Now TV/Roku

Knackeredoldbat

A little help please

I don't have a way of receiving tv (no aerial or sat dish) so was going to get a smart tv and just have catch up.

Having done a bit of research I've gone for a tv with HDM1/scart connections. I'm looking at both Now tv and Roku purely for catch up but noticed I could get passes for sky.

Might be a daft question, but can I use these passes if I'm only using broadband? If so, I'm guessing this would then be classed as live tv?

If I can't get the live programmes, would the catch up for these channels be available?

Don't want to get the wrong thing!

Thanks for any help

Tropez

Yes, Now TV is delivered via your broadband connection. The Now TV box itself is a stripped down Roku LT box lacking some of the features and channels of other, more expensive Roku boxes.

Roku itself is a media streaming device that connects to your TV that allows you access to a very large channel library which includes popular services such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Snagfilms etc. (although is notably missing Amazon Instant Video) as well as a huge number of channels that to call 'niche' would be vastly overstating their popularity.

I own two Roku 3's - you can access some live TV content via Now TV (with subscription). The BBC channel on Roku also offers live TV + catch up but I do not believe ITV offers live tv via Roku yet (except on ITV Encore via Now TV), and I haven't tried 4oD or Demand Five.

Now TV also offers catch up television and on-demand content such as television box sets and movies (if you have the movies pass).

Cycrow

NowTV offers both live tv and on-demand content. The catch up tv is available without buying any passes, but any of the sky channels or on-demand stuff requires a pass, either movies, sport or entertainment.

If you watch the live channels from nowtv you will require a tv license, althou most of the content on these live channels is also avaialble from the on-demand stuff, the exception being the sports channels

Knackeredoldbat

Thanks, very helpful

DCFC79

I'd find a list of apps you can get on each box and make a decision based on that.

Knackeredoldbat

posted twice for some reason

Knackeredoldbat

DCFC79 wrote: »

I'd find a list of apps you can get on each box and make a decision based on that.

Yep, I've gone for roku 3 because I wanted catch up for the main channels and netflix which the now box doesn't have. And roku have now tv.

Then I found this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roku-4200EUA-Streaming-Player-Entertainment/dp/B00UB0G4HM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443605364&sr=8-2&keywords=roku

which sealed the deal

Thanks everyone for your help, much appreciated.

stupot101

<threadhijack>

What way does the live tv/on demand part of NowTV work? For example, when The Walking Dead Season 6 premieres on 12 October, you can watch it live, and then on demand? How soon is it available to watch on demand?

Also, what benefit is there to buying a Now TV box versus using the app on my Samsung Smart TV? I'm assuming there's an app for my particular TV, haven't checked yet. The Netflix app on the TV seems to have problems playing certain shows. Orange is the New Black for one. So I'd like to avoid this problem if I'm getting NowTV. But I'm not keen on spending the extra to buy the box if it doesn't offer anything extra!

Knackeredoldbat

I'm not sure there is any difference between buying a now box or using the app on your smart tv. I just found the smart tv's in my budget didn't have everything I wanted and I wasn't prepared to pay hundreds when I don't watch much tv. The now tv box doesn't have a netflix app which is why I went for roku.

I think if your smart tv has the now tv app its pretty much the same. You have to pay for the pass to access live tv on sky, depending what you want ie films, sport or entertainment. With roku you can pay for box sets but with the now tv app I don't think you can. I think you just get catch up of the free channels and extras if you pay for them (like sky 1 etc)

Not sure yet if now tv gives you immediate on demand like a Sky subscription but tbh, it doesn't really matter to me, you might have to investigate more.

HTH

stupot101

OK, thanks!

Tropez

stupot101 wrote: »

<threadhijack>

What way does the live tv/on demand part of NowTV work? For example, when The Walking Dead Season 6 premieres on 12 October, you can watch it live, and then on demand? How soon is it available to watch on demand?

Also, what benefit is there to buying a Now TV box versus using the app on my Samsung Smart TV? I'm assuming there's an app for my particular TV, haven't checked yet. The Netflix app on the TV seems to have problems playing certain shows. Orange is the New Black for one. So I'd like to avoid this problem if I'm getting NowTV. But I'm not keen on spending the extra to buy the box if it doesn't offer anything extra!

Generally a show that is going to be available via catch-up will be made available within 24 hours of its first airing. Some of the big shows become available to watch on-demand within minutes of the first broadcast ending. Not sure whether The Walking Dead would be one, but it should be there within the day.

Assuming there's no home network issues between your router and your TV, there's only a small benefit to buying the Now TV box if you can already access the app via your TV. The Now TV box is a stripped down Roku LT box with a very limited selection of apps from the Roku channel store - you can get Youtube on there (most Smart TV's have that) and a few other apps (full list here - http://web.static.nowtv.com/email-marketing/assets/legals/NOW_TV_apps.pdf) some of which your Smart TV probably won't have but many of which you can probably live without.