I know this year has been rough with TVE - NBC channels being removed, MSG and YES no longer consistently working, etc, etc. Does anyone think that it is possible that Channels DVR will somehow be compatible with more TVE channels next year, or do you think that the number of accessible channels will continue to decline?
TVE isn’t a Channels DVR thing, it’s a provider thing. Each provider supports it differently. Channels is taking advantage of the system to allow you to watch and record shows locally, Channels ability to receive more content is dependent solely on provider movement and their subsequent dealings.
In the wake of ATSC 3.0 moving swiftly towards full DRM which was never the intention but a legal loophole, and cord cutting continuing to put the squeeze on providers I don’t think it’s going to get any better. The best days are behind us I fear.
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Since the OP asks for speculation I will simply offer my non-professional thoughts. First, as @Matt_Edmunds mentioned, this is not a ChannelsDVR thing and therefore Channels cannot really do anything about TVE or its future. I honestly believe we will not see any more additional channels venture in to TVE. I also believe that gradually over the coming years the remaining batch of TVE channels will either DRM or simply phase out. The industry as a whole seems to view TVE these days as an outdated (if not failed) experiment and is opting to embrace streaming bundles as the only possible profitable future. Traditional linear broadcast TV and sponsored/free services such Pluto being loss leaders. This streaming movement is not only effecting the future of TVE, but also traditional cable TV (some will say that even Spectrum appears to be on the verge of phasing out cable in the coming few years). I do not think TVE will just stop one day. It'll be a slow and steady decline. And I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of channels still clung on to it 15 years down the road. But the best of the TVE is long past us now.
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The Phonenix Suns are making all their games available by OTA and giving away antennas for free. Maybe other sports teams will follow.
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I would disagree with some of what has been said here. What NBC and others are doing is using DRM with their TVE to drive people to THEIR SITES and Apps. It is is still TVE, meaning that you can only log into their site to view the various channels if you subscribe to a service (Streaming or Cable) that has this particular channel. For instance with my YouTube TV subscription, the NBC Universal channels I subscribe to on YTTV are available when I log into the NBC App. Will more channels go this route and DRM their content? I would guess probably. Channels is still usable for me as I use the HDHR and Antenna for most of my viewing. The channels like Hallmark, Discover channels and others still work on TVE so I will ride the wave as long as possible.
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Well, seems to me, the providers are making TVE use more frustrating.
With Several of the TVE stations I watch, still having constant issues of pixelization and small stutters, (see my other thread), and getting NO WHERE with those stations tech support, "Can't reproduce your issue...contact your provider" when the issues been proven by multiple people that their website and apps live Stream has issues... yea. They don't care.
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Well I agree, the TVE we know and love is past its peak.
But with these Devs there's always hope.
Maybe a more enhanced transparent Chrome Capture
There's always a way.
Last resort, there's always just using your YTTV app or whatever.
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I'm starting to rely more on ADBTuner (with YTTV) over TVE. You can access any channel, and as a bonus, the stream encoded from YTTV is sometimes better than the TVE stream (e.g. 60fps vs 30)
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I agree with @Absenm 90%. Maybe more.
But i really like this
Only critique would be dev+ community
Because some members have really stepped up.
All ways to get content knto CDVR
TVE
Chrome Capture
HDMI Capture
Custom Channels (m3u8)
ESPN+
MLB
Playon Cloud
HDHR
Local content (imports)
Various misc. dockers
I am sure I am forgetting some. TVE was a big part in CDVR. Key word is was. CDVR is evolving media platform more then a TV platform.
But TVE is dying. I predict at least 2 networks will DRM their TVE. At least 1 network will shut down TVE all together. I think 2024 will be a very bad year for TVE. But @maddox I predict 2024 will be the year photo gallery will be added to CDVR.
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Fox is well on their way to shutting down TVE, given that you can't access any local channels live on their website and a lot of the station streams via channels have stopped working.
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I never really relied on Fox anyway. In my areas they only had TVE when it was a national broadcast. Local broadcast was never streamed. I just used an antenna for Fox most of the time anyway.
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I'm starting to relay on ADBTuner myself
The handoff between the two ONN boxes and my 2 HDMI encoders seem to play well with each other.
YTTV seems to make it fell natural.
Hulu takes longer to load.
Philo works well.
if you just want to use stuff and like Android, ADB Tuner is a good fit.
Hi Cyclone, thank you for your reply. I'm a relative layman Channels user - the highlight being able to copy and paste MSG / YES code to watch channels before that functionality was removed. I googled ADBTuner, but can you please explain a little more about it? Right now I have TVE access through a friend's Verizon account coupled with Channels. Thanks in advance!
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It's a huge thread, but the first post OP can get you started.
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You can't use ADBTuner with TVE credentials. You have to have one of the streaming services like YouTube TV. The channel is automically tuned on an Android TV or Fire TV device, which is connected to an HDMI encoder box that feeds into Channels.
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I've been using ADB Tuner for several weeks with YTTV and it is very stable with the ONN Boxes.
I'm using the solution to replace TVE sources that aren't stable or simply aren't available.
I've got two boxes with two encoders available for streaming or recording from a channel.