NOW TV Entertainment price rise

Now TV has announced that its Entertainment Pass will be going up by 12% to £9.99 a month in September (unless you're on an offer - I'm on a half price deal until next year).
The price of this service has crept up a few times recently and I don't think it's quite the bargain it used to be. Like many Virgin customers I only have it for Sky Atlantic programmes but, with this price rise and the Boost HD meaning it will cost me an extra £12.99/m next year I will probably drop it once my deal ends and just dip in when something on Atlantic really demands my attention.

Now TV adds Disney Plus

Now TV customers can now directly access the Disney Plus streaming service from their Now TV device.
With no further news on Virgin Media introducing the app on the V6 boxes this is an easy way for Virgin Media customers who have Now TV for Sky Atlantic to access the new streaming service.
Now TV Smart Stick and Smart Box owners will need to purchase Disney Plus (£5.99 per month or £49.99 per year) directly through Disney before signing into their account through their Now TV streamer’s Disney Plus app. You can take advantage of a free seven day trial if you want to try before you buy. Details at the Disney Plus website.
Note that a Disney Plus subscription is not included in any Now TV passes.

New Now TV box

The new Now TV Smart Box will be available as a standalone purchase for £40 from early July. That’s quite a price hike, but I think it’s still excellent value.

The new Now TV Smart Box is larger and slimmer than the current Now TV box, measuring 165 x 165 x 20.5mm (HWD), weighing 432g, it’s gloss black with the Now TV branding in blue. I think the logo that makes it look a bit cheap but that’s probably just me.

Sky has added a Freeview tuner to the box so it’s equipped with a digital aerial socket, alongside an HDMI out to connect to your TV. It has 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound over HDMI, but the video output is limited to 1080p full HD and the NowTV service is currently limited to 720p. Given that Sky’s regular satellite service is only 1080i, I’d expect it not to go up to full HD until Sky launches its 4K TV services. Other connections include an Ethernet port for a wired internet connection - the box does also have built-in wi-fi - a microSD card slot, and a USB connection for viewing media on external devices.

So not all the rumours were true. No 4k (never likely, despite the fact that it’s competing with Amazon and Netflix) and no built-in hard drive (and you can’t connect an external one), so there’s no option to record. However, you can pause live TV and rewind programmes by up to 30 minutes.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/now-tv-smart-box-4k-release-date-specs#YbeB1wqMXAMiZ6IE.99

I'll do a separate post about the new Now TV Combo bundles that offer a combined Sky phone and Broadband package that make this a very real alternative to Virgin Media and the aging TiVo box.

Now TV On Demand issue with episode 7 of Game of Thrones

Now TV users: if you’re trying to watch episode 7 of Game of Thrones on Monday evening, you’re probably having little luck as there’s something seriously at fault at stately NowTV manor. There is a workaround though: try playing the previous episode, fast forwarding to near the end and then click Play Next episode.
(Or, like me, give up with your legal box tonight and use naughty means to download it. You try to stick to being good but sometimes the buggers just won’t let you...)

NowTV Sky Sports picture quality

Has anyone with a Now TV box tried the Sky Sports service? If so, what's the picture quality like these days? Good enough or pretty good? I'm not impressed by the box's Sky Sports News's picture. 

Sky Q pricing announced, new Now TV box later in the year

It's always interesting to see what Sky are doing, and Virgin Media's TiVo will start to look even longer in the tooth come February as Sky starts to introduce the new Sky Q service around the country. Pricing details have been announced too and the top priced Sky Q bundle, including Sports, Movies and HD, will be £88.50 per month (the current top priced Sky TV bundle is £75.75, so that's a tenner more).
There's also a one-off charge for the new box too - and it will be cheaper for Sky broadband customers. If you don't have Sky broadband, Sky Movies or Sky Sports, the Q box will be £249 and the Q Silver box will be £299. A Sky Q Silver bundle with the Sky Q Silver box and one Mini box will also be available for £299. The new boxes looks awfully like the Roku 4 box in the US to my eyes.
Hands on reviews for the new Sky tech have been largely positive but the absence of 4k programming at launch has been commented on.
There is also the promise of a 'more advanced' Now TV box later this year. Existing Now TV customers will see a new interface roll out to their boxes from February.
The new Now box will combine Now TV and Freeview channels for the first time and will allow Sky to better compete against BT and TalkTalk’s low priced TV services which are also delivered via broadband and include a mix of pay channels alongside Freeview’s aerial-delivered channels. It's a Roku, too.

Sky Atlantic adds Showtime shows to its 'exclusives' roster

Not content with signing HBO up as exclusive to the channel, Sky Atlantic has now announced it's also tied up Showcase with a similar deal, depriving Virgin Media customers of further US cable hits. 

“This is one of the most important content deals Sky has ever agreed, cementing Sky’s position as the market-leader in Europe for world-class drama,” said Sky Content boss Gary Davey.
“The agreement means our customers can enjoy an incredible slate of upcoming new dramas like Billions, Twin Peaks and also explore hundreds of hours of amazing series such as Dexter, Californication, The Affair and House of Lies on demand from the back catalogue of one of the world’s most exciting pay TV networks.”
The value of the deal was not revealed but Sky is known to have paid at least£55m a year for a UK-only HBO rights agreement, which runs until 2020.
The pan-European Showtime deal is thought to be worth about £75m per year.

 The absence of Sky Atlantic from Virgin has long been a bone of contention for many cable customers, myself included, and for the last few years I've subscribed to Now TV's Entertainment package just to get access to the channel and related Sky Box sets. The downside for Virgin Media is that, as the Now TV platform matures, the money I spend on Virgin's XL TV is increasingly looking like poor value compared with the Sky-powerered alternative and unless something changes soon I may abandon Virgin's TV service simply because I'm paying VM a small fortune each month when almost all the shows I watch are on Freeview, Netflix or Atlantic.

Netflix says it will clamp down on VPN access

As long as the major media companies still hang on to the archaic territory licensing deals of the analogue world, digital companies will continue to have to be forced to work within regional borders in the supply of licensed content.
The sad fact is that the profit-maximising mentality and content restrictions of the analogue media giants will continue despite global distribution being technically commonplace. And by sticking to twentieth century thinking and restricting content to territories piracy will inevitably continue to thrive.
In the UK, Netflix content is severely restricted by the all-encompassing deals Sky has secured with every major film studio and other major US content holders. If you want the newer Hollywood movies via streaming here and you don't want to pirate you have to use Sky's Now TV service, which is £9.99 a month for 720p movies, a notable cost increase and picture quality compromise from the services from Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. So much for customer choice - where's OFCOM on this?
But there was a way around it, to use a VPN service or browser plug in like MediaHint. But that angers the media giants who Netflix and Amazon rely on for the majority of their content, so it's no real surprise to hear that, in the same month Netflix announces expansion to now cover 190 countries worldwide, that it has also posted the following:

If all of our content were globally available, there wouldn’t be a reason for members to use proxies or “unblockers” to fool our systems into thinking they’re in a different country than they’re actually in. We are making progress in licensing content across the world and, as of last week, now offer the Netflix service in 190 countries, but we have a ways to go before we can offer people the same films and TV series everywhere.
Over time, we anticipate being able to do so. For now, given the historic practice of licensing content by geographic territories, the TV shows and movies we offer differ, to varying degrees, by territory. In the meantime, we will continue to respect and enforce content licensing by geographic location.
Some members use proxies or “unblockers” to access titles available outside their territory. To address this, we employ the same or similar measures other firms do. This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it. That means in coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are. We are confident this change won’t impact members not using proxies.

How they will actually block VPN/Proxy access is not explained - one can only assume it will be by blocking known IP ranges used by the 3rd party VPN services, a similar Whack-a-Mole game to that used by UK ISPs to block file sharing sites. That can affect legal users as these things often go wrong.
For those who access Netflix solely through TiVo this won't affect you, but if you watch Netflix on a laptop or tablet and access US or other overseas content you may find your access method blocked. One day maybe media companies will wake up and realise that we're now in the twenty first century and there are different ways of doing things, but until then, the customers will continue to be underserved and the pirates will profit.

New Now TV box on its way

Sky has announced its next-generation Now TV box and a new monthly streaming plan for Sky Sports. The refreshed lil' box will debut this August for £14.99 with an ethernet port and a five times faster processor. It is to be based on the Roku 3 player which hopefully means it will finally support 1080p streaming too.

Sky is also refreshing the crappy Now TV user interface to make it "quicker and easier" to navigate. No specific release date yet for that, but Sky says later updates in the year will improve discovery, tagging and bookmarking, and also add the ability to auto-play next episodes.

Game of Thrones on Now TV - the Nialli verdict

I'll be watching the final episode of season five of Game of Thrones this evening via the On Demand service on my Now TV box. To date it's been a near-faultless service this time around (let's not remind ourselves how poor the experience was a year ago) and viewing has been a good experience, no buffering whatsoever and fine 720p picture quality.
I still find the menu system on the Now TV box ridiculous (a curious mix of horizontal and vertical navigation that I've not fully mastered in three months) and there are bugs you'd have thought they would have ironed out by now, for example a "whoops, something went wrong" message at the end of every show if you don't press stop. I noticed a drop down to SD for a few minutes at one point (I think that was possibly broadband related) but generally it's proven reliable.
All told, the service has met my family's needs and has meant that we've been able to watch Sky Atlantic content legally, including GoT, Mad Men and Thronecast, at a reasonable price and without venturing near a dodgy download or the guy in the pub with the DVDs every Monday. It's not a service for everyone but worked for us.

Postcript: with GoT finishing tonight I went online to Now TV to cancel my subscription. When the site asked me why I was cancelling I said it was too expensive, and immediately it came back offering me the next four months of Entertainment pass for £3.49 a month, which will be worth taking for series two of True Detective alone. I wonder if that will happen again in four months’ time?

Dabbling with the Dark Side: Now TV and Game of Thrones update

I have had my wee Now TV box and Entertainment subscription for two months now and I’m pleased to report it has been pretty much faultless for watching Game of Thrones season five, albeit through the Catch Up service rather than live viewing on the Sky Atlantic channel. Not a single instance of picture break up and the 720p picture quality has been extremely good. The Sky Atlantic fan show Thronecast has proven a hit with my family, too, but we’ve found little else on the channel (or ITV Encore, the other Sky exclusive, come to that) that justify keeping the Entertainment sub running after GoT has finished in a few weeks. I will cancel it in June (unless he reviews for the second season of True Detective suggest it's as good as the first).

One blip was with the final episodes of Mad Men when there has been a notable drop in PQ for a few minutes on a couple of occasions during episodes. But again, no break-ups to report and the service has been solid.

Game of Thrones on Now TV - update

On to episode two of season five and, I'm pleased to say, Now TV's On Demand service has delivered again. Excellent picture (720p) and no sign of buffering at all. Whatsmore, it's been available via On Demand all day since the show was simulcast on Sky Atlantic at 2am this morning, which will help spread demand on the service away from the prime time broadcast at 9pm this evening. Clever.

I'm also watching the final episodes of Mad Men on Now TV, again through the On Demand service. Picture quality again very good, but I noticed a slight dip to SD in the latter scenes of episode one. My broadband was fine so I'm not sure what the problem was. 

Game of Thrones season five - updated

Is it season five already? Bloody hell. And still no sign of Sky Atlantic being made available to us poor Virgin Media customers.
At least there are a few more options now for us. Aside from the illegal downloading route, episodes should appear to buy on iTunes and Amazon soon after broadcast (although neither has added the season opener for sale yet in the US - I'm not sure how long it will take to appear).
Me? I'm giving Sky's Now TV another go, signing up for GoT and the last season of Mad Men. Will I fare better than last year's futile efforts to watch it live, or even the following night via catch up? Hopefully Sky has sorted out the ridiculous back end issues it had last year for GoT and other popular programmes. Game of Thrones on Now TV proved unwatchable with season four - will five be any better? I will let you know how I get on.

UPDATE:
Pleased to say I had no issues with the Now TV box this evening during Game of Thrones. Picture quality was SD but no buffering at all to report. Even better, it was available through Now TV Catch Up after ten minutes' broadcast, too, which meant I could switch over to the 720p version at the first ad break - and also miss all the other ad breaks! Result.

Sadly, not all were so lucky; Now TV community forums ablaze with complaints  http://community.nowtv.com/t5/Entertainment/Will-there-be-capacity-Problems-for-Game-of-Thrones-this-evening/td-p/293679

I advise everyone to use just the Catch Up service on Now TV. Not only do you get no full ads (just a smattering of promo reels) and 720p picture, but you also can watch GoT from episode 2 of season 5 at any time next Monday after it's first broadcast as a US simulcast at 2am - you don't have to wait for the 9am showing. That should reduce the demand at 9pm considerably.

4k boxes from Sky? Don't hold your breath

Sky boss Jeremy Darroch played down the idea of a new 4k ready box from Sky – reported as Project Ethan – explaining the rate of change was different to what it was ten or even five years ago. Rather than replace the entire set-top box population it was more likely that changes will be made to the software.
“Ultra HD is to be determined – it does really well on big screens, but less impactful [sic] on smaller screens,” said Darroch. “The jury is still out as to how big an idea it will be, we’re thinking about the box power, how we build into the software stack and the broadcast infrastructure that goes alongside that.”
NOW TV, Sky’s pay-as-you-go service is to receive a revamped set-top, again based on the Roku platform. NOW will also receive a new logo. Rumours persist that it will be a full 1080p service - the current box, based on the old Roku LT, is only 720p. Expect a price hike too - despite service problems with the live channels the On Demand content has proven hugely popular and Sky are projecting even more success for the service going forward.

Who needs Sky Atlantic now?

Sky Atlantic is the one notable channel missing from Virgin Media these days - sure, some may hanker for Universal HD or Discovery Shed HD but we don't even have the SD version of Atlantic as Sky keeps a tight reign on its availability to non-satellite carriers by overpricing it.
But these days, if you want Sky Atlantic shows in HD you can watch via Now TV on demand for £6.99 a month (I still don't recommend the streaming channel in SD though unless you have the patience of a saint). Furthermore, although the official DVDs and Blu Rays still aren't made available until 10 months after a season has finished the online versions of HBO's finest now appear within a week or two of a show finishing on Atlantic. For example, the recent (and final) season of Boardwalk Empire ended in October and we already have it on Amazon Instant, Blinkbox and iTunes to buy in HD. (On the SmartTV-friendly Amazon Instant Video season 5 is £17.99 for HD, £13.99 for SD.)
And there's always the naughty-naughty alternative methods of watching it.
So how big a hole does the absence of Sky Atlantic leave me? None whatsoever now to be honest. And with the ending of Boardwalk and conclusion of Mad Men next spring, there's only really Game of Thrones I'll be bothered about next year, and I'll most likely catch up with that on Now TV for a couple of months or wait for the Amazon release.
Maybe now Sky will drop the price and Virgin will bite, but I'm not really fussed these days.

Now TV introduces a weekly Sky Sports pass

BSkyB's Now TV service, which first began introduced a £9.99 day pass for Sky Sports 18 months ago, has announced a Sky Sports weekly pass available from Thursday, August 14th. Now TV customers will be able to access Sky's seven sports channels for £10.99 a week. Be warned though that from 27 November this will rise to £14.99. The day pass will also be reduced to £6.99 for a limited promotional period.
Of course, they need to sort out the much-discussed service problems they have had with the internet-based service before anyone will pay anything methinks (the whole service went infamously pop during the final day of the last Premiership season due to "unforeseen" demand, ditto every live episode of Game of Thrones). The new pay-as-you-go Sky Sports may suit some folk - someone who is only interested in a particular tournament such as a Test match or golf tournament may find it cost effective- but the picture quality and reliability would need to improve dramatically before I put my money anywhere near it for live sports viewing.

Believe in...trying harder

Now TV emailed me this morning offering me two months of their Entertainment package for £2 a month. You can't argue that Sky don't try hard, especially the marketing department. It's a shame the infrastructure supporting the service hasn't been built sufficiently to deliver a suitable service at peak times to meet demand.
Only a few weeks back there was talk of a price rise to £8.99 a month (from £4.99 a month), so they must recognise there's been a litany of serious problems and customers are hacked off and unlikely to return for a sub standard service of buffering and availability issues.

Now TV On Demand off the menu

Sky Atlantic on demand on Now TV has started removing content. Here's the feeble response on the Now TV community board:

"We've received questions from customers in the past few days about the availability of Game of Thrones seasons 1-3. All three seasons have now left the service, as originally planned.

 We're really sorry if anybody didn't have the time to get through all of the episodes. We made a big thing out of when they all became available two months ago, and hoped everyone would be able to watch them all in that time.

If we'd kept Game of Thrones for longer, it'd mean that you could watch the first three seasons, but then would miss out on episode one of season four, which is also leaving the catch up service. Catch up episodes are available for 30 days from broadcast.

The NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass is designed to showcase the newest and best entertainment content Sky channels have to offer, supported by previous seasons of the same shows to let people catch up on what they've missed."

The cynics would suggest it's simply a poorly executed marketing ploy for the satellite service. Believe in Upselling...

Farewell, Now TV

My monthly subscription to the Entertainment package on Now TV is up for renewal tomorrow and I've already cancelled. Life is too short for the nightly grief of buffering, pixelated images and service outages, and in case you think it's just me, check out the comments of woe from Now TV's own Facebook ad.
So it's back to that mate of mine who has a USB of new episodes of GoT and Mad Men every Monday evening. I don't want to go that route so hopefully one day Sky or HBO (who have similar problems with their IP service in the US) will sort out their delivery systems and give the customers what they want.
(And I seem to be cursed this week. The Nialli family sat down on Saturday night to enjoy Rush in HD via Virgin Movies, only to have the On Demand service fail during the film's big climax, just twenty minutes from the end! Worked again after a half hour break, but bloody hell...how difficult can these things be??)

Sky Atlantic on Now TV: price to soar before the end of the current season of Game of Thrones

Those of us who have shelled out £4.99 this month to watch the latest seasons of Game of Thrones and Mad Men legally on Sky Atlantic via the Now TV service are to suffer a 40% price hike before the current seasons finish. Sky is whacking up the price to a ridiculous £6.99 before the end of May. Bloody hell.
The fledgling service, which, after my initial excitement has proven to be a nightly disappointment with its appalling picture quality, buffering, and service outages, is definitely getting cancelled in my household now.
And they wonder why people use bit torrent or usenet...

more info: thinkbroadband

UPDATE: this from Now TV:

Hi Everyone,
Just want to let you know that the price rise is being put on hold.  Entertainment Month Passes will continue to be £4.99 a month, and Sky Movies Month Passes will continue to be £8.99 per month.

We're in the process of updating the entire NOW TV site with this information, but it should all be correct very soon.
Thanks,
Jen-S