Vodafone TV & SKY

[rmstace]

I agree with the above comments on my original Sky I was able to record everything,however now I am unable to record most of the programmes I want to,I have already put in a formal complaint about not being able to see the thoroughbred sales at Karaka that were on channel 263 on Sky but have not received anything further on that.If things do not improve I will be returning to Sky how do I go about this?

[chch_mike]

It really does seem ludicrous that one can buy all sorts of different Freeview recorders by a number of different brands which can record EVERY Freeview program, yet Vodafone TV can still only record maybe 30-40% of programs. I still haven’t seen a decent explanation from Vodafone as to why this is the case and the (honest) likelihood of this improving any time soon.

[HamishSansom]

Hi,

I work at Vodafone on the VTV product.

You've asked why can cheap hard-disk based PVRs recording everything, yet Vodafone TV cannot.  The explanation is this:  PVRs that use hard disk recording benefit from the "BetaMax" fair use ruling in the Supreme Court of the USA enacted in 1976:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc.

Vodafone TV is a digital streaming service that does not use a hard disk, and so the media industry does not allow recording of their content without approval.  Vodafone therefore relies on the content rights holders (the Free-to-airs and Sky) obtaining the Network PVR (NPVR) rights for their content, otherwise we can't allow recording.

BTW, the actual % of recordable programmes is >85% currently.  (programmes that can be recorded divided by total number of programmes)

Hamish

[dbatten]

Thnaks Hamish for your response - this is one of the few times that a real VF opperative has engaged. Unfortunately your response can't address te fact that VF has sold (and continues to sell) a product that is not fully formed and as an early addopter it really pains me to se new subscribers - and esspecially those migrating from Sky who thought they were to get a superioir experience exasperated and disappointed.

Now that we have your ear:

(1 Can you give an indication when a new software update is expected - the last one was Dec'17 and we were promised an inportant update March-April'18 (have the emails) which has never arrived. (I am not going to go into the specifics of what is required as these have been well discussed in this forum)

(2 Based on your comments - is it then possible that Vodafone is waiting for Sky to introduce it's internet based offeing that will then take care of the content rights issue?

Meanwhile we wait. thx db

[HamishSansom]

Hi db,

To answer your questions:

(1 Can you give an indication when a new software update is expected - the last one was Dec'17 and we were promised an inportant update March-April'18 (have the emails) which has never arrived. (I am not going to go into the specifics of what is required as these have been well discussed in this forum)

When you say the last software update was Dec'17 I assume you must be referring to the STB client software?  We've performed many software and hardware updates to the platform since Dec'17, but yes, the STB client hasn't changed since Dec'17.  We don't have a locked in date for the next client software update, but we expect it to be in the next 3 - 6 months.  To supply some background, the next major feature for the client upgrade is visual fast forward/rewind.  This feature requires a major platform upgrade and the attempted release in November 2018 of this upgrade did not go well resulting in intermittent freezing.  As a result we have re-planned the next upgrade to ensure we don't affect the core live experience again.

(2 Based on your comments - is it then possible that Vodafone is waiting for Sky to introduce it's internet based offeing that will then take care of the content rights issue?

No, we're not waiting for Sky and the rights we receive from Sky are excellent with >95% recording, restart and 3 day reverse EPG rights across their channels.  It is the non-Sky channels that have less than 95% recording and we interact directly with these free-to-air channels regarding their rights.  We are hoping to receive confirmation soon that a significant free to air channel provider will allow 100% recording on thier channels, and this will improve the recording situation from the current 85% of programmes to >90%.