NZ TV On Demand services and Chromecast

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Satch

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# 207726 11-Jan-2017 13:02

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I was wondering the other day why none of the NZ TV companies offer Chromecast support with their phone and tablet apps (iOS at least). Does anyone here have any insight on this, and any idea if plans are in the wind to eventually offer Chromecast support?

Overseas TV company apps such as 9Now offer it so why not the NZ networks?

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# 1701385 11-Jan-2017 13:31

TVNZ: What is the internet?

Seriously though, TVNZ OnDemand was once held up around the world as "the way to do on demand IP telly", but not any more.

Both 3Now and TVNZ allow Airplay - unsure how good it is though, 3now has an apple TV app, but as you weirdly point out neither have chromecast.

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jamesrt

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# 1701393 11-Jan-2017 13:59

It's probably a combination of development costs and/or any associated licensing costs.

NZ = small place, therefore probably too hard to make a business case around cost recovery.

MikeAqua

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# 1701418 11-Jan-2017 14:17

No official Android TV options from NZ providers either ... not even light box

I would have thought the business case would be clinging by fingernails to residual scraps of relevance.

I'm a middle adopter and I rarely watch FTA TV live. I record and watch later so I can FF through all the advertising.

The kids (actually young adults) don't even have TVs in their room.

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Satch

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# 1701984 12-Jan-2017 12:14

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MikeAqua:

No official Android TV options from NZ providers either

Yeah I have no way to get on demand services on my Sony Bravia with Android in my mancave other than to plug a PC into it. Crappy situation.

mattwnz

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# 1702019 12-Jan-2017 13:21

MikeAqua:
No official Android TV options from NZ providers either ... not even light box

I would have thought the business case would be clinging by fingernails to residual scraps of relevance.

I'm a middle adopter and I rarely watch FTA TV live. I record and watch later so I can FF through all the advertising.

The kids (actually young adults) don't even have TVs in their room.

The other thing is some providers such as Amazon prime video now allow you to download video, so you don't need an internet connection to watch. They also don't seem to have device number limits like lightbox, which is incredibly annoying. So NZ is getting behind on what is happening in the rest of the world. Tvnzs windows 10 app plays adverts over the top of the program, which I presume is a bug, but very annoying. It is also very difficult to use on a non touch screen. Almost all overseas apps for FTA channels I have tried, now offer chromecast support. Prime video doesn't but that is brobabky because they have their competing fire stick. But if you have a windows tablet with an hdmi port, you can just plug that into the TV

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# 1702024 12-Jan-2017 13:23

TVNZ Ondemand is available on Xbox now, but not TV3. Some of the airplay/chromecast/miracast/other solutions break the content provided rules when it comes to end-to-end encrypted/protected path. Not sure if this is the case with chromecast, but it definitely causes problems with the android miracasting. Perhaps the player tech they use doesn't have the required 'driver' for the protected path.

Building apps for all the devices sounds great - but realistically there are a lot of devices and they often need different apps. Sometimes certain agreements lock out other platforms too - e.g. some Samsung exclusives blocking app availability on LG TVs etc.

http://www.samsung.com/nz/tvondemandanroidapp/

Lightbox seems to support several TV models, and also chromecast now (but no Xbox/Windows App yet :'( ): https://www.lightbox.co.nz/about-lightbox#ways-to-watch

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grolschie

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# 1702914 13-Jan-2017 21:41

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Not only do they not support Chromecast, but TVNZ's OnDemand app and Mediaworks' 3Now app (on Android) actively thwart screen casting!

With the 3Now app, when screen casting from my phone I can see the adverts, but just black screen on my TV when the actual content is playing. The content still plays on my phone however.

TVNZ's OnDemand app just gives an error saying "Due to rights agreements, we can't offer HDMI out right now" when I try to play content while screen casting.

Poor effort.

old3eyes

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# 1703048 14-Jan-2017 08:50

grolschie: Not only do they not support Chromecast, but TVNZ's OnDemand app and Mediaworks' 3Now app (on Android) actively thwart screen casting!

With the 3Now app, when screen casting from my phone I can see the adverts, but just black screen on my TV when the actual content is playing. The content still plays on my phone however.

TVNZ's OnDemand app just gives an error saying "Due to rights agreements, we can't offer HDMI out right now" when I try to play content while screen casting.

Poor effort.

Agreed. Meanwhile in the US and AU you can cast to a TV quite happily. Yes NZ TV networks are way behind the times and hide behind "Right agreements" as to why they can't do it..

Regards,

Old3eyes

grolschie

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# 1703055 14-Jan-2017 09:15

Yup, I remember when on demand TV (I forget which company) was only available on a certain brand of TV due to an agreement.

The thing I like about Netflix is that it works on so many devices. There's even an app for Windows Phone (although no Chromecast support on that platform).

However, I have three methods to view Netflix on my 2013 Panasonic TV: the built-in app, an Xbox 360 and also a Chromecast (with my Android phone). None of these are supported by the free-to-air NZ on demand TV services.

Lostja

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# 1703061 14-Jan-2017 09:47

I installed the TVNZ OnDemand app to try it out as Duke has some sports programmes that I would not mind watching. I was surprised that the app still did not support Chromecast and it also constantly crashes when it is not being used. Well and truly given up..

tdgeek

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# 1703065 14-Jan-2017 09:55

old3eyes:

grolschie: Not only do they not support Chromecast, but TVNZ's OnDemand app and Mediaworks' 3Now app (on Android) actively thwart screen casting!

With the 3Now app, when screen casting from my phone I can see the adverts, but just black screen on my TV when the actual content is playing. The content still plays on my phone however.

TVNZ's OnDemand app just gives an error saying "Due to rights agreements, we can't offer HDMI out right now" when I try to play content while screen casting.

Poor effort.

Agreed. Meanwhile in the US and AU you can cast to a TV quite happily. Yes NZ TV networks are way behind the times and hide behind "Right agreements" as to why they can't do it..

Hide behind rights agreements? Either there is a rights agreement or not. I can't see there is much of a tech issue to create casting capability, or an Apple TV app, so there must be a reason why they cannot. I'd say there is one or two proggies that disallow it, so they cannot offer it?

tdgeek

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# 1703067 14-Jan-2017 10:00

Actually I will do a Trump and backtrack. Why can I Airplay TVNZ Ondemand but no Apple TV app? As Airplay is via my Apple TV anyway.

grolschie

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# 1703068 14-Jan-2017 10:03

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Whatever their reasoning, there is becoming less and less reason for me to view their content, whether it be live TV or having to view their on-demand content on devices that aren't my TV.

Netflix has been a game changer for me - even on a relatively slow 6mbps ADSL2+ connection. Combine that with getting Lightbox for free with Spark broadband, and also with the fact that I find the FTA TV channels are broadcasting less and less things I'm interested in. It's not looking too good...

Jase2985

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# 1703074 14-Jan-2017 10:27

tdgeek:

Hide behind rights agreements? Either there is a rights agreement or not. I can't see there is much of a tech issue to create casting capability, or an Apple TV app, so there must be a reason why they cannot. I'd say there is one or two proggies that disallow it, so they cannot offer it?

you do know a rights agreement can allow or exclude the use of casting right? so you can still have a rights agreement but it allows you to cast to a chrome-cast for instance.

i just dont know why we cant get it here, well i think i do, and it comes down to $$

tdgeek

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# 1703078 14-Jan-2017 10:53

Jase2985:

tdgeek:

Hide behind rights agreements? Either there is a rights agreement or not. I can't see there is much of a tech issue to create casting capability, or an Apple TV app, so there must be a reason why they cannot. I'd say there is one or two proggies that disallow it, so they cannot offer it?

you do know a rights agreement can allow or exclude the use of casting right? so you can still have a rights agreement but it allows you to cast to a chrome-cast for instance.

i just dont know why we cant get it here, well i think i do, and it comes down to $$

Off course I know that. It appears in this case it doesnt

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