So I bought a life time plex pass because of the Idea of streaming brain and the hope there will be more settings to adjust bitrate per user etc… Is there something similar in Emby?
Pluto TV has a handful of channels worth using. They would compliment an OTA only setup nicely. The key is to make it an option and to allow you to only use the channels you want. That way you only choose the few you like.
Ads are pretty much like normal TV. Kind of a way of life. At least if you could record from them you could FF past them. Even if forced to watch the ads it’s content worth watching that could generate some $ for both parties. Tubi TV and Pluto TV would have to monitize a lot better then News & Web Shows and would/could be worth having if done right.
Pretty much an obvious point!
Exactly correct and that is what is already happening.
Yep because there is no compelling content on it’s own. Tubi TV, Pluto TV and a couple of others I mentioned could change that. Client is only as good as the content it has available to it.
Yep couldn’t agree more.
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Anyone who think that plex is like netflix, are shared (or otherwise noobie) users who only know what their server admin provides.
It is the server admins who do all the work, ripping and converting content as necessary to be shared to those friends/family whom are for all intents and purposes, passive consumers.
The fact that plex is trying to provide their own content streams is what causes even more confusion.
You are shooting yourselves in the foot and can’t even see it.
Yes yes, I understand that plex wants to be a content aggregator.
But your core users do not.
And everything that plex has added, could very well have been SEPARATE (and optional) PLUGINS.
If only the plugin system was properly modernized, standardized, and OPEN.
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But I wonder how they’d make money off plugins? Example; a user wants to watch Pluto.TV from time to time. Choice (A) Pay Plex a monthly fee to watch Pluto.TV via the Plex app on their phone or (B) Install the native Pluto.TV app and watch it for free. How do you compete against free?
Plex -WOULD- have a captive audience that they could offer up “value-added” features to but if they piss off the server crowd, with horrible interfaces and not fixing longstanding bugs, we’ll ditch their server piece and all the friends that stream from us will uninstall the client and everyone will pivot to their competition.
I feel for the support folks that are here to help us out and offer suggestions when we run into problems but their leadership is undermining their hard work. I’ve been helped a few times here by the mods and devs and it upsets me to talk all this doom and gloom but Plex looks to be going off the rails at a slow pace and they refuse to take corrective actions. It’s like seeing a hardworking, decent friend letting their life crumble because they can’t stop doing drugs or something.
Maybe a mighty phoenix can rise from the ashes and some developers can come together after the meltdown and form a new company?
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Bingo, that is the issue.
What plex could do however is allow the admin to INTEGRATE Pluto TV right into the EPG/Guide/DVR process just like it was a cable provider or OTA setup. This would be fully configurable by the admin. If the admin set this up then all proceeds from the ads would fall into an arrangement between Plex and Pluto TV and we really should care much.
When deals like this are done correctly the users get value in the sense of more “free” content and Plex gets ad revenue or what ever they negotiated that really shouldn’t matter to us.
The key as I’ve said is in the integration. An even better example is Tubi TV which could act like a repository for movies. Imagine being able to start your Plex server with 10K movies?
Not really much different then the free video on demand you get from your cable provider but much more of it, fully searchable, more easily usable and doesn’t require a cable provider which is perfect for cord cutters and those using OTA only.
Again the key is in the integration. If Plex stopped adding content as a separate service and allowed the admin to actually integrate the content right into the libraries it would be much more powerful and welcome especially if the content was vetted with ratings pulled from the typical meta-data providers so that you could limit your 13 year old from watching R rated movies.
Being able to have say 100 current movies and a few TV Shows, DVR and something like Tubi TV instantly would make your personal “netflix” seem larger than life. Being able to share a system with 10K movies is pretty awesome. I know because I can do it without help.
But if this was an out of the box experience where the content looked like it was done by YOU and you could enforce safe zones for kids…
This is what I mean by implementation matters.
There is nothing wrong with News, Podcasts, Web Shows except the way they are implemented. If admins had full control and could make a library that was News, Podcasts and Web Shows and actually integrated it would be even better especially when you could set up proper shearing of such content.
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It’s a shame they don’t listen to real users any more - some of us have great ideas.
As for previous discussion - I know if I leave, I’m taking 17 clients with me. (Maybe more).
Half of those frequently active weekly/monthly. The others, a few times a year.
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Or better yet, don’t auto-enable pod casts, web shows, etc on the server… enable that stuff automatically on the CLIENT. Server admins won’t have to deal with it, less hate on Plex and the burden to turn it off (or possibly enjoy it?) is shifted to the client side. But what do we know…we only use their software on an hourly basis every single day.
Silly boy… Don’t you know we are only uneducated users and the developers know what’s best for all of us!!! 
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Your companies lack of customer service is deplorable!
- Who, from a business standpoint, starts a reply with the word “Um”? TOTALLY UNPROFESSIONAL!!!
- You state something (You’d be surprised how many people) with no examples or followups to comments.
- You are supposed to be a media player/server for your customer’s content. That is what people pay for, that is what we signed up for.
- If you want to be a “content server”, that should be a totally different app and not forced into what we use and pay to use your app for.
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This x 100.
Yes, Let’s use a business model based on the misconceptions of our current business.
And you realise people think this because others on YouTube are renting out their Plex media server libraries for $$$ right?
So those people are looking for 4k top level Hollywood movies that have just been released on bluray because that’s what the YouTuber are hawking, not niche market webshows.
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The problem with this line of development if true is that you don’t need plex to do that. The streamers it is installed on already have all of that available. Zero reason to run plex for that portion.
But based on usage, plugins were not what people wanted. Yes, it was what some users wanted and some may even have uses it exclusively without other PMS libraries, but there wasn’t enough total usage to warrant it’s continued support by Plex.
Yes. Social media is quite popular these days.
We try to be more loose and not so strict around here. If you would like a “TOTALLY PROFESSIONAL” answer, sure I can do that too. Oops, probably shouldn’t use “sure”. Or “oops”.
Many users do believe that Plex is a media provider like Netflix. They install our Plex client apps expecting to have access to movies and TV shows. There are also user that understand how Plex works and have also requested being able to access other media providers like Netflix, Amazon, or Google. Unfortunately, making deals with larger companies such as these is hard. Plex is offering what we can. For those not interested in these features, you can turn them off. There are still some bugs around this and Plex is working to resolve these.
Please do not put words in my mouth. I never said this was Plex’s business model. Plex’s main business is still streaming media from a server to clients. If Plex can gain some customers that are not as technically savvy to setup their own PMS, then why not.
Yes, Plex is aware of these and we try to shut them down. If you know of any, please let us know.
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That is essentially what they have done. By moving this content to the client side the ADMIN has no control over it anymore which is MY COMPLAINT.
When a users fires up the client to connect to MY SERVER, I want to be in control of what they see and have access to. I don’t want a child getting filtered on my collection to then have access to news clips that are far beyond anything that should be shown with explicit language in it like the “grab em by the p*ssy” videos that were featured.
Plex is currently acting in a way as a competitor to my content by showing their servers. I have no control over that content and that’s a problem.
Had I have been able to integrate News (as an example) into my library and had ratings that I could us that would be a wonderful thing. This way I could use ratings OR just not share News with children while sharing it with adults. But either way it appears as my content. If a parent calls me about content in appropriate I can change access rights or remove it. Right now I can’t do this but instead have to send them a link so they can change their own access (dumb, dumb, dumb).
It’s just not thought out well and I’ve been saying this since the first day I saw it as a Ninja before the masses ever knew about it. The basic architecture is not there in a meaningful way that complements the admin. Instead it competes with it.
The new UI “masks” the fact it’s from a different set of servers and one of the reasons for the push of the new UI but it too is still the wrong approach as now it makes this content appear as part of the admin’s system without his/her approval which is even worse.
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And how do you track this usage? Are you saying Plex is spying on us and tracking what we watch WITHOUT our permission?
Or, are you just guessing because no one was posting about them, therefore no one was using them?
This is funny. Have you seen the comments on Facebook lately? Just as bad, if not worse (from your company’s standpoint) as these forums.
Quite honestly, just because some people do not understand what Plex is, or how it is intended to be used, shouldn’t influence what is added.
If customers do not understand what Plex is, that is on your company for not making it clear enough!
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Plex does not collect info on what you watch but we do collect usage data. i.e. a user used the plugin feature. You can see what we collect in our privacy statement, https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/.
I didn’t say that this influenced Plex’s decision. Just clarifying my statement that people do think Plex provides data, because you said I didn’t followup my earlier statement.
Except Plex does, from your link: When you use the Services to watch, listen to, or record content from a third-party content provider or source such as any officially supported Third-Party Content that Plex streams to Plex apps, trailers and extras from IVA, the Plex Watch Later or Recommended features, or use of our Live TV and DVR service, we may collect information related to that media interaction. For example, we may collect what program or movie you are watching and when
Live TV and DVR info is collected along with other examples. This is in the “Third-Party Content” area of the privacy policy. How is Live TV and DVR third party? Seems very much a part of Plex.
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Did anyone ever ask vs looking at some stats that don’t tell the whole story?
Maybe usage was low because of the way channels were incorporated vs normal libraries.
Maybe people had some issues with some channels that could have been fixed.
Maybe some people didn’t use them because they couldn’t select which users have access to which channels. For example I like them but never used them because it’s all or nothing access wise. Since I use some system channels I didn’t want users having access to them but would have wanted them to have access to stuff from abc, nbc, cbs, cw etc.
The system was never “complete” enough for me to use. This is the same problem Ihave with News, Podcasts, Web Shows, etc in that I don’t have control over who can/can’t use them. That’s not conducive to MY SYSTEM. Yes my system, not Plex’s.
There were/are tons of things that could have been done to make them much better. Even by combining/expanding features that were already present. If Playlists were global vs user specific and if playlists could have incorporated channel streams then an admin could have a revolving set of TV Shows (from channels) that all users could easily use to follow their shows without even having to navigate the channels. It’s lack of functionality and setup/ease of use that kept channels from gaining popularity.
But Plex NEVER asked, they just played been counters and went by a few numbers which only tell part of the story and a small part of the story at that.
We both know this is a false premise. These are users who don’t even read what the client is or the user who just installs everything looking for any type of content. These aren’t “users” of the system but more like “leaches”. Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with turning leaches into customers if you can do it. LOL
As I’ve said many times (sound like a broken record) the ADMIN can not turn these features off. Plex in it’s infinite wisdom on system architecture and design went out of it’s way to make sure the ADMIN couldn’t control this content and put it in the hands of the users vs the person who runs the system the users is connecting to. Bad mistake.
A Church I was working with had to switch away from Plex when News was introduced as it had very questionable content that didn’t fit obviously with the tone of site/system they were building. Similar another company I was consulting with for hosting lectures and HR type stuff had to look elsewhere as well because they didn’t want this extra content showing up distracting users from their job or the content they were trying to provide.
Because at the end of the day you are driving existing customers away due to implementation of features. Content in itself is great, but not the way it’s currently being pushed on people.
I still have hope Plex will get a foot in the ass, wake up and see the error of it’s ways. Listen to ADMINS who actually use the system (for years) and rethink how to implement features like this in a way that is complimentary so everyone wins.
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We’ll just have to take your word for it as we don’t have access to the back-end reporting you do. You have no reason to lie do you?
Just as important as word of mouth on other forums.
Yeah, they understand Plex is serving up -MY- media. When they install it, they have access to -MY- movies and TV shows. They DO NOT want -YOUR- pod casts, web shows, music streaming options.
Can you point me to forum topics where loads of people are making those requests? Out of my 30+ friends that stream from me, not one has ever said, “Hey there, can you add a Netflix/Google Video/Amazon/Hulu/HBO option so I can make the Plex client my single source of entertainment?”
BINGO! You can’t be associated with people using all sorts of plug-ins that might enable, gasp, piracy! Or even letting people serve up movies/TV shows that they illegally downloaded. Why that would make it seem like your company condones piracy. Naughty, naughty! As time goes on, I have no doubt Plex will, LITTLE BY LITTLE, let the server piece fall by the way side and focus more and more efforts on the client and push people to stream media that YOU provide and work out deals with HBO/Hulu/Amazon/Netflix/etc and implement some great DRM on the client as I’m sure that will be part of the requirement to set these deals up.
And what’s wrong with that business model? Why is Plex adding that horrible streaming music service that is over-priced and stinks compared to the competition? $$$$$$, that’s why. Is Plex not generating enough revenue to continue operations based on your current, MAIN, business model? Doesn’t sound like it, thus, the reason for offering up pod casts, web shows and partnering up with that music company.
Who sets up a PMS with the hopes/dreams of serving up Plex provided media? Nobody, that’s who. Sounds like Plex is running out of money or they just want more $$$$ (greed) and are prepared to sell their souls so they can act as a media portal. Which will fail.
BTW, in case you haven’t heard it enough, the new Roku interface SUCKS! Can we ever expect the old Roku interface to return or is Plex sticking their head in the sand, ignoring the massive amount of hatred for the new UI, and will never bring it back? I’m guessing the head/sand path is what you’re company is going with.
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