how to hide channels of no interest and only see favourites when you change channels ?

[Rockroll01]

we just had Ignite set up and so far so good..... however, we don't like to see unwanted (or unsubscribed) channels while we scroll through..... I know years ago with Rogers we could "hide" channels..... can we do that here ?  assigning favourites doesn't seem to work

[57]

@Rockroll01 : This is not possible with Ignite.  "Surfing" channels hasn't been much fun since digital TV made each channel change a 2-3 second affair. What you can do is set favourites, go to the Guide with your Favourite channels listed and then see what's on those. You can then surf up and down the guide, instead.  You can also hit the channel up button repeatedly and see the information on the next channel and surf past if you don't want to see that programme based on the info, which comes up much faster than a picture.  With the ability to record anything, the need to surf should be in the past, although for some people it's a habit that's difficult to break.

Part of the reason that Rogers includes all the channels when you hit the channel up button is to entice you to subscribe to a channel.

[-G-]

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@Rockroll01 wrote:

we just had Ignite set up and so far so good..... however, we don't like to see unwanted (or unsubscribed) channels while we scroll through..... I know years ago with Rogers we could "hide" channels..... can we do that here ?  assigning favourites doesn't seem to work

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This keeps coming up time and time again.  There are a number of reasons why it would be highly desirable to be able to skip unsubscribed channels when channel surfing with Channel Up/Down.  (See my post here).  Unfortunately, we still don't have any such option.

[mebe]

With digital legacy TV, I Guide Surf quite often because I can see and hear the current content I'm watching (whether it's Live TV, On Demand, or a PVR recording.

Since I use my Favourites guide to find channels (or duplicate channels that I use to avoid back-to-back recording flaws) that I often fail to remember, I mostly do my Guide surfing on the Subscribed (and free) setting. I can quickly go through several days of Guide content, to see if Rogers added free channels that are not part of a scheduled free preview, and also set my recordings.

Guide surfing helps with my FOMO (fear of missing out).

I assumed that Ignite TV let you change the Guide to Subscribed and free channels only, but I can't recall if that's actually possible.

As @57 mentioned, channel surfing through multiple channels is slow and restrictive, when compared to Guide surfing. If I only had the ability to channel surf the "old-fashioned" way, I'd be very annoyed.

[57]

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@mebe wrote: I assumed that Ignite TV let you change the Guide to Subscribed and free channels only, but I can't recall if that's actually possible.

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The IgniteTV guide is very flexible.  It has:

- All channels

- Free to me (subscribed and previews)

- HD Channels

- Favourite Channels

as well as:

- Trending

- Movies

- Sports

- Kids

In addition there is the voice command option where you can say all kinds of things like "what should I watch" and you'll get recommendations based on your past viewing, or you can search for actors, or any other thing you like.

[mebe]

I remember checking the Trending list at the Rogers store, but how flexible is the What Should I Watch function? Can you set it for All channels, or limit it to Only Subscribed or Free channels?

If you can later delete content that you previously watched but disliked, that would make the results more accurate.

Just because I watched two drag races on Fox Sports Racing, and a few episodes of The Queen, doesn't mean I should watch RuPaul's Drag Race.

Alexa ... Besides my weight, what should I watch?

[57]

The "What should I watch" seems to be based on what you watched last.  You can "refresh" that page and it'll give you other recommendations in the same genre.  I don't think it's very "smart", nor does it have any "filters", but some people may like the feature.

[55trucker]

This guide is not as *flexible* as you suggest...I've just recently subscribed to ignite seeing as our landlord has upgraded his bulk Rogers account to ignite......the Guide* ALWAYS defaults to HD channels, if one selects *free to me* the tuner will NOT lock onto that setting &  stay with it. As soon as you back out of the *Guide* one will again be inundated with the subscribe channels once again...go back into the Guide* ..sure enough the guide has reverted to Hd Channels, there seems to be no way to make *free to me* the default....Not impressed at all.

[Biollw]

Here's how to select the Guide View for your Ignite TV guide. To set your default guide view to display only the channels that you are subscribed to, select the "Free to Me" option by going to Settings > Preferences > General > Default Guide View. This will default the guide to what you set it to.

[55trucker]

Thx for the info.........have already gone that route.......one sets Free for me in the settings, one closes the *settings*, goes back to the regular channel selection, do a channel up or channel down, go back into the channel guide & HD channel is the default once again.......there's got to be an issue with the program software.

[57]

@55trucker : It should work.  I have my box set for "free to me" and my wife has her box on "all channels".  Perhaps do a reboot of the box before trying again. Also make sure you have properly selected the "free to me" option before exiting the settings.  Obviously, the "free to me" option will show the channels that are included with your landlord's account, unless you have your own subscription.

This only applies to the guide and not when "surfing" channels.

Have you "named" your own box - Device Settings - Device Name? (although I don't think this makes a difference if you're making the changes on your box)

[55trucker]

Thx........rebooting solved the issue, that tidbit of info wasn't included in the user guide that wasn't included with the hardware....now back to the OP's original question......

how does one block all of the *subscription* channels that continue to appear when surfing?

Our previous Technicolor tuner gave the user the option of *hiding* all of the channels that one isn't subscribed to or just doesn't want to appear at all such as foreign language channels..

[57]

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@55trucker wrote:  how does one block all of the *subscription* channels that continue to appear when surfing?

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As discussed in post 2 and 3 of this thread, this is not currently possible.

[55trucker]

Now realizing that Rogers doesn't manufacture these tuners/receivers perhaps senior management might take notice that the current program design is flawed & needs to be MORE user friendly & get the manufacturer to update the software.

[57]

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@55trucker wrote:

Now realizing that Rogers doesn't manufacture these tuners/receivers...

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Rogers didn't manufacture the previous boxes either. They all run on firmware.  The firmware/technology in this case is licensed from Comcast. Unless Comcast makes a change, it's unlikely that you'll see it on Rogers.

Also, these are not tuners. These are IPTV boxes that stream everything from the head end. There is very little "smarts" inside the box itself.

[Kxj2]

Not being able to customise easily the channels is very annoying. I have 2 dementia parents and need this feature to limit the amount of channels they can see and channel up/down to. Otherwise they get lost in 999 channels and can't get anywhere. I was using a Flipper remote for them but the new system is not compatible. What a mess Roger's has made. Not happy.

[55trucker]

^Precisely!

the old Technicolor hardware gave the user the option of *hiding* all of the subscription channels that one was not paying for and  didn't want to scan thru to get from A to Z. I'm no spring chicken either, at 72 convenience is a major selling point.

If I had known that this Comcast supplied hardware was loaded with somewhat *bottlenecked* firmware I would've reported that back to my landlord & insisted on *not* switching to Ignite until what we had forced onto us was the same as the more user friendly Technicolor device. 

[Kxj2]

Obviously this has been a problem for over a year. Get on with a solution Roger's!
Many retirement residences are subscribed and you've made it impossible for them to just simplify have a few favorite channels. Do better Roger's.