Hey there! I’ve got Channels running on a Synology DS920+ with TVE and YouTubeTV.
I’m trying to justify keeping Channels, since I know how people rave about it, but struggling to find many reasons. I don’t have a large library of content to import, and don’t have a HDHomeRun or anything like that. Outside of YouTubeTV, most of our consumption is the typical streaming stuff (HBO Max, Hulu, Disney+, etc).
If you have any advice for me on how best to take advantage of Channels, I’d appreciate it!
You can add Pluto easily via Custom Channels, using https://nocords.xyz
That will give you a lot more content, and if you record stuff you like off there the commercials will be marked and skipped. Then you could also create Virtual Channels with that content to have your own live TV with stuff you like and no commercials.
PlayOn Cloud can be used to record from Disney+ etc to bring that content in as well.
Channels is appealing to people that like to have control over their media. The types of people that had huge DVD collections back in the day. That's not the case for everyone, and if you're happy just using the HBO or Disney+ app when you occasionally watch stuff, there's no real need for Channels.
@tmm1 I didn't know this was a thing. I am currently using the docker image for Pluto. Is there any advantage to using docker, or am I better off removing the (albeit minimal) overhead of docker and using this method?
When I was setting up my Channels Server, I wanted to add Pluto, but when I ran to the Docker thing, that I've never heard of or dealt with before. I just gave up on it. But then I came across this option here in the forms, I tried it. It's as simple as possible to add, and works fantastically well for me.
Channels DVR + TVE vs Youtube tv.
Forget all the features. It all comes down to content ownership.
DVR on YTTV is in cloud. DVR on Channels DVR is on your local hard drive.
Think of it as renting a movie vs owning. We could list 100 reasons Channels is better. But it all boils down to controlling your own content and who should have it. I dont trust things in the cloud. I want a physical copy. What happens when YTTV has a dispute with MTV. Will your recordings of [insert name of garbage reality show] still be available? Maybe, maybe not.
YTTV advantage. It's just easy. If you have super stable, high speed internet and just want to watch tv. It works. It works pretty darn good. There's no server to maintain, nothing to fix. It just works
I have the exact same configuration and also started out not having much content to import. As other suggested add PlutoTV as a source, I also have SamsungTV, Stirr, and DistroTV as sources (search forum for the settings). Since I have lots of NAS storage space, I get into the habit of looking ahead each week to content coming up using "On Later" and then liberally recording things that I might have an interest in someday. I also set up lots of passes to scoop up series and make extensive us of advanced passes to pull in artists, directors, and other items that I am wanting to watch someday. There is plenty of horsepower in the DS920+ for multiple concurrent recording and playback tasks.
I agree with jake.joycelyn. Once you record a show you have it for as long as you want. If Youtube TV cancels a channel, you lose all of the recordings of that channel. But to me, it's all about Commercial Skip and the ability to fine tune the skips after the shows are recorded.
ability to fine tune the skips after the shows are recorded
Ok, I am interested in how this is done. I can't find any documentation on this?
For any show, recorded, imported, it doesn't matter, check on the options wheel and look for the commercial skip options.
If a show is recorded live from a channel, when the show is over, the system will try to find the commercials and index them. If you IMPORT a show, the scan would not have been done, so you "Re-Detect" Commercials like this imported Hulu recording I made using the PlayOn App. It has commercials in it but Channels hasn't detected them yet. So I re-detect them, go to edit commercials, and then can make sure the "checked" green sections are all the show and NOT commercials. You can usually see the difference. Looks like a good job on this show, "The Patient"
Skipping commercials is the main reason that I use Channels DVR + TVE vs. the YouTube TV DVR. I used to have to go through and edit commercials like that all the time, but the commercial detection has been practically flawless for the stuff I watch now.
I have YoutubeTV and I love it. Here are the things that Channels give me that I don't get with YoutubeTV directly.
I could go on.
I use Channels w/YTTV to record content from TCM (YTTV is an authorized provider for TCM TVE). Works beautifully. But there are a few well-discussed procedures (look in forum) to follow to correctly set up YTTV so you have no authorization problems. Once that's squared away, smooth sailing.
I have the same setup as you and have thought about the same question.
Aside from sports, I don't watch that much TV except for some shows from some of the streaming platforms like Netflix. If it was just me, I wouldn't have Channels.
The reason I got Channels a few years ago is because I bought an HDHomeRun box because there weren't any streaming options that carried local TV channels and I wanted to dump DirecTV. That has changed now however my wife who does watch TV likes the Channels UI much better than YouTube (actually she hates YouTube) so I have kept my Channels subscription. Commercial skipping is also a big plus.
The only issue I've had with Channels is Authentication with TVE sometimes breaks and when this happens, a cryptic error message will pop up on the TV. So far Channels has worked through the issues but its likely to break again so I would not recommend TVE to someone that is clueless about how Channels work.
I should also mention one other benefit of Channels. My wife occasionally travels out of state and is able to watch TV on her iPad same as home. No YouTube checking for location, etc. You can work around location with a VPN but watching Channels remotely works pretty well.
I don't share my Channels DVR outside my home. But, I can say that the TVE access (including that through Channels DVR) do not count against the three stream limit imposed on YTTV.
Channels DVR is for personal use at home and when you're traveling. We don't condone sharing so please don't discuss such things here.
YTTV’s “unlimited” recordings also expire after 9 months, regardless.
This is a big one if you travel or have family that do. The ability to use VPN and have all your devices work with Channels anywhere with no restrictions or geo-locking or location checks is just awesome.
