd party addons/repo's yet but think its only a matter of time until one is.

I think I probably use many of the same legit addons you do but I find myself using them less these days, hooking my ATV 4 into my VPN or using Windows apps is proving a lot more reliable than the Kodi addons which do break from time to time and these methods offer more content than is available via Kodi, which brings us back to the main point of this thread,
its a shame services like the US get aren't by and large available here.

(I'll gloss over the RD comment, I think we may be getting into the realms of breaking forum rules talking much further about it, but that is a service I recommend to the few friends and family I offer "support" to who insist on relying on Kodi)
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Old 04-05-2017, 17:24   #11
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by buckeye View Post
Most of what you say is the point I was trying to make, if you control what you put on the device you're far less likely to fall foul or the shysters and criminals trying to profit from Kodi.
I would reiterate my point about not installing 3rd party builds, wizards and repo's though, I've seen all sorts of shenanigans go on from these over the past 4 or so years, even from places and people I'd thought relatively trustworthy.
I'm amazed a major virus or malware hasn't been released through 3rd party addons/repo's yet but think its only a matter of time until one is.

I think I probably use many of the same legit addons you do but I find myself using them less these days, hooking my ATV 4 into my VPN or using Windows apps is proving a lot more reliable than the Kodi addons which do break from time to time and these methods offer more content than is available via Kodi, which brings us back to the main point of this thread,
its a shame services like the US get aren't by and large available here.

(I'll gloss over the RD comment, I think we may be getting into the realms of breaking forum rules talking much further about it, but that is a service I recommend to the few friends and family I offer "support" to who insist on relying on Kodi)
I agree fully about the windows apps i myself use my vpn and various ustv windows apps i'm lucky enough to have a friend in the US who has given me a login to her directv.
In honesty between my pc and roku i find i'm using my android box less and less, even movies now i can get cheaply via vudu who also offer free movies with adverts.
I agree too that it is a shame US type services aren't available here but hopefully this will change in time.
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Old 04-05-2017, 17:46   #12
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

I don't really get why people want so many different channels, most of which are brain numbing dross, quality over quantity anytime for me!
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Old 04-05-2017, 20:44   #13
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

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Originally Posted by Mad Max View Post
I don't really get why people want so many different channels, most of which are brain numbing dross, quality over quantity anytime for me!
Because what you'd consider quality, others would call brain numbing dross?
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Old 04-05-2017, 20:55   #14
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

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Originally Posted by spiderplant View Post
Because what you'd consider quality, others would call brain numbing dross?

Don't agree, what I consider quality, are good, well made dramas, such as Line of Duty, Broadchurch, to name but a few, also the excellent David Attenborough wildlife programmes that he has delivered over many years, now you can't call that type of stuff dross!
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Old 05-05-2017, 09:37   #15
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Re: Why so few Live TV options ?

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Originally Posted by Mad Max View Post
Don't agree, what I consider quality, are good, well made dramas, such as Line of Duty, Broadchurch, to name but a few, also the excellent David Attenborough wildlife programmes that he has delivered over many years, now you can't call that type of stuff dross!
There you go, you see. I agree with you entirely on Attenborough, Totally disagree on drama.
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