First Law of Motion

Channels DVR Server
#1

I have been a loyal customer for quite a few years. Paying my $80 year over year while getting very little in terms of upgrades. I feel like I paid to have new features created for the apple eco system even though I don't use apple tv. I didn't complain because I was able, via TVE to tape my shows and watch them later. At first, there were many shows I taped and watched. But over the years, there were fewer and fewer shows that I cared to watch. But inertia kept me from cancelling my subscription and looking for something else. It was just easier to pay my fee and keep doing the same thing.

But recently this body, which was at rest, began to move. I can no longer use Spectrum as a TVE source. I sent multiple emails to support, but got nothing in return. Not even an email that says "we're working on it!". So I started looking for alternatives. I only have a 3 or 4 shows that I tape now, so I thought it might be easy to find an alternative.

And I was right! I found an easy, free, and legal way to view my shows. Not quite as convenient as Channels but it's close enough. And being free, I can reallocate the $80 yearly fee to a streaming service. In a sense, I am now getting a streaming service for 1/2 of the yearly cost. 6 months of service for free!

As far as the rest of the "features" in Channels, I have never really used them. To view my purchased movies and shows, I have always used a different app for that. That app is open-source, free, and runs the same on android, windows, and apple. Also, the UI is way better than Channels in many ways.

So, in case it's not clear. I am going to cancel my Channels subscription. I would like to thank the Channels programmers for give me the impetus to get up off the couch and look for something better!

Finally, as a thank you for the years of enjoyment I got from using Channels, I would like to give a few tips to the IT staff at Channels, based on my 40+ years in the IT industry.

  1. Get a ticketing system. Users should be encouraged to use that instead of community support and emails that go off into the ether with no response. For tickets that require some amount of work, don't forget to update your customers on the progress.
  2. My understanding is that you have a small staff. Quit trying to do too much. Survey your customers and ask them to rank the features that they most use. Then concentration on the top 2 or 3 features and discard the rest.
  3. Remember that your customers are paying money each year to use your software. Make sure each customer gets value from that money. Upgrades and updates are important! Make sure your customers know what they get for their money.
  4. Quit taking your customers for granted. They are reason you go to work every day.

Hope this helps someone.
Goodbye

1 Like
#2

Are these "purchased movies and shows" extracted from physical media and stored on your own hosted server? Or are they streaming from the cloud, via an online streaming provider?

Just curious, what is the name of this open-source, free app?

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#3

They are physical media stored on my local NAS.

I did not name it in the original post because it is not my intention to drive others away from this app. Each person should decide what is best for themselves. The app I use is easily found via a google search. But since you asked, I use Jellyfin to view my movies and shows. I also used it to view the shows I taped in Channels DVR.

#4

Cool, thanks, enjoy your greener pastures. As an AppleTV user, I'm much happier with the options available to me, but I wish you all the best.

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#5

If you have been reading this forum, you would know that TVE has been on the way out for several years and there is nothing the people at ChannelsDVR can do about it. It is clear that your cost benefit analysis no longer favors your your continued subscription, but it does for the rest of us. I don't understand why you are making such a big deal about it. Maybe next year I'll find something better for me, or maybe I'll be a subscriber for the next five years. When I go, it will be because something else better meets my needs or my needs have changed, but I will not blame it on the developers.

I currently have 5 different pieces of software contributing to my TV viewing. If there was anything close to a perfect product, I would only need one.

4 Likes
#6

I hear you 100% but Ill give them a chance. The issue here is that the clients have not advanced in any way. The same guide, the same color, the same options. Instead we get 3rd party devs running the show. The apps are not polished and programmed half arsed (eg: the guide button only pulls the full guide from the main menu). The need to make the clients customizable.

TVE is troublesome, was good with sling and DTV not so much with YTTV, I'm new to Spectrum TV and got it working flawlessly. You may want to start fresh with a new alt login (Im a converted COX customer so I can make alt profiles). Also try using COX as your provider, one or the other should work and may change as they morph into one. Have both as a souce and choose the one with the most channels. Also prelogin to the channels web pages with your creds before scanning.

Main thing keeping me here is the Virtual channels, But now we have COAX and Nostalgia TV, not as good or feature filled as Channels, but maybe the competition will light a fire on the Devs. I know they must be great programmers, they just to get in the game again. The new UI for the server admin page is excellent, they just need to bring the same spark to the Apple and Andriod apps.

EDIT: I tried jellyfin too, its real bad and bogged down my server with lots of ffmpeg instances and probes. I dont trust it one bit, uninstalled 2 hrrs later- good riddens!! Id rather just use Plex- and thats not that much better . XBMC was the GOAT till they crapped it up around the time they renamed to Kodi.

#7

The problem with TVE is that it's a moving target and always will be... Until there is no more.
So, for that, I think the devs are doing a good job to keep up with it.

I hear you about the clients, especially Android. I also wish they were more polished. Using the guide on Android has always been a painful experience.

Overall, though, I personally care more about the core functionality and it's a pretty damn good DVR.
Just for the DVR alone, they got me locked in. :laughing:
Any other functionality is just a bonus for me.

#8

It was not my intention to blame anyone. Assigning blame does not fix issues. However, it is the responsibility of the development team to fix the application when errors arise.

This forum is not just for you or for the current members. It also for prospective and future members. One purpose for my post was, hopefully, to help those people make a more informed decision about buying a subscription to Channels. Not necessarily discourage people from subscribing, but to inform. Sorry if you consider that a "big deal" not worthy of a post in this forum.

Not sure what that has to do with this discussion but anyway... Congratulations!

I haven't been reading the forum, so I didn't know. TVE just kept working, until it didn't.
Also, as an aside, as part of my subscription cancellation, I have turned off all notifications from this forum. So, I won't be reading this forum in future either!

#9

Since you only used it for 2 hours, my guess is that Jellyfin was attempting to do transcoding on all of your media. It will do that on 1st use, unless you turn that off before adding your libraries. I don't use transcoding very often because I only watch on my TV screen and not my phone or tablet.

I am sorry it did not work out for you, but, as you noted, there are a lot of choices available and I am sure you will find something that will work out well for you. Good luck in the future!

#10