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IPTV catchup content freezing / skipping consistently

S

sparkiemarkie

Newbie
I mainly use catchup for F1 races as I can't watch live. I am finding whole chunks of video skipping, in every stream, every race weekend. It skips anywhere between a minute to 30 minutes at a time. I can recreate issue on all devices in my house, using tivimate, smarters and my providers own apps, viideo skips at the exact same points in each case. It seems those missing minutes of video are just simply not there. If the stream skips forward and I try to rewind into the missing section of video I get error.

I was in communication with my current provider and when I sent timestamps of these occurences for a whole race, he was able to see the issue at his end, but he has not offered any solutions. Due to the above symptoms I suspected it was a provider issue so today I reached out via Techkings for a new provider. I have free trials from a few different vendors for a test.

My Test - On channel Sky Sports F1 FHD, Sunday 22nd September, Singapore GP 13:00 - 15:00, play from 5minutes into stream.
Current Provider - Video skips at 5min 12sec to 6min 08sec
Test Provider A - Video skips at exactly same point
Test Provider B - Video skips at exactly same point

What does the community think is happening here?
Has anyone else found catchup streams skipping big chunks of video, not just F1?
Can anyone else recreate this exact test?
Is there something in my setup causing this?
I truly can't understand why a stream from different providers can skip consistently at the same timestamp. Do the different providers share catchup streams?
Is it just a case of continuing to test providers until I find one that works?

(Tivimate Premium / Smarters Pro, Fire Stick 4K Max, Nord VPN, 1Gig internet).
 
sparkiemarkie said:
I mainly use catchup for F1 races as I can't watch live. I am finding whole chunks of video skipping, in every stream, every race weekend. It skips anywhere between a minute to 30 minutes at a time. I can recreate issue on all devices in my house, using tivimate, smarters and my providers own apps, viideo skips at the exact same points in each case. It seems those missing minutes of video are just simply not there. If the stream skips forward and I try to rewind into the missing section of video I get error.

I was in communication with my current provider and when I sent timestamps of these occurences for a whole race, he was able to see the issue at his end, but he has not offered any solutions. Due to the above symptoms I suspected it was a provider issue so today I reached out via Techkings for a new provider. I have free trials from a few different vendors for a test.

My Test - On channel Sky Sports F1 FHD, Sunday 22nd September, Singapore GP 13:00 - 15:00, play from 5minutes into stream.
Current Provider - Video skips at 5min 12sec to 6min 08sec
Test Provider A - Video skips at exactly same point
Test Provider B - Video skips at exactly same point

What does the community think is happening here?
Has anyone else found catchup streams skipping big chunks of video, not just F1?
Can anyone else recreate this exact test?
Is there something in my setup causing this?
I truly can't understand why a stream from different providers can skip consistently at the same timestamp. Do the different providers share catchup streams?
Is it just a case of continuing to test providers until I find one that works?

(Tivimate Premium / Smarters Pro, Fire Stick 4K Max, Nord VPN, 1Gig internet).
Click to expand...
Get a month of a different provider with catch-up and you can compare.
 
sparkiemarkie said:
But which provider to choose? I mean I've tried 2 new providers this morning and the streams are skipping at exactly the same points. Will try a few more...
Click to expand...
Just checked on my catchup and I have similar issues on the same event as you.
I have just checked the same event on my VOD section and the event plays fine so far.
Have you checked your VOD section for the event?
I don’t watch that much catchup but have had similar issues on some content.
It’s iptv and it’s not going to be perfect for the cost of it.
 
VOD version always works perfectly. But by the time it's on there I've usually seen a few spoilers already 🤣
I guess the point of my post was to see if I was wasting my time testing lots of providers if what I'm seeing is normal.
Maybe my expections are a bit high though. I'm not expecting perfection, but I would love it to be watchable.
 
sparkiemarkie said:
VOD version always works perfectly. But by the time it's on there I've usually seen a few spoilers already 🤣
I guess the point of my post was to see if I was wasting my time testing lots of providers if what I'm seeing is normal.
Maybe my expections are a bit high though. I'm not expecting perfection, but I would love it to be watchable.
Click to expand...
You will have to just keep trying different providers until you find one that works correctly.
 
Each provider will have their own catchup / record facility. The likelihood of them all missing the exact same chunks is about 0.
Much higher chance you are receiving trials from different resellers that connect to the same provider
 
scoob197 said:
Each provider will have their own catchup / record facility. The likelihood of them all missing the exact same chunks is about 0.
Much higher chance you are receiving trials from different resellers that connect to the same provider
Click to expand...
Agreed, it is unlikely for providers to be missing same chunks. Your way of explaining makes sense. There's just no way of knowing which provider a reseller is serving me. I mean, they all have completely different URL's and the channel lineups are very similar.
 
sparkiemarkie said:
Agreed, it is unlikely for providers to be missing same chunks. Your way of explaining makes sense. There's just no way of knowing which provider a reseller is serving me. I mean, they all have completely different URL's and the channel lineups are very similar.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a possibility they could all be the same provider
Have you tried recording another FHD channel at roughly the same time & length of time to rule out a possible issue with your setup?
EDIT: sorry using catchup on another FHD channel with similar length/time
 
sparkiemarkie said:
Agreed, it is unlikely for providers to be missing same chunks. Your way of explaining makes sense. There's just no way of knowing which provider a reseller is serving me. I mean, they all have completely different URL's and the channel lineups are very similar.
Click to expand...
Not that it's a perfect suggestion, but if you compare the playlists in tivimate for example you could review the channels and vod if they're 1:1 or not. Especially if they have similar grouping or labels.
 
scoob197 said:
Sounds like a possibility they could all be the same provider
Have you tried recording another FHD channel at roughly the same time & length of time to rule out a possible issue with your setup?
EDIT: sorry using catchup on another FHD channel with similar length/time
Click to expand...
Yes, catchup on other channels at same time are always fine. It makes me believe it is related to channel load/popularity. Everyone tuning into same stream at same time.
 
Zbar said:
Not that it's a perfect suggestion, but if you compare the playlists in tivimate for example you could review the channels and vod if they're 1:1 or not. Especially if they have similar grouping or labels.
Click to expand...
So the channels, groups, order and logos are all very similar across all the different playlists I'm testing right now. Similar count of total channels/Series/Movies too but not exact. Out of all the services I've tested today only 1 is radically different. In this one the logos are all new, the naming convention of the channels is different and VOD is totally different, split up into Netflix, Disney, Apple, Amazon groups rather than Comedy, Action, Thriller like all the rest. Much better and easier to find what I want to watch.
 
To explain above... Every single service I've tried has looked like img_8021. Groups like "UK | Entertainment" with a SD, HD & FHD option for each of the main channels. Who knows if it's the same provider with different resellers, but they sure do look similar, and have the same skip in the stream I've used to test.
My outlier service testing today is different. IMG_8022. And the Sky Sports catchup stream doesn't skip.
 

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sparkiemarkie said:
To explain above... Every single service I've tried has looked like img_8021. Groups like "UK | Entertainment" with a SD, HD & FHD option for each of the main channels. Who knows if it's the same provider with different resellers, but they sure do look similar, and have the same skip in the stream I've used to test.
My outlier service testing today is different. IMG_8022. And the Sky Sports catchup stream doesn't skip.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think you answered your own question for img_8021.
 
I don’t get the point why do people want catchup tv so badly on Iptv if you want to watch catchup bbc iplayer probably shows it, and I don’t understand why do some owners even add catchup on their service all these added bonus packages including Free VOD should be removed and finished from Iptv it might cause less problems for Iptv channels to run smooth.
 
I use catchup every single day. Simply because I want to watch stuff when I want to watch it. Maybe I’m working when the race starts, maybe I want to start watching half an hour later to skip adverts.
VOD is also extremely important,having movies and tv series on tap is essential.
Ultimately it’s because me and my whole family have been using Sky Q for nearly a decade and it’s the closest I can get to recreating that viewing experience where everything is on tap.
 
Fox789 said:
I don’t get the point why do people want catchup tv so badly on Iptv if you want to watch catchup bbc iplayer probably shows it, and I don’t understand why do some owners even add catchup on their service all these added bonus packages including Free VOD should be removed and finished from Iptv it might cause less problems for Iptv channels to run smooth.
Click to expand...
You are not going to access all the catchup content on the free to air catchup apps that’s why.
How would VOD effect live streams and catchup?
 
Last edited:
sparkiemarkie said:
I use catchup every single day. Simply because I want to watch stuff when I want to watch it. Maybe I’m working when the race starts, maybe I want to start watching half an hour later to skip adverts.
VOD is also extremely important,having movies and tv series on tap is essential.
Ultimately it’s because me and my whole family have been using Sky Q for nearly a decade and it’s the closest I can get to recreating that viewing experience where everything is on tap.
Click to expand...
Ask for a VOD service only when you put in request don’t ask for Iptv because your catchup will not work properly.
 
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