ITV X launch dates...

MerylStreep you’re perfectly right I don’t know what I was thinking but in my defence Call the Midwife does come up on ITVX if you search but it clearly says Britbox which I failed to notice. I caught up on iPlayer yesterday 😀

ITVX has bought out the BBC's share in Britbox which has long had programmes from both BBC and ITV as well as some Channel 4, Channel 5, films and other content.

It's unclear what is going to happy to Britbox as a standalone app but for now both it and ITVX exist as separate apps showing the same things. You can only watch free of adverts on either if you subscribe.

Britbox currently has Call the Midwife - 8 episodes of Series 9 and 7 episodes of series 10. ITVX has exactly the same.

Both have 22 series of Midsommer Murders.

I agree, the ITVX app is clunky. Re getting to the most recent series of MM - just keep tabbing across. The numbers slide off the screen. Ignore that and watch how the series number change below. It will eventual show series 22. You will see a flash urging you to subscribe but if you are happy to see ads, you do not have to.

Use the up and down arrow keys on your remote and you should see a white box appear around the episode you want to watch. Select and Barnaby will eventually appear after ads for pizza and river cruises!

tanith
I don’t think you’d be able to watch it on ITV anyway. It’s a bbc program 😄

I tried to catchup with Sundays Call the Midwife on ITVX but it just asked if I wanted my free one months trial to watch it.
No Thanks. 😡😡😡

ITV X grrr!!

I want to watch Midsomer Murders on itvX. I find it, click on it and the very first episode appears. I click on the series at the top of the screen and scroll along to series 22 but as I'm scrolling, the highlighted series disappeares so when I get to 22 it's no longer highlighted and I can't click on it.
It asks if I want to watch it on premium, I can click on that and it appears straight away.
I don't want to pay £5:99 per month for itvX
This is infuriating!
Do you think emailing ITV or getting in touch with customer services would do any good?

Bea,

Not really - not when the Firestick user guide is 70 pages long!

Do you still have your user guide for the Firestick? Here is one I found online which tells you how to use the controls on the Firestick remote. You need to press the Home button which should take you to the Main menu where you should be able to get to Settings and then check if you need to install a software update.

documents.4rgos.it/v1/static/3929315_R_D001

Remote Basics are on page 20.

Do you have a family member or neighbour who could help you with this?

Thank yoou [Northface] have seen the screens which say base sound etc...but do not have a a little wheel for settings...maybe am being a bit thick here
[GrannySomerset] yes, i have that message too ..thinks that something called itvX Premium which you've guessed is another monthly fee for the streaming of this channel to be Ad free??

Chestnut. It's all a bit of a minefield nowadays, the myriad ways to access broadcasting. It is not helped by consumers being kept in the dark about what is going on behind the scenes with the different broadcasters and what deals are being done.

ITVX launched with a big fanfare on 8 December. One might have hoped that all the licencing and software updates from the big names including BT and Sky would have been in place so that however one accesses streaming services, it would be available.

The SkyQ issue doesn't surprise me. ITVHub never made it to there. It remains to be seen if ITVX does. They want to get people to switch to Sky Glass or Sky Stream where ITVX is available. It'll be a big saving for them not having to send out engineers to deal with satellite dishes and boxes.

BT's apparent slowness is more surprising but then again they are tied up with Sky through BT Sport and Now.

GrannySomerset. No. That shouldn't be the case if you are watching in the UK. The choice is free-to-air with ads or a subscription only if you want ad-free.

It appears that I could only watch programmes on ITVX by paying a subscription as from yesterday. Anyone else find this?

NorthFace You are a mine of information! All very helpful.

I watched ITVX tonight on my Amazon Fire Stick and it was perfect, so presumably I don't have any of the issues you mention. Thankfully.

Bea,

The problem you have is buffering. A bit like a traffic jam. Picture and sound data is coming over your wi-fi but something in the Firestick is causing a jam. There are several reasons why this could be happening:

1. Slow internet connection: It is recommended that you have at least 10 Mbps for HD and 20 Mbps for 4K streaming. If your internet connection is slow, you will experience buffering issues

2. ISP Throttling: Your ISP might slow down your connection speed from time to time if they detect too much streaming activities

3. Router far from FireStick: If your FireStick is placed too far from your router, your signal strength will be weaker and will cause buffering issues

4. Running low on RAM: It is not uncommon for FireStick to run out of RAM. There may be many unnecessary apps running in the background

4. Running low on storage: Again, it is common among FireStick users. The device has only 8GB of space, a lot of which is already used up by the OS

5. FireStick overheating: If your FireStick is overheating, it is likely to cause buffering issues

6. Outdated FireStick OS: You may experience buffering issues on FireStick if it is running on an outdated OS

I am unaware of any compatibility issues with Sky Q and Amazon Firestick.

If you don’t usually use the Firestick and haven’t used it in a long time and you say that other streaming services: Netflix and iPlayer are working fine then my best guess would be that the Firestick’s operating system (OS) is out of date.

Go to your Settings (the little wheel)

Choose My Fire, About, Check for Updates and download any that are available.

Does that fix it?

Have given up with itvX as, tried viewing Without Sin and several times picture froze and it was like watching an old Blockbuster movies rewound .. got fed up of it after episode 3 -and screen went black then blue ..going back to Netflix or iPlayer

Bea65 I haven't tried getting ITVX on the Fire Stick yet but will have a go tonight. I like the Amazon Fire Stick because it has You Tube which I can't get on my television or my BT Vision. It also has Disney+ which weirdly has the Beatles documentary (I watched that through my daughter's subscription). Disney+ is very handy if you can get it because there are ALL the old Disney movies for the grandchildren lined up to choose from. We've only watched Pollyanna but I know where they are if we want them. I had loads on DVD (Fantasia, 101 Dalmatians etc.) but maybe I can get rid of them now.

Yes, Chesnut, was a lot of discussion on the BT community hub about this too. The posts seems to dry up around mid Dec so it may have been resolved by now (or may not have been).

Check your settings to make sure you have the latest software update for your box (and whether you have it set for automatic updates).

I am wondering whether, in order to save on electricity, people are unplugging appliances they would normally leave plugged in overnight. That could mean that software updates sent overnight are missed.

The BT site says:

You can check if a software update is available manually at any time by going to:

Settings> Software Information> Update software

And:

Settings> Software Information> Update players and apps

If an update is available, your TV box will then download it automatically.

However your TV box will update its software automatically on a regular basis if it’s connected to the internet. To receive automatic software updates, leave your box in standby and your Hub connected.

[Chestnut] thank you...i've had amazon fire stick for few years and never use it...but, now i've found the little remote..always keep it in the orange box behind TV as its such a small thing, and now have access to itvX... but its very slow to load !

So on my BT Vision Box where I do all my viewing I don't have ITVX and the ITV Hub isn't working there either. So it is all out of action.

On my Amazon Fire Stick ITV Hub has been working just fine, but now I have seen ITVX there automatically so I will check that out tomorrow.

My television is an old Samsung from 2011 bought just before Smart TVs came out.

I think we have established that ITVX is not yet available on SkyQ. Sixteen pages of chat about it on the sky help forum.

The ITVX/Britbox deal is less clear (to me anyway). I do currently subscribe to Britbox and through that have access to some recent ITVX ad free content e.g. A Spy Among Friends and Stonehouse (but not Vicki McClure's Without Sin - yet).

What worries me is what is says here:

whynow.co.uk/read/itvx-is-itvs-last-big-streaming-gamble-but-isnt-it-just-britbox

This is when it starts to get complicated. ITVX Premium, the ad-free version, has all of the BritBox streaming service’s catalogue available for subscribers. But BritBox subscribers won’t have access to ITVX.

That clearly isn't true at the moment as at least some ITVX content is on Britbox.

In response to the news about ITVX the BBC have sold their shares, leaving BritBox as wholly ITV owned, which makes it a strange appendage to ITVX. And within the past few days the broadcasting regulator Ofcom has lifted a restrictive time limit on the BBC’s ability to stream shows on iPlayer. Expect to see it become something more of a library than just a catch-up service.

We’re told BritBox UK will still be a stand-alone service and a going concern, but without exclusive content and the original partners you’d be forgiven for wondering exactly how long for.

One of the reasons I like Britbox is that is does have some excellent vintage BBC content that isn't on iPlayer. Who is going to have the rights to that in the future? In selling their shares in Britbox, have the BBC also sold the rights to the BBC vintage content Britbox already has?

The transition is a confusing muddle but at least with streaming apps there is no contract so if one doesn't suit, it's easily cancelled.

I've got it on my LG, which is at least 7 years old. I used to be with Britbox, so swapped over to ITVx to get the premium content and it's working for me.

I think you can access ITVX via your computer if that's any good.

VB000

May depend what Sky you have:

You can access ITVX on Sky’s TV devices, but only on Sky Glass and Sky Stream. ITVX can not be accessed by Sky Q customers just yet.

You may access TV through Sky, But smart TVs will have the option of TV and app access through a control page. ITV X should appear amongst the apps.
We’re with Sky and do exactly this.

There is a long discussion about ITVX and SkyQ on the sky help forums here:

helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Q/How-do-I-find-ITVX/td-p/4171591

My worry would be that if ITVHub never made it to SkyQ then the speculation about ITVX might also come to nothing.

Sky know that satellite TV is becoming obsolete so their hybrid SkyQ will soon be a thing of the past. They will put their development efforts into Sky Glass and Sky Stream. I'm not saying ITVX won't come to SkyQ - it may be in the next software update - but I think Sky, over time, will provide less and less support for SkyQ.

MiniMoon

It automatically appeared on our smart TV. I don't know why they bothered changing it though, it still crashes.

Mine doesn't ever crash. I think the problem may be your provider or your tv.

Bea65, the Vicki McClure drama is available on itv hub on my tv setup (BT TV). ItvX isn’t universally available yet but will be in the next few weeks (according to Google).

It is as VB000 says. You might find this, dated 30 December 2022, helpful.

smartdigihere.com/itvx-on-sky-q/

It says:

When it comes to Sky devices, only the Sky Glass TV and Sky Stream puck are currently the only ones getting ITVX. At the time of writing, ITVX is inaccessible from a Sky Q box, with no solid details announced by the broadcaster regarding when Sky Q owners can expect ITV’s new streaming service to release for the platform.

Sky did, however, append a few tidbits to one of its recent blog posts celebrating the launch of ITVX on Sky Glass and Sky Stream and the fact that it’ll arrive on Sky Q in the coming weeks. So till then Sky Q users have no choice but to wait until ITVX is ready to launch their set-top boxes.

Meantime, you should be able to watch ITVX on any other internet-connected device such as a dedicated smart TV, laptop, iPad or smart phone.

It changed from ITV Hub automatically on our Roku.