NBC’s comedy streaming service launches January 7th

SeeSo, NBC’s comedy streaming service, began serving up buckets of laughs for those with an invite to is free limited beta last week. The network announced today that it would keep its word and make the service available to all the first week of January. Starting January 7th, access to the collection of movies and TV shows will no longer require a special invitation, but it will demand a monthly fee. If you’ll recall, SeeSo serves up episodes of series like Saturday Night Live, Parks & Recreation and more alongside new original series that are exclusive to the $4 monthly subscription. What’s more, classics like Monty Python are also available to streaming.

You can also expect to catch up on the latest from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers the day after those episodes air. Despite the initial web-only, the service will be available on both Android and iOS when it properly launches next month. And yes, you can expect another free trial period at that time as well. If you were hoping to stream content on your favorite living room device, don’t worry: NBC says it plans to add more platforms “in the coming months.”

[Image credit: Greg Gayne/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images]

Via: Deadline

Startup promises a legal alternative to Aereo’s TV streaming

TiVo may have dreams of becoming the next Aereo and giving you access to over-the-air TV in the cloud, but one startup isn’t willing to wait that long. FreeAir.tv is crowdfunding CloudAntenna, an attempt at recreating Aereo’s TV streaming model (it even copied the signature “A” logo) without angering broadcasters. As before, you’re streaming free-to-air TV shows that you can save to the cloud for later — the big difference is that you’re buying an antenna box that sits at home, rather than access to a company-owned, legally dodgy antenna like Aereo’s. You can even pay for a World TV package that gives you 600-plus international stations, in case local programming just isn’t enough.

It’ll take at least a $49 pledge to get a CloudAntenna (versus the $149 retail price), or $89 for a model with built-in LTE for internet access away from WiFi. A complete streaming TV package will cost you $20 per month, but FreeAir.tv is promising a year’s worth of free access if you back the project. We wouldn’t blame you if you’re skeptical of such a bold offer — there are devices like Tablo that may cost you less in the long run, so long as you’re willing to record shows locally. If FreeAir.tv does make its promised June ship date, though, it may well pick up where Aereo left off.

Source: Indiegogo

Comcast brings personalized TV notifications to X1 users

Comcast isn’t done improving its X1 cable box. Over the past few months, the company has added a variety of new features to the device, including the ability to record extra-long events and more. Today, Comcast is keeping that trend going by adding notifications support to X1, which will let users receive personalized alerts directly on their TV. Those can be from Evernote, Gmail, Instagram, Jawbone, LinkedIn and “many” others, according to Comcast.

But since you definitely don’t want notifications to get out of control as you’re watching a show, Comcast teamed up with IFTTT, the recipe-based, if-this-then-that web service. This means there’s an option to control when you want your screen to be alerted, simply add the Comcast Labs Channel on IFTTT and you’re all set. Or, you know, you could choose not to use the feature altogether — those Instagram “likes” aren’t going anywhere.

Source: Comcast

Comcast starts describing live video entertainment to the blind

Sadly, the blind and others with visual impairments tend to lose some of the impact of live TV, especially entertainment. They’ll get the dialogue, but they’ll frequently miss the sight-based cues. Comcast thinks it can help, though. When a live performance of the musical The Wiz Live airs on NBC on December 3rd, the cable giant will include a video description track — the first in the US for live entertainment, in fact. Those who tune in to the Wizard of Oz recreation will know when a character walks on to the stage, frowns or otherwise does something important that microphones won’t pick up. While this kind of description isn’t par for the course at the moment, the production is a good first step toward making it ubiquitous in the broadcasting world.

Source: Comcast

‘Sesame Street’ begins its first HBO season on January 16th, 2016

You won’t have too much longer to wait to see how HBO handles Sesame Street. The network says it’s launching the 46th season of the kids’ show on January 16th, 2016 at 9AM (Eastern and Pacific). You’ll have streaming access to five years’ worth of episodes on both HBO Go and HBO Now, too. Just be prepared for a different experience than you remember from your childhood. Sesame Street pisodes will run 30 minutes instead of a full hour (ostensibly to help kids “focus”), and there are “updates” to both the show’s iconic opening as well as the homes of its best-known characters.

Source: HBO PR (Medium)

TiVo’s ad-skipping tech is coming to its older Roamio DVRs

It looks like TiVo Roamio owners won’t need to buy an upgraded box for the new SkipMode feature. Zatz Not Funny points out info on TiVo’s website promising SkipMode will come to older Roamio DVRs on December 10th, which the company confirmed in a statement to Engadget. Starting today, a software update is going out that enabled QuickMode sped-up viewing on the Roamio. Meanwhile, a limited test will only let older boxes in the Bay Area and Chicago access SkipMode, for now (it’s available nationwide on the Bolt). In case you’re not familiar, SkipMode lets users bypass ad breaks on selected shows (prime time broadcasts on certain national networks) just by pressing the green button on their remote. At least so far, it has avoided any legal issues seen by Dish Network’s Hopper technology, and hopefully will continue to work as advertised. When I reviewed the Bolt, I found my favorite way to use it was skipping any stray seconds recorded before a show starts, so I could leap to the actual beginning.

Source: Zatz Not Funny