My experience with mtnfrontrow so far

[wizardofid]

I have been using the service for about two weeks now. I found some issues that is worth addressing from MTN.

While the quality of the series offered is older and a lot of people may have already seen it, there may be some people who may not have seen some of the series on offer, there isn't any thing new that will attract new users.It's obvious new series would cost some big money to offer.

Some series on offer, actually a fair part, was likely scooped up very cheaply for one reason, some of the shows got cancelled, Hero's got cancelled, stargate atlantis, alpha's, dead like me, Huff, Anger management, ect

In some instances the cancelled shows ended with serious unresolved plot issues or cliff hangers, and basically means you will never know exactly what happened to shows characters.

There is also a fair amount of missing seasons, Stargate Atlantis is missing 2 season, weeds missings 2 season, ect.Some of these shows have ended a fair amount of time ago, there is no logic reason why these seasons have not been provided yet other than lack of funding, or content still needs to be made available.

It leaves the question will the missing season ever be made available, if not what is the point of having a show up if you have no intention of uploading missing seasons, in order for users to follow it to the end. Anger management for example has 100 episodes, there are 30 episodes in total available, so what about the missing 70 other episodes.

My other issue is other than the occasional news letter, the website has no new content list, which would make my life easier as I will be able to see what new content has been released, if new content gets released often enough.There is no real way of knowing if new content have been added other than a news letter of regularly visiting the website, and perhaps spotting some thing new.

Bar that, there is no indication of how long content will be available, will MTN give fair warning if they will be removing content soon, I never finished watching alias or stargate, it's been so long since I have watched alias I need to watch it from the start again, and that may take awhile.I still have to see the final two seasons of stargate Atlantis, ironically those two season I wanted to watch is missing.

There definitely needs to be more communication from MTN, I subscribed to service, so I wouldn't mind getting emails, informing me of new content weekly, or informing me of coming attractions for the month or next month.It definitely gives me some idea in advance what content MTN will be adding,

My last issue is the DRM employed by frontrow is having a negative affect and in general is retarded, I can't use either my android phone (Samsung S3 yellybean 4.3) or my levono A1000 android tablet, as I get a security error in forming me it's not an approved device, even though downloading the app from the google play store clearly indicates my device is supported.It will not allow installing or downloading an app in general if your device is not supported.

I got pretty peeved off yesterday when I tried to setup my laptop on frontrow, it basically does an endless loop of do you want to register this device on your account, clicking yes, and nothing else happens, nor does the video load. When going to your account settings the initial device used is not registered, and still have the ability to register 5 devices it only shows the current device connected nor does it show previous devices used to connect to the service.

Last night I had a quick worked related conference call, paused the current video I was watching in firefox, and switched over to the worked related app I needed for the call, upon returning to call I was greeted with a error screen informing me that I connected an HDMI cable, apparently connecting such cable to play on your TV for example is not allowed, not sure a VGA cable would be a problem will need to check.

What is up with that, does it mean I can't connect an HDMI cable to my table and then to my TV.That is just retarded DRM protection at it's best, I personally don't want to be seated in front of a computer screen to watch some thing.It's understandable that content needs to be protected to some extent, to avoid people connecting devices that enables them to record streams.People do want to enjoy watching content on couch or where ever they choose to do so.Due to issues on their side I am unable to add devices, to my profile, even after having emailed support to try and resolve issues relating to my tablet.

I have also found that some video's have issues, for example BBC earth Africa series has frame rate playback issues, I am not sure at what frame rate the content was encoded at, but there is a noticeable frame rate issue on some parts of the video.

Over all I am enjoying the service, but it is concerning with regards to missing seasons of series that has long since ended, and providing content of series that got cancelled and often left with unresolved plot issues, the terrible DRM, and not being able to add any devices to my profile.

I definitely feel that if MTN has any plans to claim a decent market share they need to jack up their act massively or else they going to find them face down with pants around their ankles with no recollection of how they ended up there.

 

[Rickster]

But how is the actual overall streaming?

 

[wizardofid]

But how is the actual overall streaming?

It's great, I don't have buffer issues, as the bit rate automatically adjust to the connection speed, as speed of connection increases so does the bit rate, there is zero issue there.

Main issue is with the content and the DRM

 

[wizardofid]

Okay very nice from MTN. Contacted me via PM to try and resolve some issues.Definitely looking forward to the explanations with regards to issues raised on content and the DRM.

 

[RichardG]

Only issue I have experienced on MTN FrontRow, certain things will play while other content isn't playable on my device. It would be nice to log out of the app occasionally.

 

[wizardofid]

I still haven't received any additional, from MTN, so colour me surprised. However some further digging I have gotten even more annoyed.I have found that some series, has episodes split into 2 seasons, which should actually be one season, example below.I generally wiki series, before watching, to see if it is worth my time.

https://www.mtnfrontrow.com/#/details/VU_SERIES_5377697463686564204174204269727468

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched_at_Birth_(TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Switched_at_Birth_episodes#Season_1_.282011.E2.80.9312.29

They split the seasons into 2 and labeled the release as 2013, which is false, plus the episodes they have exactly correspond to season 1 episodes. This may be a simple error on their part, but you would expect that they check that content listings are correct.Not sure if it is intentional or a simple error.

 

[wizardofid]

While I am still using the service, I have been providing them with feedback, but honestly the response is a bit of a joke.
In red my comments, regards to their feedback

Thank you for your comprehensive feedback, which is most valuable to us and our partners.



We are continuously working on ways of improving VU's service and content offering to meet customer demands - as everyone has their own opinions about content, especially when comparing with other services, we'll never make everyone happy but we certainly will try!



With regards to the App, Android 4.1 is supported even though 4.0.3/4.0.4 was discontinued when we upgraded the player, as the Android Native player was no longer supported by our Secure DRM Agent. Before embarking on the player change, we researched and found that globally less than 5% use Android 4.0.3/4, although acknowledge this may be higher in Africa.

15.3. Supported Android devices:

- Phone: Samsung Galaxy S3 - 4.3
- Phone: Samsung Galaxy S4 - 4.4.2
- Tablet: Lenovo Yoga - 4.4

NOTE: Check for regular app updates in the Google Play store for the best user experience. Android only supports 4.1 and up. Android 4.0.3/4.0.4 is no longer supported due to discontinuation of Android native player support.

This still has not been corrected 4.1 is no longer supported this has been confirmed by discover digital, as my device is running 4.1.2. Which means the website has still not been updated after having pointed it out, as far as I am aware 4.3 is about the lowest supported firmware.

Yet services like hulu, hbo go, netflix ect support firmware's from as early as 4.0.3


Regarding rooted devices, this is a Hollywood studio requirement, which we are obligated to check to determine if the device is rooted.

While this may be the case, there isn't a common standard among android support with some VOD services, and yet DRM can be deployed without affecting whether or not a device is rooted.


Procurement of content is acquired within an allocated budget / licence constraints, which is the same for all VOD platforms. We are actively looking at increasing our content library to have a greater selection for all market segments. Increased marketing and PR activities would certainly raise the general awareness of VU's valuable content. VU has a huge competitor advantage considering Netflix and Showmax as neither have a TVOD (Transaction Video on Demand) or pay as you go rental only package, with the latest cinematic releases available on VU 3 months after their theatrical release date. While VIDI does have a TVOD offer, MTN’s VU is the only representing all six major studios – namely Warner, Fox, Universal, Paramount, Disney and Sony. Another significant value ad is that VU has the 1st run exclusive rights to Black Sails and Power, which is updated 24 hours after the new season goes live in the USA as well as Survivors Remorse. (Black Sails season 3 is available form 24 January where only Season 1 is currently on DSTV, which makes for a compelling box set offer). Some other content highlights is the BBC catalogue with titles such as Luther and Sherlock.

You have been around for more than a year and there has been barely any growth content wise, or exclusive content increase.Survivors remorse and black sails is hardly enough to pull users, 10 or 15 exclusive shows would be considered decent pull power, honestly second tier shows, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor's_Remorse, viewership barely surpass 300 000 views per episode.

You would be better off with shows like Outlander and ASH vs evil dead from starz. There is a lack of targeting specific audiences, demo graphics ect. There seems to be a lack of any sort or proper market research with regards to which shows, it's lack luster to say the least, there is simply a bit of that a bit of this and voila a VOD service, while I agree budget constrains is definitely an issue, more isn't always better, but the quality of the shows needs to be. You can definitely do better than survivors remorse or black sails.Especially from a small cable network like starz.

While I definitely have no issues with ABC as their programming is definitely a step up from starz with exceptions like outlander and ash vs evil dead.BBC programming to say the least is lack luster.To imply you are competitive in the market is a bit of a joke considering your are speaking to an informed consumer that is more clued up with what is going on in your own company than you do, point android support that you still under the impression that android 4.1 is supported.

While it clear your are pushing new release and rentals above, as that is where you make your money, neglecting subscribers who are interested more in series is being shoved to one side, Maxvu is what makes the boat float and the rental section is what makes it move forward.Want to be different get top notch series, I will be happy to pay rental fee for a series like ash vs evil dead if the budget constrains is troubling.

It is going to be forward thinking and doing some thing unique that is going to see you through the next year as netflix and showmax compete in gaining viewers, because honestly your not even remotely close to getting to the starting blocks, clients will be dropping like flies, and before you know it would you will be like altech node out in cold wondering why you got thrown out the door.


We have noted your comments regarding the select titles without season endings, which we can’t always guarantee will have subsequent seasons at the beginning of a new show but will certainly note this with longer running shows that have been discontinued. We are also investigating the UI filtering / search function to make sure titles are sitting in the correct carousels/folders. We do have Family Films and Kids Series in their own category under the burger menu. There would not be enough 'teen' content to have a fixed category right now. Good for future consideration. Lastly, Anime content is something our acquisitions team have actually looked to have on the service so hopefully this will be available in the future.

Actually Kyle XY was cancelled on March 16, 2009 when this service wasn't even likely being planned, Alphas cancelled January 16, 2013, Stargate Universe cancelled April 17, 2011, Intelligence cancelled May 10, 2014 there is more but you get the point, most of the cancelled shows you are showing was cancelled way before this service was started, so no excuse you weren't aware that it has been cancelled.The fact that you are taking me for a fool, that I have not done my home to make the accusation that you get cancelled shows for a dime and call it progress.You know it I know it, these shows was picked up because it was cheap to do so, don't ever take me for a fool or a ill informed consumer.

Your saying you can't guarantee that news shows will not be cancelled ?. You have 3 2015 shows, all from starz power, survivor remorse, and black sails, that is the only 3 current shows you have listed, the rest is all 2014 or is seasons ahead or the actual series has been completed and is on a second run on TV networks. House finished in 2012 you only have 2 seasons, and likely that months before the rest of it will be added or if at all.Stargate Atlantis finished eons ago, but you also managed to show the first 3 season then it vanished shortly afterwards.What about stargate SG1 you didn't bother showing that, while it hasn't direct continuity on the stargate universe or atlantis, lots of recurring characters appear in those two, who first appeared in SG1.


Lastly, another big plus with VU that is not fully grasped, is that MTN provides the unique offer of free mobile data when using and streaming VU from a device with a MTN prepaid or contract sim card. This means that even if you are with another network, you can purchase a MTN sim and stream VU for free whenever you wish to watch.

So mweb giving 3 months showmax subcription and 3 months free adsl albeit you have to sign a 24 month odd contract isn't going to steal some clients away. ? Free data isn't going to win clients over, quality of the shows however will, considering most potential clients will have uncapped ADSL and is 1000 x cheaper than mobile data makes the impact of offering free streaming data a moot point.What happens in the event if vodacom partners up with netflix and they have every intention of getting some like that done and offer free data.

I am honestly surprised that you take me for a ill informed consumer.



Once again, we appreciate your valuable feedback and have taken your points into consideration to expand and improve on the service and support. We're confident that you will see further improvements in due course.



Many thanks again,



Kind regards,

Sharon Mould

Seriously disgusted, while I have no ADSL, I have no choice I am stuck with this service, if I want some sort of entertainment legally, without costing an arm and leg.