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Telus Pik TV

34K views 24 replies 10 participants last post by  Gilles 
#1 · (Edited)
EDIT by Dr.Dave: Pik TV is now $10/month (not sure if this is a permanent change.) The Pik TV box is now optional - you can subscribe to the channels and watch with your computer or mobile device. See post 14.

Telus has introduced a new TV service that operates on a Telus Pik TV™ media box (see next post.) This service is different than Optik TV and is not available to Optik TV subscribers. You must have TELUS Internet 15 or higher and live in BC or Alberta.

This service includes The Basics (up to 23 local and regional channels) plus your choice of 5 specialty channels for $20 per month. Additional channels from $4 each.

Two ways to watch

TELUS Pik TV media box on your big screen
Easy plug and play solution, required for Pik TV
30 day satisfaction guarantee
No recording or whole-home connectivity capabilities

TELUS Pik TV app on the go
Watch select shows on your tablet or smartphone (Apple or Android)
Access to some channels require TELUS Internet
Included with your TELUS Pik TV subscription

Link: https://www.telus.com/en/ab/tv/package/pik/landing?INTCMP=VAN_piktv

Pik tv Support: https://www.telus.com/en/ab/support/topic/tv#/pik-tv
 
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#2 · (Edited)
TELUS Pik TV media box

Powered by Android TV™, the small, sleek TELUS Pik TV media box streams your favourite shows and movies to your TV.

Access your live and On Demand channels and streaming apps in one place through the TELUS Pik TV media box. Also enjoy access to your files easily via the USB port and share music or videos from your mobile device to your TV.

Search and find your favourite shows faster with the Bluetooth-powered, voice-activated Pik TV remote.

Watching live and On Demand TV through the Pik TV media box will not contribute to your internet data usage.

Technical specs
Chipset
1.5 GHz Dual-core ARM Cortex v7-A Broadcom BCM7252S

Memory
2 GB RAM
8 GB storage (actual formatted capacity will be less)

Video
4K enabled (depending on content availability and internet bandwidth)

Audio
Dolby Audio

Ports
12V DC Power
USB 2.0
HDMI out
S/PDIF
Gigabit Ethernet

Connectivity
Wifi
Bluetooth

Size
175mm x 155mm x 35mm

Weight
235g

Remote
Bluetooth
40g (excluding batteries)
45mm x 190mm x 17mm

Note: The TELUS Pik TV media box does not include a PVR with recording capabilities, access to live or on-demand 4K content, or the ability to watch on multiple TV screens.

System requirements: TV with HDMI input

Supports audio description content
Voice search feature with remote
Option to pair a bluetooth keyboard
Google Remote Control app compatible
Closed caption and SDH support setting

What you get in the box
1 media box
1 1.8m HDMI cord
1 power supply
1 remote
2 AAA batteries

Link: https://www.telus.com/en/ab/tv/package/pik/hardware

Note: the hardware supports 4K for apps like Netflix, but The Pik TV app does not support 4K.

There is a one-time charge of $100 plus tax for the hardware.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Channel Selection

EDIT Aug. 1, 2018: Telus has recently increased the number of channels available for selection to 82. See the Telus page for the full list:
www.telus.com/en/bc/tv/pik/channels

$10 includes local and regional channels plus your choice of 5 specialty channels. Additional channels are $4 each.

Premium add-ons
Sports Pack $14.00/month (TSN1-5, 4 regional Sportnets, Bonus: SN360 & Sportsnet One) All sports channels are offered in 1080p.
TMN & HBO Canada with Crave TV $20.00/month
TSN $10.00/month
Sportsnet $10.00/month
CraveTV Premium Pack $7.00/month
Multi-cultural

"The Basics" - Watch on the go & Stream on the app at home
 
#4 · (Edited)
Pik TV and Optik TV differences

Choose Pik TV if:

You know what you want. Pik TV offers a select number of channels that you choose from. You get only what you want. Pick and pay for the 5 live TV channels you want and get the Basics included.

You don’t want to miss out. Pik TV offers the most popular channels so you can drop spoilers to friends and co-workers at the water cooler.

Before Pik TV, your laptop was your TV. You watch most of your shows through streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, or Amazon Prime.

You'll watch it now. You don’t need to record shows. Or you can watch later On Demand.

You only watch on one TV.You don’t need whole home connectivity.

You got this! You’re comfortable managing your own technology.

Choose Optik TV if:

You like to surf. Optik TV offers the most live TV content to choose from – start with the Essentials pack and build from there.

You require boutique channels. Optik TV offers channels that include 4K, Multicultural and Children’s live and on-Demand TV content.

You don't stream - much. You occasionally watch shows on Netflix.

You'll watch it later. You record shows on your PVR regularly.

"I'll watch the game upstairs, you watch the dragon woman downstairs". You and your family watch on multiple TV’s in your home.

We got this! You feel more comfortable having a technician manage your technology.

Link: https://www.telus.com/en/ab/support/article/pik-tv-and-optik-differences
 
#7 ·
PIK TV is based on Ericsson’s MediaFirst technology. Optik TV uses Mediaroom, the IP video platform that Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in 2013, so there is probably some synergy between the 2 products and assurance that the developer has the commitment to enhance and support the PIK TV platform.

Telus stressed that Pik TV is not an “over-the-top” service and the new service “fully complies will all Canadian CRTC Broadcast Distribution Undertaking licensing requirements and qualifies fully as a pay-tv service the same as our existing Optik TV service… or any other CRTC licensed pay-TV service.” An official also stated that Pik TV is also “onside of all of our content licensing deals.”

People familiar with the product expect Telus to follow with a full-launch of Pik TV in May.

Source: Telus Soft-Launches Skinny Bundle IPTV Service | Multichannel
 
#9 ·
this service has not been working properly and telus does not have a clue why

I certainly not recommending this service to anyone.
truly based on my experience with this PIKTV service and teslu customer service agents and tech support
I signed up over two weeks ago and right after the service started I installed the android pikTV app on my phone and android TV box. have in mind that my devices are connected to my router and my router is connected to the telus modem.
only the first 2-3 day everything worked great and smoothly. while I was waiting for the telus PikTv box to arrive, all of a sudden 6 of my channels including some from +5 stopped working and I got the following error:
" sorry, playback is only available when conencted to your telus internet at home. "
well nothing was changed. my connection was the same.
I started contacting the telus tech support. and everytime I was told to restart the router, restart the modem. no other explanation.
then the PikTV box arrived. now the PikTV box was working fine while connected to the same wifi on my router
anyways, on the 4th attempt talking to the telus agent we managed to get the piktv app working on my android devices and only if it was connected to the 2.4g wifi on my router.
now here is another issue with the pikTV app on the android, YOU CAN NOT DISABLE THE AUDIO DESCRIPTION
yup, I am not lying. whoever developed this app simply forgot to add that option on it. when I told telus, they said "some channel have that and you can not disable it" when I answered, so how come I can disable it on my pikTV box? they answered "we do not know"
today I noticed that 7 channels on both pikTV app and Pik TV box can not be displayed because I am not connected to telus home network.
is this a joke? I even connected to the modem directly and the same message showed up.
I emailed the same agent I talked to last time and he called me back and asked me a whole bunch of unnecessary and pointless questions like, have you reseted the modem to factory defult. do you have VPN... I say pointless because I answered to all of those questions before and yet they are asking the same questions. interestingly the people I thought were from telus tech support are not actually tech support. they are only a messenger between the support team and customers.
so, as their own telus reps said these guy are just testing the new service and funny thing is they are charging us for it. if you are testing it, why are you asking for money. you should actually be paying us, because users like me are the ones that are testing your system and pointing out the problems
the verdict, I am gonna wait another day and see if there is a solution. if not I will disconnect this service and try to see what others offer.
 
#11 ·
I installed PikTV today. I was able to disable audio description without any issues. Perhaps the app was updated since ronkhmps review. I downloaded the PikTV app on my phone and I tried a live stream over cellular and it worked well ( I only streamed 30 seconds or so because cell data is expensive). The App worked well on my iPad at home connected to TELUS wifi.

I find it very convenient to have access to TELUS TV on an Android TV box, it makes switching between different apps easy (ie Netflix, YouTube, Google Movies, KODI, etc...). The remote is excellent (minus one concern listed below)

Here are a few of my concerns.

Picture quality on the PikTV box excellent, but I think Optik TV is a tiny bit better

Stereo only audio output for the PikTV app is a letdown (this is a bit of a showstopper for me). Netflix works well with Dolby Digital Plus, so the box supports it, just not the PikTV app

The remote has programmable buttons for TV volume (which is great) but there are no options to setup volume control for A/V receivers.

The 3 LED lights on the front (Green, Red, and Blue) are way too bright. The blue in particular is eye piercing. Thankfully the box doesn't need line of sight for the bluetooth remote, so I just turned the box to the side.

Purchase rental locking and Parental controls are in the menu system, but grayed out as "coming soon"

It would be nice if we could just download the PikTV app on any android TV/Amazon Fire TV box

There is a limit of 1 PikTV box per account.

At this point in time I would recommend PikTV, UNLESS you have a Home Theatre setup with 5.1 or 7.1 surround. I hope that TELUS will work quickly to resolve the issue with Stereo only on the PikTV app.
 
#13 ·
Telus Pik TV question

Hello,

I currently have an Android Box running 6.0.1.

If I want to buy a subscription to Pik TV, can I use my own box and only pay for the channels?

What is your overall impression of Pik TV?

I really only want to watch CFL games....So I would purchase the TSN channels primarily and then cancel subscription once the Grey Cup game is done...

Thank you.
 
#14 ·
@Vince Matinsky It sounds like you can't load the PIK TV app onto other Android boxes. The good news is you no longer have to purchase a Telus PIK TV box - you can stream through your computer browser or mobile device. (Source) Most computers have an HDMI connection, so you can connect it to a TV. Streaming through your computer will count towards your Telus internet data, but the Pik TV box will not.

Here are some other updates I noticed since I started this thread.
  • Price reduced from $20/month to $10/month. Price includes Canadian networks plus your choice of 5 specialty channels.
  • Channel selection now includes some foreign-language channels for the 5 specialties and for premium packages.
  • Other price reductions - TSN $10, Sportsnet $10, or Sports Pack $14.

@Gilles I know it's a long time since you asked the question, but I read elsewhere that you can switch from Optik to Pik by calling loyalty.
 
#15 ·
I ended up getting a loyalty discount since then, which brought the price down enough that it was close enough to their old $20 price (and let me continue using the PVR I already had), but required a 2 year contract. The new $10 price is surprising though. I might know others who would bite at that price.
 
#16 ·
I can understand them them not wanting there app on those cheap fake android tv box's that tons of people get just for kodi
but letting people use it on the real android tv that comes on sony tv's and the nvidia shield would be nice bell allows people to use them
 
#18 ·
@Gilles have you actually tested that with a Pik login? Here's an article from the Telus site:

Pik TV subscription on other apps (TMN GO, Crave TV etc)
Using your Pik TV credentials on other apps (TMN GO, Crave TV etc)
At the moment Pik TV customers cannot watch subscribed content (such as CraveTV, TMN/HBO, CTV and TSN) on third party websites or apps. You can however watch this same content on the Pik TV app on your media box.
 
#21 ·
I scanned through the PiK support and Telus forum and couldn't find any reference to adding more than one box. I even created an online order just to check, but I could only add one box.

It's possible that the Telus reps were thinking of Optik TV or weren't up to speed on all the details of Pik TV. On the other hand, Telus has been making improvements lately, so they may allow 2 boxes now. The best suggestion I have is to challenge the rep and show them where it says only one box is allowed.

If you have a computer you can plug into a TV you could also use that to watch Pik TV. The interface isn't as convenient and data will count towards your monthly cap, but it is an option if you are really interested in Pik TV.

----

I noticed that Telus added a lot more channels you can choose for your 5 included channels. You can now choose 5 out of 82 channels, included entertainment, news and kids channels. See the list here:
https://www.telus.com/en/bc/tv/pik/channels
 
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