The loss of video webcast functionality is now complete

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Very dissapointed that Tivo dropped my ability to download Twit shows. This change stinks on ice and I let them know it. +1

 

Got a response from a Tivo CSR with a link to directly request this feature to be added back. Don't think it will do any good but he did say that there have been a number of complaints about it going away.

http://advisors.tivo.com/wix5/p2272893819.aspx

 

And so, does anyone think (I'm really asking) whether TiVo might actually listen to its users in this area? Or is making the issue known to TiVo (repeatedly) just a waste of time? Yet another "feature suggestion" on the issue left again today.

Has TiVo ever responded in matters like this, in the past?

 

My guess is it's a waste of time..

Tivo knew well in advance they were going to do this and they knew they'd get some backsplash.

They will simply weather the storm, lose some subscribers over it and in no time flat it will be forgotten that they even did it...

They obviously don't really care what their customers want as they could not even give notice that they were doing away with it. Push the terminate button, answer a few emails from upset customers and move on.

What's even more troubling is what's next? What features will Tivo decide to turn off next without warning?

 

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^^^^^^ I tend to agree with Raqball.

TiVo probably has the stats that show that this is feature is used by a very small minority of people and they decided they can take the hit by dropping it. I still think there should have been an announcement even if there is a small minority that used the old webcasts.

Maybe something happened that was out of their control and they were forced to do this. Maybe the hotlist will provide ad revenue in the future so TiVo is converting to this.

 

I can't imagine what that would be. The RSS feeds are all run independently, with no coordination between them. There's no common event that would affect them all. And the rest of the system was run in-house by TiVo, AFAICT.

 

The Series 3 Youtube app is dying in next, but that's Google's doing.

The old games may follow, but really the whole HMO/HME platform is in question.

I mentioned it in another thread but I think Tivo is working on a UI refresh, or at least gutting the ancient code that hasn't been touched in 8 years. With active Amazon and Youtube support dying, there isn't much use left for it. Tivo may be planning to flush it.

Web videos don't have a great solution yet, but games are available in the Opera store, and PLEX may be the future answer to file transfers.

 

Tweet to @tivodesign complaining but no response. Considering the sleight of hand removal, I think it is a fat chance they will bring this back. Hoping I am wrong though.

Exploring using an RSS feed catcher to download podcasts to a local directory then serving them out with Plex. I have a Roku on the 60 inch and my 24" vizio has it as an app on the tv. If we get Plex as an Opera App, I can then just go back to using the Tivo.

Tivo should make their hardware a one box stop, but I guess they are too in bed with the cable companies to directly add DLNA, podcasts, etc.

 

Anyone know of a useful app that can run on a pc to download the podcasts?

I could then use kmttg to place them on the tivo or use pytivo to make them available directly.

 

Is there a way to automate uploading of video files in a podcast folder to a Tivo? I know I can use kmttg to manually do this, but I would like it to monitor a folder. If not, the Plex route seems to work well enough. I never had much use for plex until now, thanks tivo....

 

Just submitted my feedback. We'll see what they say.

Depending on the response, I may email Margaret directly.

 

I love the the response I got on my complaint email. They should really have a cut and paste script instead of letting each agent "wing it"

Thank you for contacting TiVo Customer Support. I would be glad to help you with Podcasts.

This feature has been removed and replaced with highly recommended features and features that are being used more. You can use the web video hot list instead. Central > Find TV, Movies, & Videos > Web Video Hotlist menu.

Sincerely,
Megan


FYI @tivodesign ignored me as well.

 

You could try HME-VLC, http://wmcbrine.com/tivo/hme-vlc-3.6.zip.

I mentioned this in one of the other "web video download gone??" threads as I came across it while looking for a "download latest video from arbitrary RSS feed to PC/Linux server and then push to Tivo" solution.

Not quite as slick as the discontinued Download Manager but worlds better than the borderline unusable (IMHO) Web Video Hotlist. Have to see how long it lasts though as theres some speculation that HME may be on the list for pruning from the Tivo codebase and that would break this, and several other commonly used applications.

 

Just looked at the Roamio page https://www.tivo.com/shop/roamio#/roamio and the comparison to the Cable DVR doesn't mention Tivo ToGo or being able to watch your local movies on Tivo by transferring them from a PC or server to your Tivo.

Didn't those use to be features that Tivo boasted about back in the day as making Tivo superior to generic cable DVRs or am I totally and willfully mis-remembering while trying to make a point?

Is it just me or has the "Give streams a chance" mantra taken hold at the Tivo mothership with a vengance? I guess that before long Tivo's with local storage will be a thing of the past and Tivos will be just another streaming stick with a nice-ish if dated UI and mild nostalgia value for geeks of a certain age?

Just thinking that removing web video downloads may just be the first, broad, hint of future directions and that Tivo doesn't give a f ... hoot about what the 5% of their most technically savvy and, currently, most ardent fans want from their Tivo experience

 

And what, indeed, are those so-called "highly recommended features and features that are being used more"? LOL.

 

I think I would have been *SIGNIFICANTLY* less annoyed by this removal if:
1) They announced it AT ALL, especially *FAR IN ADVANCE*
2) WHEN they stopped them, they removed ALL traces of it.

The fact that I can *STILL* (at least as of I think yesterday) search for "CNET Update" or other things like that makes it *seem* like they're still supported.

If they said, 6 months ago, "On April 2, 2015, video podcasts [or whatever they officially call them] will no longer be supported by Tivo. Any you have already will still be playable, but they will not be searchable nor will they download in the future", I would have been annoyed, but PREPARED, by making sure that I had all of them set up with another podcast downloader.

 

Sorry to put it this cynical way, but heaven forbid that a tech. company (minus a select few, at least sometimes) support and be answerable to its users--you know, the folks that keep the company alive, in the end.

What I continue to find amazing is, at no point has TiVo even said, We really are sorry about this--the manner of what we did, and what we did itself. Is it afraid of lawsuits (as vs. badwill and bad PR)?

 

I suspect they just didn't care enough about the tiny percentage of its customers who used this feature to risk confusing the vast majority who probably didn't even know it existed...

 

I am more concerned about what this means for the future of downloads, than, let's say, how they clod-hop over a unique mutually beneficial customer/partnership or how rude they can be whenever it suits them to forget that beneficial partnership. After all, they do it at their own peril. If it wasn't for us being kept happy, cable would dump them like a hot spud and go for the cheapest DVR they could get their hands on.

A couple of questions.

1. Are they doing it to secure their system from outside risky downloads?

2. Did the cable companies convince them to move down the path of a pure cloud solution that would enable them and our cable buddies to monetize another source for more ad based funding streams that only they would control?

I never met a walled garden that didn't have a meter $$ running on the people trapped inside it.

 

Add my name to the list of loyal users that used to be very happy with the Video Download features and am now very unhappy that they have been removed (and what's left of them crippled) with no notice.