Yes it has been removed because it hasn't worked for weeks.
TV Everywhere is obviously not a stable enough feature to count on any stream remaining available from one day to the next. Guess it's time to cancel my Premium, as TVE was the only feature of Channels I found useful.
I get 163 TVE channels. If once or twice a year something goes wrong with a particular channel for a short time, and that bothers you, then you are right to not spend money for TVE.
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Just would like a clarification, please. Will the Weather Channel TVE status still be reviewed by the ChannelsDVR development team in the future just in case the Weather Channel eventually brings back support. Or has Weather Channel been completely abandoned. I understand its been unreliable for weeks, months, actually years. I'm not too worked up about ChannelsDVR not having Weather Channel (now that a streaming service is coming this fall) but it was nice to DVR some of their original programming. If an official TVE option returned it would be nice if it made its way back in to Channels.
I imagine if they update their site and the stream starts to work again, then there is a chance it can be re-integrated. That was what happened with Pop: audio issues in their malformed stream caused too many problems, and it was removed; when a stable stream returned, it was added back in. (However, that was a bit short-lived, as the stream developed the same issues as before, and had to be removed again.)
Can confirm that tmm1's suggestion is very effective and the best and to my knowledge only way to get Weather Channel to work in Channels DVR at this time. I am thrilled with the Frndly and docker container solution.
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You can close this thread. I have no interest is paying $8 for Frdnly tv to get Weather channel on Channels.
I was happy to learn about the option, though. It shows that it's $5.99/month and provides access to 24 channels. One of which is Weather Channel, which includes TVE integration into Channels DVR.
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Yeah, Frndly's price for 2 active HD streams is $7.99. The bargain price of $5.99 is for 1 active SD stream.
For me having Frndly just for Weather Channel is actually worth it. I enjoy most of Weather Channels original programming. And unfortunately that programming is extremely restricted and next to impossible to find on other channels and extremely difficult to find online or even through "creative" means. So a legal feed of HD Weather Channel for me is worth the $8. For a lot of people that is silly. But for me it completes my television package nicely. Also, LocalNow as an HD channel (and actually local) is a bonus.
Do you know if that restriction apply to TVE access, or just when using the Frndly app?
That’s where I can’t actually provide an answer. First, the docker solution exists because Frndly isn’t TVE, otherwise Channels would be able to treat it as such. If I had to guess, Frndly counts each active connection from the same Frndly account ID.
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How so?
I do not see Frdnly as a TVE source to add in the Channel DVR.
He meant, but didn't say, Custom M3U channel.
There is no TVE access available to the Frndly TV channels.
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so when u sign up for Frndly, they give u a .m3u download option?
like some random IPTV services i have tried in the past.
Sorry, I shouldn't have called it TVE. It works via this homebrew Docker solution:
I have started a small experiment to get an answer about the number of simultaneous Frndly TV streams with the docker in Channels DVR.
I have the $9.99 plan with Frndly TV because I wanted the longer DVR retention (currently 9 months) and, with this plan, I get up to 4 simultaneous streams.
As I type this message, I have 5 recordings in progress in Channels DVR on 5 different channels from the Frndly TV docker:
While this is going on, I went ahead and tried to watch a 6th stream live and it worked fine:
So, there you have it. Apparently, there are no limits on the number of simultaneous streams using the Frndly TV docker!
Before this experiment, I thought the same thing as @Absenm but I am pleasantly surprised!
I've had the Frndly TV docker in Channels DVR for a few weeks now and it's been stable.
Now that I know it works fine, I will downgrade my Frndly TV plan to the $7.99 one since I don't need to worry about DVR retention anymore thanks to Channels DVR and this Docker!
One more reason I love Channels DVR and its community that always finds ways to improve it (i.e. with this docker for Frndly TV).
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Then it is not a real good solution.
Docker is too much effort to get working and I am not sure how it even works with the Channels Pi image. do not feel like messing with the internals of the os and possibly adding complexity that can cause issues later.
I just want native support where i just type in the credentials like tve or use a .m3u link.
Not sure why the weather channel went away form Channels in the first place.
it was working fine, for me anyway. i recorded the one show on it fine, Highway Through Hell. now that the show is back on the air, i have to find it via torrents since it is no longer in Channels.
Sounds great, thanks for sharing the results of the experiment. All things considered, what a great solution for access to Weather Channel, and 20+ others. I appreciate it!
Why not try the $5.99/month one? If the Docker bypasses the number of screens limitation, perhaps it also delivers an HD stream and not an SD one?
Good idea. I just downgraded to $5.99/month but it won't take effect until my renewal date, which will be on 11/02. To be continued...
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