Downloading From a Streaming Service and Adding to my TV Library?

[NateRichardson]

Right now I use a TiVo to get cable TV and record shows. If I want to save a show, I use cTivo to connect to my TiVo and download to my Mac and add to my Apple TV library.

if I were to move to a streaming service instead, say YouTube or Hulu, would I be able to download a show from the online archive they would create for me? I don’t mean download to their offline app, I mean get a .mp4 file on my Mac that I could add to my library? You know, the traditional Rip, Mix, Burn approach that Steve advocated.

 

[pmiles]

No. Those are viewing services only. You aren't buying content to watch. There are some services that sell content as well as stream it however these are often in proprietary formats.

Reality is, the days of actually owning content is coming to a close. All those video libraries that you have cultivated over the years will soon be obsolete. Yes it's nice to be able to watch something when you want for free, but the vast majority of people don't care to store terabytes of content on a NAS for later viewing anymore. They figure they can just spend $5 for a month and binge what they want, when they want. No storage, no hassles.

The days of ripping DVDs et al are going away because the media itself is going away. Remember vinyl records were a thing way back when, now they are a novelty. Novelties aren't convenient nor are they compatible with the latest technologies. Who doesn't have at least a 4K HDR TV these days? Those 720p recordings of old TV shows don't translate so well. Forget the fact that any recording you make relies on technology to allow you to watch it in the future. Your ability to watch said content is at the mercy of the makers of the software... Apple could just drop support for such things on a whim and then you would have no way to watch it anymore... hence the rise of streaming only services.

 

[NateRichardson]

Thanks, so I will stick with my current solution.

And yes, I have taken steps to ensure I never lose my library. It is not dependent upon tech company choices.

 

[priitv8]

Technical readyness should be there (a-la DVDFab StreamFab), plus you need your paid account to log in to the service.
But the rest of the legal side of its use might be on the grey if not on the dark side.

 

[NateRichardson]

Technical readyness should be there (a-la DVDFab StreamFab), plus you need your paid account to log in to the service.
But the rest of the legal side of its use might be on the grey if not on the dark side.

They are my files, I created them as Steve Jobs suggested. If current rules say it’s wrong, so be it.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

if I were to move to a streaming service instead, say YouTube or Hulu, would I be able to download a show from the online archive they would create for me? I don’t mean download to their offline app, I mean get a .mp4 file on my Mac that I could add to my library?

Legally? No. Not so legally, of course. The pirate scene Usenet and otherwise is well and alive.

 

[NateRichardson]

Legally? No. Not so legally, of course. The pirate scene Usenet and otherwise is well and alive.

I know, but I never do that. I simply record on my own device, save to my computer, and only watch it myself. I do not share what I record. And I do respect copyright holder’s rights by not using such services as you mention.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

I know, but I never do that. I simply record on my own device, save to my computer, and only watch it myself. I do not share what I record. And I do respect copyright holder’s rights by not using such services as you mention.

I wasn't implying sharing to others, sorry. What I meant was "ripping" the stream which you legally subscribed to to an offline medium such as NAS or local computer. So you're only watching what you already subscribed to (legally), but you do it not via your internet connection but a file you've stored somewhere. The latter is either illegal as you're not allowed to store content or it's a grey area depending on what country you're in and tools required are not made publicly available.

So in the end what I meant to say was, the tools you need to "rip/record" streams (Netflix, Amazon, AppleTV, Disney+, whatever) to your local machine exist. You just can't download them anywhere public and since all of these tools remove some type of encryption/copy protection, they're not exactly legal (again, might depend on the country).