EE enters the Freeview & catch-up TV market

1andrew1 · 08/10/14 - 10:12

Free to all broadband subscribers, £10pm to those who just have mobile service.
Launching with iPlayer, Demand 5, possibly more. No extra live channels apparently.

Strengths seem to be integration with mobile and that it's free to broadband customers. Weaknesses are lack of extra channels (if true), lack of all PSB catch-up services at launch (if true) and possible consumer confusion - if it's not YouView what is it?

Being launched today so look out for full details.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/11147319/EE-to-launch-TV-set-top-box.html

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/07/ee-to-launch-tv-set-top-box

1andrew1 · 08/10/14 - 11:01

Bit more info here:
- One terrabyte of storage and four HD tuners.
- ability to watch any recorded program on your tablet or smartphone but only via your home's Wi-Fi.
- standard remote or via app on Android and Apple devices.

http://www.techradar.com/news/television/ee-tv-set-top-box-takes-aim-at-sky-virgin-media-and-youview-1268223

Magnamundian · 08/10/14 - 11:20

Meanwhile Replay allows you to select your six favourite channels, and the EE TV box will have the last 24 hours of all six channels recorded on its hard drive, ensuring you don't miss your favourite shows.

Be interested to see how that would work if you have four tuners and your six favourite channels are all on different MUX.

DragonQ · 08/10/14 - 12:06

Magnamundian wrote: »

Be interested to see how that would work if you have four tuners and your six favourite channels are all on different MUX.

It's probably "up to six". I bet it'll only let you select channels between three different muxes so that you can still watch live TV using the fourth tuner. Not really an issue since most people will pick the main HD channels on BBC B as some of their favourites.

1andrew1 · 08/10/14 - 12:50

DragonQ wrote: »

It's probably "up to six". I bet it'll only let you select channels between three different muxes so that you can still watch live TV using the fourth tuner. Not really an issue since most people will pick the main HD channels on BBC B as some of their favourites.

I guess as there's no catch-up yet for ITV and Channel 4 people would choose these broadcaster's channels first. A clever idea but getting ITV Player, 4OD, Netflix, Now TV and Amazon Prime would probably be of more interest to people who are looking at this type of device.

[Deleted User] · 08/10/14 - 17:12

1andrew1 wrote: »

Free to all broadband subscribers, £10pm to those who just have mobile service.

So are you saying if someone is on a mobile phone contract with EE they can have the full EE TV service for £10 a month and do not have to have EE broadband and landline phone/rental?
Have read a few articles on this today, but not seeing that listed anywhere.

[Deleted User] · 08/10/14 - 17:23

The way I read it is free if your an EE broadband customer or if you're mobile customer £9.95 per month, it's not available if you're neither of these. As a mobile only customer the thought of paying that much per month just for free view channels seems a bit of a rip off, rather just buy a stand alone PVR that does the same job.

1andrew1 · 08/10/14 - 18:50

massivejack wrote: »

The way I read it is free if your an EE broadband customer or if you're mobile customer £9.95 per month, it's not available if you're neither of these. As a mobile only customer the thought of paying that much per month just for free view channels seems a bit of a rip off, rather just buy a stand alone PVR that does the same job.

I think it was phrased a bit poorly in some of the earlier articles I've read. The latest TechRadar articles explains it better:

"EE TV will be free for all EE mobile customers who already have or sign up to an EE Broadband plan, while eligible plans start from just £9.95 per month."
So it looks like having EE Broadband gets you the service. I believe you need to get line rental from EE too; whether you need to have a mobile contract with EE is less clear.

"Customers on existing pay monthly mobile plans who sign up for EE TV and home broadband will also receive a boost to their 4G data allowance, increasing to 10GB or 20GB depending on their plan."
So mobile customers who take out EE broadband and TV get a larger 4G data allowance.

TelevisionUser · 08/10/14 - 19:19

Very interesting news indeed but is it based on/around Youview software or have they developed their own original product from scratch?

1andrew1 · 08/10/14 - 20:33

TelevisionUser wrote: »

Very interesting news indeed but is it based on/around Youview software or have they developed their own original product from scratch?

It's not YouView it's from Netgem which EE's co-owner Orange uses in France.

TelevisionUser · 08/10/14 - 20:57

1andrew1 wrote: »

It's not YouView it's from Netgem which EE's co-owner Orange uses in France.

An entirely new product then. I look forward to reading the in depth reviews and the product comparisons with Youview. In order for the product to really succeed and do well, it'll have to compete on both features and price since the Freeview plus market is already pretty crowded these days.

1andrew1 · 09/10/14 - 00:41

TelevisionUser wrote: »

An entirely new product then. I look forward to reading the in depth reviews and the product comparisons with Youview. In order for the product to really succeed and do well, it'll have to compete on both features and price since the Freeview plus market is already pretty crowded these days.

There's no extra cost to the service, it's just bundled in with EE's broadband service in the same way that TalkTalk bundles in a free YouView box although TalkTalk's free offering does not include a PVR.
I think it's a significant move as EE is the first mobile operator to offer a home TV service in the UK. O2 sold its broadband offering to Sky so can't see them re-entering the broadband market. However, I'm not sure about Vodafone - they could certainly adapt one of their TV devices from an overseas subsidiary for the UK.

figrin_dan · 09/10/14 - 09:13

Magnamundian wrote: »

Be interested to see how that would work if you have four tuners and your six favourite channels are all on different MUX.

I think it's assuming your top 5 channels are BBC, ITV, C4 and C5.

IanP · 09/10/14 - 09:30

TelevisionUser wrote: »

An entirely new product then. I look forward to reading the in depth reviews and the product comparisons with Youview. In order for the product to really succeed and do well, it'll have to compete on both features and price since the Freeview plus market is already pretty crowded these days.

Probably HTML5 with HbbTV extensions based. Even the original Netgem iplayer Freview/Internet STB had an HTML user interface.

kev · 09/10/14 - 11:02

TelevisionUser wrote: »

An entirely new product then. I look forward to reading the in depth reviews and the product comparisons with Youview. In order for the product to really succeed and do well, it'll have to compete on both features and price since the Freeview plus market is already pretty crowded these days.

It's free (for EE Broadband customers like myself) which is also a bonus and a good way of upgrading an old tv / Freeview only PVR - not to mention a good way of getting the COM 7 channels like Motor's TV. Already registered my interested, I just hope it has a SCART socket so I can use it at my parents when I visit. :cool:

Rossby41 · 09/10/14 - 13:47

Look poor to me. Yes the quad tuner is good, but their catch up services is poor (might get better in time), they only have one of the main catchup providers. The only thing it's bring new(ish) to the table is streaming to mobile devices (which Slingbox already do).

[Deleted User] · 09/10/14 - 16:21

Rossby41 wrote: »

Look poor to me. Yes the quad tuner is good, but their catch up services is poor (might get better in time), they only have one of the main catchup providers. The only thing it's bring new(ish) to the table is streaming to mobile devices (which Slingbox already do).

poor is not the word for this. it is, in effect, a free PVR for anyone with ee broadband. certainly can't grumble about that. talktalk offer catchup tv on their box but you have to pay for its pvr boxes

be interesting to learn if you get to keep the box and its features when you eventually stop subscribing to EE

figrin_dan · 09/10/14 - 16:44

kev wrote: »

It's free (for EE Broadband customers like myself) which is also a bonus and a good way of upgrading an old tv / Freeview only PVR - not to mention a good way of getting the COM 7 channels like Motor's TV. Already registered my interested, I just hope it has a SCART socket so I can use it at my parents when I visit. :cool:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/ee-tv-review

Not a scart socket but that could be a weird bespoke composite connection on the back.

kev · 09/10/14 - 17:28

figrin_dan wrote: »

http://www.trustedreviews.com/ee-tv-review

Not a scart socket but that could be a weird bespoke composite connection on the back.

That will do, assuming you get the cable - the telly's a bit naff anyway.

1andrew1 · 14/10/14 - 09:03

kev wrote: »

That will do, assuming you get the cable - the telly's a bit naff anyway.

I think it will only work if connected to the EE broadband network.

DragonQ · 14/10/14 - 11:06

Yeah that weird DIN socket is probably for an adapter to composite or S-Video maybe. It might even do RGB SCART but there's no way of knowing at the moment. Unless it's just used for debugging and the like and has no use to end users.

Ignite · 14/10/14 - 12:34

DragonQ wrote: »

Yeah that weird DIN socket is probably for an adapter to composite or S-Video maybe. It might even do RGB SCART but there's no way of knowing at the moment. Unless it's just used for debugging and the like and has no use to end users.

On the old FetchTV boxes (which were Netgems), the mini DIN socket was indeed the output for RGB and Composite video. With these boxes, an adapter lead was supplied.

1andrew1 · 14/10/14 - 13:08

Official EE page including more information here:
https://ee.co.uk/ee-and-me/ee-tv

kev · 14/10/14 - 13:10

1andrew1 wrote: »

I think it will only work if connected to the EE broadband network.

Would the Freeview site really be crippled so much (i.e. such that internet being down = no TV) - don't care that on demand wouldn't work when at the parents...

1andrew1 · 14/10/14 - 14:12

Rossby41 wrote: »

Look poor to me. Yes the quad tuner is good, but their catch up services is poor (might get better in time), they only have one of the main catchup providers. The only thing it's bring new(ish) to the table is streaming to mobile devices (which Slingbox already do).

They have two - iPlayer and Demand 5. I agree that not having 4OD and ITV Player is a weakness but if you're going to get it free and those two are coming soon then I think poor is too strong a term.

Rossby41 · 14/10/14 - 14:45

1andrew1 wrote: »

They have two - iPlayer and Demand 5. I agree that not having 4OD and ITV Player is a weakness but if you're going to get it free and those two are coming soon then I think poor is too strong a term.

Even with those two added it's still poor imo. Wuaki it seems to the only movie service at the moment (which for a network that brags about EE cinema tickets is rubbish imo).

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EE enters the Freeview & catch-up TV market

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