I have heard/read conflicting material on the issue, so I just want to clarify. If I have recorded a number of movies from Movie Central/HBO or shows from other channels and subsequently cancel my subscription to the movie packs or other channels, can I still access the content on the PVR from those unsubscribed channels? Or is this an issue with recordings from a "free preview" channel?
Is subscription to channel required to view PVR content?
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@kbmonkey, MTS' official position is that if you don't subscribe to a channel you won't be able to play previously recorded content. Each program is validated when you start playing it.
This is definitely true with "temporary" preview channels like 40, 41, etc. When the channel is deleted, you can't play old recordings. If you had recordings on channel 40 and it later comes back you can then play the recordings (I think this is true even if channel 40 is actually a different network).
I was playing around with this on regular themes and it doesn't seem to be consistent. In most cases if you record a program and switch themes, you can't play the old program if you're not subscribed to the channel. There have been a few cases where it would play a program recorded a week ago but wouldn't play a program recorded 5 minutes before the theme change. Both programs were on the same channel.
With regular themes, it's easy to re-subscribe to the theme using the on-line tool if you can't play the old recordings. Move Central/HBO requires a minimum 30 subscription.
This is definitely true with "temporary" preview channels like 40, 41, etc. When the channel is deleted, you can't play old recordings. If you had recordings on channel 40 and it later comes back you can then play the recordings (I think this is true even if channel 40 is actually a different network).
I was playing around with this on regular themes and it doesn't seem to be consistent. In most cases if you record a program and switch themes, you can't play the old program if you're not subscribed to the channel. There have been a few cases where it would play a program recorded a week ago but wouldn't play a program recorded 5 minutes before the theme change. Both programs were on the same channel.
With regular themes, it's easy to re-subscribe to the theme using the on-line tool if you can't play the old recordings. Move Central/HBO requires a minimum 30 subscription.
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@kbmonkey, this seems to be a "feature" of Mediaroom. I'm not sure how much control MTS has over it or what happens with the other Mediaroom providers.
It's ironic that on one hand MTS makes it so easy to change channel packages on-line and on the other you have to make sure you watch your programs before you change themes.
It's ironic that on one hand MTS makes it so easy to change channel packages on-line and on the other you have to make sure you watch your programs before you change themes.
Before we moved next door to SK, I asked the MTS rep this question. They said you don't have to be subscribed to the channel if you want to view it on the PVR. They put me on hold while they checked. We had the Movie Central promo for three months, then cancelled and I believe they still worked.
Now only if Sasktel's service would work like MTS (guides messed up, no audio when started up - have to change inputs on receiver and back). But hey, Sasktel doesn't support HDMI.
Now only if Sasktel's service would work like MTS (guides messed up, no audio when started up - have to change inputs on receiver and back). But hey, Sasktel doesn't support HDMI.
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What I meant to say is... If you call in with a problem and tell them you use HDMI, they won't help you fix your problem.
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