BBC Recordings no longer possible, watch via iPlayer?

[Lizzie]

Hello again @Midnight_Voice ,

I do have a working aerial as I can get channels from TV only or HDMI.  My faulty cable/lead seems to be the network/ethernet cable which was supplied, and rather than replace it the BT engineer talked me through over the phone switching to wifi instead. My BT hub is not connected to my TV Pro box by cable.

I saw that a fresh thread "Changes to BT Recordings" had started on the 16th August after we recieved our notification emails, and I was stupidly confused about what watching in 'internet mode' meant.

I do not have anyone to help me, but in any case I am always willing to learn about the stuff that I share my room with!

I was also wondering what the TV Pro box with ee subscription  offers me that a Youview box bought separately can't.

[Midnight_Voice]

@Lizzie 

Ah, that makes more sense - the Ethernet cable was faulty, so the engineer talked you through using WiFi.

So as long as you are getting your TV channels on the YouView box via an aerial, the change the BBC are introducing won’t affect you - when you record a BBC programme,  the recording will stay on your box for as long as you want it to, and when you play it back, it will play from the hard disc in the box.

IP Mode is a thing that EE TV has whereby a selection of TV channels are sent over the internet instead of an aerial. Very useful if you don’t have a TV aerial, or you get very poor reception from one. But it has a few drawbacks compared with using an aerial - you get all the main channels, but not the more obscure or minority ones like PBS, you can’t skip the adverts on programmes recorded from itvX, and now this latest BBC tie-in that means recorded programmes only last for as long as they are on the BBC iPlayer. And other broadcaster may well flex their muscles and demand further restrictions in the future 😢

The Pro box does give you a few things that a separately-bought YouView box can’t:-

There are Now and other channels in the range from 300 up that only EE TV provides, and the Pro box can record them. On a separate YouView box, you can watch the live Now channels in the Now app, if you subscribe to Now, and you can watch whatever is available On Demand, but you can’t record any of it.

Similar with TNT channels/app/subscription, and Discovery.

I have never wanted to record anything off Now, and I get my Now subscriptions rather cheaper than on EE TV. But if I was a big sports fan, the EE TV ability to record would be very attractive to me, and the EE TV pricing would get much closer to what you can get it for from Now.

On the hardware side, a separate YouView box will set you back £30 -£120, and I wouldn’t look at many below £50, but it is a one-time cost (unless it breaks) and you do own it. With EE TV, you get the loan of a Pro box for as long as you subscribe, at no extra cost, and if it breaks, they replace it.

And better support that if you go it alone, but we cover subscription and non-subscription boxes here without fear or favour.

Also, EE TV ties you to EE or BT broadband; with a standalone YouView box, you have the choice of any ISP.

But I’d certainly go with EE TV and BT or EE broadband if the price was right. If……

[Weerab1983]

@Lizzie There's currently a deal through the BT website for full fibre 100 and EE tv with the now entertainment package for £45 a month, but that deal ends in 4 days

If you already have BT broadband you could possibly add EE TV to your package. With the entertainment package being an add on at £15 a month as part of a deal, before it returns to its more expensive price in 4 days. 

[edbostan]

How do you watch the other Freeview channels not available through the Internet? You are only watching a small proportion of what is available. The idea of watching, for example, BBC through the i-player negates the need for recording onto the hard drive as it is available on demand.

[Midnight_Voice]

@edbostan 

You watch them over an aerial, to get all the broadcast channels available in your area.

If you are wedded to the IP channels as the watching and recording mode on your YouView box, for one of the good but diminishing advantages it brings, one suggestion is to tune your TV for OTA broadcasting, and watch that for any channels your YouView box can’t get in IP mode.

As regards the BBC iPlayer, I will still be able to watch The Singing Detective after November; iPlayer users will find it gone. As long as stuff comes and goes, the ability to snapshot it to my hard drive remains valuable.

[Lizzie]

I can only get Talking Pictures TV and PBS America if I switch from HDMI to TV, so then I can't record them.
I also wonder if all TVs now come with the main apps, like BBC and Channel 4 and 5.

[Midnight_Voice]

@Lizzie 

Put your box back into aerial mode, and then it will receive and record those channels.

If you have a Pro box, an aerial, and a good signal from a full Freeview transmitter, the case for IP Mode is weak to non-existent.

And yes, most if not all smart TVs  come with the BBC IPlayer and My 5, and even with itvX, just as the Pro box does. Any Freeview Play TV will have them all, and lots of other TVs besides - find one you like, and check the specs that these Players are included.

And if they aren’t all included, buy that model of TV anyway, and add a Roku or a Firestick for about £40,  and get all the Players, plus a plethora of other apps, that way.