I’ll pay it. Our rate of success is better than 50%. And I do think the cost a is a bit high considering the failure rate, but then again one meal at a casual restaurant costs far more than $20, is gone in 30 minutes, and probably isn’t any good for you anyway. In other words I can think of a lot things that many of us spend money on that are a bigger waste of money.
I can imagine the pushback coming from a few different directions/thought processes?
For me, I personally can’t justify paying for it, because it doesn’t feel fully cooked/ready to be a paid for product? If it were a steak I was being served in a restaurant, I’d politely point out to the waiter that it still had marks where the jockey was whipping it?
As I’ve posted elsewhere, if Tablo has a v1.0 waiting in the wings for February, it’d be better to roll it out now, so users could see some improvements and perhaps be encouraged to sign up? (Or, if it won’t be ready until February, roll it out then and wait to charge at least a month, again, so users could see the improvements and be encouraged to sign up?) Transparency and discussing some of the under the hood improvements in the v1.0 out of beta product could also encourage more to sign up?
I think the other source of pushback comes from Tablo/Nuvyyo not understanding/recognizing a large and or vocal portion of it’s customer base?
Many are cutting the cord, going OTA, primarily to eliminate reoccurring fees. Many chose Tablo and a Lifetime Guide subscription simply to never see another reoccurring fee for TV? My parents fall into this category? The fee structure seems to be (based on comments here from Tablo) completely based on what the spreadsheet says, and no real thought into the psychology of their customers? Reoccurring fees per device isn’t what those customers signed up for? I think there’d be less pushback if a “Lifetime for all devices” tier had been at least been offered? Even at a seemingly high price? Even if that tier was only available to Lifetime Guide subscribers for a limited time as this Commercial Skip Service is taken out of beta?
There would also likely be a little less pushback if recordings that had already been processed weren’t going to loose the ability to Commercial Skip going forward? That seems odd, and a bit hostile? There’s no ongoing cost to Tablo/Nuvyyo for the recordings that have already been processed?
And, yes, there’s some pushback from people who didn’t RTFM, and assumed that Commercial Skip would be free forever? I can’t help ya there, that just makes my brain itch? I have more than a few customers that never RTFM, and act like I’m the bad guy when I point things/facts/reality out to them. It is what it is.
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I get where you are coming. Most of the pushback I’m reading isn’t as much related to the fact it’s not necessarily fully ready at this very moment, it’s the fact it has to be paid for at all.
For me, it’s the fact it’s an additional fee so even if it was 100% accurate all the time I still very likely wouldn’t pay for it because I am watching my ‘discretionary’ expenses and for our usage commercial skip really isn’t a necessity at all, it’s merely a convenience and saves a few seconds, seconds I’m not willing to pay for to save to be honest.
It’s a totally optional service that potentially adds benefit to a user and as a result of the implementation it requires additional cost on their side so I can understand passing on a portion of the cost to users if they want to take advantage of it.
I do sympathize with those wanting a lifetime subscription option that’s a one time fee as that’s what I prefer to do in situations where I can do it. However, I also understand it’s an ongoing cost that is going to likely vary based on how many people are using it at once time.
Honestly, I can understand some of the user frustration but see both sides of it.
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But that really isn’t true. They are getting rid of cable/satellite fees and replacing them with subscription fees to Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, etc. The fees are still there, but at least they are more directed toward what the user wants. This is no different.
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Apples and oranges.
OTA is free, and that’s what he’s talking about.
Don’t want to pay recurring fees for a base free service.
However, I never understood why you can’t compare fruit.
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Hey snowcat,
Well, I did say “many”, not all?
I can only go by what I see out in the wild, interacting with my customers and friends?
Quite a few get into cutting the cord, going OTA only, so the only reoccurring fee they have left after either a Tivo Lifetime or Tablo Lifetime is their internet? They aren’t streaming everything/anything, they’re taking advantage of what’s available OTA and spending their previous cable TV bill other places? Going on trips, going to games, going out to dinner, planting a bigger garden in their back yard, restoring an old car…
Now, yes, I have a few customers, and one friend, who seem to collect streaming service subscriptions like they’re comic books? Or trading cards? One of my customers has, I shit you not; An OTA Tivo, YouTubeTV, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Britbox, and another service I can’t recall right now. I doubt they watch 10% of what they’re paying for, but they’re happy, and that’s what matters.
Then there’s people like me, and a large number of my friends, who do use streaming services, but don’t see reoccurring charges. We wait until there’s a lot that a specific service has, that we’ll want to binge in a month, sign up for that month, binge everything we care to watch, then cancel. No reoccurring fees there?
Cordcutting in general, is about control. Different people have different priorities on just what they’re trying to control? And, many, not all, primarily care about controlling cost/on-going fees?
Again, I have to be honest, that it’s possible that my sample size isn’t as large as others? But, this is what I tend to see both with my customers and my peers?
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I’ll subscribe to it for $20 a year. It works often enough and well enough here that we like it. Perfect? Nope. But neither was TiVo’s. And I can pi$$ away $20 on stuff that’s far less useful. So… yeah. I’ll subscribe.
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For me, cordcutting is about return on investment.
I cancelled my satellite TV subscription, cuz it cost too much for the few channels I want to watch.
My entertainment services cost $74 per month, which is about what I was paying for satellite TV, of which I watched 6 channels.
However, I get much better bang for my buck now…
Tablo
Netflix
Sling TV
YouTube Premium
Amazon Prime
I’m not saving money.
My money is providing better services for me.
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I’ll pay the $20. Though I am lifetime subscriber and prefer not having recurring and would likely pay a lifetime fee.
I do hope the service improves. However I feel a lot of the failed commercial skip may come down to signal quality. Mine has been pretty decent though not 100%. We really miss it when a show does not have it.
Certainly hope for more in the future and maybe they have some ready.
I’ll pay $20/year to not have the commercials, it is convenient.
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Nope. Takes to long and I tend to watch shows shorty after they’re recorded. I don’t even have the normal subscription haha.
No.
Do I want this feature that I believed was a feature
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To be fair, it still is a feature. It is just a paid feature, as is “Browse upcoming programs” and “schedule and manage recordings by episode or series”
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If that is true then why didn’t YouTube have the same problem?
The box also mentions “features” which are also only available via a guide subscription - “Schedule and manage recording by episode or by series”
You’re not paying for that deceit either, are you?
I only pay for deception if it benefits me.
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You’re probably deceiving yourself if you believe that 
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I dont have netflix or other fee based subscriptions. While I realize there are several that do there are also several that dont. We wanted to get rid of fees and now they are adding them back in.
There’s the fee of internet access to watch your free OTA recordings via your tablo DVR - with or with out a guide subscription - as a tablo is reliant up the internet for basic function.
No…will not be using it. The price is fair, but still no for a few reasons:
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The required upload bandwidth. In testing, it was just too much bandwidth on my limited upload speed, even when using QoS.
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It’s already too easy to just pick up the remote and FF.
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When using FF, sometimes there’s a commercial I want to see. Perhaps a local concert or event spot, or a promo for an upcoming show, or the M&M’s commercials are just funny sometimes
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djk44883 - e features in terms of Schedule and manage recording by episode or by series;
That works fine for shows currently in progress which may have been looked up in the included basic guide. The paid subscription guide which lets a user look forward as much as 14 days I think certainly lends itself to spotting and setting up recording to shows not currently live. No problem there. My wife and I have the paid guide, like it for it’s (currently) reasonable price, and we use it every day. Sure it could be even more cool I say from my armchair, but pressing for improvements would mean higher implementation cost.
For all that TABLO is or can be, I imagine if I dig deep enough, there will be something in an agreement of service that says in so many words that anything they do is subject to change. And then my point about the dropping of Automatic Commercial Skip (ACS) unless we now pay for it becomes pointless. On the other hand if I or somebody else did not wave this flag, then for sure nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am sure it will become a point of contention in future reviews of the TABLO product. I personally contend that ACS was provided and wording on the box supports this. More than any other statements on the attractive blue and white buy me box. And it looked that way to me too re the original wording online. Wording which has been amended with what you will see now.
All in all I am happy with the product. Except in my opinion the remote control is too small and slippery. Way to easy to hit a button when picking it up. But we have to keep in mind the price point and what we four our dollars is overall pretty darn good. I just have trouble letting go of losing ACS unless I now pay for it.
OTA channels as they are via TABLO with a few pros and cons, works great. Watching pre-recorded OTA episodes typically in the 20-sh minute “half hour” or 40-ish minute “hour” time frame with ACS in play makes “television” watching a relaxing undertaking and more time efficient. Or take our lumps with Ads when the show is live or leave ACS turned off if you like watching Advertisements (?). I’m just miffed that the feature of blanking out commercials on recorded playbacks is going to cost extra now when it seemed to me that it was included. And it seemed like the change was slid under the carpet in how it was handled.
That single tiny line of white text and Asterisk on blue background on the TABLO Quad box could have been put to good use with a better statement of what they meant by Skip Commercials and other info noted elsewhere early on about ACS.