by hagfish » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:16 am
Welcome back!
I hope this new 'Freeview' app doesn't spell the end for the TVNZ on-demand app. Shows that would be painful to watch via broadcast are much more compelling when the ad breaks are only 30 seconds long. I do worry, tho, when all they manage to sell for a big show like Survivor NZ is a couple of house ads for other TV shows. An ad-supported service needs its ads, afterall.
The new Freeview app (like the new LightBox app) won't work on our ancient Smartish telly. I won't be upgrading that TV until I can get a 32" 1080p OLED, so it might be a while...
As for LightBox, it runs okay on our old PS3, but invariably drops the stream after about 40 minutes, so it's 'Kodi to the rescue'. It means we are less 'tied' to Spark, I suppose. Good luck to em next year with streaming the Rubby Whirl Carp - let's hope they do better than Optus did over the ditch. Having broken Sky's back, it's important that it goes well or lovers of live sports will be stuck.
I hope all the Balkanized streaming services will be integrated into one offering - maybe by a behemoth like Apple or Amazon. People say they want competition and choice, but I just want one bill, one remote, one app to rule them all. If it gets too expensive, invasive, or annoying, there's plenty of other stuff I can be getting on with in the evenings. Reading, gaming, or - as with last night - Scrabble.