Why is RTE streaming so bad?

Dinarius

We watch Netflix and YouTube streamed to our tv from an iPad via a Google dongle.

It’s flawless.

We occasionally try to watch RTE the same way - we gave up Sky a couple of years ago, and the dish and box still tune in many channels, but not RTE - but, it’s appalling. Constant re-buffering is needed, meaning we see a few minutes every half-hour. For this we pay €160. It’s a disgrace.

1. Why doesn’t it stream like other services?
2. Why isn’t RTE available to tune in with a satellite dish like 000s of other channels?

Why do I pay a license fee for something I can’t watch?

D.

AMKC

Buy a Soirview box and all your problems will be sorted and you will save e ergy from moaning in here about it.

Atlantic Dawn

The ads fook it up, without the ads it's perfect.

Dinarius

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

The ads fook it up, without the ads it's perfect.

Not sure what you mean by that.

There are no ads when streaming, only a “program will resume shortly” notice. And, even this has to re-buffer.

I guess Saorview is the way to go. But, it shouldn’t have to be.

Thanks.

D.

Wanderer78

Dinarius wrote:

We occasionally try to watch RTE the same way - we gave up Sky a couple of years ago, and the dish and box still tune in many channels, but not RTE - but, it’s appalling. Constant re-buffering is needed, meaning we see a few minutes every half-hour. For this we pay €160. It’s a disgrace.

Funnily enough, Google and Netflix are making a fortune outta you, and from that, they're able to build some of the biggest servers on the planet, 160 is chicken feed to what those lads are making from you....

Dinarius

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Funnily enough, Google and Netflix are making a fortune outta you, and from that, they're able to build some of the biggest servers on the planet, 160 is chicken feed to what those lads are making from you....

We watch about 1-2 hours TV per day. It's almost exclusively Netflix. Just a little BBC, which we still receive via our (now free) Sky box.


I guess if you could tune-in RTE, Virgin, etc. via your Sky box, then most of us would sign up to Sky for a year for the box and dish and then dump them. (Most of what's available via a dish is garbage and most of us watch the same 1-5 channels every week.)


So, not being able to tune RTE via Sky box protects Sky to some extent and gives Saorview a revenue stream via the sale of yet another box.


To be honest, we'll probably stay as we are. It's a pity the RTE streaming is poor, but if it was as good as Netflix, who would buy another box?

D.

rock22

You could replace your Sky box with a combined Saorview/Satellite box. it is easier to use for and you would have all channels on one box. You would of course need a Saorview aerial but you might bet away with an indoor aerial depending on signal and your location.
At least consider doing this if / when your Sky box fails or needs replacing.

thomas 123

I’d like to add, why are there 5+ ads then ads every 15 mins and if it crashes like it does always you have to sit through the ads again.

It’s a total disgrace in my opinion, with the money thrown at RTE surely they could hire a few students to build it right.

I wonder what data they provide to advertisers in terms
of how many ad views they expect...

Wanderer78

Dinarius wrote:

To be honest, we'll probably stay as we are. It's a pity the RTE streaming is poor, but if it was as good as Netflix, who would buy yet another box?

State broadcasters simply can't compete with these streaming services, as they're simply gigantic monopolies, how can a state compete against free or almost free to use services? Free to use is a critical component of the business models of these companies, but it means, no one else can compete against them, so they simply monopolize streaming markets. From this position, they can create some of the largest infrastructure on the planet in order to have flawless, or near flawless streaming, baring in mind, a proportion of the backbone infrastructure is state funded, I.e. with your taxes, so win win, for them.

I've spent lockdown investigating 'alternative' streaming sources, some really good services out there, some really sh1te ones to though

lertsnim

Dinarius wrote: »

2. Why isn’t RTE available to tune in with a satellite dish like 000s of other channels?

Why do I pay a license fee for something I can’t watch?

It would cost too much to clear programming rights for the UK.

RTÉ is there for you to watch if you connect an aerial to the television.

For some reason that’s beyond my knowledge I find it streams way better from an android device, so you could buy a cheap one of them. It just seems to work better on some platforms - my iPad is rubbish for it buffering, the app on my samsung tv is like looking through cling film, but on the shield tv or from an android phone it does be bang on.

Other platforms like Netflix and Amazon just work on everything.

Dinarius

I watch RTE, Netflix and YouTube on my TV via a (€35) Google dongle, which is controlled/accessed from an iPad.

So, the setup is identical for all three, but RTE is unwatchable.

I have no idea of the technology involved. I'm presuming it's down to lack of signal strength. But, whatever the reason is, is it really a question of not being able to compete with the likes of Netflix money and tech? I wonder.

D.

Dinarius

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

For some reason that’s beyond my knowledge I find it streams way better from an android device, so you could buy a cheap one of them. It just seems to work better on some platforms - my iPad is rubbish for it buffering, the app on my samsung tv is like looking through cling film, but on the shield tv or from an android phone it does be bang on.

Interesting. I sometimes use my iPhone, instead of the iPad, for Netflix and YouTube on my TV - also perfect.


But, I will try the RTE Player app via my wife's Android phone.


Thanks for the tip.


D.

Dinarius

Dinarius wrote: »

Interesting. I sometimes use my iPhone, instead of the iPad, for Netflix and YouTube on my TV - also perfect.


But, I will try the RTE Player app via my wife's Android phone.


Thanks for the tip.


D.

Worth a look anyway. Maybe I just do be lucky and I’m casting to a shield tv instead of a chrome cast but it might work. I never had any real success casting rte from an iOS device.

corks finest

thomas 123 wrote: »

I’d like to add, why are there 5+ ads then ads every 15 mins and if it crashes like it does always you have to sit through the ads again.

It’s a total disgrace in my opinion, with the money thrown at RTE surely they could hire a few students to build it right.

I wonder what data they provide to advertisers in terms
of how many ad views they expect...

Unwatchable, rte is a **** show, TG4 is great though

keyboard_cat

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Funnily enough, Google and Netflix are making a fortune outta you, and from that, they're able to build some of the biggest servers on the planet, 160 is chicken feed to what those lads are making from you....

Netflix and the BBC IPlayer use Amazon web services to host their content which RTE could just as easily use as their server, these days it’s not really about building a server instead you just rent space on a bigger server.

This would also probably be cheaper for RTE in the long run as currently they are presumably running off their own server which will need to be built to meet high demand (like the toy show at Christmas) but then sit under utilised the rest of the year.
However if they rented server space from Amazon, Amazon then can dynamically provide more bandwidth during these peak periods without the need for RTE to build a massive server.

Presumably the reason RTE have not done this is because providing a quality service is not high up on their agenda

thomas 123

corks finest wrote: »

Unwatchable, rte is a **** show, TG4 is great though

Want to change a setting? guess you have to watch the ads again.

Skip button? Nah

Gambling and drinking? - hell yes!

yankinlk

Agree about rte player and the ads problem.

I installed the rte app on the firestick though. It doesn't do live shows but its perfect for past shows. No add at all so far....no pauses either

dasdog

keyboard_cat wrote: »

Netflix and the BBC IPlayer use Amazon web services to host their content which RTE could just as easily use as their server, these days it’s not really about building a server instead you just rent space on a bigger server.

They are leveraging AWS for some site host hosting but alas I think they may be hosting video content on site. The mp4 GET requests are coming from vod-edge.rte.ie [89.207.56.161]

thomas 123

yankinlk wrote: »

Agree about rte player and the ads problem.

I installed the rte app on the firestick though. It doesn't do live shows but its perfect for past shows. No add at all so far....no pauses either

Interesting I have an LG smart TV with the app - wonder is it just a case they haven’t figured out how to put ads on the fire stick version yet?

Wanderer78

keyboard_cat wrote: »

Netflix and the BBC IPlayer use Amazon web services to host their content which RTE could just as easily use as their server, these days it’s not really about building a server instead you just rent space on a bigger server.

This would also probably be cheaper for RTE in the long run as currently they are presumably running off their own server which will need to be built to meet high demand (like the toy show at Christmas) but then sit under utilised the rest of the year.
However if they rented server space from Amazon, Amazon then can dynamically provide more bandwidth during these peak periods without the need for RTE to build a massive server.

Presumably the reason RTE have not done this is because providing a quality service is not high up on their agenda

its important to remember, all of these corporate monopolies use and support each others systems and networks, as its mutually beneficial for sharing data, this data is the backbone of their business models, and is where the majority of their wealth comes from, from buying and selling this data to each other. of course rte could use amazons servers, but that would probably mean easier access to our data, to be used for whatever purposes amazon wish to use it for.

Dinarius

Dinarius wrote: »

We watch Netflix and YouTube streamed to our tv from an iPad via a Google dongle.

It’s flawless.

We occasionally try to watch RTE the same way - we gave up Sky a couple of years ago, and the dish and box still tune in many channels, but not RTE - but, it’s appalling. Constant re-buffering is needed, meaning we see a few minutes every half-hour. For this we pay €160. It’s a disgrace.

1. Why doesn’t it stream like other services?
2. Why isn’t RTE available to tune in with a satellite dish like 000s of other channels?

Why do I pay a license fee for something I can’t watch?

D.

We watched the six one news via the player last night then switched over to stream Sky News. The difference in quality was remarkable. Sky was crystal clear, louder sound and it paused to buffer once in an hour. the RTE player buffered every 5 minutes.

Wanderer78

Deleted User wrote: »

We watched the six one news via the player last night then switched over to stream Sky News. The difference in quality was remarkable. Sky was crystal clear, louder sound and it paused to buffer once in an hour. the RTE player buffered every 5 minutes.

again, streams such as sky news are free to use for a reason, they are data gathering services, this is how they make money from you, and lots of it

Wanderer78

Wanderer78 wrote: »

its important to remember, all of these corporate monopolies use and support each others systems and networks, as its mutually beneficial for sharing data, this data is the backbone of their business models, and is where the majority of their wealth comes from, from buying and selling this data to each other. of course rte could use amazons servers, but that would probably mean easier access to our data, to be used for whatever purposes amazon wish to use it for.

If it meant a better service, I don't care if Amazon knows I watched Six One News and Reeling in the Years(about the only things I watch on RTE).

thomas 123

Wanderer78 wrote: »

its important to remember, all of these corporate monopolies use and support each others systems and networks, as its mutually beneficial for sharing data, this data is the backbone of their business models, and is where the majority of their wealth comes from, from buying and selling this data to each other. of course rte could use amazons servers, but that would probably mean easier access to our data, to be used for whatever purposes amazon wish to use it for.

Are you suggesting a company that hires goons to check if you have a tele gives a rats ass about your personal data?

Wanderer78

Deleted User wrote: »

If it meant a better service, I don't care if Amazon knows I watched Six One News and Reeling in the Years(about the only things I watch on RTE).

they are gathering far more information than what you re watching, its now actually possible to know when a couple are just about to be divorced before they decide to, from their online activities, this is the type of information that is being gathered

Wanderer78

thomas 123 wrote: »

Are you suggesting a company that hires goons to check if you have a tele gives a rats ass about your personal data?

most data analysis is being conducted by software, i.e. algorithms etc, only a small proportion would be analyzed by human, more interesting and important information id imagine

thomas 123

Wanderer78 wrote: »

most data analysis is being conducted by software, i.e. algorithms etc, only a small proportion would be analyzed by human, more interesting and important information id imagine

Working in the industry I can tell you google, Facebook etc do not care about you getting a divorce, they care about selling that data to the solicitor so his ad pops up on your screen.

It’s all assumptions based nothing is fact. Eg software sees you went to dating app, therefore assume single.

Your over 40 and on a dating app, assume getting divorce.

Point being it can only work with what you give it. You can always clear your history and cache and not log into stuff to stop browser tracking

3DataModem

It's possible. Look at 4OD.

Wanderer78

thomas 123 wrote: »

Working in the industry I can tell you google, Facebook etc do not care about you getting a divorce, they care about selling that data to the solicitor so his ad pops up on your screen.

It’s all assumptions based nothing is fact. Eg software sees you went to dating app, therefore assume single.

Your over 40 and on a dating app, assume getting divorce.

Point being it can only work with what you give it. You can always clear your history and cache and not log into stuff to stop browser tracking

unless you re a high level employee, i suspect you have very little access or knowledge to what actually goes on in these companies, not belittling you or your position, the divorce information comes from economist pippa malmgren, she owns an it company herself, effectively, she knows the game.

clearing your cache does little or nothing, as soon as your device connects to these services, the data gathering begins, noting, some of these devices never truly disconnect from these services, ever. the only way to truly prevent info gathering, is to never connect to these services, which in the modern world, is virtually impossible

eggy81

Wanderer78 wrote: »

unless you re a high level employee, i suspect you have very little access or knowledge to what actually goes on in these companies, not belittling you or your position, the divorce information comes from economist pippa malmgren, she owns an it company herself, effectively, she knows the game.

clearing your cache does little or nothing, as soon as your device connects to these services, the data gathering begins, noting, some of these devices never truly disconnect from these services, ever. the only way to truly prevent info gathering, is to never connect to these services, which in the modern world, is virtually impossible

So RTÉ player is great then?

Samsonsmasher

RTE should just put their content up on youtube

emmalynn19

Wanderer78 wrote: »

its important to remember, all of these corporate monopolies use and support each others systems and networks, as its mutually beneficial for sharing data, this data is the backbone of their business models, and is where the majority of their wealth comes from, from buying and selling this data to each other. of course rte could use amazons servers, but that would probably mean easier access to our data, to be used for whatever purposes amazon wish to use it for.

If you build an application on AWS, Amazon has no access to your or your customers' data. If this was the case the public cloud would fold overnight.

dasdog

Wanderer78 wrote: »

its important to remember, all of these corporate monopolies use and support each others systems and networks, as its mutually beneficial for sharing data, this data is the backbone of their business models, and is where the majority of their wealth comes from, from buying and selling this data to each other. of course rte could use amazons servers, but that would probably mean easier access to our data, to be used for whatever purposes amazon wish to use it for.

RTE are using AWS for hosting content. AWS make money by selling compute, storage, throughput and other cloud services. There are very strict privacy laws they must adhere to for hosting customers content.

dasdog

dasdog wrote: »

RTE are using AWS for hosting content. AWS make money by selling compute, storage, throughput and other cloud services. There are very strict privacy laws they must adhere to for hosting customers content.

I think that poster is confusing Amazon and AWS.

dasdog

It seems the player was designed and developed by an Italian company.

https://www.finconsgroup.com/case-histories/rte-on-the-go-the-next-generation-rte-player.kl

To respond to the changing demands of the Irish public, RTÉ wanted to develop a best-practice, multiplatform service that could be customised both live and on-demand with cutting edge features such as restart and auto-play. Viewers will not only be able to continue watching RTÉ programming, but will also be able to access box-sets and catalogues packed with hundreds of films, TV series and short-form videos. The new Player is available on the web, on iOS, Apple and connected TV as well as overall OTT services including Saorview, Chromecast, Android TV and Apple TV.

A successful project, the player is the result of the combination between Fincons’ design and system integration with 24i’s experience in integrated front-end user interfaces, Comcast Technology Solution’s reliable OVP platform and Contentwise’s skills in content recommendation engines.

dasdog

dasdog wrote: »

It seems the player was designed and developed by an Italian company.

https://www.finconsgroup.com/case-histories/rte-on-the-go-the-next-generation-rte-player.kl

"With cutting edge features such as restart and autoplay".

LMAO.

The Black Oil

I think Killing Eve was the last thing I watched on the Player (LG TV app) The ad breaks were annoying because of a technical issue - whenever there was a break it would cycle through the same ads twice. :rolleyes:

corks finest

The Black Oil wrote: »

I think Killing Eve was the last thing I watched on the Player (LG TV app) The ad breaks were annoying because of a technical issue - whenever there was a break it would cycle through the same ads twice. :rolleyes:

Let's be honest the brits do things right ref TV, drama, films, player, we're ****in neanderthal compared to them in that regard,
TG4 are great for docs etc, RTE are threading water regarding it for over a decade

corks finest

[Deleted User] wrote: »

"With cutting edge features such as restart and autoplay".

LMAO.

Designed around the same time the wheel was invented

Dinarius

Coincidentally, a raft of letters about RTE in today’s Irish Times, headed “RTE - Public Service or Public Insult?”

However, they’re about that now infamous comedy sketch and not about their app.

D.

jimmycrackcorm

Dinarius wrote: »

I watch RTE, Netflix and YouTube on my TV via a (€35) Google dongle, which is controlled/accessed from an iPad.

So, the setup is identical for all three, but RTE is unwatchable.

I have no idea of the technology involved. I'm presuming it's down to lack of signal strength. But, whatever the reason is, is it really a question of not being able to compete with the likes of Netflix money and tech? I wonder.

D.

Netflix for example runs on Amazon cloud similarly youtube is using Googles own cloud infrastructure. RTE on the other hand has a couple of media servers running in Montrose with limited bandwidth out to the world.

corks finest

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Netflix for example runs on Amazon cloud similarly youtube is using Googles own cloud infrastructure. RTE on the other hand has a couple of media servers running in Montrose with limited bandwidth out to the world.

You'd never guess

riclad

In my experience the rte player app on android is better than going to rte.ie player on a web browser,on a pc
use chrome or firefox and make sure the browser is updated .
is funny how the ads work even if the actual program does not play the video properly.
i think they should put up old programs , more than 2 years old, on youtube.ie .
the taxpayer has paid for those programs, any irish person should be able to view them.
maybe rte does not work on chromecast due to drm.
i just installed the brave browser today on my pc , and the rte player works fine on it .
i think some smart tv s might not work properly as there may be no way of updating the app or the browser after buying the tv.

i running an old version of chrome, the rte player does not work at all , it just shows a blank black box.
i use brave browser if i want to watch rte on my pc.

Dinarius

I have no problems with RTE on a PC, because my connection is so good and it's connected by cable, not WiFi.

My problems are only with my iPad > Google Chromecast > TV combination, which is unusable.

I will try replacing the iPad with my wife's Android phone and report back.

D.

Dinarius

Ps. You have to wonder if the RTE Player app, which is a joke, is a form of legal-loophole closing so that a license fee can be charged not just for watching RTE via a TV, but via any streaming medium too?

Without the RTE Player app, you could own a TV, subscribe ONLY to Netflix, for example, and not pay a TV license. I wonder?

Financially, RTE are screwed. But, they're not gaining any sympathizers with an app like this.

D.

riclad

I mostly watch rte tv on a pc using a browser.
i used the app on a phone 3 times
if you have a pc or a laptop and can install a browser there no need to use the app at all.
To use the bbc iplayer all users have to register ,i think they have to prove they have bought a uk tv license .
And its only avaidable to users in the uk.
rte app works fine on my android phone , my phone is about 3 months old.
netflix will work on a pc or a laptop , or ps4, xbox console connected to a pc vga monitor.
if i website or tv service does not work ,i find it works ok if i install the brave browser.

https://brave.com/


i just tried it on firefox, the page loads up,menu loads , i can see all the menus, program list etc if i click on watch a program, it says error ,response,
eg i,m using an old version of the firefox browser
so i did not expect it to work

i think the app is purely to allow people to watch rte tv on tablet,s ,phones, android and apple devices .
i watched a 30 minute program using the brave browser, it was fine,
the strange thing no ads appeared at all.
just the program .
i installed brave browser about 3pm today on my pc
any time i used the android app i find it works fine .
on phones or tablets .

If you have a firestick check the firestick threads for a link to an old rte player version that for some reason plays with no adverts on the firestick

it actually works well - maybe the ads are causing some of the issues...

riclad

My experience is rte works fine on 3g android , or wired pc, laptop
As long as the browser is up to date,
i always hear people have problems with smart tv,s ,.
say your tv is using browser, or app, version21035.12
and the video streaming app is version 21035.14 the app may not work properly.
do smart tv,s update apps ,i dont know .i dont not have one .
like some tvs have an old version of youtube app that no longer works .
most people have a tv for at least 4 years .

lertsnim

I usually have no problems with the RTÉ Player on an Android phone. On Android TV it can be problematic. I've given up on using the website as it's a disaster. The older ad free version of the app mentioned above works great on a firestick. It's worth checking out. Someone shared a link to it on this site somewhere.

There is a chance that you will get it to work for programme playback

but high-demand live events like a big sports match etc have never really surpassed the dogsh1t level of service.