[Gary Baldy]

I still think this 9 month strategy is going to not work out in the long term - when shows like Nolly eventually get an airing they'll feel like repeats, even for those who've not seen them (having seen the heavy promotion).    I do think (admittedly without a shred of evidence to back it up) that overall viewership would be higher should they premiere shows on ITV1 and then have the boxset immediately available on ITVX, continuing with weekly (or daily) airings on ITV1.

But then you look at how well Happy Valley did for the Beeb by not boxsetting them immediately- it kept spoilers from leaking out, and kept viewers in suspense which is important for the drama- ITV had put far too many eggs into the streaming basket.

[Stuart]

But then you look at how well Happy Valley did for the Beeb by not boxsetting them immediately- it kept spoilers from leaking out, and kept viewers in suspense which is important for the drama- ITV had put far too many eggs into the streaming basket.

It can't have been that popular, as they only made three series and there was a 7 year gap between the 2nd and 3rd ones.

I've never watched any of it, and the only place I heard it being discussed was on the BBC itself.

[CATV]

The writer waited for the child actor to grow up. She belived in the actor and didn't want a recast. That's why there was a long break.

The BBC would have given the show at least one more series maybe (likey) even more. Even a spin off. But the writer has made it clear she want to leave it as it is. The show is made by a production company owned by BBC Studios. The writer has also made other shows with that production company and continue to do so. So the BBC won't want to upset her as she will now be indemand so her wish to end it after 3 series will be respected.

[Brekkie]

Although that story has ended I do think down the line she'll be tempted to look at a spin-off with Ryan, even if it's not for a decade.


It's almost a badge of honour now for a show not to be made available as a boxset. Most brand new series on the BBC do get released as such, and there is logic to broadcasters doing that and getting people hooked into the second episode before they have a week to forget about it. I suspect the likes of Nolly would (and will) be stripped across a week on ITV1, and I think the nature of that show means releasing it all on night one isn't revealing potential major cliffhangers in the way a crime drama might have.


What is a shame that at the moment we don't get any official ratings for shows exclusively in ITVX or iPlayer from BARB - they only seem to be reported on if it's in conjunction with a linear airing (either 7 day time shift or pre-transmission airings).

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Still seeing so many reports of bugs on this, and most the same thing - it crashing as soon as you get to an ad break (after the ads of course), and then when you get back into it you're back at the beginning rather than picking up where you left off.  ITVX always replying as if you're the only one with the problem and you need to check the internet and reinstall your applications when it is clearly in need of a bug fix being rolled out to all users on certain platforms.

Yes ITVX is so frustrating, we're genuinely surprised when it works first time.
It seems to behave differently between smart TVs and devices unlike iPlayer which works 100% in our house.
Also on a series it does not display the episide number and we had to figure out 'Spy Among Friends' is viewed 'right to left'.
Given the money ITV has spent on the launch I don't know why it's so inconsistent.

[Brekkie]

It's just awful. With the iPlayer you seem to get the same level of service on every platform (though it took a few years to get to that point). I basically have three I now watch streamers directly on my TV - via Freeview Play (on a Humax device only bought last year), via an Android TV and via an Amazon Firestick.

On Freeview Play - it's just a flat no from ITVX. My year old device is too old - ITVX thinks it's better than every other streamer on the platform.

On Android TV I've not actually tried watching content yet, but have noticed the live streams aren't available.

On Amazon Fire the live streams work fine, but the on demand content almost always crashes after the first break - and unlike other streamers when it crashes it doesn't let you pick off from roughly where you left off - you have to fast forward to the next part and hope it doesn't crash again. And then repeat for each part.


I've not tried chromecasting yet or seen if it works on my NOW TV stick (I now watch NOW through the Fire stick) but I think we've got to a point with technology and apps where the customer is less likely to be inclined to update their hardware to accomodate software upgrades which aren't compatable. Obviously legacy services cost money to maintain but I think relaunching a service that cuts off so many of the existing users isn't a great strategy.

[gottago]

I must admit my LG app has been faultless (aside from lack of streaming) since it launched and is far superior to ITV Hub. Interesting how varied the experience is across devices, can’t think of any other apps with such a varied experience across devices.

[London Lite]

It's just awful. With the iPlayer you seem to get the same level of service on every platform (though it took a few years to get to that point). I basically have three I now watch streamers directly on my TV - via Freeview Play (on a Humax device only bought last year), via an Android TV and via an Amazon Firestick.

On Freeview Play - it's just a flat no from ITVX. My year old device is too old - ITVX thinks it's better than every other streamer on the platform.

On Android TV I've not actually tried watching content yet, but have noticed the live streams aren't available.

On Amazon Fire the live streams work fine, but the on demand content almost always crashes after the first break - and unlike other streamers when it crashes it doesn't let you pick off from roughly where you left off - you have to fast forward to the next part and hope it doesn't crash again. And then repeat for each part.


I've not tried chromecasting yet or seen if it works on my NOW TV stick (I now watch NOW through the Fire stick) but I think we've got to a point with technology and apps where the customer is less likely to be inclined to update their hardware to accomodate software upgrades which aren't compatable. Obviously legacy services cost money to maintain but I think relaunching a service that cuts off so many of the existing users isn't a great strategy.

NVidia Shield which uses Android TV OS works fine with live streams, but I've had to use the Refresh Rate app to render the streams at 50Hz otherwise you get motion judder even with the box configured at 1080p/50Hz.

Fire TV Cube works fine with ITVX, but I have Premium so can't comment on the crashing issues.

[cable]

I've noticed the inconsistencies as well. Compared to viewing in the native app of the Chromecast with Google TV, casting ITVX from my android phone gives much superior picture quality. This is the same device, same input and same picture preset, it's as good as watching ITV1 HD. Within the native app of the CwGTV the picture quality certainly is not bad but it's like watching with a hazy filter over the picture, not as sharp and some of the colours are muted. It also has an annoying feature where the picture freezes randomly. I don't think its my colour settings, Netflix, Disney+ and Paramount+ through their native apps all look great!

Definitely far superior to the ITV Hub app, lack of HD was something that put me off wanting to use it. I also have premium and watching it ad free is well worth it for some of the Originals I have seen. Hoping it comes to SkyQ soon!

[cable]

ITVX thinks it's better than every other streamer on the platform.

I didn't know it could develop narcissistic tendencies