When are ITV Player and 4OD coming to BRAVIA?

[ISMADDER]

Any Date yet For ITV PLAYER and CHANNEL 4 ON DEMAND ?

Message was edited by: Catmambo

Message was edited by: Thalamus.

made thread a sticky

[Julescousins]

And the reply from 4OD. Got to hand it to these guys... they do reply.

Thank you for your email regarding 4oD.

Thank you for your query about the availability of 4oD on Sony Smart TV's. As you have observed, we are not currently on this type of device, and I'm afraid that we do not generally disclose our plans for launching 4oD on new platforms to the public in advance.

As such, I can't tell you if and when we would have a presence on Sony Smart TV's, but can assure you that we are constantly reviewing our options regarding which devices to be on, and last year launched new 4oD offerings on both iPhone and iPad as well as Xbox 360.

If you require further information, feel free to email me back or visit http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/faq

Kind regards,

Doug Masterson

4oD Support

Is there a hint in there that it might be coming...?

[Catmambo]

Again, just to manage expectations carefully - for all services moving forwards, we always try and backport to as many devices as possible, but as technical/DRM requirements grow and the load placed on older devices sometimes means that its simply not possible.

Moving forwards it theoretically becomes less of a problem as processor speeds increase and browser features standardise.

Thanks

[mykool]

Thanks for the update Catmambo.  I appreciate there are confidences you cannot break but it is nice if you can keep us updated on progress as far as you can. I'm from a technical (software) and commercial background so do understand, but only if you tell us what really is going on.

I noticed that 5OD does not have CSI Miaimi on it, but does have Alphas.  Is this another rights issue?  I have to keep explaining to my wife why, having spent a shed load on a Sony TV, I have to keep going into the other room to watch TV on my PC.

I'm currently using Serviio to get around this but it's not seamless.

Incidentally, can you Sony people use screen names that indicate you are Sony, otherwise I do not know which answers are guesswork or opinion and which ones I can believe.

Message was edited by: mykool

[sony-cat]

I wrote to Channel 4 again and asked them why Samsung has it and Sony doesn't and also why they can't offer a more limited service.  This is what I asked them:

I have seen an article on Digital Spy that suggest that Samsung Tv will have your on demands service next year: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a436745/channel-4-to-add-watch-live-offline-viewing-to-4od.htm...  
Is there any change regarding Sony Bravia TVs?
I understand that you have explained that 4OD is not currently on Bravia TVs, because you do not own specific rights.  I was wondering why this is the case for Sony and not for Samsung and will this change next year too?
I was also wondering whether it was a rights issue for all of your programmes or just some of them?  Would it be possible for you to offer some kind of cut back 4OD service, like the on on PS3, where you appear to upload UK shows but not so many American ones?

I got this reply:

Thank you for your email regarding 4oD.
We are sure that 4oD will be available on more Smart TV's in the future, however at this time we are only working on Samsung and have no further information on any other TV brnad development.
 If you require further information, feel free to email me back or visit http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/faq
 Kind regards,
 Doug Masterson
 4oD Support

Don't really know what else I can ask or do.  That's an even more closed answer than I got the first time and totally ignores the idea of offering a more limited service.

[Catmambo]

Yes Demand Five doesn't have some US shows - I've pushed back on them a number of times on this - I think its down to the fact that some US studios mandate a specifc flavour of DRM otherwise they refuse to provide shows. (my personal opinion is that this is pretty daft as the platform is certfied by all the major studios already as being secure, but it is what it is and as we are only gatekeepers, not rights holders/editors, this isn't our battle to have unfortunately) Bizzarely rights are negotiated on a platform basis (mobile, PC and TV) thus shows may be on Youtbe on your PC and not on Youtube on your TV - again one of the strange issues of rights negotiations which our partners go through.These are still very early days for catchup-tv so these issues will resolve themselves over time I'm sure..

You can click on peoples names and it should tell you if they are Sony staff, moderators or super users.

hope this helps

[mykool]

Thanks for this.  I can sense your frustration on this one too.  Sounds a bit like a cartel going on with the content providers deciding who can see what.  It is daft as you say since they are only maiking it inconvenient and not stopping us from watching programmes. The reason I want to watch it on my TV is because of the screen size and in the comfort of my living room.  After all, I can still plug my PC into my TV and watch it. So what planet where these guys born on?  They are just mischief makers.  Maybe a pettion to the UK and US governments to break the cartel would help move things on.  viva la revolution!

[sony-cat]

Thanks for the extra info Catmambo.  Just out of morbid curiosity, do PS3 and other consoles come under the heading of TV rather PC, because the PS3 seems to have the same content as through the TV?  Or do they have their own group?

[Catmambo]

Hi Mykool - yes its incredibly frustrating for sure. At one level I can understand that this is a massive step for them in offering their on demand services to the big screen audience, and they are approaching it carefully. However equally understandably, customer expectations are somewhat further advanced based on existing excellent mobile experiences on tablets & smartphones and so they then question why their more expensive TV can't do the same.

Ultimately we want services on as many devices as possible, we don't hold back services to push people to upgrade. We went through 4 months of extensive discussions at a very senior level internally around Netflix to try and see if there was a workaround for the technical limitations to make it available on older devices. However there aren't really any traditional  'standards' when it comes on IPTV unlike Freeview & DVB-T/T2 and so all IP content partners have their own way of implementing services.

Sony-cat - I *think* consoles are categorised as a TV's for the benefits of rights as 99% of them will be connected to a big screen.

Thanks

[mkelane]

Why not do as I do and connect your laptop to the Bravia with an HDMI cable. Apart from some rights issues on 4OD it and ITVPlayer work well.

[iagibso49]

Look on the Sony 3D Experience channel. The whole point of Smart TVs is that it's all in one; convenient, instant and without fuss.

Unfortunately the Smart TV promise has proved to be expensive for consumers and full of broken promises from the manufacturers including Sony. And they simply aren't prepared to put in the investment to make it work.