Why is there no BTN app for Apple TV/Roku?

Submitted by maineandblue on

Anyone have any idea why they haven't come out with this yet or if they're planning to? There are apps for ESPN, most sports except for the NFL (that's a whole other issue), and the ACC and some other conferences.

I cut the cable cord some years ago, so before I got my Apple TV I watched most games through WatchESPN or BTN2Go with my laptop hooked up to my tv via HDMI. I can continue to do the same, or can mirror wirelessly (though even with a fairly new macbook pro and pretty good internet connection there are sometimes some buffering issues), but would much prefer a dedicated app through my Apple TV. Creating an app for Apple TV and Roku seems like the next logical extention of the BTN2Go thing, doesn't it? Why wouldn't they get that going? Based on my internet research the only stuff that came up were forum threads asking the same question back in like 2011.

There are a lot of smart people who frequent this blog. Does anyone have so much as an educated guess as to why this isn't a no-brainer for BTN? 

TenThousandThings

July 13th, 2014 at 7:18 AM ^

Nobody has what he's asking about. Not Google, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Roku, whatever.

BTN is wedded to the cable (i.e., "television provider" middleman) model. Even if they put the BTN2Go app onto the AppleTV, Roku, etc., it would still require a cable subscription to activate.

OP says he "cut the cable cord" but if he's watching BTN2Go at all, he's using someone else's cable login credentials to do that. Ultimately, what he needs is the ability to subscribe to BTN outside of the cable framework. We're not there yet.

LSAClassOf2000

July 12th, 2014 at 2:51 PM ^

I think some BTN content is actually available at PlayOn, which is basically a media service that lets your browse and select programming which you can watch over a Wii, WiiU, XBox and even Roku. That might be a place to start anyway. I don't know if it is the comprehensive channel or merely select content though, but I am sure PlayOn added it sometime last year, as I recall. 

UMGaucho

July 12th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^

Not sure if this is a ridiculous question, but I just cut the cord myself, and from what I understand, given that you are no longer paying for cable, are you still able to access WatchESPN and BTN2GO?

maineandblue

July 12th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^

No. Find a friend or family member to give you their password if you're morally ok with that. 

That's another counter-intuitive decision by those companies...they could make a good amount of extra cash by offering a special internet-only package for non cable subscribers, but I assume the cable companies probably try to prevent that. 

maineandblue

July 13th, 2014 at 5:48 PM ^

Not really. My main issue is that I'd like to have a standalone app rather than having to go through my computer and mirror to my tv. For example, the quality and convenience of watching HBO through it's dedicated app on my Apple TV is far superior to using the HBO website on my laptop and mirroring that to my TV through the Apple TV. 

willow

July 12th, 2014 at 5:19 PM ^

through stream2watch.me/live-tv right now.  I was able to get the games live last fall.  I have had some problems using watchespn when it is blacked out for my area.  (Probably because I live in MI and am not a Charter TV customer.)

Playon  (if you have Roku) has a btn plugin, but (at least on Charter), the live tv does not seem to work if you are not a cable TV customer.  I access that on MGoBlue TV when it's available.

Playon has an addin for my Chrome browser (probably the others as well) that I use called PlayCast which will take a stream from your pc and direct it to your tv through Roku, xbox360 and chromecast.  You can select the playcast channel on the Roku Channel Store for free.

A lifetime subscription to Playon is relatively cheap (about $69) and the scripts and plugins get you into live tv pretty well.  Take a look at Superusvox.com.  I don't think it's listed on Playon, but they have a Playon Plugin and you get it with a one-time $5 donation.

 

Sllepy81

July 12th, 2014 at 7:14 PM ^

is the best route if you have good internet. I use a family login to get big ten, espn. Fyi if you have family with dish and the hopper you can mirror mydish from an iPad to tell Apple tv. I tried the man summer league last night and it wouldn't allow the , mirror of the man summer league app so I imagine big tens won't work either. chromecast is heaven though, only $30. I mostly use my cell phone to watch Netflix through the chromecast for my kids.

TenThousandThings

July 13th, 2014 at 7:20 AM ^

It could be that there isn't enough demand for it. From legitimate cable ("television provider" middleman) subscribers, I mean. I believe BTN2Go supports AirPlay streaming from an iOS device to an AppleTV, so there's no real demand from the millions of iPad/iPhone users out there. And Android-via-Chromecast seems to work as well, so not so much demand from that sector either.

Yes, it does seem like a logical next step from a technical and convenience standpoint, and easy to implement, but it's probably also complicated by BTN's contracts with the middlemen.

Have you tried the ACC app? It appeared this year just before March Madness. But it has never carried live games. So I suspect that when the 2014-2015 NCAA seasons roll around, most likely all the current material (game highlights and "feature programming") will still be available to non-subscribers, but to watch live games, you'll need to be in the ACC cable footprint.

karpodiem

July 13th, 2014 at 7:22 AM ^

is that, from as a far as I can tell, BTN has no in-house software developers. They contract everything out. So they would need to contract out the development of this app, which they have yet to do.