Yep. Btguard + utorrent + duckietv + filebot is a great solution. Rediculous though. Drm is a solution looking for a problem.
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@pdaphone, I agree with most everything you say, but that's not gonna keep the huge media companies from shutting down their local OTA towers and going the much cheaper streaming-over-the-internet-route.
I do think the FCC's interests are more aligned with corporate America than with us, the little guys. The fiasco several years ago over net neutrality should have taught us a lesson. Things are going to get worse, not better for the consumer.
TVE is working great for Philo, which is what I use alongside Pluto and others.
Add in Playon support, and basically 99% of Channels, for me, is playing local content on custom Guide Channels.
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TVE is working now (mostly), but as we've seen with PBS and now NBC it's just a matter of time before it goes away for a lot of popular channels. I never trusted it from the get-go. And if a lot of the sports I like goes away, channels will go away for me.
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Lots of if/when.
If ATSC & TVE go DRM. What is the future of Channels. Can it survive as a standalone content management software. Its almost already there. Or does Channels pivot to iptv player? Or Maybe they pivot into content aggregation and lean heavy into *.strm & *.strmlnk? There are options & possibilities.
DVR is a important feature of CDVR. Heck its in the name. If these things happen. I think the devs have built a awesome product and can pivot into a new direction.
All that said. ATSC 3.0 is a atleast a couple years from adoption. So everything is hunky-dory today.
This whole conversation would be deleted as FUD on the SD forums, but there is no "if" about it. Multiple TVE channels have changed to DRM over the years and more so recently (Bally, Marquee, NBA, MLB, NFL, NBC, NBC Sports, PBS).
ATSC 3.0 stations are already being encrypted in many cities and SiliconDust's "3.0" tuners cannot play them. Tablo has been sold to a broadcaster and delayed their new 3.0 tuners. Assuming that "NextGen" TV will be riddled with encryption is pretty logical at this point.
As I said in the OP, we still have a few years of ATSC 1.0 left, but after that it's not looking great for self hosted solutions unless some things change in a big way due to public backlash.
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With ATSC3 and HDHomeRun, if you read closely NickK has indicated you likely won't be able to record encypted ATSC3 content. You might be able to have a 15 minute buffter, but even that is not decided.
And knowing SD, we are years away from any solution that allows us to watch encrypted ATSC3 content in any way.
I just learned that my NBC affiliate (in lockstep with NBC's actions across the TVE universe) has started DRM on its ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. Which isn't an immediate problem for me, since the ATSC 1.0 transmitter is fine. However, the reason for me jumping to ATSC 3.0 was because all four local network affiliates are broadcasting ATSC 3.0 from one tower / transmitter less than 10 miles from my house. That means that the ABC affiliate that I never could get, and the problematic CBS affiliate reception issues would be gone. Except, well, eventually they'd probably move it to the remote tower 60 miles away, but until then...
Let me say I just do not understand why OTA broadcasts have any need of DRM. (Just like they shouldn't be held hostage by licensing from Dobly, either). I guess this really is all about shutting down OTA.
This is the showstopper for me.
Even if you could record, would they keep you from skipping through commercials, or replaying the crap call the referee just made on that last play? Or even auto-delete the entire recording after you play it x amount of times or a certain date passes since the recording?
These are the things we don't know, yet somehow deep inside we all know it's going to turn out bad for the consumers like us.
[edit] My soapbox is starting to wear out
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It's not surprising given that cable has lost 24 million subscribers in the last 6 years that these massive corporations were going to throw their weight around and do as much as possible to keep or increase their profits. That's what always happens.
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That is exactly right. Just look at Bud Light and how they failed miserably pushing their woke agenda. That effort is going to fail because it is hitting them in the place that matters most, their pocketbook. Why is OTA DRM not receiving any backlash? Because literally no one is using ATSC 3.0. 1 in 5 TV watchers get their content from an OTA antenna. Just wait until they try to turn off ATSC 1.0 and you tell every average Joe and Grandma that their TV is not compatible. They had enough trouble with the analog to ATSC 1.0 switch giving out free convertors. You think that they will give free ATSC 3.0 receivers away? Not without the FCC mandating. Bottom line here is ATSC 1.0 isn't going away anytime soon. If/when they try, I'm going to sit back and watch the backlash as it begins to hurt TV stations the most. In the pocketbook via decreased ad revenue.
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I'm sure I missed something because I've never done ATSC OTA, but how is ATSC 3.0 encryption even legal? This is public airwaves stuff that the FCC authorized right? Where did they go wrong?
Also, who is the target audience for encrypted content that only certain receivers can handle? What's the point?
FCC approved ATSC 3.0 many years ago, even then it included AC4 (with a stipulation that reasonable licensing terms be worked out). Since then, the ATSC 3.0 standard has evolved (to the point that the .0 no longer seems reasonable) to include "NextGen TV" ideas and this DRM nonsense.
I'm wondering if I can get my congressman interested in this. I rather doubt it.
Wow, that got political out of nowhere. Please take it elsewhere.
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It's about consumer backlash and how it hit bud light in the pocketbook and the same thing will hit broadcasters in due time. You don't like my post then read elsewhere
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HBO MAX is becoming MAX. They promise a smooth transition with our existing accounts working with the new app.
I'll believe that when I see it. When HBO became HBO MAX it was a month before things were reliable.
I get HBOMAX with my XFINITY plan waiting to see what happens.
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The major network broadcasters have increasingly turned to retransmission fees paid by cable and similar providers as their advertising revenue has fallen with viewers moving to streaming services. It's $14.83 billion now and expected to increase by more than a billion dollars by 2027. It's a big reason why prices continue to go up for all the services.
Only 1 in 5 TV viewers watch TV via an antenna. So that should give you an idea about why broadcasters really don't care about OTA that much. If it's difficult and inconvenient, they'll be happy for you to just move to a cable or streaming service provider and they'll get their money that way.
Here's an example about how little they care. WTAE in Pittsburgh has a tower that's placed far south of the city in the complete opposite direction from the three other major networks that all reside in the north (along with some lesser networks). For decades, it's been notoriously difficult to get that signal in parts of the city and even more difficult (I think) since the move to digital. In 2009, they placed a repeater in the city to help make the channel easier to pick up. This repeater was eliminated around the time they turned on their ATSC 3 signal. And now that signal is encrypted so we're back to square one. They don't care if half the city can't pickup their station.
I hear you but instead of only 1 in 5, I read 20%. Ask any company are they willing to piss of 20% of their customers.
You guys should send letters, emails, blow them up on twitter etc. I'm sure there is enough of a community on the SD forums with people in your area.
And our recourse is what? They have everyone over a barrel and they know it.