Sep 17 Podcast #443: Cutting the cord with ivi.tv
Although neither of us have actually taken the plunge, we’ve talked quite often about canceling the cable or satellite bill in favor of Internet video and over the air TV. We know several of you have given it a shot, but there’s always been one big hangup. What about live TV? A new website called ivi.tv wants to fill that gap.
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Today's Show:
News:
- NETFLIX Goes Live on Panasonics's 2010 VIERA CAST™ Internet Content Service
- HDCP 'master key' supposedly released, unlocks HDTV copy protection permanently
- Mitsubishi Electric Launches World’s First Large-scale OLED Screen
- U.S. Consumers Show High Interest in 3DTV, but Cite Some Concerns
- Buy a Samsung 50-Inch 720p Plasma 3D HDTV, Get Two Free Pairs of 3D Glasses
Other:
Cutting the cord with ivi.tv
Although neither of us have actually taken the plunge, we’ve talked quite often about canceling the cable or satellite bill in favor of Internet video and over the air TV. We know several of you have given it a shot, but there’s always been one big hangup. What about live TV? A new website called ivi.tv wants to fill that gap.
About ivi.tv
Between over the air television and websites like Hulu and Netflix, you can get just about any program you want to watch. If you can’t get it there, you can buy or rent it from sites like Amazon.com or services like iTunes. But what about the live stuff? Where do you go for that? We got an email from website ivi.tv earlier this week and decided to check it out.
From the press release:
"ivi, Inc., today releases its revolutionary live television application enabling anyone with an Internet connection to “cut the cord” and watch live broadcast television anywhere in the world, anytime. The easy-to-use, over-the-top (OTT), online cable system, is the first traditional television experience available on the Internet.
Upon launch, ivi offers more content than Hulu and a 30 day free trial to watch major broadcast channels including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, The CW, PBS, and others from a growing number of local affiliates, all available via a downloadable app at ivi's website, ivi.tv."
The site bills itself as an online cable company, so you aren’t exactly cutting the cord, but you are saving quite a bit of money. The basic service costs only $4.99 per month. You can upgrade to the premium service, called ivi Pro, for only 99 cents more per month. The Pro service give you DVR functionality, allowing you to record, rewind, fast-forward, pause, and the ability to access additional premium and PPV content for a nominal charge.
Through ivi you can currently access 26 different live TV channels, including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and CW affiliates in New York and Seattle. They also have channels like PBS, Univision, Telemundo, and Universal Sports. It’s basically like having a SlingBox installed in New York and Seattle that you can access whenever you want.
How do they make it work?
According to the company:
"ivi operates in good faith and intends to help broadcasters and cable operators realize new revenue streams by making TV more accessible to more people, anytime and anywhere. Every single broadcaster gets paid. ivi, Inc. fills out the "United States Copyright Office Statement of Account Form SA1-2" in accordance to US Copyright Law, and that clearly calculates royalty payments for retransmissions.
An important distinction to keep in mind on the legal side is the historic EchoStar precedent. Cable and the broadcasters battled EchoStar and fought the satellite erosion of their hallowed ground. They lost that battle. As history repeats itself, they will lose this one as well, we believe."
So how good is it?
The service isn’t purely web based, you install an application on your computer to watch TV. The application runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It’s easy enough to install and quite easy to interact with. The guide provides much of the same functionality you get from a Cable or Satellite DVR. Overall installation and usage are fairly trivial.
Quality still leaves something to be desired. Most of the content looks like the old school streaming content from days gone by. There’s lots of macroblocking and quite often audio sync issues. Although we’re sure they have high definition in New York and Seattle, we’re yet to see it in ivi.tv. Which also means we’re yet to get any 5.1 surround sound. Overall quality issues left us less than satisfied.
Lastly, perhaps the biggest drawback is that the application is purely computer based for now. In an age where Netflix is available on every consumer electronics device imaginable, we’re rapidly moving away from the need to have a computer in your family room. With that in mind, ivi.tv really needs to get off the computer and into home theater devices. They know this and claim to be working on it.
Conclusion
Although we wouldn’t give up high definition for the sub-par quality of ivi.tv just yet, we are quite intrigued by the service. Assuming they can fix the video issues and give us something akin to what we’re used to from Hulu or Netflix, the idea of paying $5 a month for TV service sounds great. Of course a set top box of some sort would need to be in the mix. They’d also need to beef up the available channels to include stuff like ESPN and Fox Sports. Monday Night Football simply isn’t optional.
Reader Comments (3)
How interesting that this episode comes as I have done just that. When i moved house about 2 months ago I canceled my pay TV subscription and haven't really missed it. Yesterday I bought a TiVo which has online content and now also has 3D content as well though I think it's a little early for that. I'm hopping that they ramp up the online stuff soon with some more modern programming . Over the air TV. We down here in New Zealand it ain't much good. I think I have about 5 programs on the "season pass" setup.
It is interesting that both of you are going the projector route. Several years ago our HDTV died and I (with prodding from the family) we went with the front projector and 106" fixed screen. I found it a great upgrade for movies and extended TV viewing.
I also found I missed being able to pop down in the middle of the day on a weekend for brief (1 hour or less viewing). I do not like to cycle the projector for a short viewing time.
Recently we added a 50" plasma mounted on the wall with the screen coming down in front of it. I would say the viewing ratio now is about 60% Plasma and 40% projector. I also use the TV as a computer screen for surfing and some web based TV in addition.
I will be watching to see how this develops for both of you once the BIG SCREEN change wears off. You may find you miss the flexibility you had with the TV.
I haven't had cable TV for a few years no. Don't miss it either. I use Linux on all my computers. I have a system setup to output on my Panasonic Viera. Works great and I can play movies that I have stored on the hard drive as well as any content I can get online. But Netflix will not allow Linux to access it's content even if you pay them. I believe they are trying to control the market. Pbs and Hulu work just fine on Linux so why not netflix? They want to try and stop the growth of freedom on computers. They want the consumer locked in to what they want them to have. I find that disgusting. I would hope others do also. But there is an issue that I will not tolerate in my home any longer. I will not pay to have commercials piped into my TV. If I pay then there are no commercials. If I don't pay, such as with over the air broadcasts, then I will except commercials. It is totally within the consumers power to tell companies, like Hulu, that you will not except paying for commercials. All you need to do is tell them, email works well, that you will not stand for it. If fifty percent of the consumers did this we wouldn't have commercials. We, as Americans, got the wool pulled over our eyes with cable. We allowed commercials on cable. Now we have a chance to get what we want not what they tell us we will have. Everything is going to be either OTA or on the net. It is now that we can make our wishes known. Just don't subscribe to sites or products that have commercials for paid service. The sites, such as hulu, will still make money by charging more to the advertisers or they will make money from paid subscribers but I will not except both. There is no need for us to pay for commercials. Right now is the first time in history that the consumer has a voice in what they will except in entertainment. You really can be heard. Just email the companies that want to have you pay to watch commercials that you will not stand for it and it will stop.