Channel Issues & Questions

[daphniesman04]

We have a first gen roku. My church is currently using vimeo and sling studio to broadcast our live church services to Facebook, our church website, and to vimeo. We were told originally all we had to do was watch live service on the roku with the YouTube app. Well, that isnt true with the set up they are using, they are not able to view live feeds, only past recordings.
Ok, so then they told us we could download the vimeo app for roku and watch it live on roku. Well, that hasn't worked neither. I contacted vimeo support and they say you can no longer view "live events as they are taking place". Only past recordings, on a connected device such as roku. But, they are saying that we could watch it on the roku if there were an web browser installed on the roku. Or by casting/mirroring a tablet/mobile device.
Was wondering if anyone had a better recommendation. I know it seems like a lot to ask, but we are trying to figure this out so that out older folks can watch the services from their homes on their tv sets. As opposed to holding a little phone or tablet. Can anyone give any input?

[DBDukes]

"daphniesman04" wrote:
We have a first gen roku. My church is currently using vimeo and sling studio to broadcast our live church services to Facebook, our church website,  and to vimeo. We were told originally all we had to do was watch live service on the roku with the YouTube app. Well,  that isnt true with the set up they are using, they are not able to view live feeds, only past recordings.

Ok, so then they told us we could download the vimeo app for roku and watch it live on roku. Well, that hasn't worked neither.  I contacted vimeo support and they say you can no longer view "live events as they are taking place". Only past recordings, on a connected device such as roku. But, they are saying that we could watch it on the roku if there were an web browser installed on the roku. Or by casting/mirroring a tablet/mobile device.

Was wondering if anyone had a better recommendation. I know it seems like a lot to ask, but we are trying to figure this out so that out older folks can watch the services from their homes on their tv sets. As opposed to holding a little phone or tablet. Can anyone give any input?

First, let me say that my home church streams live on YouTube every Sunday morning. I've watched it on my Roku, and I've set it up on Roku devices for some church members that aren't able to attend services. The concept does indeed work.

Now, regarding your situation, it may be the device you're using. Roku dropped support for first-generation devices in 2015. What model do you have? Include the model number. You see, if you do have a first-generation device, then the YouTube app will not work properly. If you have a newer device (the model number will tell us that) then you may be able to use YouTube to watch live streaming.

Let me address the whole browser question. There aren't browsers for Roku to watch streaming content. Put that thought out of your mind. Whoever told you that isn't familiar enough with Roku, or they misspoke, or you misunderstood what they were saying. Whatever the reason for the confusion, a browser on Roku isn't going to be your solution.

Casting from a phone/tablet to a Roku will be problematic. By default, your mobile device will try to launch YouTube instead of playing it in a browser. If you try to cast from a mobile device to a Roku, it will simply launch the YouTube app on Roku, and you're back where you were to begin with.

Screen mirroring (some people call that "casting") is a possibility, but many report issues doing that. I've never tried, because I have an iPhone, and mirroring required an Android. Additionally, older Android devices won't work, and some newer Android device users report Android 9 (Pie) seems to have remove the functionality or at least changed it to make it (practically) impossible.

So, let's start with your Roku model number and go from there.

[daphniesman04]

I will get you the model/serial number asap. Sorry for not including that info. As far as not playing live on YouTube, the media guy at church will not post live to YouTube. He keeps insisting there is too many music license fees from copyright folks, but I know for a fact, our church has an up to date copyright media license to cover broadcasting. I know it can work I have talked to numerous providers that advertise being able to stream directly to roku as well as Facebook, YouTube, and myriad of others. But he is convinced that sling studio and vimeo is the way to go.
I will leave you with a copy of the support email I received from vimeo while I am getting you the info you requested!

Jordan T. (Vimeo Support)
Thanks for reaching out and sorry for the confusion!
Unfortunately at this time it's not possible to watch Live events on Vimeo app on connected devices, such as a Roku. You can, watch an archived Live event, but not an actively streamed one.
That being said,  streams can be viewed through mobile web browsers on all devices, as well as web browsers on a laptop or computer. Some browsers, such as Samsung Internet, are not equipped with HTML5 video compatibility and will not be able to play your streams. However, most mobile browsers, like Chrome and Safari, will have no problem showing your streams.
One thing to keep in mind: when viewing a profile page via a mobile browser, only uploads and archived live videos will appear and any events currently being streamed live will not, so you may need to provide mobile viewers the direct link to the event.
Viewing is also possible on the Vimeo app. If you have the Vimeo app installed on your mobile device, opening a link to a Vimeo live stream will open the Vimeo app, where you will be able to watch and chat live. Also, unlike mobile browsers, events being streamed live will appear on the profile page when viewed via the Vimeo app.
Please let me know if you have any other questions!

[DBDukes]

"daphniesman04" wrote:
I will get you the model/serial number asap. Sorry for not including that info. As far as not playing live on YouTube,  the media guy at church will not post live to YouTube. He keeps insisting there is too many music license fees from copyright folks, but I know for a fact,  our church has an up to date copyright media license to cover broadcasting.   I know it can work I have talked to numerous providers that advertise being able to stream directly to roku as well as Facebook,  YouTube, and myriad of others. But he is convinced that sling studio and vimeo is the way to go. ...

I misunderstood about not streaming live. I was thinking your church was streaming live but you were unable to watch it live on Roku. My apologies.

I would not begin to know how to address the music license situation, as I'm not involved with my church's streaming process. I'm not even sure who at the church is doing it (the YouTube part), and not sure I even want to get involved with it. I'll suddenly find myself on a committee I don't want to be on, and that's never good.

I'm uncertain what would prevent your church from using multiple outlets for posting services. Posting on Vimeo doesn't preclude posting on YouTube, does it? Still, whatever method or methods may be employed to offer content for streaming, a modern (since 2014) Roku device should be able to handle it.

[daphniesman04]

Seems to me it is a budget issue, honestly. There are four a fact service providers that guarantee their output of our live feed to work with all of these platforms including roku, apple tv, chromecast. I think they are going the lowcost way personally. If they would push it live to YouTube I am sure it wouldwork, (I think), I dont know, I wish I had a chromecast box to tryit on, but I ain't buying one just to see,

[DBDukes]

"daphniesman04" wrote:
Seems to me  it is a budget issue, honestly. There are four a fact service providers that guarantee their output of our live feed to work with all of these platforms including roku, apple tv, chromecast. I think they are going the lowcost way personally.  If they would push it live to YouTube I am sure it wouldwork, (I think), I dont know, I wish I had a chromecast box to tryit on, but I ain't buying one just to see,

If you can see it on the YouTube app on your phone, you can see it on Chromecast. Google makes the YouTube apps, and of course, they make Chromecast.

[atc98092]

My church also streams live services, both to their own web site and YouTube. I have no problem viewing them via YT on any of my Rokus, so it's absolutely possible. I have no idea what you use on the back end to stream to YT, but can inquire if you need further information. 
.
As far as licensing fees, that is accurate if they are streaming the entire service. Streaming the music live absolutely requires the license, unless you are only performing music created but your worship team. That's probably not going to happen. But they could certainly stream the remainder of the service, either muting the audio during any music or just start streaming when the last song ends and stop again before any closing music. My church streams the entire service live, and makes the full service available for a limited time only. An edited version that just includes the message is available after that, with no end cutoff. 

[ghb51]

I don't know anything about this, and  I'm assuming Vimeo knows what they're talking about, but I wonder why Livestream wouldn't work? It's owned by Vimeo, but at least according to the wiki live events can be broadcast on Roku and there is a Livestream Roku app that appears to be a stand alone app separate from the Vimeo app, so it might be worth looking into (if you haven't already).

edit - guess I should have finished reading that first paragraph, Livestream requires a fee to broadcast apparently, which explains why Vimeo doesn't allow live broadcasting.

[daphniesman04]

Thank's to everyone for responding. Basically, I'm not the head of the church media im just a helper, but he's not open to suggestions from me so at this point, I guess we stuck where we are until things change. I know the budget is low right now, but hes spent thousands of dollars on ptz cameras and doing studio equipment and mics and all sort of stuff. To me its foolish to not finish the last mile and get it set up to where its fully compatible with everyone but, I digress. I appreciate the input folks, thank you.

[DBDukes]

Look at it this way: while Vimeo will reach fewer than would YouTube, it will still reach more than not streaming. And, YouTube alone would reach fewer and YouTube and Vimeo combined.

It may not be the most efficient or effective way to “go therefore to all nations,” but it is a start.