Live TV Not Available on ITVX and Channel4 Apps on Sony KD-43X80K

[StewartC29]

I recently asked the following question of the Sony Support Team for which no satisfactory explanation was given: Why is it that Live TV is not available on the ITVX and Channel 4 apps on my Sony KD-43X80K whereas it is available on my Android phone and MacBook Air? 

The TV's software is up to date. Curiously ITVX permits its Live TV stream to be Chromcast whereas Channel 4 doesn't.

Any thoughts anyone?

StewartC

[royabrown2]

@StewartC29 

There is a tendency for the suppliers of devices with terrestrial tuners, or the suppliers of apps for devices with terrestrial tuners, to reason that you don’t need apps to have live channels because the device they are on has live channels, and who would buy a TV and then not plug an aerial into it?

To which a fair few owners of such devices, including Sony TV owners, go “Us!”

Even in our house with piped-in TV, and sockets in nearly every room, the builders unforgivably did not wire one in the utility room.

The solution is not to sweat it, but to get a Roku Express 4K, which will give you all these Players with live streams, and many more apps, for £20 off at Amazon at the moment. They have understandably run out of stock at the moment, but you can still order at that price, and get one when they come back in. Or check other retailers, Argos, Currys, etc. who are matching this price.

[StewartC29 · Accepted solution]

royabrown2,

Thanks for the reply. I've done as suggested and acquired a Roku Express 4K from Amazon - to be fitted in the next couple of days.

I have to say that the KD43X80K I bought has been a bit of a disappointment. I've corresponded with Customer Support regarding poor 'motion smoothness' shortly after I bought it and received what can only be described as a non-answer giving instructions for a complete factory reset. When I replied saying that our other TV a Bravia KDL-32WD756 connected via HDMI port 1 to a HUMAX HB-1100S didn't suffer from the problem the only reply I received was that 4k and 2k devices can't be compared. That was it. Perhaps I now know why the sales person in John Lewis when we bought the current TV was was less than enthusiastic about Sony Google TVs and said that currently Samsung smart TVs where better all round. I should have listened but have had Sony TVs for decades without disappointment - until now.

Do Sony ever read this community portal to see what's being said about their products and take note and even follow up?

[royabrown2]

@StewartC29 

Sony used to be a name to reckon with, as it still is in many fields, but not in TVs. There must be some smart people there, as they can coax a better picture out of the LG OLED screens they use than LG themselves can; but in every other way, Sony TVs are seriously inferior to Samsung and LG.

When Sony made Trinitron sets, they weren’t afraid to have them cost more than other manufacturers’ TVs, because there were enough people who appreciated the difference, and were prepared to pay that bit extra for it.

Betamax burned them; there, there just weren’t enough people who appreciated how superior it was to VHS, and the format essentially failed.

Maybe they remember that still, and can’t square the circle of still wanting to provide the best picture, but no longer at a premium price, which necessarily means that everything else in their TVs needs to be compromised to reach the desired price point.

Hence all the “Sony used to be…. but I’ll never buy another” comments.

And I’m sure Sony know they are getting a bad press, but it would take a real effort of will, and a marked change in direction, to get back to where they once were.

Sony ought to put whoever is currently responsible for prosumer cameras in charge of the TV division, and let him sort it out; build Sony TVs where the rest of the set matches up to the screen quality, in hardware, software and firmware (and dump the misfire that YouView has proved to be), ship them with a proper paper manual again, and I will no longer have to shed a tear in John Lewis as I pass the beauty-is-only-skin-deep gorgeous Sony TV displays on my way to a marginally lesser LG or Samsung set which my head (and your salesman) tells my heart will be the better long-term choice 😢