[kwlug-disc] OT: Online TV services?

Fri Nov 3 08:04:10 EDT 2017

Aside from what's already been mentioned, you can also get CBC programs on
the CBC app for Android/iOS, HGTV canada site has a lot of their shows
ready for you to stream, but you tend to need to watch them on a computer
that supports Flash, IIRC.

Kodi's scraping addons, which I've used quite a lot in the past, are
unreliable at best.  They're generally maintained by only one or two
coders, in their spare time, and have to constantly update the plugin.
Most coders tend to get sick of it all and stop updating, then the project
changes hands... rinse, repeat.

You should consider an antenna.  Depending on your location, you can get
digital TV broadcasts in 1080i.  I live out in New Hamburg, and I get:

CTV (Baden Tower)
CTV2 (London Tower)
TVO (Paris Tower)
Global (Paris Tower)
CityTV (Woodstock Tower)

Pretty much any modern TV can get DTV broadcasts and if you live on the
east side of KW, you might even get CBC, or other programming from Toronto
area.  Check out http://www.tvfool.com; use their Online Maps option and
you can see what's available to you.  Course, this might mean putting a TV
antenna up.

Personally I use an HDHomeRUN tuner and one of those round, saucer shaped
antennas (http://dennysantennaservice.com/image/18483796.gif), along with
MythTV to record everything.  I then use Kodi on a plain old Android box
(not one of those pirate boxes) to interface with MythTV.  This means you'd
need a dedicated Linux box running MythTV all the time, however.

It's not easy to get all the free programming in one location... Perhaps
once broadcasters / TV execs start to realize this, things will change.
Pay one low price for access to everything, but then again, since
Bell/Rogers owns TV content, TV stations and the distribution network, I
doubt this will happen anytime soon.

On Wed, Nov 1, 2017 at 9:26 PM, Mark Steffen <rmarksteffen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Legal?  Netflix, Youtube, CraveTV
>
> Legal and Free (and somewhat good):  Crackle.com (owned by Sony), and
> TubiTV.com (not sure who owns it but has decent content albeit a bit old).
>
> Also, most of the TV networks also will stream for free a couple recent
> episodes of what was recently on air, but for "full" access you need a
> satellite/cable/IPTV subscription.
>
> As others mentioned there is Kodi (and all it's shady TV/movie pirating
> apps).  Kodi itself isn't illegal or shady and makes a great media player,
> with lots of legal content plugins (that scrape/pull from legit streaming
> network sources) but it is mainly popular for the apps that stream pirated
> content.
>
> I was lucky enough to get Shaw Direct through the LTSS program a few years
> back (and then upgrade to a nearly full TV package for $25/month guaranteed
> until at least end of 2019) but if they raise the price after that I will
> just cancel it as nobody really watches 'regular' TV in my household, it's
> mostly Youtube and Netflix.  I just like to have Shaw for the occasional
> channel surfing when I'm bored, or to watch BNN/CNBC/live news/occasional
> sports/etc.
>
> *Mark Steffen*
> Office Direct: +1.226.476.1240 <(226)%20476-1240> | Mobile:
> +1.226.600.0464 <(226)%20600-0464>
> *"Don't believe everything you read on the Internet." -Abraham Lincoln*
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 5:03 PM, Russell McOrmond <
> russellmcormond at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>   I dropped cable back in 2012, and use the legal streaming options.  I
>> am also a Teksavvy customer.
>>
>>   In all but one case, I don't use VPN services:  http://mcormond.blo
>> gspot.ca/2016/11/notes-from-watching-supergirl-via-vpn.html  .  VPN may
>> annoy some of the legacy cable companies, but they are legal to use -- and
>> if NAFTA were a legitimate "trade agreement" then we'd have a single
>> content market and there wouldn't be shows legally available in the US
>> (where most people VPN to) but not in Canada.
>>
>>
>> Easiest to use service is Netflix, and it works on the most devices.  My
>> wife doesn't want to fiddle with messy websites to watch TV, so pretty much
>> only watches Netflix -- if we watch on a different streaming service then
>> I'm the one with the controls.
>>
>> The second most useful for me is Google Play, where I can get seasons of
>> shows for not much -- and it works on most of my devices, but not quite as
>> easy as Netflix.
>>
>> Amazon Prime is now in Canada, and there are some really good shows on
>> that -- but the catalog isn't huge.
>>
>>
>> Some Canadian broadcasters have their own custom apps and websites, but
>> they're all pretty bad.   I watch some shows on the CTV GO app, but its
>> flaky.
>>
>> I also have CraveTV and while it is an amateurish services compared to
>> the professional "foreign" services, it often works. Pretty much everything
>> that is available on CraveTV is available in the USA via Netflix and/or
>> Hulu, and we'd all be better off if the region blocking were removed from
>> those better services.
>>
>>
>>
>> As I try to speak to politicians about the problems caused by our
>> outdated broadcaster-centric cultural policy, I blog about my experiences.
>>
>> http://mcormond.blogspot.ca/search/label/Television
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:44 PM, Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com> wrote:
>>
>>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>> Hash: SHA1
>>>
>>> Hi: A friend recently switched from Rogers to Teksavvy, and wonders
>>> what TV services are available.  Aside from Netflix, what's available
>>> in Canada? Can you subscribe to CraveTV without subscribing to Bell's
>>> internet? Or anything from Rogers?
>>>
>>> I'd like to stick to sources that are directly available in Canada,
>>> without using proxies or VPNs...
>>>
>>> - --Bob, who still wonders where to get shows on Betamax
>>>
>>>
>>> - --
>>> Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
>>> SOBAC Microcomputer Services             http://sobac.com/sobac/
>>> Software   ---   Office & Business Automation   ---   Consulting
>>> GnuPG Fngrprnt:04F7 742B 8F54 C40A E115 26C2 B912 89B0 D2CC E5EA
>>>
>>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
>>> Version: GnuPG v2
>>> Comment: Ensure confidentiality, authenticity, non-repudiability
>>>
>>> iEYEARECAAYFAlnxBb4ACgkQuRKJsNLM5erRfQCgjhNt4EtAE8qY7OQf9HI5Qnk7
>>> rekAoI3hTPx/4Ys6k+JXFlWubrowLIc4
>>> =6oZa
>>> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
>>
>> Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
>> rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
>> http://l.c11.ca/ict/
>>
>> "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
>> manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or portable
>> media player from my cold dead hands!" http://c11.ca/own
>>
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>>
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