The BT Community forum and Moderators

VisionmanVisionman Posts: 9,536Member ✭✭✭
in Community
I see the moderators on the forum have changed their contact details again.

Once, anyone could just send them an email. Then it was restricted to just Community members. Now its been restricted to 'Please avoid contacting us (moderators) via private message, for account/fault issues, unless invited to do so.'

Does anyone know why?

The thread I was reading was about the fact new 4K customers from the 8th March no longer get a T4000 1TB box but are supplied with a new 500GB one. Though faulty 1TBs will be replaced with a like-for-like.
https://community.bt.com/t5/YouView-from-BT/When-did-BT-reduce-the-capacity-of-the-YouView-4K-box/td-p/1945811 

Comments

  • robotmanrobotman Posts: 152Member ✭
    edited 6 June 2019, 11:43PM
    No help I'm afraid as I don't know why it changed and I haven't been on there for about 7 or 8 months now but it had already changed back then to 'invitation only' contact. 

    Re the 4K box. As a new sign up to 4K I got one of the 500GB boxes which looks slightly different to the previous 1TB box. The yellow Youview logo has gone. The front upper centre of the box now has the BT logo, with 4K written in the bottom centre (it may be '4K TV' or something similar on the lower front, I'm not at home tonight to check).
    Dipping in and out. More out than in :D
  • scottscott Posts: 2,007Member ✭✭✭
    edited 7 June 2019, 7:39AM

    The reason given is as below (read 'to save money')

    'the TV team have advised us this was due to the way customers are now using the boxes to stream more content rather than record. I've copied a statement that was realised around the time the changes were brought in. 

    “The box is a reduction in memory size but customers will still be able to enjoy the BT TV experience and new customers will have the ability to record up to 300 hours of their favourite TV shows. Consumer behaviour is changing and BT TV customers are streaming more premium content than ever before from Netflix and Amazon Prime. BT remains the only set-top box provider giving customers the ability to watch both, as well as giving them access to using on-demand content such as BBC iPlayer.”'

    Maybe they are now saving the 1Tb for a HDR box ;)


  • RoyRoy Posts: 15,249Member ✭✭✭
    edited 7 June 2019, 8:11AM
    scott said:

    The reason given is as below (read 'to save money')

    'the TV team have advised us this was due to the way customers are now using the boxes to stream more content rather than record. I've copied a statement that was realised around the time the changes were brought in. 

    “The box is a reduction in memory size but customers will still be able to enjoy the BT TV experience and new customers will have the ability to record up to 300 hours of their favourite TV shows. Consumer behaviour is changing and BT TV customers are streaming more premium content than ever before from Netflix and Amazon Prime. BT remains the only set-top box provider giving customers the ability to watch both, as well as giving them access to using on-demand content such as BBC iPlayer.”'

    Maybe they are now saving the 1Tb for a HDR box ;)


    And no wonder they are pushing towards full NowTV.

    The new mantra seems to be ‘YouView - the streaming box that can also record’

    Except that ‘YouView’ seems to be becoming an unword for BT - firstly removed from the remotes, and now from the newer 4K boxes  :|
    This might at last be getting back to the YouView that I knew.  :|
    Holding my breath....
  • robotmanrobotman Posts: 152Member ✭
    edited 7 June 2019, 8:45AM
    There's a picture of the new box, the one I received, here https://community.bt.com/t5/YouView-from-BT/When-did-BT-reduce-the-capacity-of-the-YouView-4K-box/td-p/1945811/page/2 and as can be seen, no use of the word 'Youview' anymore.
    Dipping in and out. More out than in :D
  • scottscott Posts: 2,007Member ✭✭✭
    edited 7 June 2019, 9:08AM

    Seems especially strange as BT have just made a big point of saying the NowTV channels will be recordable, I know the non-4k boxes were always 500Gb but to retrospectively drop the storage with supposedly more recordable content coming seems very odd.

    https://www.btplc.com/News/#/pressreleases/sky-and-bt-extend-partnership-in-uk-and-ireland-2786026

    'Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer unit, said: “This extension of our partnership with Sky is great news for our customers, and is part of our commitment to provide our customers with the best service and content available. As part of this deal, Sky customers in Ireland will get access to great BT Sport content, and BT TV customers in the UK will be able to seamlessly watch and record their favourite NOW TV channels.”'

    Changing the UltraHD sign to 4kUHD is sensible as different people know it slightly differently but dropping the YouView is a strange decision.

  • robotmanrobotman Posts: 152Member ✭
    edited 7 June 2019, 9:14AM
    @scott
    In your earlier post where you quoted BT, they say the 500GB boxes allow customers to record up to 300 hours of their favourite TV shows. That's all well and good if the customer is recording SD content. @zulu17 advises a change (in the thread I linked to) to the answer for the question "How many programmes can I record on my BT TV box"? to be "The 4K recordable TV box from BT also comes with a 500GB hard drive. This will store up to 300 hours of Standard Definition (SD) TV, 125 hours in High Definition (HD), and 30 hours in Ultra HD (UHD)" to reflect this change for new customers.
    When I changed from the "Max HD" to the "4K" package I wasn't made aware of the limitations for new UHD customers. To be honest though it doesn't bother me that much as I also use a Freesat pvr and can & do record programmes on both devices depending on content/channel. 

    **EDIT** BT announced in October that NowTV would be recordable and I assume (but could be wrong) these new boxes went into circulation after that time?!?  
    Dipping in and out. More out than in :D
  • stereohavenstereohaven Posts: 60Member ✭
    edited 7 June 2019, 12:16PM
    robotman said:
    There's a picture of the new box, the one I received, here https://community.bt.com/t5/YouView-from-BT/When-did-BT-reduce-the-capacity-of-the-YouView-4K-box/td-p/1945811/page/2 and as can be seen, no use of the word 'Youview' anymore.
    That image took me longer than I thought it would to find on good old Google, no sign of it anywhere BT related, ironically it was someone selling one on Gumtree that provided that pic!  :D
  • robotmanrobotman Posts: 152Member ✭
    @scott
    I tried to find it last night so as to be able to give a correct explanation of the changes to the front of the box but I gave up trying  :D My intention then was to post up a photo of my own box this evening when I got home, thankfully you've saved me that little bit of hassle  :)
    Dipping in and out. More out than in :D
  • scottscott Posts: 2,007Member ✭✭✭
    The thanks for the image goes to @stereohaven I only have the old version with the yellow and YouView signage. I never even knew that had changed till I saw that picture.
  • scottscott Posts: 2,007Member ✭✭✭
    Interestingly the box and leaflet on my spare box show the same picture but the box still has the old signage. Presume your new actual box has the same signage as on the box (unlike mine).


  • DarrenDarren Posts: 291Member ✭✭
    I just feel in general that BT as well as Youview as a whole is starting to fall behind the like of Sky and Virgin tech wise and this is a backwards step by BT I feel to downgrade there newer Youview 4K box from 1tb to 500gb.

    Darren
  • RoyRoy Posts: 15,249Member ✭✭✭
    Saves them maybe £10. Doesn’t make sense.
    This might at last be getting back to the YouView that I knew.  :|
    Holding my breath....
  • robotmanrobotman Posts: 152Member ✭
    @scott My box has the same signage as the booklet, no yellow 'Youview' sticker.
    Dipping in and out. More out than in :D
  • VisionmanVisionman Posts: 9,536Member ✭✭✭
    Roy said:
    Saves them maybe £10. Doesn’t make sense.

    The logic they stated was people are streaming more and more and recording less and less. But for the sake of £10? Why not give customers both? Daft move.
  • VisionmanVisionman Posts: 9,536Member ✭✭✭
    I read a report from BARB recently that stated the majority of TVs sold today are 4K, as manufacturers are producing virtually no large screen HD units and 4K will eventually become the norm. Indeed it may have already happened.
  • GoodbyeGoodbye Posts: 336Time out ✭
    In that case the 4k content had better get a move on. It still aspires to hard to find.
  • RoyRoy Posts: 15,249Member ✭✭✭
    Goodbye said:
    In that case the 4k content had better get a move on. It still aspires to hard to find.
    Apart from Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube, and UHD discs, you mean?
    This might at last be getting back to the YouView that I knew.  :|
    Holding my breath....
  • GoodbyeGoodbye Posts: 336Time out ✭
    Terrestrial 

  • VisionmanVisionman Posts: 9,536Member ✭✭✭
    edited 9 June 2019, 8:29AM
    Goodbye said:
    Terrestrial 
    Terrestrial? No, PSBs have the option of the internet for that and it has the bandwidth to do it.
  • GoodbyeGoodbye Posts: 336Time out ✭
    Maybe the upcoming Britbox will give us access then to popular terrestrial TV programs. Which was the point that the Roymester once again missed. 
  • VisionmanVisionman Posts: 9,536Member ✭✭✭
    edited 9 June 2019, 1:36PM
    No need to have a pop. Anyway Britbox has been delayed for BBC iPlayer reasons. Which has caused ITV fall out with the BBC. But with 3 Billion iPlayer requests per year its no surprise the BBC want change (subject to approval) of content available up to 1 year and more rights access.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/progs_avail
  • RoyRoy Posts: 15,249Member ✭✭✭
    Goodbye said:
    Terrestrial 

    Oh, that explains it then. You are looking in completely the wrong place.
    This might at last be getting back to the YouView that I knew.  :|
    Holding my breath....
  • RoyRoy Posts: 15,249Member ✭✭✭
    Goodbye said:
    Maybe the upcoming Britbox will give us access then to popular terrestrial TV programs. Which was the point that the Roymester once again missed. 
    Chasing butterflies is bad enough. I’m not going to go chasing caterpillars that don’t even show any signs of pupating yet.....
    This might at last be getting back to the YouView that I knew.  :|
    Holding my breath....
  • VisionmanVisionman Posts: 9,536Member ✭✭✭
    YouView, Freeview Play and Freesat, plus players. PSBs already have plenty of options.

    But Britbox? I get that its envisaged as a subscription service and is an idea I agree with, but it may never get off the ground. 
  • VisionmanVisionman Posts: 9,536Member ✭✭✭
    edited 9 June 2019, 4:22PM
    To go back to the first part of my observation - does anyone know why the BT Care Team has decided to become closed and non-contactable unless invited?
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