Anyone tried out new SiliconDust Premium TV? It appears they integrated streaming cable channels including the option to record with 3rd party TV software. Maybe Tablo can somehow offer something similar by allowing integration of SD tuners?
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For ATSC 1.0 OTA tablo products is there a business model that makes this work?
Additional features added to Tablo which helps sell more devices and increase subscriptions is the only business model which should matter. Streaming TV sector is moving quickly and you need to keep up with your competition. Staying stagnant is what Tivo is doing and how is that working out?
A while back Tablo did experiment with integrating a HDHR Prime to add cable channels into Tablo however the new SD service seems like a more elegant solution and would be a good compliment to Tablo.
So there is no revenue sharing or business relationship required to integrate with 3rd party software? No addition development and/or support costs? And how many units would have to sold to break even and not undermine the current user base and product strategy?
Who ever said that developing business or strategic relationships was easy? What you are proposing, ie doing nothing, is a guaranteed pathway for failure. Pull your head out of your shell and look around. Streaming TV providers and options for end users are far greater than when Tablo started and if you donāt continue to innovate and keep up with your competition you are doomed. Thatās a FACT.
It is also incorrect to assume you would undermine your current user base. No one is forced to add cable TV channels. Successful businesses learn to adjust their business strategy to the changing environment around them.
I picked tablo because of the OTA feature and functionality capabilities.
People have their own personal ideas about content and price points. That is why there are multiple OTT content providers like Hulu, Amazon Prime, Slingtv, Directv Now, etc. Otherwise there would be just one.
So what you are saying is tablo should hook itās wagon onto the SiliconDust product.
So if I buy a tablo unit and HDHomeRun Connect or Extend unit and pay $35 per month I get 45 channels. Of which there are 22 I donāt want.
Makes sense to me.
I think Iāll stay with my current OTT supplier. Itās $10 cheaper and there are there are 38 OTT channels I am interested in.
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Tablo previously looked into integrating HDHR prime to give end users an option to add channels. I donāt recall details however I think DRM restrictions likely made this solution unrealistic. Unlike all of the other OTT content providers, the SD solution allows integration into 3rd party DVR application which is why it is more attractive solution than the other streaming TV providers. Is it possible any of the other streaming TV providers could be integrated into Tablo? Sure, anything is possible but the challenges would likely be far greater.
No one is forcing you or anyone to pay for another TV service or buy additional hardware.
Iām not sure what I think about this. Seems to be more a competitor to what Hulu and Amazon are doing with allowing you to subscribe to āpremiumā or cable channels. Other then UI differences I guess I donāt get how it differs much from what any of the other OTT providers (i.e. PSVue, YouTube TV, Sling, etc.) are trying to do. OTT is a wild west right now and everyone is trying to stake their claim and become āthe oneā who survives long term.
Quite honestly OTTs to me are ācord swappingā not ācord cuttingā. Yes, they allow much more flexibility because you can activate and pause specific subscriptions very easily and prices are more competitive as compared to cable but it to me they are still much closer to cable than OTA.
And until it becomes a true āno quotasā world, OTTs can also eat up your bandwidth quota real quick depending on your usage habits and provider.
Regardless, none of them are close to my monthly fee for Tablo and until they are since most of my watching is network TV or Netflix/Amazon Prime itās still cheaper for me to just purchase the season of a show I really want (i.e. Doctor Who) than to subscribe to any of those services just to get a show or two.
The Tablo (not ENGINE) devices are, if you will, āsteaming servicesā, like Netfix, like Hulu, etc. The device sits on your network, but it serves up streaming. And thus uses a frontend of some sort (e.g. like a Roku).
Thus integration is provided by the frontend, albeit, loose integration (collection of apps/channels).
Tablo is analogous to a streaming āserviceā although it does require their hardware. The Tablo apps are now quite mature and work well but what if you didnāt have to purchase their hardware and could use a SD tuner and had the option for OTT cable channel integration? Iāve never been impressed with the SD DVR app however Channels DVR is a legitimate competitor to Tablo and this announcement gives them a significant advantage.
Itās fair to call it a streaming service, because technically it is.
Iāll clarify, the distinction for me is that itās only using local network bandwidth, not using bandwidth from my ISP, hence the quota comment.
Iām cost conscious so while I could indeed purchase SD hardware and potentially use a more unified front-end UI (something I use Plex for for my non-Netflix/non-Amazon content), to get the same transcoding power that doesnāt require a beefier Plex server for on the fly transcoding and 4 tuners would require purchasing 2 SD Extend units (currently $180 on Amazon so $360 total) vs $220 for a 4 tuner Tablo. Not to mention the Tablo only takes up 1 network connection vs the 2 required for 2 Extends.
Granted, thatās the solution that works for me, it wouldnāt for everyone. But honestly it still goes back to the fact I donāt really want to pay what the services are asking for OTT service to begin with when I am perfectly happy with the content I have now.
I saw a Cordkillers reference in the Amazon Fire DVR thread so Iāll throw in another one from the same episodeā¦
āYou can get everything you want, you just need to not want to get everything.ā For me, most of the content I still want is available OTA so I canāt justify the additional cost of another OTT service on top of the Netflix & Amazon Prime I already have. There is just such a fire hose of content I have plenty to keep me busy and I can spend the money I save on other things.