To complain about lacking TVnext progress

[arrbee99 1815]

That might well be true, I've no idea, but as I'm sure you're aware (and alluded to), there's plenty of other things in TVNext that can still be applied in the US and by plenty of other users in plenty of other countries.

[daldana 122]

Cable is not the only way to get TV, OTA is still around.

[Ronstang 293]

46 minutes ago, arrbee99 said:

That might well be true, I've no idea, but as I'm sure you're aware (and alluded to), there's plenty of other things in TVNext that can still be applied in the US and by plenty of other users in plenty of other countries.

I understand that and why I said they still need to address the issues LiveTV has but one of the hardest things they likely had to deal with was supporting all kinds of equipment that will no longer be necessary.  To be honest all I really cared about was native support for my Ceton cards because I have 5 of them and running a proxy they work but it is rife with other added issues you have to navigate DAILY.  They don't have to worry about that anymore if there are no cable cards.

So essentially then can treat it like normal beta rollouts.  Once 4.9 hits they and keep fixing LiveTV issues piecemeal in updates to the beta unless they really have a whole new platform.  It all remains to be seen but at this point since I am dumping cable and can't get cable cards anyway I don't care anymore.

Plus think of it this way, if there are no cable cards and no more support for that kind of tuning then the need for guide data gets diminished dramatically and if that cost drops or goes away it could actually mean better LiveTV for what is left.  The amount of people that need the guide can pay for the guide like was addressed a while back.  You are going to pay for the guide one way or another and if emby doesn't make the guide you pay for available in anything but emby it either has to be much cheaper or they won't have to worry about it at all.  The latter is probably better anyway.  If you need guide data get SD and you can use it in everything.

[arrbee99 1815]

Cable cards.. true, thought there might be quite a few who stick with those because Emby supports them (or will, might eventually, by which time...), plus dvb-s, dvb-t, sat-ip still to support.

Not sure about guides. Emby only has it for a few countries and SD isn't available here, paid or otherwise. Also, with Plex hiking up prices, doubt if Emby would reduce them, or could afford to.

Anyway, just an excuse to hint...we still need, want, hope for, the new stuff.

[Ronstang 293]

14 minutes ago, arrbee99 said:

Cable cards.. true, thought there might be quite a few who stick with those because Emby supports them

Emby supporting them doesn't mean much if your TV provider stops supporting them.  That is where I am.  I would switch to Xfinity from Optimum if I could for half the price, but I can't because they no longer support cable cards.  Now I have a couple dozen cable cards in the drawer, if I could talk Xfinity into just connecting me with all my own equipment that would be different but I don't see that happening.

[kimmer2k 3]

2 hours ago, Ronstang said:

Emby supporting them doesn't mean much if your TV provider stops supporting them.  That is where I am.  I would switch to Xfinity from Optimum if I could for half the price, but I can't because they no longer support cable cards.  Now I have a couple dozen cable cards in the drawer, if I could talk Xfinity into just connecting me with all my own equipment that would be different but I don't see that happening.

off topic, but while xfinity does not support cablecards, they will still activate them and allow you to byod. i was able to do this recently, as i reactivate cable every year for football season and cancel thereafter. not sure how long they will do this for, but it’s good for now. idk how anyone with a cable card uses emby because the time it takes to switch channels is unbearable for me.

[Ronstang 293]

28 minutes ago, kimmer2k said:

off topic, but while xfinity does not support cablecards, they will still activate them and allow you to byod. i was able to do this recently, as i reactivate cable every year for football season and cancel thereafter. not sure how long they will do this for, but it’s good for now. idk how anyone with a cable card uses emby because the time it takes to switch channels is unbearable for me.

How did you get them to do this?  I would definitely be interested and I would gladly pay half price for a provider with brand new infrastructure since my issue with Optimum other than the price is the signal issues I have constantly.

Edited September 5, 2025 by Ronstang

[unisoft 352]

7 hours ago, Ronstang said:

How did you get them to do this?  I would definitely be interested and I would gladly pay half price for a provider with brand new infrastructure since my issue with Optimum other than the price is the signal issues I have constantly.

Not just US though is it. The UK for example has DVB T2 and T and that is under government debate when after 2030 it will go. Most are pushing for 2040. The team are not starting from scratch, lots of stuff already researched and done. From what I know, you maybe right about cable cards in your territory but doesn't apply to UK, Europe or some other countries.

Edited September 5, 2025 by unisoft

[kimmer2k 3]

8 hours ago, Ronstang said:

How did you get them to do this?  I would definitely be interested and I would gladly pay half price for a provider with brand new infrastructure since my issue with Optimum other than the price is the signal issues I have constantly.

ngl, it was a PITA. I do it thru the reddit mods on r/Comcast_Xfinity. I was not able to do this over the phone or chat. just know that you will need to bring your own cable card that you can easily get off of ebay if you don't have one already. good luck with this!

Here's the post I filed for reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/Comcast_Xfinity/comments/1mz2b8v/new_tv_service_without_x1_box/

 

[Ronstang 293]

33 minutes ago, kimmer2k said:

ngl, it was a PITA. I do it thru the reddit mods on r/Comcast_Xfinity. I was not able to do this over the phone or chat. just know that you will need to bring your own cable card that you can easily get off of ebay if you don't have one already. good luck with this!

Here's the post I filed for reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/Comcast_Xfinity/comments/1mz2b8v/new_tv_service_without_x1_box/

 

Thank you so much, that is really encouraging and since you did it two weeks ago that is even more encouraging.  Usually when I come across things like this while searching the thread is 5 or more years old and I am not confident.

I don't see them as ever not supporting cable cards technology wise since essentially every piece of equipment they rent you has one whether it is removable or embedded.  Once connected their system doesn't care so once hooked up you are good.  One of my cable cards is 10 years old and I have never had a problem with it, even switching it to different equipment.

[bungee91 133]

This thread has really been derailing lately.  If you no longer want/see the need for TvNext, cool. Talk about e-book readers or whatever is your fancy in another thread. There is plenty of people who want this to see the light, and that has already been confirmed to be happening. I hate the delay too, however it was confirmed to be happening, and to even get that given plenty of other requests that never have any confirmation is at least something. Cable cards are a relic, yes we as consumers should have a choice however that doesn't mean we will. TvNext (and Emby in general) will try to support what is common for this use case, and that has been demonstrated. Many people are moving to M3U, and even though that has some potential legality concern, you have the option.

I use OTA exclusively, and plan to for the foreseeable future. Even better if DRM gets removed from ATSC3, however not holding my breath. Super fast channel changing, proper tuner management, .... are all benefits that anyone using LiveTv will benefit from, period.

 

[Ronstang 293]

44 minutes ago, bungee91 said:

This thread has really been derailing lately.  If you no longer want/see the need for TvNext, cool.

It's not that I don't want it or need it but I have been waiting for it for 5 years now and no one from emby will make anything other than a vague non-answer in this thread.  I would still like it since I use emby with streaming TV now but with the app interface for Direct TV Steaming on my TV I don't actually need it because emby can only get a subset of my channels so it makes sense to only use emby from the web app for me to record the things I plan on archiving.  So yes, I would like TVNext but at this point unless I get cable TV again it really isn't as important.  And until TVNext is available it makes no sense to pay for cable TV anyway since my streaming package is FREE and allows me to record the things that are important.

[ebr 16169]

20 hours ago, Ronstang said:

and no one from emby will make anything other than a vague non-answer in this thread

Sorry, I take exception to that (again).  There is absolutely nothing vague about my last response to this and it is an answer even if it isn't the one you want.

[Ronstang 293]

28 minutes ago, ebr said:

Sorry, I take exception to that (again).  There is absolutely nothing vague about my last response to this and it is an answer even if it isn't the one you want.

Are we ever going to get TVNext?  It's been promised for 5 years,  YES or NO.  Answer that Erik.

[bungee91 133]

16 minutes ago, Ronstang said:

Are we ever going to get TVNext?  It's been promised for 5 years,  YES or NO.  Answer that Erik.

 

On 3/9/2024 at 12:47 AM, Luke said:

Hi everyone, just to give you a response, yes this will be coming. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information. Currently our focus right now is continued support of the new 4.8 server release, as well as the new Windows app that is imminent. Following that we will be focused on a short 4.9 release to try break away from our history of long releases. Once we get through that, then you can expect things to speed up related to this. Thanks guys.

 

On 6/10/2024 at 6:11 PM, Luke said:

Hi, the same one I gave last time is still current. We are in the middle of that. Thanks.

 

[Ronstang 293]

@bungee91You are quoting one answer that is a year and a half old and one that is still over a year old.  They are not relevant today.  Erik claims he is not vague so he should be able to answer a yes or no question.  We'll see, but I won't hold my breath.

[bungee91 133]

5 hours ago, Ronstang said:

@bungee91You are quoting one answer that is a year and a half old and one that is still over a year old.  They are not relevant today.  Erik claims he is not vague so he should be able to answer a yes or no question.  We'll see, but I won't hold my breath.

I still think they're relevant, and what Erik and Luke have been replying to say. It doesn't change anything, just that the delay is much longer than anyone of us would consider reasonable. Not shocked, and of course wanting this to happen ASAP. Just that it doesn't change anything. We wait (and wait...). 

[justinrh 260]

I really need TVnext (or maybe TVfixed).  Getting errors doing anything in the Admin > Live TV > Channels config is ridiculous.

[kikinjo 281]

Is the "new" web streams plugin part of Tvnext we are waiting for 5 years? .....or is it another emby developers kitchen throwing a small bone so people stop bitching why their premiere feature live tv is working like trumps brain.

[softworkz 5066]

1 hour ago, kikinjo said:

Is the "new" web streams plugin part of Tvnext we are waiting for 5 years? .

Yes, it is - not technically but logically!

TVnext handles live TV streams from many different origins - but always live streams. And ONLY live streams!

 

The current live TV implementation and many M3U based stream sources are sometimes mixing up VOD streams and live streams, even though these are fundamentally different.
Delivering TVnext without support for static (non-live) streams would have been a degradation of the live TV feature (albeit not being live streams), so a solution was required to handle those kinds of streams, in order to make TVnext acceptable for everybody.

So we had developed the WebStreams plugin pretty early to close this gap. All participants of the TVnext beta have seen it already.

The WebStreams plugin is not just a stop-gap solution for a "missing" feature in TVnext - it is much more: It is the result of completely rethinking the way how VOD content ought to be represented in Emby - which means: Movies, tv show episodes, videos, and other streams do not show up in Emby as a kind of "fake TV channel" with fake guide entries pretending that it would be a continuous broadcast of the same program being repeated 24/7 - not anymore!

Instead, with the WebStreams plugin, that kind of content is shown in separate libraries just like your local content and enriched with metadata in the same way!

 

The WebStreams plugin is an essential step towards TVnext and an important prerequisite which had always been planned to be published before proceeding with TVnext.

Edited September 7, 2025 by softworkz

[kikinjo 281]

Thanks @softworkzfor explaining. It looked like a "part" of it.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[softworkz 5066]

13 minutes ago, kikinjo said:

Thanks @softworkzfor explaining. It looked like a "part" of it.... 

It has always been part of the strategy and is included as an integral part in all of the conceptual documents. 

It's just technically independent  

Edited September 7, 2025 by softworkz

[Dan_Austin 71]

Just received notice my cable co, Sparklight, is dropping traditional service in my area in about 90 days.  They are moving to internet delivery and it appears they have partnered with Tivo (based on details in the app).  So unless they publish an API, I guess I am done with broadcast TV.  On the bright side it will save $180 a month, which since I really only watch one news channel, is probably a good thing. 

[Ronstang 293]

34 minutes ago, Dan_Austin said:

Just received notice my cable co, Sparklight, is dropping traditional service in my area in about 90 days.  They are moving to internet delivery and it appears they have partnered with Tivo (based on details in the app).  So unless they publish an API, I guess I am done with broadcast TV.  On the bright side it will save $180 a month, which since I really only watch one news channel, is probably a good thing. 

The funniest parts is the MBAs are sitting around scratching their heads as to why they are losing subscribers.  They are not smart enough if you keep increasing the price for LESS to compensate for the lost revenue on those who have already left soon you won't have anybody left.  They are pricing themselves out of businesss.

Sadly if they were smart, and dumped all those useless channels to make a cable package of the 35 channels most watched and priced it fair then everyone would have cable for $50 a month and they would make more revenue.  They are not smart.

[softworkz 5066]

45 minutes ago, Ronstang said:

The funniest parts is the MBAs are sitting around scratching their heads as to why they are losing subscribers.  They are not smart enough if you keep increasing the price for LESS to compensate for the lost revenue on those who have already left soon you won't have anybody left.  They are pricing themselves out of business.

Sadly if they were smart, and dumped all those useless channels to make a cable package of the 35 channels most watched and priced it fair then everyone would have cable for $50 a month and they would make more revenue.  They are not smart.

There is no "lack of smartness". Those prices are already just paying for those "35" relevant channels (more or less).

The "useless channels" are either there because they are even paying for getting included or because they have to be included due to contractual agreements for the "35 relevant channels". 

At the bottom line, even the opposite is true: If they would provide a package that would include only those "35 relevant channels", they would have to charge even more - not less. 

 

Edited September 8, 2025 by softworkz