[mythtv-users] Some of my pay channels (HBO, Cinemax, Showtime) now work in Myth. SD only

Gary Buhrmaster gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com
Tue Oct 13 17:24:18 UTC 2015


On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 11:46 AM, Matt Emmott <memmott at gmail.com> wrote:
> So I recently decided to try out HDHomeRun's DVR preview (Spoiler alert: it
> sucks)

Since last I checked the only available (test?/prototype?) client
is Kodi, only those that like (or can tolerate) Kodi might like
what is there right now.  I am in the more than strongly dislike
Kodi camp (leaning towards hate), so I would guess that while
there may be disagreement on the exact phrasing, their current
solution is not ready for Prime Time for everyone.

> ...  I noticed that some of my pay channels showed
> up in the scan. I thought that perhaps this would only work in the HDHomeRun
> app, but It turned out that I could access channels like Cinemax, HBO and
> Showtime from my MythTV box without issue.
>
> There's no rhyme or reason to the channels that I can tell - Some work and
> some don't - And none of the HD versions work. But hey, it's something. I'm
> not sure if this I have special firmware (Protected content does not work
> with the HDHR DVR at this time), or if Charter has done something or what.
> Thought it was worth mentioning though.

Ok, there are a number of issues here.  In no particular order:

* Charter is all over the place with marking content protected.
  Some franchises mark almost everything (ala TWC), and
  others mark only the premiums (ala Comcast).  Charter
  has no corporate standard (I expect the TWC engineering
  team that eventually rules the roost after the merger (in
  the 2-3 year "synergy" phase of the merger) to fix
  that and to standardize on "something"; no, I have no idea
  what the standard will be, but I do expect consistency).

* For those that subscribe to the premiums (I do not, since
  my only DVR is MythTV, and why pay for something you
  cannot properly record?) the MSO typically also includes
  some of the Standard Def alternative channels in the
  package (sometimes the "other" coast feed, sometimes
  genre target variations).

* For some MSOs, those Standard Def channels are
  not marked as protected.

  - Sometimes this is an error.  And the error can
    last for an amazingly long time.  There are reports
    of months to years for some MSOs, where it is not
    corrected until someone calls to complain about
    something else (one report was people called to
    complain about being able to view an SD version
    of something, but not the HD version, and the MSO
    "fixed" that for them by protecting the SD version too),
    or where (presumably) an internal audit is performed
    and someone apparently says "whoops".

  - Standard Def historically never enforced the HD
    content protections (while macrovision and CGMS
    exist, they were only marginally effective on your
    NTSC or composite signals), so it may be an
    actual choice by some MSO to not protect SD if
    their contract allows it.

    For Standard Def content, the perceived loss is
    certainly far less.  For talking heads (I am looking
    at you, John Oliver (two fingers back and forth to
    the screen and the eyes)) it may not matter if the
    show is in SD or HD, but for the latest action/adventure
    movie, few want to watch it in 480i when they know they
    can see if in all the wonders that is 1080i.

So, my guess is that your particular Charter franchise
is likely one of those that currently mark most content as
copy freely, and one of those that for (whatever reasons)
mark SD content even for the premium channels as copy
freely.  That is good for you (and others in your franchise).

Note, there was a free preview of some premiums on Fios
last weekend, but I do not think Charter had a few preview
(but I could easily be wrong, I do not closely follow the
free preview schedules).



The take away might be that for anyone who subscribes
to the premiums but use MythTV as their DVR, to try to
record the SD equivalents of their premiums channels.
It might, or might not, work.


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