Playlist FAQ / Q&A

[tarbat]

Re: "Everything you add is available to play back, but in a very small number of cases, it’s only possible to play while it’s airing"

Why is there no on-screen warning when the user adds a programme to their Playlist to let them know that they won't be able to watch the programme? Or are they meant to have a crystal ball to predict which programmes won't be available after airing?

[Garg]

I was literally about to call to get you to take ours back before reading this.

Finally there is some hope of improvements but they need to happen fast.  

As a former Sky Q customer, I could weep at the deterioration in service.  I know it could work but the service via ITV and Channel 4 has to improve very fast.  Likewise with the confusing Playlist feature.

I'll try to persuade my family to give it another week.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Annie+UK wrote:

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But would not the copy on skys server still be for my personal use? It is after all just a Cloud PVR

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My guess would be the obstacle is the distribution method, not the storage location.

[tarbat]

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@Annie+UK wrote:
But would not the copy on skys server still be for my personal use? It is after all just a Cloud PVR 

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But only accessible using a Sky Glass device with a Sky subscription, so that makes it commercial use.

I also suspect some of the broadcasters have wanted to stop the recording of their content for years, and have grabbed this opportunity to stop us recording programmes.

[Trapdoor]

What source does Playlist play back from?

It plays back from wherever the programme is available – it could be live TV, a cloud-based recording, video on demand stream or from within an app.

OK. Fine in theory. However what happens if the VoD stream is a premium chargeable stream such as Disney+ or Discovery+ where a Glass user does NOT hold a valid paid-up subscription?

I again cite the case of 'recording' Air Crash Investigation from National Georgaphic (a channel part of my Sky subscription) that when you select it to play out from the Playlist then takes you to the Disney+ login/subscribe page as I don't have a paid up subscription.

There should either be an agreement Sky has with the provider to pull single 'recorded' playlist programmes from their servers or it should recognise no valid subscription and then 'cloud record' the episode.

All that's needed is a 'Providers' section in Settings where you can manually turn off premium streaming providers and the system will then record to the cloud or your Sky account should be able to know this via data sharing.

[Martin.R]

Although I am not a Glass user (Yet) this is highly informative and answers 99% of my concerns/questions I have had.

Just one question.

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@John4042 wrote:

In the case of BBC, ITV (STV if you’re in Scotland) and Channel 4, playback of on demand content will happen in the relevant app, or if it isn’t in there, we will match it to an on demand or cloud recording when we can. The mixture of playout is based on how we deliver the best experience by partner which in some cases is via cloud recordings and in others is on demand or app playout. Whenever we do play back from ITV (STV if you’re in Scotland), C4 or BBC apps, it is in HD as default and in UHD where this is available.”

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If we want to watch EastEnders, it finished at 8PM, It is available on iPlayer at 9PM.

We turn Glass on at 8:10PM - You are saying we won't have to wait 50 minutes for it to be ready in iPlayer, instead we can watch it right now via the cloud recording instead?

[Jayboy1990]

@Martin.R  You have the option to restart the program

[d2h]

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@Annie+UK wrote:

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@tarbat wrote:

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@oj01 wrote:

I still don't understand how Sky don't have the rights to record Frasier and movies on ITV2 when I've been able to do that on my Sky+HD box for the last 20 years 

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There's a big licensing difference between you recording in your home from a live broadcast for your own personal use, vs asking Sky to store a copy of the programme on their servers for commercial purposes.

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But would not the copy on skys server still be for my personal use? It is after all just a Cloud PVR

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The issue is not recording it per se - it's the fact that all content being streamed is subject to separate licensing agreements to traditional linear broadcast. 

Archive content is particularly tricky to license for streaming and more so when Viacom will be preparing their launch titles for Paramount+ and will undoubtedly be keeping streaming rights for their own service, hence Frasier being viewable live on C4 but not on-demand/catch-up. 

I know above it says content will be limited in this regard, but I really do disagree with that as pretty much all content is subject to the same restrictions unless much more recently produced, when streaming rights are included as part of the initial licensing term. 

[Martin.R]

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@Jayboy1990 wrote:

@Martin.R  You have the option to restart the program

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But as it reads you can restart only if the programme is still being broadcast, in my example the programme has finished by 10 minutes, I want to know if there is a cloud recording (As suggested) until it is available in iPlayer.

According to the BBC it could be instant or not for when it is available in the iPlayer:

[lettice]

Can you give more details of the Sky Sports functionality in Playlist?

All programmes on Sky Sports can be saved to your Playlist and watched back after the broadcast has finished.

For the above. Can you record the HD and UHD and/or HDR of a live sports event all at the same time?

Something many of us on Sky Q do for F1 and the PL.

[d2h]

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@Martin.R wrote:

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@Jayboy1990 wrote:

@Martin.R  You have the option to restart the program

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But as it reads you can restart only if the programme is still being broadcast, in my example the programme has finished by 10 minutes, I want to know if there is a cloud recording (As suggested) until it is available in iPlayer.

According to the BBC it could be instant or not for when it is available in the iPlayer:

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@Martin.R you will not have any cloud recordings for the main FTA broadcasters, including the BBC. 

To catch up on their content, you would need to wait for the programme to arrive on their respective catch-up service. 

[tarbat]

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Archive content is particularly tricky to license for streaming and more so when Viacom will be preparing their launch titles for Paramount+ and will undoubtedly be keeping streaming rights for their own service, hence Frasier being viewable live on C4 but not on-demand/catch-up. 

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They've already sold the streaming rights for Frasier to Amazon Prime and Apple TV. If you want to watch Frasier on demand, then pay £200 to Apple TV to watch every episode.  This is all about money - why would ch4 be able to give the viewer free access to Frasier on catchup when other platforms have to charge?

Sadly we've all got so used to being able to freely record whatever we want, to view whenever we want, for free. That's not sustainable for FTV/FTA broadcasters with advertisers to please.

[Q-tips]

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@tarbat wrote:

Re: "Everything you add is available to play back, but in a very small number of cases, it’s only possible to play while it’s airing"

Why is there no on-screen warning when the user adds a programme to their Playlist to let them know that they won't be able to watch the programme? Or are they meant to have a crystal ball to predict which programmes won't be available after airing?

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This is simply unacceptable. People could set "recordings" when they go away for a few days only to find out when they get home that it was an epic fail.

Sad to say, this FAQ should have been up there with all the other FAQs on or before launch day and Sky obviously kept it quiet so as to maximise orders.

Essentially, as Sky obviously know, the Playlist/Recording functions are a shambles and for this secrecy alone Sky deserve every one of the Glass TVs they receive back. A lot of people have been duped into buying Glass based on the vague promises of recordings and playback whenever they want.

This belated FAQ was clearly intended to be an exercise in damage limitation but it has only served to highlight Sky's duplicity. I'll wager there will be very few genuine Sky Glass customers/potential customers who find this FAQ acceptable.

[d2h]

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@tarbat wrote:

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Archive content is particularly tricky to license for streaming and more so when Viacom will be preparing their launch titles for Paramount+ and will undoubtedly be keeping streaming rights for their own service, hence Frasier being viewable live on C4 but not on-demand/catch-up. 

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They've already sold the streaming rights for Frasier to Amazon Prime and Apple TV. If you want to watch Frasier on demand, then pay £200 to Apple TV to watch every episode.  This is all about money - why would ch4 be able to give the viewer free access to Frasier on catchup when other platforms have to charge?

Sadly we've all got so used to being able to freely record whatever we want, to view whenever we want, for free. That's not sustainable for FTV/FTA broadcasters with advertisers to please.

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@tarbat not quite.

Retail (including PVOD) options aren't the same as SVOD rights, where the customer can access inclusive of their monthly subscription fee. 

Frasier is long out of its licensing window and is now retained on historic terms. It's perfectly acceptable for content to be available on both SVOD services and also available to purchase by episode or series... nothing new there. 

[oj01]

• Sad to say, this FAQ should have been up there with all the other FAQs on or before launch day and Sky obviously kept it quiet so as to maximise orders.

If they had posted these pre-launch they wouldn't have had all these used Glass TV's being returned. They also wouldn't have had stock issues or people complaining they hadn't had their invitation email yet.