# Be smarter about presenting and selecting from streaming sources



## jmccorm (Oct 8, 2000)

I was wanting to watch The Expanse from a streaming source. I pull up the episode that I want, and I find that it is available from Cox Contour [the first listed option] and Amazon [the second listed option].

If I go to Cox Contour, I don't have fast forward functionality, but it instantly starts playing. Awesome! If I go to Amazon, I'm on the landing page where I can pay for the episode if I want to watch it. Okay, not great, but I understand that.

Now, back up to the screen where I can select between Cox and Amazon. What if I just hit [select] on the menu option that is just one level up... the one that says that I can view it from an online streaming source?

Which one of the streaming options does it automatically select for me?

The first listed option, which is Cox Contour? Nope.
The video that will instantly start playing? Nope.
The video that is no-cost? Nope.
Instead, it takes me to landing page for the episode on Amazon where I have the option to pay for the program.

It made the worst possible choice when I didn't explicitly choose which streaming provider I wanted to use. Absolutely stupid and I have to wonder why TiVo was not working in my best interest.

I think, beyond that, I'd rather not have each streaming choice listed a blind alley menu option. If it can tell me ahead of time, "Hey, if you select Cox, it'll instantly start playing, and at no cost", that would be useful to me rather than having to go in and manually investigate each option. This is even more important when you have something like Amazon which mixes pay-per-episode video with no-additional-cost (Prime) video.

This needs to be a whole lot smarter.


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## BRiT wtfdotcom (Dec 17, 2015)

Set up a purchase pin to prevent accidental purchases and set it to not include rent or buy.

I have Amazon Prime and Cox VOD and dont have both listed as sources. Only Cox shows up for me for The Expanse because I dont include rentals or purchases, nor do I included Amazon as a video provider, I only include Amazon Prime, and I have a pin set for purchases.


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## jmccorm (Oct 8, 2000)

BRiT wtfdotcom said:


> Set up a purchase pin to prevent accidental purchases and set it to not include rent or buy.


(nod) I posted this in a suggestion forum and not a support forum because I believe that TiVo has a role here when it comes to preferences in streaming sources. There are some really basic functions that need to be built into the unit when it comes to presenting and selecting from streaming sources.

I want all listed, as it is doing now, but I want it to act smarter and present more information, if possible, without having to deep dive into each presented option.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

jmccorm said:


> (nod) I posted this in a suggestion forum and not a support forum because I believe that TiVo has a role here when it comes to preferences in streaming sources. There are some really basic functions that need to be built into the unit when it comes to presenting and selecting from streaming sources.
> 
> I want all listed, as it is doing now, but I want it to act smarter and present more information, if possible, without having to deep dive into each presented option.


Well when you post suggestions they tend to get vetted by other users.

IN this case, judging from post #2, it seems like there is a pretty good solution in place already that solves the problem/annoyance you encountered.


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## jmccorm (Oct 8, 2000)

trip1eX said:


> Well when you post suggestions they tend to get vetted by other users.
> 
> IN this case, judging from post #2, it seems like there is a pretty good solution in place already that solves the problem/annoyance you encountered.


Actually, no.

I already have a PIN in place to prevent accidental purchases. (As an aside, a potential accidental purchase was not an issue here.) He also recommended not putting Amazon as a video source provider and just to put in Amazon Prime. I actually _do_ want all video sources to be presented, pay-per and flat-rate, because there are situations where I want and will pay for a video. I don't want to exclude those.

What I am asking for is two fold:

1] If multiple video sources are available for the same content, to indicate from the summary screen any additional relevant information. (It currently indicates, for example, if a streaming source is HD or not. That's good relevant information that I don't have to dive into each individual source to figure out on my own.)

2] If you simply select "Get this show" and the system automatically chooses a video source, then it should select the one that is immediately playable and no cost (which is what happens when you manually select the Cox option) versus sending you to a landing page for another provider (Amazon) where you can elect to pay for the same video. That's suboptimal.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

jmccorm said:


> Actually, no.
> 
> I already have a PIN in place to prevent accidental purchases. (As an aside, a potential accidental purchase was not an issue here.) He also recommended not putting Amazon as a video source provider and just to put in Amazon Prime. I actually _do_ want all video sources to be presented, pay-per and flat-rate, because there are situations where I want and will pay for a video. I don't want to exclude those.
> 
> ...


Well it sounded like most of your suggestion was based on a complaint about being taken to a page that charged you money instead of streaming a free show right away. And the poster's mention of the PIN and selecting Prime (not Amazon video) takes care of that. If you had no options to stuff for free then you could always check Amazon video. I assume that would be a fairly rare case.

Also probably good to realize the video streaming incorporation is in its infancy. Wasn't even there when I bought my Roamio 18 months ago. I'm sure many of the low hanging fruit & basic annoyances will eventually be taken care. This is Tivo though. I wouldn't expect updates as quick a Google or Apple or MS etc might provide them.


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## jmccorm (Oct 8, 2000)

trip1eX said:


> Well it sounded like most of your suggestion was based on a complaint about being taken to a page that charged you money instead of streaming a free show right away. And the poster's mention of the PIN and selecting Prime (not Amazon video) takes care of that.


At the cost of completely eliminating a video source, which is suboptimal. I still want pay-per video sources to be available.

Instead, the suggestion here is that if multiple sources are available, and you tell TiVo to grab the video, that it chooses intelligently between the video sources. That is an optimal way of handling the situation.

Hope that clears up what this suggestion actually is.



trip1eX said:


> Also probably good to realize the video streaming incorporation is in its infancy. Wasn't even there when I bought my Roamio 18 months ago. I'm sure many of the low hanging fruit basic annoyances will eventually be taken care.


I've used a TiVo for over 15 years now. It has been filled with features which were first in their infancy. And that's what makes a suggestion forum, such as this one, important. You already know that, though.


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## babsonnexus (Jan 13, 2016)

I understand what you are saying: there is no preference order to which streaming service to play a program from. Instead, TIVO has a built-in order that cannot be changed and always goes for the first one. For instance, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is available on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu, in that order. So when I click play it selects Amazon Prime, even if I prefer Netflix.

What you are looking for is the ability to change that preference default play order, both in a marco sense (what it will do normally) and in a per-program override sense (for this show I always want Netflix's feed, but for another show I want Hulu's).

Yes, I agree, this would be very helpful to ease this annoyance.


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