Comments on: ZillionTV Expands Pilot, Replaces CEO

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:56:16 +0000

I also took the bait. If you like watching the Andy Griffith show then Zillion TV is perfect, because that is basically the only thing you will find with the free with ads option. Everything else is for ‘rent’ or ‘buy’. They also supposedly gave me a $25 gift card but that appears to have been a load of bull.

The talk above about having to pay if you cancel really does have me confused though. What would they consider canceling? I can just put this stupid gadget in my closet, right?

If Zillion TV can’t provide the majority of their TV content as ad supported they will fail. I don’t mind the movie rentals, but I am never going to ‘rent’ a TV show or ‘buy’ a TV show via Zillion. If I am going to buy the show I will buy the DVD or the Blu Ray discs, not a format that could disappear on me the second Zillion goes belly up, which is looking very likely at this point.

By: Mr. Daniels

Mr. Daniels — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:51:23 +0000

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!! DOn’t bother with ZillionTV, there is very little and crappy “free” programming. They have something called Zillion Zones that is actually pretty cool, only the Zones don’t have anything cool in them. I would try getting a SEZMI box or go with a BOXEE device. Both of those blow Zillion out of the water!

By: Mr Smith

Mr Smith — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:12:14 +0000

I have had the box for 2 weeks. Quantity of content is lacking. Hopefully they address over next month or so.

As far as having to return the hardware, I’m confused on it. If I decided today that I hated the service, I dont have to tell them I”m not using the service. Unless they go to a monthly svc charge, what is considered a cancellation?

To add a little protection from surprises I used a virtual credit card number from my CitiGroup account. It expires in 60days.

By: Tarzanboy

Tarzanboy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:03:10 +0000

I actually took the bait. I put the $99 on my cc and they sent me a box within 3 days. The streaming video quality was excellent (it showed as 1080i on the TV but the resolution looked a bit lower). The box shipped to me had a heavy metal old school type shell.

I used the HDMI connection. Boot time was about 3 minutes from a fresh start or restart. I had to restart the device several times as it would freeze if you kept it running over night.

The free with ad features (TV/Movie) were very limited. Most of the features required $1.99. Most of the free stuff was old series and low budget movies.

The interface and remote were top notch in the cosmetic arena but took time to get comfortable with the operation.

I called ZillionTV to complain about the lack of free content and they offered to waive my $99 to keep the box. I agreed but got a call the next day saying they could not waive the $99 but could give me a free 90 day trial. I sent the box back.

To wrap this up, I think ZillionTV is a great idea with several flaws:

1. You do not own the box. If you cancel service, you have to return the box or pay a mystery hardware charge. I inquired about the charge and was told that they expected to charge a $300 lost/replacement fee. If any part of the box or remote have damage, you will have to pay a repair/replacement fee. This includes returning all cables. If you don’t return the HDMI cable, you will be charged a $50 replacement fee.

2. Several bugs in the interface. The OS will freeze if you leave it on all night. The OS will freeze if you watch several movies in a row. All of the above require a 3 minute reboot.

3. Very little customer service as of yet. Lots of mystery charge that you are warned will be applied to your credit card if you fail to follow their rules.

4. Very little free content. Most of the content is already available on HULU and it requires no registration fee.

5. Did I mention, the $99 is only a registration fee. The box is only loaned to you.

By: tug

tug — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:10:19 +0000

I also got my invite, I also went looking for some kind of programming guide and I too was disappointed to find no details of the service or the hardware. I sent a couple of email asking for some kind of guidance but, not surprisingly, got no response. I haven’t found one testimonial of how the service works since it’s launch and won’t plop my hundy on a sinking ship. I wanted so bad for this thing to work as advertised – I’ll still hold a little hope until I find out otherwise – but with someone else’s money.

By: Oss

Oss — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:47:27 +0000

I too received my ZillionTV email stating I can now buy the $99 hardware and finish my registration with them. I went to their site (had not been there in months) and found it looking the same: no GUI shots, no hardware descriptions, no programming listed, etc.. It did not put much faith in me spending $100 for a box that I know so little about. I had hoped by the time they released hardware they would be more forthcoming about their hardware and service, but it all seem a bit too smoke and mirrors right now. If I knew the hardware at least had a USB port so I could play some local files I would jump, that way if they go belly up, I at least have some usable hardware.

Anyone else seen more details on their offerings?

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:18:11 +0000

I did see that, but didn't find time to post on it until this AM. Interestingly, some of ZillionTV's backers ($$$) are the same studios behind Hulu. You're probably correct to suspect that a purely ad-based service (of content we want to see) is less and less likely.

By: Ivan Y

Ivan Y — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:04:17 +0000

Dave – did you read the Hulu — or at least most of its content — is like to become paid in 2010? Since ZTV’s offering is supposed to be similar (free content with ads), that may be an issue for them.

For whatever reasons, most likely due to how ad rates are negotiated, networks only care about live viewership and it seems their solution to missing an episode is buying it from iTunes/Zune/Amazon/PSN.