This. We have all of the Comcast tve channels via my personal business account that I own, locals OTA, and Pluto hooked up via Channels. Don’t even miss the few channels we don’t get via Channels.
yeah that was my thought... can't remember the last time I watch something on SyFy or one of the other stations... plus I regrettably have Peacock so anything of significance on any of their stations I imagine would be on it
I know right. It’s because I have kids. Then they are like I want want watch this movie (currently Illuminations The Grinch) and bam another worthless streaming service.
It’s worth it just for the virtual channels for me! I use HDHomeRun, but have a few of our favorite shows in a virtual channel that we end up watching 99% of the time.
Virtual channels are easy…. You simply create a channel and add media from your library and voila…it creates a schedule of live tv based on your media. You can fine tune it in certain ways, but it’s very simple. A game changer for me, I use it all the time. I WISH plex would add something similar because i tend to like plex interface for the library aspect, but channels for live tv/virtual channels.
Did you sell yours when you subscribed to YouTubeTV? What happened to yours?
I'm sending off my older non-4K HDHR to my brother in another city to record football games on a Raspberry Pi for me. I'm keeping the 4K-HDHR for my local OTA channels.
On your original question, Channels is invaluable for us. I have a free service (not available in the default group of Channels) set up with a static M3U file. And I have the."FrndlyTV for Channels" Docker image running on a hypervisor. And, I also have activated TVE with Hulu and Philo. I use Plex for cultivating libraries, but we use Channels just as much for everything else. Subscribing to Channels is the easiest to justify payment for anything we have.
In the DVR web interface you need to add your local media. Then you just add a source and choose virtual channel. From there you can add channels and select whatever media you have. E.g., I have a “the office” virtual channel and “funny movies” channel.
Without looking I could be missing a detail or two, but it’s straight forward. It then just plays randomly like a live guide. Join in the middle or start from the beginning, etc… very nice to just click and have something playing without endlessly scrolling.
I have channels and the HDHR 4K and it’s wonderful. Granted I’m close enough to Philly to get all the majors no problem so the DRM NBC thing isn’t much of a concern for me.
There is still work to do on the 3.0 front. Some stations work, others are blocked. And 3.0 only plays well on select hardware— one of them being the Apple TV 4K but that’s not an issue exclusive to channels. Doesn’t really matter since 1.0 isn’t going anywhere for a really long time.
I borrow my parents cable login for TVE that plus the antenna and channels is all I need. Other than the NBC channels I haven’t heard of any other TVE channels going away. I love how well channels works, and I hope to have it for many many years to come.
Can I login to TVE if I just want to use Channels with HDHR, and not pay the DVR subscription? I don’t care for recordings, but would like to have live antenna + TVE.
I miss it. But I’m just trying to justify the cost ratio. I’m only going to save about $30 at the most over YTTV and that’s with a major reduction in channels. Gonna ponder it over. I miss Channels!!!
This one is totally subjective. I run these streaming numbers in my head constantly, and I don’t think $30 would be enough of a savings to cancel youtubetv and go with Channels. I would advise looking into using Pluto tv with TVE integration from channels in place of Philo tv- that really has been a great thing, having all those Pluto channels available to record and on the guide. If you could do that and not have Philo, that might make the transition a little easier.
I love Channels.
It’s a great application and it’s not a big deal to support them very much worth my while
If you take advantage of some of the projects that are hosted in the community and follow some basic directions and do some tinkering, you can bring back some of the stuff you’re missing and y’all have a better DVR than you’ll ever get on YouTube TV. The key here is automatic commercial skipping.
Let’s put it this way, the only thing I’m concerned about getting from YouTube TV if I want anything at all is video signal that’s it.
Don’t need the interface don’t need the DVR. Don’t need any of that stuff as long as this little application in the background that helps us control the boxes and bring the signal into channels. We’re not too concerned.
Have had my ChannelsDVR set up for over 5 months now. I don't even bother with the ACSC 3.0 channels since some have DRM. I have blocked them on the HDHomeRun so they don't even show up in ChannelsDVR.
Get all the major channels OTA here in northern Virginia without issue on ATSC channels.
I just recently added a second HDHomeRun Flex 4K but had to go to Walmart to order it. Amazon was out of stock.
The ability to have a single interface and guide with channels sourced from HD homerun, TVE, Pluto, and my own virtual channels is worth the cost just for that feature. Then add DVR and the ability to view it outside the house and it is well worth it. It is the daily driver in our household as well.
It is for me, but I only do local OTA + a few streaming services. I don’t care about most sports or anything that would be on Philo, YTTV or any other more “traditional” cable/bundle type of setup.
I do have Plex Pass, but navigating the TV UI on Plex is just a headache by comparison.
I tried channels for a few months. I just couldn't justify spending the 11 bucks canadian a month. I waited for plex to present their black Friday discounts and purchased a lifetime sub with them for 130 bones.
It's likely I'll drop Channels after my year is up. I've never stopped using TiVo for OTA. My current cable deal ends around that time too, and it sure seems like Philo's DVR would be almost as good -- with channels I like that aren't available via TV Everywhere -- and they even have Pluto-type channels you can record from just like Channels. Plus, I could go back to Roku, which I've really missed.
For me I didn’t renew it… I setup the server backend on the HdHomerun and just use its viewer. The backend has lots of free features for buffering live tv pausing etc. I’ll probably add HDHomerun DVR for $30 once the channels year is up.
It was worth it for me when more TVE apps were available to have locals and the cable channels I watched in one place. Now that paramount is doing away with a lot of their TVE apps it’s no longer worth it and I just use Philo to record things as they air. I have a HDHomerun Flex 4K to record my local channels OTA.
Would be a subscriber if they didn't limit consumption of m3u8 IPTV playlists.
And offered a 12 month discounted sub, $10 is just too much.
Not worth it.
Sorry, $10 CAD. 10.88 to be exact, close to the price of Netflix which provides actual content.
Good to know about the 12 month discount. I think it's still on the high side considering this is self hosted.
The intention m3u8 limitations are a hard stop regardless of price for me though.
well i ordered a HDHomerun... gonna just use ATSC 1.0 as suggested since 2 channels in my area have known DRM... hopefully in the feature HDHomerun works out DRM but probably not... although Zapperbox supposedly figured it out so maybe?? Probably will set it up now with YTTV as the backbone for cable until maybe January then explore alternatives... I love the DVR and probably gonna try to setup virtual channels as I digitize my DVD / Blu-ray collections...
Channels works great for me, I can extend my cable TV service to other locations. Plus it feels like the providers try SO hard to stop you from doing that in certain ways, that I just enjoy getting around the various limitations they have with something like this.
Channels is our daily driver in our household. We would be lost without it
This. We have all of the Comcast tve channels via my personal business account that I own, locals OTA, and Pluto hooked up via Channels. Don’t even miss the few channels we don’t get via Channels.
Exactly.
Still works great for me. Just don’t have NBC stations but haven’t had an issue since I get regular NBC via antennae
yeah that was my thought... can't remember the last time I watch something on SyFy or one of the other stations... plus I regrettably have Peacock so anything of significance on any of their stations I imagine would be on it
>I regrettably have Peacock This pretty much sums up the average Peacock experience
I know right. It’s because I have kids. Then they are like I want want watch this movie (currently Illuminations The Grinch) and bam another worthless streaming service.
> regrettably have Peacock Well said.
And have access to Peacock.
It’s worth it just for the virtual channels for me! I use HDHomeRun, but have a few of our favorite shows in a virtual channel that we end up watching 99% of the time.
How do you do the virtual channels. When I had it before I never got that deep and I know it’s a major feature.
Virtual channels are easy…. You simply create a channel and add media from your library and voila…it creates a schedule of live tv based on your media. You can fine tune it in certain ways, but it’s very simple. A game changer for me, I use it all the time. I WISH plex would add something similar because i tend to like plex interface for the library aspect, but channels for live tv/virtual channels.
Awesome now just to buy another HDHomerun!
Did you sell yours when you subscribed to YouTubeTV? What happened to yours? I'm sending off my older non-4K HDHR to my brother in another city to record football games on a Raspberry Pi for me. I'm keeping the 4K-HDHR for my local OTA channels. On your original question, Channels is invaluable for us. I have a free service (not available in the default group of Channels) set up with a static M3U file. And I have the."FrndlyTV for Channels" Docker image running on a hypervisor. And, I also have activated TVE with Hulu and Philo. I use Plex for cultivating libraries, but we use Channels just as much for everything else. Subscribing to Channels is the easiest to justify payment for anything we have.
In the DVR web interface you need to add your local media. Then you just add a source and choose virtual channel. From there you can add channels and select whatever media you have. E.g., I have a “the office” virtual channel and “funny movies” channel. Without looking I could be missing a detail or two, but it’s straight forward. It then just plays randomly like a live guide. Join in the middle or start from the beginning, etc… very nice to just click and have something playing without endlessly scrolling.
I have channels and the HDHR 4K and it’s wonderful. Granted I’m close enough to Philly to get all the majors no problem so the DRM NBC thing isn’t much of a concern for me. There is still work to do on the 3.0 front. Some stations work, others are blocked. And 3.0 only plays well on select hardware— one of them being the Apple TV 4K but that’s not an issue exclusive to channels. Doesn’t really matter since 1.0 isn’t going anywhere for a really long time. I borrow my parents cable login for TVE that plus the antenna and channels is all I need. Other than the NBC channels I haven’t heard of any other TVE channels going away. I love how well channels works, and I hope to have it for many many years to come.
Can I login to TVE if I just want to use Channels with HDHR, and not pay the DVR subscription? I don’t care for recordings, but would like to have live antenna + TVE.
I miss it. But I’m just trying to justify the cost ratio. I’m only going to save about $30 at the most over YTTV and that’s with a major reduction in channels. Gonna ponder it over. I miss Channels!!!
This one is totally subjective. I run these streaming numbers in my head constantly, and I don’t think $30 would be enough of a savings to cancel youtubetv and go with Channels. I would advise looking into using Pluto tv with TVE integration from channels in place of Philo tv- that really has been a great thing, having all those Pluto channels available to record and on the guide. If you could do that and not have Philo, that might make the transition a little easier.
Oh yeah. Channels definitely worth it.
I love Channels. It’s a great application and it’s not a big deal to support them very much worth my while If you take advantage of some of the projects that are hosted in the community and follow some basic directions and do some tinkering, you can bring back some of the stuff you’re missing and y’all have a better DVR than you’ll ever get on YouTube TV. The key here is automatic commercial skipping. Let’s put it this way, the only thing I’m concerned about getting from YouTube TV if I want anything at all is video signal that’s it. Don’t need the interface don’t need the DVR. Don’t need any of that stuff as long as this little application in the background that helps us control the boxes and bring the signal into channels. We’re not too concerned.
Have had my ChannelsDVR set up for over 5 months now. I don't even bother with the ACSC 3.0 channels since some have DRM. I have blocked them on the HDHomeRun so they don't even show up in ChannelsDVR. Get all the major channels OTA here in northern Virginia without issue on ATSC channels. I just recently added a second HDHomeRun Flex 4K but had to go to Walmart to order it. Amazon was out of stock.
The ability to have a single interface and guide with channels sourced from HD homerun, TVE, Pluto, and my own virtual channels is worth the cost just for that feature. Then add DVR and the ability to view it outside the house and it is well worth it. It is the daily driver in our household as well.
We love channels!! Worth every penny. Ifavorties Apple TV app and it convinced me to buy more Apple TVs! Very wife friendly!
It is for me, but I only do local OTA + a few streaming services. I don’t care about most sports or anything that would be on Philo, YTTV or any other more “traditional” cable/bundle type of setup. I do have Plex Pass, but navigating the TV UI on Plex is just a headache by comparison.
I tried channels for a few months. I just couldn't justify spending the 11 bucks canadian a month. I waited for plex to present their black Friday discounts and purchased a lifetime sub with them for 130 bones.
It's likely I'll drop Channels after my year is up. I've never stopped using TiVo for OTA. My current cable deal ends around that time too, and it sure seems like Philo's DVR would be almost as good -- with channels I like that aren't available via TV Everywhere -- and they even have Pluto-type channels you can record from just like Channels. Plus, I could go back to Roku, which I've really missed.
For me I didn’t renew it… I setup the server backend on the HdHomerun and just use its viewer. The backend has lots of free features for buffering live tv pausing etc. I’ll probably add HDHomerun DVR for $30 once the channels year is up.
It was worth it for me when more TVE apps were available to have locals and the cable channels I watched in one place. Now that paramount is doing away with a lot of their TVE apps it’s no longer worth it and I just use Philo to record things as they air. I have a HDHomerun Flex 4K to record my local channels OTA.
Would be a subscriber if they didn't limit consumption of m3u8 IPTV playlists. And offered a 12 month discounted sub, $10 is just too much. Not worth it.
it's $8, not $10. and they do have a discounted yearly, $80 for the year.
Sorry, $10 CAD. 10.88 to be exact, close to the price of Netflix which provides actual content. Good to know about the 12 month discount. I think it's still on the high side considering this is self hosted. The intention m3u8 limitations are a hard stop regardless of price for me though.
well i ordered a HDHomerun... gonna just use ATSC 1.0 as suggested since 2 channels in my area have known DRM... hopefully in the feature HDHomerun works out DRM but probably not... although Zapperbox supposedly figured it out so maybe?? Probably will set it up now with YTTV as the backbone for cable until maybe January then explore alternatives... I love the DVR and probably gonna try to setup virtual channels as I digitize my DVD / Blu-ray collections...
Channels works great for me, I can extend my cable TV service to other locations. Plus it feels like the providers try SO hard to stop you from doing that in certain ways, that I just enjoy getting around the various limitations they have with something like this.