Paramount+ Paramount+ Streaming Service (Formerly CBS All Access) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I will do the one year subscription if the discount matches up with how frequently I watch. For Disney+, paying for a year in advance is equal to paying ten months individually, and our household probably enjoys new content on that service about ten out of twelve months, so that made sense. On the other hand, there’s almost nothing on HBO Max we watch regularly, so now that they’re not doing the new Warner movies day and date with theatrical, we’ve canceled and will re-up when there is something we want to see.

It works for me. Otherwise what happens is that I’ll spend way too much time scrolling through offerings trying to find things to justify the subscription, and I’ll waste time watching things that I’m not that interested in just because I have the service. And that just doesn’t make sense for someone like me with limited viewing time and a huge library of my own movies and shows. For viewers who are more interesting in just putting something on and that it’s new is the most important consideration, a different approach than mine would make more sense for them.

 

[Todd Erwin]

This is the one service I haven't even given a thought of subscribing to.

Is there anything even worth watching on Paramount+?

Yes and no. There is a lot of older Miramax and Paramount movies, CBS TV shows, etc. Original programming is hit or miss, not just new Star Trek series. I'd say give it a try with their current trial offer, but go with the ad-free trial ($2/month for 3 months) and see if there is anything that interests you. Apple TV 4K devices appear to be the only streaming device that does not have an issue with the service. Roku users lost 4K HDR capability last December (P+ blames Roku's OS update that coincidentally rolled out at the same time, but I say that's just a cop out, as I do not have that issue with any other streaming service on my Roku 4K-capable devices), and Samsung smart TV users who use the app on their TV have been having random DRM issues with content for almost as long as the Roku issue.

 

[jayembee]

This is the one service I haven't even given a thought of subscribing to.

Is there anything even worth watching on Paramount+?

That depends on what one is interested in.

(1) The various Star Trek shows are the obvious first mention, though there are certainly mixed reactions even among fans. Given that their current scheduling plan seems to be to have one Trek show or another on every week of the year, it's a good deal for those who like them.

(2) For people who are Taylor Sheridan junkies, there's Mayor of Kingstown and 1883. The latter was a fabulous post-modern Western, unlike Sheridan's extremely popular Yellowstone, which is more of a contemporary Western-adjacent soap opera. Paramount is flagellating themselves for not retaining the streaming rights to Yellowstone (Peacock has 'em), but the show had been airing on the Paramount Network (cable) before they went all-in on the Paramount+ streaming platform. And because Yellowstone is such a hit, every spin-off from it (like 1883) will go to P+.

(3) The Good Fight is excellent. Or at least, the first season is. My wife and I watched it (before getting CBS AA) when CBS showed it during the summer one year. We haven't gotten around to watching the following seasons yet (too much to watch, too little time to watch it in).

And I'm going to at least check out Halo when it starts. I'm not a gamer, but I'm willing to give a series based on it a try.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

That depends on what one is interested in.

(1) The various Star Trek shows are the obvious first mention, though there are certainly mixed reactions even among fans. Given that their current scheduling plan seems to be to have one Trek show or another on every week of the year, it's a good deal for those who like them.

Yep.

(3) The Good Fight is excellent. Or at least, the first season is. My wife and I watched it (before getting CBS AA) when CBS showed it during the summer one year. We haven't gotten around to watching the following seasons yet (too much to watch, too little time to watch it in).

The 1st season or two were clearly best, and it definitely seemed to get progressively worse... although IMHO the latest season is definitely a fair bit better than the one that ended at the beginning of the pandemic -- well, you might have to overlook the patchwork-ish way/style they sorta cobbled together the 1st (recap mode) episode of the latest season for its attempt at bringing things up-to-date since the beginning of the pandemic (after the long-ish hiatus)...

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I just canceled my subscription today, and did not receive any offer to extend at a discount. Did you receive this offer immediately when you attempted to cancel, or did it come later?

Oh, well, if I don't receive a reduced price offer, I can do without the service. It's not worth $99 a year to me.

It was during the (multi-step?) cancelation process just before I would confirm canceling, not after.

That was also back in Jan right around when there were other offers (across the various services) as well IIRC, so maybe they don't offer that anymore (for now)... or maybe they'll offer again at some point soon-ish since I just got another (extension) offer from HBO Max -- I imagine the various streaming services (other than Netflix, Amazon Prime and maybe Disney+) may keep competing w/ offers to gain/keep subscribers for the foreseeable future perhaps until one or two falls out or something given how the streaming business is going perhaps especially because of this pandemic...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

Paramount+ has now acknowledged the issue with 4K HDR playback (or the lack thereof) on all capable Roku devices and TVs is related to Roku OS 10.5, and that the issue will likely not get resolved until the next major Roku OS update, expected in the next 2-3 months (which, if you have ever waited for a Roku update to become available on your device once the rollout is publicly announced, could take an additional 2-3 months).

What makes no sense about that statement is that I do not have these issues on my Roku devices on Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV+, Vudu, Movies Anywhere, Prime Video, etc.

A supervisor at Paramount+ customer service called me this morning (at 7am!) to once again apologize for the 4K HDR issue, but re-iterated that, according to the notes his tech team provided to him, Paramount+ is still waiting for Roku to release an update to their OS to fix the issue.

I reminded him that:

1. Per Roku, Paramount+ is responsible for maintaining their own "channel" or app on the Roku platform.
2. I do not have this issue on any of the other streaming services that offer 4K HDR on my Roku devices, such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Vudu, Apple TV+, Movies Anywhere, and Prime Video. So either those services had a fix in place prior to the Roku update being installed on my devices, or the new update is not at fault.
3. Back in November, when I signed up for HBO Max and installed it on my Amazon Firestick, I encountered this same issue right after Amazon pushed a new firmware update. While HBO Max admitted that it was likely that Amazon's update did something to cause the issue, HBO Max had a fix in place within days after I contacted them. So, why are the developers at Paramount+ whining about wanting Roku to fix an issue that is Paramount's responsibility?

He told me that he would relay the issue back to the tech team, the same group of people who sent me the following e-mail with troubleshooting steps they actually believed would resolve the issue:

Dear Todd,

Thank you for contacting Paramount+. First we would like to apologize for the delay in our response. We are sorry you are experiencing this issue and would love to assist.

After reviewing your case and account, we are seeing that your streaming has been restored.

Please refer to the following steps:
1. Ensure you are using the 2.4GHz network as most Roku devices run better on this network.
2. When viewing, click the (*) option button on the Remote and ensure Volume mode is turned off.
3. Also, ensure the bandwidth saver is off by going to settings>>network>>bandwidth saver>>off.
4. If these steps do not work, try changing your resolution settings on the Roku to 720p versus 1080p.
-Setting >> Display type.

If after completing the above steps you are still having issues with streaming, just reply to this email.

Regards,

Shannel

Paramount+ Customer Support Tier 2 Agent

"There is a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle; it's just a matter of finding it." — Captain Jean-Luc Picard

 

[JohnRice]

A supervisor at Paramount+ customer service called me this morning (at 7am!) to once again apologize for the 4K HDR issue, but re-iterated that, according to the notes his tech team provided to him, Paramount+ is still waiting for Roku to release an update to their OS to fix the issue.

I reminded him that:

1. Per Roku, Paramount+ is responsible for maintaining their own "channel" or app on the Roku platform.
2. I do not have this issue on any of the other streaming services that offer 4K HDR on my Roku devices, such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Vudu, Apple TV+, Movies Anywhere, and Prime Video. So either those services had a fix in place prior to the Roku update being installed on my devices, or the new update is not at fault.
3. Back in November, when I signed up for HBO Max and installed it on my Amazon Firestick, I encountered this same issue right after Amazon pushed a new firmware update. While HBO Max admitted that it was likely that Amazon's update did something to cause the issue, HBO Max had a fix in place within days after I contacted them. So, why are the developers at Paramount+ whining about wanting Roku to fix an issue that is Paramount's responsibility?

He told me that he would relay the issue back to the tech team, the same group of people who sent me the following e-mail with troubleshooting steps they actually believed would resolve the issue:


View attachment 130074

This is rather common spin. Paramount is responsible for the app, so they claim the fault is with the OS. Roku is responsible for the OS, so they claim the fault is with the app.

 

[Todd Erwin]

This is rather common spin. Paramount is responsible for the app, so they claim the fault is with the OS. Roku is responsible for the OS, so they claim the fault is with the app.

But it is their troubleshooting steps that really get me in a lather. Drop the resolution to 720p so I can get 4K HDR?

 

[JohnRice]

But it is their troubleshooting steps that really get me in a lather. Drop the resolution to 720p so I can get 4K HDR?

Yeah, I know. They have a script they follow, and clearly they have no stinking idea what they're talking about. The sad thing is that's the 2nd tier "support".

 

[JohnRice]

Besides, if you're having 4K problems, setting it to 720 WILL prevent any problems resulting from trying to get 4K. What's the big deal?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

A supervisor at Paramount+ customer service called me this morning (at 7am!) to once again apologize for the 4K HDR issue, but re-iterated that, according to the notes his tech team provided to him, Paramount+ is still waiting for Roku to release an update to their OS to fix the issue.

I reminded him that:

1. Per Roku, Paramount+ is responsible for maintaining their own "channel" or app on the Roku platform.
2. I do not have this issue on any of the other streaming services that offer 4K HDR on my Roku devices, such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Vudu, Apple TV+, Movies Anywhere, and Prime Video. So either those services had a fix in place prior to the Roku update being installed on my devices, or the new update is not at fault.
3. Back in November, when I signed up for HBO Max and installed it on my Amazon Firestick, I encountered this same issue right after Amazon pushed a new firmware update. While HBO Max admitted that it was likely that Amazon's update did something to cause the issue, HBO Max had a fix in place within days after I contacted them. So, why are the developers at Paramount+ whining about wanting Roku to fix an issue that is Paramount's responsibility?

He told me that he would relay the issue back to the tech team, the same group of people who sent me the following e-mail with troubleshooting steps they actually believed would resolve the issue:


View attachment 130074

Beyond what John (and you) subsequently pointed out, did that tech support CSR really include that Picard quote in her/his sig???

"There is a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle; it's just a matter of finding it." — Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Seems like he/she (or very likely that whole CSR dept and their higher-ups) doesn't understand the concept of eliminating completely irrational, pointless avenues, approaches, etc to make finding a real solution actually realistically possible, LOL... But I guess that's why she/he's just doing such rote, scripted CSR support instead of engineering something actually useful, good... or God forbid, truly critical, like a microwave (or a smartphone!) that won't blow up or catch fire... or an airplane... or Federation starship warp drive or interstellar peace treaty or some such, LOL...

_Man_

 

[Desslar]

Hmm... pretty weak classic TV selection. The only thing I'd want to watch is Hawaii Five-O.

I might subscribe if they added CBS TV stuff that is hard to get elsewhere like Switch, The Amazing Spider-man ('77), Enos, Cover Up, Houston Knights, The Hat Squad, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, etc.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

But it is their troubleshooting steps that really get me in a lather. Drop the resolution to 720p so I can get 4K HDR?

I liked the suggestion "Ensure you are using the 2.4GHz network as most Roku devices run better on this network" even better.

Vendors love to point the finger at someone else when there is a technical issue. I had to deal with that for over a quarter of a century in healthcare IT. A vendor would design a crap application, blame our network when the application had issues, and I had to waste a lot of resources proving the vendor wrong. And some of the vendor "suggestions" were even more ludicrous than what Paramount is suggesting. One vendor of a point of sale system claimed their application was freezing because we did not have shielded wiring to the cash registers (nobody in North America uses shielded station wiring, and we were transmitting diagnostic-quality digital imaging over these same wires).

 

[Todd Erwin]

I liked the suggestion "Ensure you are using the 2.4GHz network as most Roku devices run better on this network" even better.

If you have an eero mesh network, you do not have that option, as eero does not differentiate easily between 2.4 and 5 GHz.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Yeah, I know. They have a script they follow, and clearly they have no stinking idea what they're talking about. The sad thing is that's the 2nd tier "support".

Sadly, that is not the first time their second tier team has sent me bizarre troubleshooting steps for an issue in the four years I have been a subscriber (off and on). My very first contact with them was when they were CBS All Access, and I was inquiring about 5.1 audio support. No one on the front lines could answer my question, so they kicked it over to the next level. Two hours later, I receive an e-mail from Tier 2 telling me that they support "standard definition audio and sound" on all programs.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If you have an eero mesh network, you do not have that option, as eero does not differentiate easily between 2.4 and 5 GHz.

You shouldn't need to cripple your Roku by forcing it to 2.4GHz anyway. Their devices work fine on a 5GHz wireless network. It was as bad of a troubleshooting suggestion as changing your resolution to 720p. Whomever on Paramount's technical team is coming up with these suggestions has no clue how things work.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Whomever on Paramount's technical team is coming up with these suggestions has no clue how things work.

That is very obvious with all of the frequent glitches the service has across all platforms.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I received this e-mail today from their Tier 2 Support:

Dear Todd,

Thank you for responding with your feedback. We apologize for the delay and for not providing a timely resolution for streaming issues faced on your Roku TV. Please be assured your issue has been escalated to our senior technical support team and they are working diligently with Roku TV manufacturers to resolve this. We believe this issue is affecting more than one subscriber so we will update you accordingly.

In the meantime, please try to stream Paramount+ on any other supported devices from this article: www.help.paramountplus.com/s/article/PD-I-m-an-existing-subscriber-How-can-I-watch-Paramount-on-my-connected-device .

We appreciate your continued understanding and patience on this matter!

Regards,

Kanal

Paramount+ Customer Support Tier 2 Agent
Young Sheldon always puts me in a good mood

I have told them multiple times that my issue is on a Roku device, not a Roku TV. And that link goes to a page that does not exist.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I received this e-mail today from their Tier 2 Support:


I have told them multiple times that my issue is on a Roku device, not a Roku TV. And that link goes to a page that does not exist.

Feels like you could really use a smack-my-head (or maybe rather visceral smack-their-heads!), not just shake-my-head, emoji when responding to them, LOL...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

And they sent another one today! Was there a sudden drop in IQ at customer support?

Dear Todd,

Thank you for contacting Paramount+! We apologize for the delay and any inconvenience you have experienced streaming. After reviewing your case, we would like for you to try these steps to fix the issue:

1. Ensure you are using the 2.4GHz WiFi network as most Roku devices run better on this network.
2. When viewing, click the (*) option button on the Remote and ensure Volume mode is turned off
3. Also, ensure the bandwidth saver is off by going to Settings> Network > Bandwidth saver > Off
4. If these steps do not work, try changing your resolution settings on the Roku to 720p versus 1080p (FYI: this will not work on Roku TVs with built in Roku as there is no option to change the resolution settings)

Finally, if none of these steps resolve the issue, you could be experiencing this due to insufficient memory on the device as many Rokus offer limited storage and no way to tell if storage is getting full. The only way to resolve this would be to perform a factory reset on the device. If steps 1-4 do not resolve this issue, please try resetting the Roku back to factory settings to resolve this issue.

If that doesn't work and you're still having trouble, simply reply to this email and we'll be happy to help!

Regards,

Kameron J.

Paramount+ Customer Support Tier 2 Agent

I just spent the whole weekend binging Love Island

Or was it due to the fact he binged Love Island?