CBS All Access?

I'll need to take a closer look then. I've only seen one thing for CBS AA on my FireTV. And when I selected it, it asked for a login. And then I used my Roku credentials.

 

Ok. I looked closer and saw the supposed CBS AA access streaming channel. But all it does is open up the CBS AA app on my FireTVs for Star Trek Discovery and the Good Fight.. Which just play the two shows I watch in DD+ 2.0. Just like it does from all my other devices.

What are the shows that supposedly play back in 5.1 DD+?

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Ugh. Maybe I can clear this up. I have a TiVo, AFTV stick, AFTV 4K dongle square, AppleTV and a AFTV 4K TV by Element. I subscribe to Amaxon Prime and The CBS AA Channel on Prime. First and foremost, AppleTV is smart. It only launches CBS AA Channel and not the App when I watch Discovery or After Trek by clicking that shows icon. It will however show the CBS app and the Amazon Channel as choices if you do a search for the show rather than click on the show or show episode icon. It always places the Amazon Channel choice on top because it knows that is what I use. Over on the AFTV devices, it may try to open the CBS app as has happened to me, but I uninstalled that app after frustration and it hasn't given me any trouble since. Now as far as the picture and audio quality...let me make this very clear...DON'T BOTHER WITH THE CBS APP or CBS.com. It is ghastly. I won't even delve into the myriad issues both have. The ONLY way to watch Star Trek, The Good Fight, etc. is on CBS AA Amazon Channel or Netflix (Outside the U.S.) You get Star Trek in beautiful 1080p on both (4K on Netflix back in September). Both have Dolby Digital 5.1. If you are wondering about the 4K...Star Trek Discover is shot in 2.8K and carries HDR and Dolby Vision. When you shoot something in 2.8K, there is no standard TV resolution equivalent, therefore the video must be either downconverted to 1080p or upconverted to 4K. Outside the U.S., Discovery is a Netflix Original and was presented in 4K, HDR & Dolby Vision back in September, but that only lasted a very short time. Once Americans realized they had to pay $10 to get the show whereas everyone else in the world can get it on their Netflix and those same people were receiving it at its maximum resolution*, it was decided that Netflix start downconverting it to 1080p, DD5.1 so we can all equally suffer. Netflix still has the leading edge with Dolby Vision though. Hopefully next season, everyone gets on the same page and we can have it upconverted to 4K. In closing, if you haven't done so already, try CBS All-Access Channel on Amazon for the free trail. Uninstall the CBS App on your AFTV device. Sometimes AFTV can be tricky. Sometimes you will see duplicates for each episode. When this happens, that means one is theirs and the other is from the CBS App. This doesn't seem to happen on AppleTV though. I hope that long-winded explanation (and partial tirade) helps.

 

CBS All-Access can be viewed on Amazon Fire TV devices two ways:

• CBS All-Access App (Must be installed, worst option)
• CBS All-Access Channel (Subscribed to via Amazon - No App to Download, best option)

CBS All-Access can be viewed on TiVo one way:

• Amazon app (Must have CBS All-Access Channel subscription via Amazon, only option)

 

From what I saw it looked like most of the content was playing back the Amazon encodes. CBS Content that I could purchase separately. Which is in 1080P and DD+ 5.1.

But with the All Access channel you get access to those encodes without having to pay a fee for each item.

I have no problems with the quality from the actual CBS app. The quality is decent for what it's streaming. And it's always a rock solid stream. I watched Discovery in HDR from Netflix UK when it first premiered. But it wasn't worth the cost of having to get a VPN for me. But it certainly looked much better in HDR than SDR.

So I guess next time around I will try it from the Amazon channel. I'm scheduled to be cancelling my CBS AA subscription after the last Discovery episode this Sunday. That way my cost was only $10 for the second half of the season. Then when the Good Fight starts back up in March, I will try watching it from the Amazon channel instead. And then cancel again when that season goes off. Since the only two things I want to watch are ST: Discovery and The Good Fight.

Although I guess it would have access to Madam Secretary? If so I can watch that while I am subscribed for the Good Fight.

So is Madam Secretary available in 1080P, DD+ 5.1, and HDR?

 

Thanks for your post. I have a Tivo Bolt with a long range antenna pointed at NYC. The reception is great except for CBS. To make matters worse that is where all my Wife's shows are.

I have Amazon Prime and we regularly watch the prime movies on the Tivo. Are you saying I could subscribe to CBS All-Access Channel through Amazon and watch CBS on my Tivo using the Amazon app?

Thanks
Lou

 

YES. Including CBS LIVE. Any show that is in the CBS All-Access catalogue will appear on Amazon just like any other show or movie does and therefore can and will appear on your TiVo via the Amazon App including CBS's live stream.

 

Thanks that's great.

Lou

 

I don't really want yet another streaming service, but may binge the eps of Discovery I haven't seen some time..

If you do it through Amazon (to have one fewer interface to go through -- even though I'd probably do it on appletv), do you have the option of the commercial free version too?

 

At $10/mo, it's currently priced at the commercial-free rate. And that's the only plan offered.

From the CBS AA Amazon Channels page (link):

Live TV includes commercials, and select shows have promotional interruptions. Check live TV availability by location: www.amazon.com/channels/cbsaalivetv.​

 

So are their original shows commercial free from the Amazon channel? I have zero desire to watch any commercials.

 

I tried the Roku and the app was terrible. It would play for a few minutes then it will go to a "Unauthorized content" message and stop. After rebooting it would play for a few minutes again then the same thing. So I gave up and cancelled CBS All Access.

 

I had zero issues watching CBS all access from my Rokus.

Although when I resubscribe later this year I will be doing it through amazon.