fubo TV?

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I know Roku was different for me. I didn't get much reply at all from Fubo support until I sent videos of the Instant DVR function I recorded from my phone while interacting with the instant DVR in my devices. I did forget to note that hours later, these recordings were normal; they worked as expected.

And when Fubo support says the thumbnail views are available on most channels and instant DVR recordings, I should have clarified: they're slow to appear when initiating on Apple TV 4K. I don't think they even populated for my on my Roku Ultra 4660. I think limited RAM on the Roku (1 GB vs 3 GB on the Apple TV) and speed of connection (200 Mbps here but measured at about 100 Mbps to Fubo TV with my new CCGTV advanced stats) are also factors to consider. But data I've collected seems to point at the instant DVR being insufficient and in need of improvement. I asked Fubo support to consider their 3rd party providers, if applicable. They should be asking themselves, "What can we do to get the equivalent of Philo or YTTV instant DVR to remedy these shortcomings?".

And trick play was the catalyst for be too. I'd press skip and most devices would jump to near end or live, whichever was relevant at the time. But I'm also guessing where it was jumping to. With NASCAR recordings, I'd usually see post race burnout, winner being interviewed at start finish line or cutting scene to commercial with the winner doing some victory celebration. Infuriating because it's hardly worth watching if the outcome is known in advance; I was just trying trying to skip intros and ads to get to the initial action (start of race).

Spoilers of all kinds exist for sports connoisseurs that like to delay live action just enough to skip ads and take in the action- I'll forget what I'm watching with an the nonsense ad breaks! Can't open my browser, read my google feed or pulldown my notification even (without spoilers). Do any of these services take feedback? Nope; business as usual.

I subscribe to NFL Gamepass but good luck trying to catch these replays in condensed version without these spoilers in play. I was even watching the ATP finals on ESPN and that scrolling NFL updates and scores while I was delaying that replay. Total nonsense; even the NFL app on most devices with exception being my PC, open the app and they've got forced auto play spoiling key plays or some talk head telling me why my favorite team lost and its key quarterback, players or coaches careers are over. These providers don't get it. I didn't ask for or want their spoiling or banter.

I saw your suggestion for channels DVR service. But I don't have a NAS server or a mounted antenna. I'm likely paying extra and not liking the terms of services because of that. I do like to follow multiple teams in the NFL though. But sometimes when there's a local outage, I'm glad my recordings are in the cloud and not getting that interruption that I'm experiencing.

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I see that exact same thing with thumbnails using the Roku, albeit at 25 Mbps. It's useless for skipping, but it is OK for fast forwarding. At this point, I'm figuring I have to live without thumbnails and if it helps getting to the next period in a game, that's a plus. In hockey, the time between periods is 20 minutes, so I can also use voice.

That's funny. It Reminds me of the times when a family member texts or calls to ask me about a game and the first thing I blurt out is "Don't tell me the score!" or "Why did you have to tell me the score?" Generally I avoid watching anything that COULD tell me the score while it is in process. Who wants to know that it is impossible for a team to score for the rest of the game?

The idea is that you install it on an old PC with a good size drive. It does not have to be local stations. If you have a service like YTTV or Fubo or Sling, it logs in and records to your PC DVR. I don't like the idea of having to pay annually, since those streaming services already have their own DVR, but the commercial skip might be nice.

 

I should also mention that the thumbnails on Sling TV are totally useless as well. In their case, they get out of sync with where you are in the show. So, while you are trying to skip forward, the thumbnail is a picture of the show while it is really during the commercial. And that is only for recorded shows (hardly any station has a buffer). Not to mention the lip-sync was generally off on almost every show I would watch. Only YTTV (of the three I've tried) works perfectly.

 

ESPN is much like what you described with ATV4K thumbnail views. I'm usually scrubbing with the same frame view from 1st ad through the entire replay. Every time I try to scrub past ads.

I don't think they care. They're likely, "laughing all the way; hahaha!". Just kidding. I've also complained for more than 2 years that ESPN has defeated the screensaver for the ATV4K and won't fix it. Half the time I call, the agent says we're not getting a large amount of complaints about this. Half the time they say, rest assured your complaint has been forwarded to tech. Nothing changes as time goes by. The app updates but doesn't fix anything. Also the reason I've cancelled ESPN+ 3 times now. They won't even take a hint.

When I discovered I can't even pause live TV on Sling, I told them surely you know this is a nonstarter for many would be subscribers? They must not care either. Cancelled. I'm so over take it or leave it terms. I can just go and be fine with it.

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The only way you can pause/skip/ff/rw on Sling TV is if you FIRST record a show. Then you have to start watching from the recordings menu. Only then will you get any trick play on most stations. And, if you start a program 1/2 way through, you get 1/2 of the show.

That is a huge plus with Fubo that it can record a 2 hour long show back from the beginning when there is only a minute left. Even YTTV does not do that. And, who knows if this isn't the reason for some of their problems. By being able to record back from the beginning of a show, they MUST be recording EVERY show playing at any time and distributing one centralized video to everyone. That could be why trick play doesn't work well until you own the show. Just a guess on my part as I really have no idea how it works.

Last night I was watching a show on Fubo TV and when I went to skip a commercial, the thumbnail was from a hockey game! I was previously watching a College hockey game, so I guess that's where it came from. At this point, I've decided to ignore the thumbnails entirely.

So my choice for a remote is the TiVo Stream 4K (I don't have the Nvidia Shield, but it's likely the same), because it has a functional D-Pad that will skip forward or back for 15 seconds, and by holding the D-Pad right or left, it will FF or RW, and it has voice control for FF and RW. It is only missing the useless thumbnails. And I would prefer the D-Pad would do 30 second skips.

 

So, I have had Fubo for about a month now. I have had no real "must keep" recordings during the month, so it was no big deal when I lost a few games here and there. But, I don't like the fact that the DVR is not reliable (for example, YTTV is very reliable). The ONLY reason I signed up with Fubo was to get my local RSN NESN for hockey, which is supposed to start Jan 13, 2021. Since I do not trust the Fubo DVR at all, I decided to dump Fubo and go back to Sling (plus the NHL.TV package).

I went to cancel today and I was offered a price of $9.99 (regularly $59.99) for the next month! Of course I'll take that. I'm not sure if this is the standard $50 coupon offered upon cancellation, but if it is, getting two months for $70 is well worth it!

 

Yeah i'm actually sampling Fubo now (my 3rd or 4th go around trying it out) and, within 2 days, it missed a good chunk of an NFL game on NFL network.

 

I purchased the Roku Stream Stick + after reading your post, not just because of the post, but also because the price was $29 vs. $49 at the time. I agree with many of your assessments, especially I like how you can rove through the menus while your show is playing in the background. Of all my devices, this is the only one that does that.

A month has gone by and my data in the last month with Fubo almost doubled my normal usage. Looking at how to reign in my data usage, I studied all my devices to see which ones could be bandwidth limited. A quick search for Roku and bandwidth limiter shows a quick code of (5x the home button), (3x the Rewind Button) and (2x the Fast Forward button). Voila, there is a hidden menu which allows a limit to the bandwidth used. Problem is, it won't stick, as confirmed by many complainers. So, that "hidden code feature" is useless.

My second problem with the Roku device on Fubo is that the D-pad only skips forward or back 10 sec. That is ridiculously short for skipping commercials. 3 Minutes of commercials requires 18 clicks! Oh, and rarely if ever do I see any thumbnails. What I have discovered is that the size of the recording affects the display of thumbnails. Most of my recordings are sports, and Fubo pads a two hour game another two hours (for some reason). So, there are no thumbnails since they are too delayed to even show up. If I record a 1/2 hour show, it is more likely to show a thumbnail. But, it is NOWHERE NEAR as accurate as Youtube or YTTV. And although Sling TV has thumbnails, they only work (delayed) about 1/2 way through a show before they are totally out of sync with what is actually showing.

Third thing I really dislike about the Roku with Fubo is that the D-Pad only does the skip and not FF/RW. You have to find the FF/RW buttons near the bottom of the remote. But the FF/RW buttons don't skip. It is something that I guess you could get used to in the dark, but for comparison purposes, the TSK4 uses the D-Pad to skip forward or back 15 sec, and holding the D-Pad Fast Forwards or Rewinds full speed. The Fire TV uses the FF/RW buttons to both skip and by holding the buttons, it also FF/RW. In each case, you can keep your fingers on the skip/FF/RW at all times without looking for anything on the remote. (I also have a Samsung TV. The Fubo App is totally useless on that, having no buttons that will Skip/FF/RW at all!)

Back to bandwidth limits, the android devices (including the TS4K and the Fire TV and sticks) all have a "Data Saver" option while watching a particular show. Unfortunately none of the devices I have allow for a global "Data Saver" option. I even downloaded an app from Google to add this, but the menu item still does not show up. They are planning to upgrade this in future releases. So for now, if I want to use the data saver (for example, watching a news channel on a small TV), I just have to go into the settings for that particular show, just like if I wanted Closed Captioning. There is also a "stats" on android devices so you can see how much data you are burning through.

 

Looks like Fubo TV has just gotten as expensive as AT&T TV if you want NESN (I guess even if you DON'T want NESN). Now I'm thinking I might go back to Comcrap for another two year special next season.

EDIT: This link includes a list of all of the $5 RSN fees including AT&T, MSG & NESN

 

From your link.