General : Virgin TV (2026)

[ozsat]

BT uses IP multicast with IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol)

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Does anyone know if there are any particular complexities in recording IPTV, as the only platform that does it is BT EE. A box was supposed to come out that could record Freesat, Freeview & IPTV, but when it launched the IPTV record function was missing, leading me to wonder if, for some reason, be it legal or technical, that doing this was problematic

[Legendkiller2k]

Originally Posted by gunner45

Sky Q never had an IPTV mode. The box is for broadcast TV and the only live streaming is from third-party apps like BBC iPlayer which manage the streams themselves. However Sky's own catch-up and on-demand on Sky Q is downloading to disk as the box cannot do streaming. This is why Sky must migrate all legacy boxes to Sky Stream, its IPTV service which is delivered exclusively through Sky Glass and the Sky Stream puck. Virgin Media will be doing the exact same thing in migrating all the TiVo, V6 and TV 360 boxes onto its Stream boxes.

Actually yes it can be switched to IPTV mode but wether or not SKY do that is a different matter.
I myself have SKY stream it does have occasional glitches.

Originally Posted by gunner45

Sky Q never had an IPTV mode. The box is for broadcast TV and the only live streaming is from third-party apps like BBC iPlayer which manage the streams themselves. However Sky's own catch-up and on-demand on Sky Q is downloading to disk as the box cannot do streaming. This is why Sky must migrate all legacy boxes to Sky Stream, its IPTV service which is delivered exclusively through Sky Glass and the Sky Stream puck.

So how do all the Skysports+ streams work ? and where is what you say actually documented ?

---------- Post added at 18:07 ---------- Previous post was at 18:03 ----------

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Does anyone know if there are any particular complexities in recording IPTV, as the only platform that does it is BT EE. A box was supposed to come out that could record Freesat, Freeview & IPTV, but when it launched the IPTV record function was missing, leading me to wonder if, for some reason, be it legal or technical, that doing this was problematic

Its not going to be technical, if you can generate a signal to drive a TV set, you can generate one for recording.

Perhaps we'll all end up back using VCRs to record (or at least the more modern equivelent, to record the generated video to disk).

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Paul

So how do all the Skysports+ streams work ? and where is what you say actually documented ?

---------- Post added at 18:07 ---------- Previous post was at 18:03 ----------


Its not going to be technical, if you can generate a signal to drive a TV set, you can generate one for recording.

Perhaps we'll all end up back using VCRs to record (or at least the more modern equivelent, to record the generated video to disk).

Yes, i'd go for this as I don't want to have to start watching adverts again, nor paying to have them removed. I also want to be able to watch things to my convenience, not the broadcasters before they remove it

[Carth]

Marvelous, I threw out all of my Videos (music/films) years ago . . .

Will we see the return of the Video Hire shops? (in place of vape shops maybe haha)

[Richardr]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Does anyone know if there are any particular complexities in recording IPTV, as the only platform that does it is BT EE. A box was supposed to come out that could record Freesat, Freeview & IPTV, but when it launched the IPTV record function was missing, leading me to wonder if, for some reason, be it legal or technical, that doing this was problematic

Among other factors, there are issues with the agreements for the big public service channels. In particular, the BBC doesn't allow recording, a so called recording on the EETV box is just a pointer to the iPlayer. For the ITV channels, fast forward is disabled [as it is on Virgin Stream when an ITV channel is paused].

[RichardCoulter]

Think i'll be better with a generic box that can record Freeview & Freesat then, topped up by dipping in & out of streaming services as/if and when required. Most of my recordings are from Channels 1-5.

[ozsat]

A lot of TVs do that - mine does.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Think i'll be better with a generic box that can record Freeview & Freesat then, topped up by dipping in & out of streaming services as/if and when required. Most of my recordings are from Channels 1-5.

[nodrogd]

Originally Posted by ozsat

A lot of TVs do that - mine does.

True. Most TVs now can record to a USB device. However, recording multiple channels, or recording one channel when watching another is not usually possible. And obviously the TV needs to be left in standby to record, which is not a good idea if you are leaving the house unoccupied for any time.

[gunner45]

Originally Posted by Paul

So how do all the Skysports+ streams work ? and where is what you say actually documented ?

Sky Sports+ is Sky's only real streaming on its Sky Q platform, but that doesn't make Sky Q an IPTV box. When satellite is shut down, Sky won't invest in all the backend to enable Sky Q to continue only this streaming when it has the puck as a ready replacement.

---------- Post added at 18:08 ---------- Previous post was at 17:40 ----------

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Does anyone know if there are any particular complexities in recording IPTV, as the only platform that does it is BT EE. A box was supposed to come out that could record Freesat, Freeview & IPTV, but when it launched the IPTV record function was missing, leading me to wonder if, for some reason, be it legal or technical, that doing this was problematic

Recording of streams isn't a technicality, it's all about the content owners refusing to allow it. There were particular circumstances which enabled BT to record PSB streams as its platform was originally a regulated YouView hybrid and the PSBs agreed to allow IP recording only for their own channels and under strict conditions. However this began to fall apart when the BBC forced all live streams through its iPlayer app in 2024, and other PSBs introduced restrictions on the live stream recordings.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by gunner45

Sky Sports+ is Sky's only real streaming on its Sky Q platform, but that doesn't make Sky Q an IPTV box. When satellite is shut down, Sky won't invest in all the backend to enable Sky Q to continue only this streaming when it has the puck as a ready replacement.

---------- Post added at 18:08 ---------- Previous post was at 17:40 ----------


Recording of streams isn't a technicality, it's all about the content owners refusing to allow it. There were particular circumstances which enabled BT to record PSB streams as its platform was originally a regulated YouView hybrid and the PSBs agreed to allow IP recording only for their own channels and under strict conditions. However this began to fall apart when the BBC forced all live streams through its iPlayer app in 2024, and other PSBs introduced restrictions on the live stream recordings.

Thanks for the info. ISTR reading that, even if a recording exists, when attempting to play BBC recordings, it will play it from the iPlayer. I can't remember which platform this was, do you know?

I don't want this as I like to use the TiVo QuickView facility, or does the iplayer allow the stream to be speeded up (I belive that this option does exist on BBC Sounds).