Watching Sports and Entertainment on two separate devices

[ChezDavies]

I’ve paid for Entertainment Monthly and also tonight for Sports Day Pass so kids can watch football. Why can’t I watch Entertainment on a separate new device (Samsung TV)? Help!

[schnapps]

Hi @ChezDavies 

You would need the additional Boost Membership or purchased the Day Sports Pass on a different account.

[magician]

Me too.  I had to stop my autisti son from watching Now cinema, so I could watch the football.

It is scandalous when you are paying for two services, that you are only allowed to watch one at any one time, unless you pay an additional fee.

[ChezDavies]

Absolutely agree.

[gavs82008]

@ChezDavies @magician 

As much as I agree reducing the number of streams from 2 to 1 was a bad move by NOW, the idea of separate memberships is for more choice of content. 

If you don't want to pay for boost, which I am currently paying £2 for, you can create another account and just log out/in to the desired account for the relevant membership. 

Personally I rather they introduce profiles than anything else, as this is my biggest pet hate about NOW. Even ITVX when it launches is getting profiles!

[nst]

NOW's entire business model sucks...

Its so uncompetitive.  it will have to change at some point as people will just leave.

What you describe seems totally reasonable to expect - you are paying for 2 separate services - something that NOW themselves have orchestrated i.e. separating them out and charging separately for them... yet you cant with them both at the same time.

This seems very wrong.

I think that you should automatically get as many 'streams' as you have services without needing to pay even more for Boost.

[SweetBlitz]

@nst totally agree. The stream limit gets even more ridiculous when you have a sports mobile pass but you can't watch because there is someone watching on a non-mobile device. Defeats the whole object of it.

I always have at least 2 separate accounts on the go.  Sometimes 3 if I want a sports day pass to ensure the mobile pass is separate. Currently one account has Cinema + Sports + Boost. The other has just Entertainment. I have a now stick for the former and use the fire stick for the latter. 

You should get one stream per pass without having to resort to having separate accounts. 

[nst]

@SweetBlitz 

Yep. One stream automatically allocated per purchased pass. 

I just don’t understand their logic here. You paid for it. You should be able to watch it in that household at the same time if you wanted. 

seems to me that NOW are going to be in serious trouble in the not too distant future. 

if Netflix subscribers are leaving in large numbers then NOW will have to reassess their model and accept they are competing in the same space as Netflix and Disney+ etc and make it competitive both in terms of quality and functionality but also price. 

[RoyB]

@nst 

‘Sorry, another user is watching the Entertainment stream.
Would you like to watch a movie instead?’

[nst]

sorry @RoyB  what is your post meaning to tell me here?

Is this the message you get when you try to watch two of your passes simultaneously without boost?  

Or is this a message you'd like the system to provide to make it clearer whats happening?

Either way I stick to my opinion and that of @SweetBlitz - if you have paid for multiple passes you should be able to watch them both at the same time in the same household.  This is not in my opinion an example of 'multiple simultaneous streams' that should require a boost pass to enable... YES, if you only had the Cinema pass for example and you wanted to stream 2 different movies at the same time then sure... charge away NOW...

But NOT when youve paid for both passes - as I say I think that you should get an automatic 'second stream' for each pass youve purchased.  

The way round is clear and that is as discussed to have different accounts for each pass but what a ridiculous solution that should never have been necessary for this most basic of requests.

[RoyB]

@nst 

The latter, illustrating the sort of situation Now would encounter if your suggestion were implemented, and the sort of message Now would have to put out (and what’s the betting that it wouldn’t be that informative?) 

At least, I presume that you wouldn’t expect the stream granted by the Cinema pass to be used by a second Entertainment watcher, if no-one was watching a movie?

I’m not against your idea at all; just pointing out that it would need careful implementation.

The other thing Now could do would be to let you use the browser on a phone or tablet to swap accounts on a device, the way that BBC iPlayer, and other Players, let you sign in.

Now already have that mechanism, but inexplicably reserve it for new customers, when it could greatly benefit existing customers as well, in both account swap and account logon situations; and Now implementing it would let you have an account for each pass and switch straightforwardly, a S(r)MOP.

[SweetBlitz]

@RoyB that is exactly how it should work.  So if my daughter is watching a movie, it doesn’t stop me watching entertainment.    I would also say sports, but I nearly always have boost with Sports for the 50fps live stream.