The YouTube TV Thread

[Ronnie-]

I spent a little while with the Roku app and it's definitely a bit simple: no way to advance to future dates in guide,

If you click the channel icon in the guide, it opens up a sort of "mini guide" for that and the subset of related channels. For example, all of the ESPN channels, and you can see future programs that way. Although I am not sure how far out it goes, it may only be a few hours.

Its a simple UI, but I have grown to appreciate the simplicity of it. Pretty easy to navigate and quick to respond to commands.

 

[Zookster]

If you click the channel icon in the guide, it opens up a sort of "mini guide" for that and the subset of related channels. For example, all of the ESPN channels, and you can see future programs that way. Although I am not sure how far out it goes, it may only be a few hours.

Its a simple UI, but I have grown to appreciate the simplicity of it. Pretty easy to navigate and quick to respond to commands.

Thanks for the tip! I'm sure I just need to sit down with this for a few evenings and see what every button does in every menu screen to really unlock all its functionality. It is quite smooth and responsive, and certainly more intuitive than Hulu.

Have you found any limitations in fast-forwarding recorded programs yet? Or any channels you couldn't record (like on Sling)?

 

[Zookster]

Also, what about TV anywhere apps? Does YouTube TV's login allow access to those? Not a dealbreaker as I do little travelling, but I would like Watch ESPN access as my local college teams' games are often dumped on ESPN3.

 

[Ronnie-]

Have you found any limitations in fast-forwarding recorded programs yet? Or any channels you couldn't record (like on Sling)?

I havent yet, but I honestly dont have much that I have recorded on it so far. The few tests I set, and tried let me FFW though, but it is a VERY limited sample.

 

[Ronnie-]

Also, what about TV anywhere apps? Does YouTube TV's login allow access to those? Not a dealbreaker as I do little travelling, but I would like Watch ESPN access as my local college teams' games are often dumped on ESPN3.

Another thing I have not tried, but need to. I also have only had it a little over a week, and since it works so well with live streams on the go, It did not occur to me to check the tv anywhere apps. But good point with ESPN3 games.

 

[Zookster]

I havent yet, but I honestly dont have much that I have recorded on it so far. The few tests I set, and tried let me FFW though, but it is a VERY limited sample.

I did a little bit of research and apparently recorded shows can be replaced with on-demand versions, which usually prevent fast-forwarding. A Reddit user said that if you start the show from the "Recently Recorded" or "New Episodes" section, you get a fast-forwardable version; however, those episodes cycle out after a time, leaving you with the on-demand version. That's no problem for me because 90+% of the time if I don't watch something within a few days of its recording, I will never end up watching it.

The ability to fast-forward commercials is an absolute deal-breaker for me. Avoiding commercials when watching non-sports/non-news shows is worth paying $100+/mo for cable if that's what it comes to.

 

[Ronnie-]

On the roku app you can scan sideways in the main guide and see what's home in the future just like a cable or Sat dvr.

I don't think that was possible with my TV or Xbox built in app.


Edit
It seems you can with the other two apps as well. I'm almost certain you couldn't before, so maybe it's an update, or I just was doing it wrong

 

[Zookster]

On the roku app you can scan sideways in the main guide and see what's home in the future just like a cable or Sat dvr.

I don't think that was possible with my TV or Xbox built in app.


Edit
It seems you can with the other two apps as well. I'm almost certain you couldn't before, so maybe it's an update, or I just was doing it wrong

Okay, I see how to do it in the guide if I go all the way left first and click on the channel icon. But I still can only go ahead one day in program listings. Better than nothing, but with Vue, I could go up 5-6 days. And back 3-4 days. If I simply go forward (right) in this grid guide, it stops at the end of the current day.

 

[Bruce]

No Time Warner channels is bad enough, no Food Network is bad for me because my wife would never stop being angry with me if she lost access to that channel.

Sticking with Vue, might give DirecTV NOW a try when they get their DVR working.

 

[tigerfan33]

This is definitely a contender when I cut the cord.
Can anyone tell if video is 30 or 60 fps? I remember when this cam out and the person in charge was asked about changing from 30 to 60fps and he said no. That was sometime last year.

 

[Ronnie-]

Okay, I see how to do it in the guide if I go all the way left first and click on the channel icon. But I still can only go ahead one day in program listings. Better than nothing, but with Vue, I could go up 5-6 days. And back 3-4 days. If I simply go forward (right) in this grid guide, it stops at the end of the current day.

Yeah if you want to look way ahead other options or better.

I still prefer the look of this to the vue guide on fire, although not necessarily the function.

 

[Ronnie-]

This is definitely a contender when I cut the cord.
Can anyone tell if video is 30 or 60 fps? I remember when this cam out and the person in charge was asked about changing from 30 to 60fps and he said no. That was sometime last year.

Some of both. It appears to me, by using the "nerd stats" option under more info, that it displays it as native to what the channel puts out.

 

[Ronnie-]

No Time Warner channels is bad enough, no Food Network is bad for me because my wife would never stop being angry with me if she lost access to that channel.

Sticking with Vue, might give DirecTV NOW a try when they get their DVR working.

I don't blame you. Imo vue is still the best for most, this just works great for my own uses.

 

[Ronnie-]

Oh, on another plus, came home today and loaded the new roku app, and behold, they added the cbs live stream. I previously had ABC, NBC, and fox.

Now have all four majors.

And the cw on demand are commercial free if you add them to your library section.

 

[Zookster]

Oh, on another plus, came home today and loaded the new roku app, and behold, they added the cbs live stream. I previously had ABC, NBC, and fox.

Now have all four majors.

And the cw on demand are commercial free if you add them to your library section.

I just realized my Fox is the national feed and not the local affiliate.

I'll have to see what happens when a new CW episode records because the on-demand stuff does have commercials.

I love the stats for nerds feature. lol

 

[Ronnie-]

I'll have to see what happens when a new CW episode records because the on-demand stuff does have commercials.

I love the stats for nerds feature. lol

That's odd. I don't have the local cw feed, so I just searched for shows and added them to my library. I would assume, being I don't have a live stream those would be on demand that I watched.

If you hit pause it shows where commercials should be on the progress line, but I watched two last night and there was no commercial, and I could ffw/rw as I wanted.

 

[osu1991]

YouTube’s live TV service is now available for Apple TV devices

YouTube’s live TV service is now available for Apple TV devices

YouTube’s streaming live TV service is now available on Apple TV devices, the Google-owned video site revealed in a surprise announcement this afternoon. In a tweet telling Apple TV owners to check the App Store, the official YouTube TV account disclosed that its app is now available on tvOS devices. This follows news earlier today that YouTube TV has made its way to compatible Roku devices as well.

 

[tigerfan33]

Unfortunately it looks like it may be a while before the Amazon Fire TV joins the crowd.

 

[Zookster]

That's odd. I don't have the local cw feed, so I just searched for shows and added them to my library. I would assume, being I don't have a live stream those would be on demand that I watched.

If you hit pause it shows where commercials should be on the progress line, but I watched two last night and there was no commercial, and I could ffw/rw as I wanted.

Well, I saw those little yellow marks in the progress bar of the CW program and assumed they were forced commercials (without watching the program) like they were with PS Vue's on demand stuff or in the CW app.

After playing around last night and this morning, it seems very hit and miss whether those yellow marks mean forced commercials or not. On that CW program I finally tested, they weren't, as you reported. (I don't have the local CW feed either--I just added the program to my list.) I recorded three other network shows last night on three different networks, and in each case, I could fast-forward commercials, though on one of the recordings, Big Bang Theory, the yellow marks were there, but they acted like the ones in the CW show and they didn't trigger a forced commercial break. The regular network commercials were still in the recording (at different, unmarked points), but I could fast-forward through them. I wonder if it depends on the device. Say, for example, if I was watching on a mobile device those yellow marks would trigger a commercial?

On the other hand, I did watch a SyFy show on demand last night which had the yellow marks, and they did trigger forced commercials. (I watched the show knowing it had limited commercial interruptions, which was indeed the case, only <1 min. worth of commercials each time). I also tested a Fox on demand show and the yellow marks triggered a full, forced commercial break (2-3 mins). The nice thing is, even when there are forced commercials, you can still fast-forward the program, which you couldn't do with PS Vue's on demand stuff.

 

[Zookster]

I just checked and YouTube TV is an accepted provider for the Watch ESPN app. I'm successfully logged in under that now. The only other one I care about for the next month is NBC Sports for the Winter Olympics.

EDIT: It looks like YouTube TV does have pretty broad app support, as reported by Reddit users, for the channels in its package, including ABC, AMC, BBC America, BRAVO, DISNEY/JUNIOR/XD, WatchESPN, FREEFORM, FOX NOW, FOX SPORTS GO, FOX NEWS, FX NOW, IFC, MSNBC, NAT GEO, NBC, OXYGEN, SYFY, USA, WEtv, Telemundo, Sprout, E!, and CNBC.