Live tv from internet to TV set?
The_stingemeister
Forumite 356 Posts
Is there anyway to stream live TV to a TV set in the kitchen? There aren't any aerial points in there and I don't want to make any. I've got a NowTv box, but it takes ages to load, plus it only has the BBC channels (via the faff of iPlayer) and ITV, there's no channel 4. Changing channels is a joke as you have to open up another app.
Surely there must be some box/stick that can do this? Not bothered about having catch up features.
Surely there must be some box/stick that can do this? Not bothered about having catch up features.
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I've Googled this, and it's unclear whether the channels are free or not. I'm not entertaining paying for freeview channels. Is it just a faster version of a now TV box with the same clunkiness of apps?
You can add the iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4 and some other stuff to it and all of the aforementioned services (par All4) will let you stream the live channels, but yes it effectively requires you to come in and out of apps.
All4 is a strange beast because none of the All4 apps on any platform allows you to stream Channel 4's portfolio of channels.
If you want it to be a Freeview type experience, your only options are to either add an aerial port or use an indoor aerial and hope you get a decent signal on it.
Sounds like you have an old/defective Now TV box. The standard Box or the new Now TV Stick have BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4, Demand5, and UKTV Player. The box is fast and largely trouble-free.
The nature of things is that the apps are provided by the broadcasters and only do the things that the broadcasters want them to (therefore no live streams on All4 or Demand5).
You could also look into TV Catchup which provides a number of live streams for different broadcasters. You would need a device to run it on - maybe a Chromecast?
https://tvplayer.com/
Think the box is at least 3 year's old, and pretty sure UKTV Player is not on it. So with a new Now or Amazon stick would you be able to use the TV Player and change channels without exiting the app? I did have a TV app on my tablet, but it would only allow 2minutes of viewing at a time, then you were "asked" to subscribe.
Each broadcaster supplies their own app, so you will never (within the bounds of the existing technology) be able to change channels from one broadcaster to another without exiting that Broadcaster's app. Where a broadcaster has more than one channel, then content within that channel group is available within one app. e.g. All4 has C4, E4, More 4 and the very occasional film branded Film4.
If you get an Amazon Fire Tv stick and then install the app TV Player you get most of the freeview channels free of charge. On top of that, on the same app, you have the option to pay for extra channels. It is very straightforwards and you only need one app.