Ondemand app hangs / crashes mid-programme around ad breaks

I recently upgraded to a FreeviewPlus capable Sony TV (model KD55X8500C) sold on FreeviewPlus with Ondemand built in. However since using have found Ondemand playback routinely fails part way through a programme, around the ad breaks. This can be at any ad break (has even happened once at the very start of a programme), though a pattern seems to be always failing at the second-to-last ad break of every Masterchef episode I watch!

What happens is either an error message "Sorry, there is a problem playing this video. Please try again later or contact us if the problem persists", or playback just hangs / freezes on a blank screen. Recovering from this also isn't easy, at a minimum you have to close Ondemand and open it again (which can be done with the error message), but more often than not the only way out is to turn the TV off and on again at the wall (as off / on doesn't work on the remote). Once back in the app, you need to fast forward to where you were up to, and very often it fails again. It's not unusual to take 3 or 4 attempts before it works again (once it even refused to work and I resorted to watching the rest of an episode on my phone). So rather frustrating, to say the least.

Are others having the same or similar problems?

Can anything be done to fix or avoid the problem, or is this more a case of having to wait for a software update of some sort? (for the record, have performed a factory reset of the TV's software, which didn't fix the problem).

Does this problem happen on the other FreeviewPlus capable TVs (LG, Panasonic, Samsung) or is it particular to just Sony / Android TV?

Thanks for any ideas!

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Permalink Reply by stephen logan on April 18, 2016 at 22:21

It looks like it just a problem with ads so why not just get ride of them till it fixed am aboug to give up on this freeview plus just to much stress with the tv crapping out all the time

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Permalink Reply by stephen logan on April 26, 2016 at 12:40

Hi there i have been chatting with sony about this aswell and they are trying to work on this can any get back to me if they are having trouble still

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Permalink Reply by Jklw on April 26, 2016 at 14:03

Still had problem last Friday...

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Permalink Reply by Brent Sutton on October 6, 2016 at 21:52

I just bought a Sony TV and am experiencing the same issue. Seems to be when it hits an ad break.

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Permalink Reply by Kim on October 7, 2016 at 8:16

I stopped using TVNZ On Demand via Android TV a while back so a bit of a shame to hear the ad freezing / playback issue is still there. Have you got an XBox? Their new On Demand app for that is much much better in that regard.

Brent Sutton said:

I just bought a Sony TV and am experiencing the same issue. Seems to be when it hits an ad break.

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on October 7, 2016 at 8:37

Hi Brent & Kim

I will chase this up as it shouldn't be happening,
Brett are you able to send through you model number of your TV, and internet connection method (wifi or cable)

Josh

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Permalink Reply by Kim on October 7, 2016 at 11:24

Thanks Josh, would be great to get some feedback from TVNZ and/or Sony on this. It seems pretty certain the break down is something to with with the adservng. Cheers

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on October 7, 2016 at 11:45

I have just Private messaged you guys, please view correspondence in your message inbox

Kim said:

Thanks Josh, would be great to get some feedback from TVNZ and/or Sony on this. It seems pretty certain the break down is something to with with the adservng. Cheers

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Permalink Reply by Jklw on October 7, 2016 at 12:13

I have been dealing with this issue (TVNZ ondemand on Sony TV) for almost a year. Someone is finally looking into it. Below is a reply from freeview:

1. The TVNZ OnDemand playback breakdown around ads you describe is a known issue and is most prevalent on SONY TVs. We’ve escalated this and followed up several times with TVNZ, the development team for TVNZ OnDemand as well as the development team for the FreeviewPlus player. There is a potential fix that’s being tested by the developers and we will provide updates on that resolution through the Network Status page here. We’ll also highlight your frustration, which we share also, around the time it has taken to resolve this.
2. The player control issue (no option to resume after Fast-Forwarding and Rewinding): I did some testing over the weekend and replicated this issue only on TVNZ OnDemand content – the same issue doesn’t present itself on 3NOW or the Māori Television On Demand apps. We will escalate this to TVNZ and to the developers of that player. Thank you for highlighting this new issue.

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Permalink Reply by stephen logan on October 7, 2016 at 15:49

Good luck
Kim said:

Thanks Josh, would be great to get some feedback from TVNZ and/or Sony on this. It seems pretty certain the break down is something to with with the adservng. Cheers

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Permalink Reply by stephen logan on October 7, 2016 at 15:53

Have been back and forth from sony freeview and isp and no one has had the balls to say there was a problem till now but how much longer will it take to fix it and there other problems

Freeview tvnz 3 and others please sort your SHIT out asap

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Permalink Reply by Raymond on November 22, 2016 at 10:43

I've got a sony KD-55X9000C and still having this issue, even after a firmware update a coupl of weeks back.

Is this ever going to be sorted or does the TV need to be returned? Because at the moment it is not even remotely able to be used as intended (and as advertised).

Cheers