[Mugsy323]

I'm investigating building a HTPC for my dad because his cable TV bill is ridiculous. Problem is, he's 76 so it HAS to be simple.

I myself have been using old "Windows Media Center" to watch/DVR OTA TV for over 14 years. But Dad needs his "Premium" channels too, so I'm investigating streaming services using his (unmetered, extra HS) DSL. I'm looking at either Philo or DirecTV-NOW... the only two with his favorite channel. But you must access them from a web browser.

Problem with all this is I've found no single MC software (or DVR hardware) that allows you to access both OTA TV AND Streaming Channels from the same guide. You must switch out of WMC (or whatever MC software) and launch a browser to access streaming channels... something my 76 year old Dad REALLY wouldn't go for! And I've found no streaming service that offers every local channel as part of their package.

I've heard the "Roku" might be able to do that (one guide for both OTA & streaming services), but without DVR support (unless you spend another $200 on a 3rd-Party DVR box.) And Dad must have his DVR.

And that's how I got here... looking to build a cheap Media Center DVR with OTA tuner that can also stream premium "cable" over the Net. But it has to be easy to use (one guide for everything and preferably does not require a mouse.)

That's all I need. Just everything.

[pkscout]

I've tried to do something in the past with some amount of success, but the solution always requires some constant care and feeding.  It's a combination of a custom written python script that moves all my DVR'd content into the Kodi TV Show library and an addon that will do the same thing for streaming services.  I've had lots of different addons for the streaming integration over the years, and they are all OK and not more than that.  One big issue is that many of the streaming addons right now have to kind of back their way into showing video from premium services, and even small changes to the streaming sites can mean waiting weeks for a streaming addon to update and work again.  With Kodi 18 being able to play protected streaming content, things may get better on that front.  I've also run into times where an episode has expired from the streaming service before I can watch it.  So once of the things I tend to do now is use PlayOn (which is Windows only for recording) to record streams (which then get added to my library).  There again, you're dependent on the ever changing list of streaming channels PlayOn is supporting at any given moment.

You might take a look at TiVo.  I had one years and years ago and liked it fine, and I understand now that it does have some way to record and store things from at least some streaming services.  That might be the best "simple" solution.

[Mugsy323]

It's a combination of a custom written python script that moves all my DVR'd content into the Kodi TV Show library

[...]

You might take a look at TiVo.  I had one years and years ago and liked it fine, and I understand now that it does have some way to record and store things from at least some streaming services.  That might be the best "simple" solution.

 Thx for the reply. This setup is for my elderly father, so anything more complicated than his current (familiar) cable TV "guide" to jump to a program or schedule a recording he'll almost certainly balk at. It would be a lot easier if he only used just the Streaming service or just OTA TV, but combining the two into one interactive listing seems to be hoping for too much.

Tivo's are quite expensive, but if it does everything he needs, it would be worth it.