Help me please, watching recordings BT

[clf]

Originally Posted by macafee2

Having completed the house move and connected my BT Youview box to my BT hub which in turn is connected to BT broadband I still could not watch Air Crash Investigation but worse, oh yes it got worse. I could not watch anything that was part of my subscription such as BT sport. I could watch it via my PC but not via the Freeview box.
I called BT but they could not revolve the problem and passed it to TCM? As I did not receive a call back after about 6 hours I called BT again.

I was told that BT no longer has a licence to broadcast National Geographic, the channel that broadcast Air Crash Investigation and that is why I cannot watch Air Crash Investigation which is what clf said. My issue with that is that I paid BT, BT paid National Geographic so both have made their profit but I cannot watch what I paid for.
In truth as far as I am concerned I should be able to watch the program when I want, I paid for it.

You didnt pay for the TV show, you paid for the rental of the TV show (well actually the the equipment and software to watch the show). This is the same principle as you having Sky telephone line. Sky rent the phone line from BT (who own it), you rent the line and service from Sky. You cancel your landline service after 3 years and no longer have a land line connection, but the hardware is still there (wiring, from box to the pole, the box and the phone). You did not make a phone call at all in the last three months that you had Sky. Six months after you ended the service, your mobile phone breaks down, so you plug in the landline telephone, and no dial tone, and no ability to call out.

Alternatively, perhaps think of it like this, renting a van for 7 days, but you only used it for 6 days, but kept it on your drive for the 7, then coming back to the company after 3 months, to say you wanted the van.

I was offered £10 compensation which I said was an insult. BT pointed out that with my then package there was a lot for me to watch and it was only a fraction of the package I could not now see. I pointed out that I pay for BT sport and there is a lot of sport to watch yet I only watch the Liverpool matches, my choice but I pay for the whole package just for that little part. They offered £20 compensation. I said I'd prefer to watch the recordings and that they spanned 5 months. they offered £50 compensation, I think that is the cost of the package for 5 months. As I was never going to get to watch the programs I agreed. I'd still prefer to watch Air Crash Investigation then have the money.

Are you saying, you used to have a package with BT, but now have a different package? Do Liverpool not have a TV channel in the same way that Man U. Chelsea etc have? Perhaps subscribing to that if they do? If so, it is unfair (in my opinion) to 'penalise' (by accepting their compensation) BT because you are not interested in the majority of the package that you signed up for and did not use it within the terms you agreed to.

I would be keen to have Sky Sports F1, but I have no interest in any of their Sports packages, nor am I interested in paying £18 a month on top of that, so I choose not to have it. I can however somehow subscribe to F1 directly via Chase Media's own service - again I chose not to, as it is not cheap and I do not always have the time to watch it and therefore it would not represent value for money. There are other options available to me, but I am not that invested to investigate them.

Now to solve the second problem, unable to watch what I'm paying for via freeview box. BT offered compensation for this but I turned it down, BT had provided me with additional free internet access for 3 months so I was able to watch BT sport at my previous address on my laptop so I was able to watch what I was paying for.

Assuming you have a BT Sport package as part of your internet service, perhaps your laptop has a HDMI or another socket for an external screen/monitor, using this, you should be able to watch it on your TV (most TVs over the past 10 years will have the socket to allow this, but the laptop may not, although most do now).

Get a call from TMC? it seems back in December when the house move order was placed they messed it up and the chap had spent hours yesterday fixing it.
Thank goodness I did not turn the Freeview box on 5 minutes before a Liverpool match.

Important lesson learnt about subscription TV.
I see National Geographic are again broadcasting Air Crash Investigation via subscription but it cannot be recorded.


FWIW, I am not aware that any Freeview channels have a time limit on when I watch a recording.

You are still bound by copyright laws. Freeview though is a different system of service, 'Free to View', recording will be determined via the hardware you have. You can record such items, but the as you do not subscribe to any of them, you are not bound by any of their terms of service outside of the law. If you read the manual that comes with any recording device eg a hard drive box with the ability to record broadcast material, there will be some kind of disclaimer regarding recording and copyright, and of the laws of the territory you reside - even VHS recorders had these disclaimers. IE you are bound by the copyright laws of the country and worldwide rights owners.

But if you look at some catch up services, (BBC Iplayer is a good example or Chanel 5's TV series) you will see 'available until xx/xx/xxxx' This will been determined by the terms whatever agreement they had with the TV show/film distributors

Although it seems I have gotten to the bottom of the issue I have not got the result I wanted.

The resolution would be to purchase DVD's from the distributors or copyright owners. Air Crash Confidential (I believe Concorde was episode 7) or even perhaps via HERE

thank you clf for explaining at the outset what the problem was, you were right.

macafee2

The overall issue from what I have read is that the packages supplied do not suit your tastes or needs specifically. The broadcasters have to supply packages to suit a wide range of tastes. For me personally, it would be even harder for them lol, most service providers could not satisfy my demands. I would be random in my tastes and moods. Perhaps I was not 'in the mood' to watch F1 right now, but wanted to watch something that was on Sky Atlantic instead. So would have to have all the channels - my father has this, paying a ridiculous amount monthly to have access to what he wants when he wants it, even though he watches mainly terrestrial TV channels! (he is not rich, but he worked hard, in BT incidentally, for his retirement - it is not good value in my opinion, but it is his money, he earned it, and it makes him happy).

What limited understanding I have of tv packages, I would suggest perhaps a NOW TV monthly pass/device (or similar). Ultimately more expensive, but can be obtained and cancelled on a relatively simple monthly ad hoc basis. You cannot record directly as I understand, but you would be able to download a NOW TV app to the YouView box and watch it using it.

It may even be worthwhile looking into an IPTV type service using a smart TV, and link it up using an external hard drive via USB.