TV networks plugins (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC)

[wmeeryeck 0]

So far, loving EMBY!

 

Left PLEX due to awful UI change and plugins being dropped.

 

PLEX had plugins for the major 3-letter TV networks. These networks all have websites where you can view latest episodes (and more if you link to a TV provider).

 

PLAYON also has this feature (a plug-in for each network). It’s especially valuable for CBS since they don’t have a ROKU channel like the others do. All they have on ROKU is a CBS All Access channel which requires monthly payments.

 

Thanks for your consideration!

[funwithmedia 352]

I think we could fold this feature request into the below existing one (if you agree, then cast your vote in the below thread):

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/59309-amazon-netflix-support/

 

See particularly this post in the above thread (regarding Reelgood):

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/59309-amazon-netflix-support/?p=588734

[wmeeryeck 0]

Thanks so much for your reply.

 

But I have 2 points to make:

 

1. I (and maybe many others) am looking for a ROKU solution. RealGood sounds like it has a lot of potential, but does not yet have a ROKU app.

 

2. Although I mentioned PlayOn, I was using them as an example of the feature request. The major networks (ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, etc) all have ROKU apps. These are ALL very simple apps that just show you exactly what you could watch on a pc on their websites. Nothing more and nothing less (except signing in would unlock some of the latest episodes AND linking a TV provider would allow LIVE viewing)

 

But it would be wonderful to watch them within EMBY (as I used to be able to do with PLEX).

 

Also, CBS only offers on ROKU a pay app called CBS All Access. It provides a lot more than what’s free on their website. But they don’t offer a free app which would only show the free episodes on their website. This would be a very easy plugin to develop.

 

PLEX also provided a plug-in for USTVNOW. An app for ex-pats showing the 7 major networks live exactly as you would see them if you attached an antenna to your TV. These are called OTA (over the air) channels and were always meant to be FREE.

 

Anyway, thank you very much for your consideration!

[funwithmedia 352]

My point with ReelGood is that they have an API, so someone could make a plugin for Emby that would make all that data (on what shows/movies one has access to on which networks) available in Emby. Now, the harder part is not everything is going to be viewable in something like Roku (which might be why ReelGood doesn't have a Roku app??), as it depends on the service provider to make that possible/available. But for things like EmbyTheater that are used on a computer (eg, Windows or Mac) a ReelGood plugin could at the very least launch a browser window (which is what ReelGood does now via their website), and perhaps even launch that within Emby (though whether or not a remote would then be able to Play, Pause, etc the displayed content is probably much more complicated). Somehow integrating with aggregating services like ReelGood is probably our best option for moving towards the sort of thing you are wanting, because services like ReelGood already take care of gathering the information on where/how stuff can be accessed.

[wmeeryeck 0]

Thanks for your reply.

 

I don’t think you understood what I was looking for. After setting up a ReelGood account, I see what I had expected. It’s just a fancy tracking app.

ROKU has the same exact thing built in.

 

I was looking for “network channel plugins” which would scrape data from the respective network websites and then allow to hit “PLAY”.

 

PLEX had them. PLAYON still has them. I guess EMBY doesn’t want them.

 

Thanks anyway...

[Luke 37049]

We do want plugins, but remember, Plex never built these plugins themselves, they relied on community members to help provide those. We are doing the same thing by providing a plugin API that community members can work with.

[wmeeryeck 0]

Thanks, Luke. But how does one tell the community members what plug-in one may want to see added to EMBY? Does it mean I have to learn programming? And try doing it myself?

 

Thanks...

[Luke 37049]

It's just a matter of someone taking interest in it and deciding to build it. Thanks !

[funwithmedia 352]

Thanks for your reply.

 

I don’t think you understood what I was looking for. After setting up a ReelGood account, I see what I had expected. It’s just a fancy tracking app.

ROKU has the same exact thing built in.

 

I was looking for “network channel plugins” which would scrape data from the respective network websites and then allow to hit “PLAY”.

 

PLEX had them. PLAYON still has them. I guess EMBY doesn’t want them.

 

Thanks anyway...

Actually, Reelgood isn't just a tracking app -- if something can be played via one of your services in the browser then you can click the poster to play it straight from Reelgood. This means that they're not only aggregating the data on what movies/tv are available on which services, but also keeping up to date on how to access a specific item to play it on a specific service. That's exactly the kind of thing you're wanting for your network channels (you can include network channels in your Reelgood services list). Personally, I don't care whether we use Reelgood or another similar service -- but I think that hooking into the API for this type of service is what is going to make feasible the sort of thing that you, myself and others are wanting. But like Luke said, someone's got to get motivated to build a plugin....

[wmeeryeck 0]

Hi Funwithmedia,

 

Thanks for all the info!

 

I use ROKU, which has a “search” function which looks through all your “channels” to find content. Once found and clicked, it will start the service and play the content.

 

Seems like what ReelGood does. (I’ve installed ReelGood on my cell).

 

So ReelGood doesn’t have a CBS plug-in either. I guess that’s what someone would have to be motivated to build.

 

But, out of curiosity, couldn’t that same person build an EMBY plug-in for CBS? I mean directly on EMBY (bypassing ReelGood)?

 

Thanks!

[funwithmedia 352]

The main reason I keep pointing folks to Reelgood is because there's no point in our re-doing what another service already does in terms of collecting and staying up to date on how a given movie/tv episode can be accessed online. So I'm not advocating for our having to go through a Reelgood interface per se, but just that we'd hook into their dataset (since they already have all the details we're needing). Ideally an Emby plugin would just be using the Reelgood database behind the scenes to get which services a given movie/tv item is available on, and also to get the details on how to access that service (eg, what's the URL for that specific movie). And then ideally we'd be able to just play that movie/tv episode directly within Emby. One of the hard things though is that I suspect that not every service provider will allow their content to be presented in this way. CBS might be a good example that you referenced. If they aren't providing a Roku app for their free content that might mean that they only want people viewing their free content via their website (I'm just speculating here), and if that is the case then the best we'd be able to do is launch a browser window (which is only going to work for Emby users on a computer, eg, using EmbyTheater). Again, pure speculation about CBS, but we very well might run into this sort of restriction with some service providers.

 

By the way, you should check if the free CBS content is included in the "Free Services Bundle" in Reelgood, as that is going to include any/all of that sort of thing that they can legally collect data on and link to. And if they do have data on that content, then again in theory a Emby plugin could utilize those details to launch those tv episodes from within Emby somehow (even if just launching a browser window to the tv episode).

[wmeeryeck 0]

Hi Funwithmedia,

 

Thanks for that well thought out explanation. I really appreciate it.

 

I think you’re quite right about using ReelGood as a search and play mechanism for EMBY (if EMBY doesn’t want to do that itself). ReelGood would be real good!

 

Now, as for the ROKU, they already have their own search and play identical to that, but I guess many people would like to do it straight out of EMBY (without leaving the program). That makes perfect sense!

 

You’re also quite right about CBS. They want people to pay for CBS All Access, so they will provide free content to compete with other networks, but they won’t make it easy to access it on a TV screen. The pay version includes a ton more on demand, but FREE is always nice. I think their cellphone app includes FREE, but they do NOT provide anything for TV except All Access.

 

I don’t think creating a plug-in for the free stuff violates any CBS rule. It’s just a pain because every so often they make a minor change to their FREE website and that breaks the app. So a few extra lines of code would have to be changed (understandably a pain).

 

ReelGood has services for all the other networks, except for CBS. What a surprise!

 

PLEX had an unofficial plug-in for CBS which needed adjustments now and again. But they have discontinued plugins.

 

PLAYON still has a CBS plug-in for ROKU which, as you surmised, opens up a browser window and re-displays the choices on your TV screen. It works for either the FREE content or All Access.

 

In conclusion, I think EMBY is great and I’ve started using it instead of PLEX. EMBY also has much better customer support. Thanks!

 

Best,

William Meeryeck

[Luke 37049]

Thanks for the feedback !

[funwithmedia 352]

Hey William, I'm glad you're feeling happy with Emby -- I'm a fan too!

 

I just did a quick look, and I do think that Reelgood has at least some of the free CBS content linked in it's database. Have a look at season 14 of Criminal Minds on the following page. I'm seeing a few instances where free content is listed as available on CBS (in addition to CBS All Access).

 

https://reelgood.com/show/criminal-minds-2005

 

So perhaps some of the shows you're interested in are available there too (which would bode well for our future hopes for some kind of plugin).

[wmeeryeck 0]

Hi Funwithmedia,

 

Wow! You are quite right!

 

The FREE CBS shows are there.

 

I didn’t notice them at first because some shows have been off for the holidays and didn’t have any available FREE shows (last 4 episodes are free, I think).

 

This does bode well. I could “track” the shows I like. And for new shows, I would simply “search” and find them. As opposed to the old way of going to the network plug-in and then finding it.

 

Thanks again!

[funwithmedia 352]

You're welcome man -- glad that was helpful!

[Zippy1515 0]

I’m also a Plex user (have been since the beginning) and have only been staying with it because of its’ Plugins (originally called Channels). While it is still working on some platforms, it has been removed from most, but it is being phased out. I used it to watch OTA (primarily CBS & CW) content the next day after airing, without commercials. I’m not sure how they did that, especially with CBS, but it worked great. And yes, there are ways to DVR it (I have hdhomeruns and do that now with Plex), but between audio sync issues and other technical issues, the network plugins worked great all the time. That was my go to method to watch those shows. And even with most streaming services or network apps, you can On Demand most shows, but again, commercials that you can’t fast forward thru.

 

I would gladly switch from Plex to anything else that had the same functionality to view OTA shows with no commercials.

[BillOatman 500]

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you are living in the US you can get an antenna and a hdhomerun and watch inside Emby right now.  That's how I do it.

[Zippy1515 0]

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you are living in the US you can get an antenna and a hdhomerun and watch inside Emby right now.  That's how I do it.

As I said, I do that now in Plex. Record, auto cut commercials, watch. For the most part, that works well. But there are times where issues happens and something goes wrong. Maybe due to something where the show is delayed or something else goes wrong. But I actually use that as a backup since the Plex network plugins worked 100% since it was from the source. Also, even though I have a large NAS and have plenty of storage space, I’m trying to get away from downloading or recording items and just stream it.

 

I was always curious how the network Plex plugins worked since there were no commercials. Particularly CBS, since you have to buy their All Access to view many of their new shows.

[BillOatman 500]

As I said, I do that now in Plex. Record, auto cut commercials, watch. For the most part, that works well. But there are times where issues happens and something goes wrong. Maybe due to something where the show is delayed or something else goes wrong. But I actually use that as a backup since the Plex network plugins worked 100% since it was from the source. Also, even though I have a large NAS and have plenty of storage space, I’m trying to get away from downloading or recording items and just stream it.

 

I was always curious how the network Plex plugins worked since there were no commercials. Particularly CBS, since you have to buy their All Access to view many of their new shows.

My guess would be an illegal source, but who knows.  Is the source for these plugins available?

[Zippy1515 0]

My guess would be an illegal source, but who knows.  Is the source for these plugins available?

I would think if it were illegal, they would have shut them all down by now, especially CBS. They still work on some clients, but for most the option to access them has been removed.

 

Here is a link to the CBS plug

 

https://github.com/plexinc-plugins/CBS.bundle

[wmeeryeck 0]

The sources are all completely legal. The networks record their shows and post them online for anybody to stream. Their websites are abc.com / cbs.com / nbc.com etc.

[Zippy1515 0]

The sources are all completely legal. The networks record their shows and post them online for anybody to stream. Their websites are abc.com / cbs.com / nbc.com etc.

So how do you stream them without commercial breaks.

 

Also, where could I stream this weeks episode of NCIS?

[wmeeryeck 0]

Just open a browser on a pc or on a tablet or on a smartphone. Go to cbs.com, sign up for a free account (NOT CBS ALL ACCESS). Hit the the 3 lines (menu) on the left side near the top. Choose either sign in or sign up. This gives you more free shows than a guest. Then hit menu again and choose either “shows” or “free episodes”. All roads lead to Rome. There probably are commercials, though.

 

I use a program called PlayOn which can record these. You can than skip through commercials. Sometimes, the pc will just skip commercials anyway.

 

I also cut the cord and got internet only from Verizon FIOS for about $45 a month. I found out I could add “Local Channels” for $10 a month. I live in the Philly suburbs and antennas don’t work for me. So I took that $10 deal. I can now watch even more streaming shows from the “networks” by verifying my provider (Verizon FIOS).

[wmeeryeck 0]

Also, many networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, CW, etc) have smartphone apps as well as ROKU apps.

 

Except high and mighty CBS. They’re the only ones who charge a monthly fee to see what is provided for FREE with an OTA (over the air) antenna. At least, they let you stream for free on their website...