Thanks to Arthur Nash for asking this question:
“We have a TalkTalk package plus Sky Sports Boost. As TalkTalk do not have the ability for us to record our sports boost channel, although we are able to record all other programmes, is there another way we could record the sports channel by adding another recorder device? Or do you have any other idea?”
Why you can’t record Sky Sports
We understand that the reason why it’s not possible for you to record Sky Sports Boost on a TalkTalk TV YouView box is because the channel is delivered over the Internet, and not over Freeview. It’s possible that this functionality may be added at some point in the future.
It’s been suggested that although you are not able to use the YouView box hard drive to record Sky Sports, connecting a DVD recorder might be an option. We understand that this functionality is not possible either, and that if you try to record the output of your YouView box onto a DVD recorder, you’ll get a “no record” message preventing you from doing this.
In theory, by converting the SCART output of the YouView box to a composite signal, it might be possible to make a recording of the box output – you’d need an RF modulator box to do this, and then to get your recorder to record the video as an analogue TV channel (i.e. not via a recorder’s Line In). Not ideal, and we’ve not tried it, but it might work. Or it might not.
If anyone has any thoughts on this subject, please add a comment in the box below.
The reason why it is not possible to record the “boost” channels is not exactly because they are delivered through the broadband connection, but it is because YouView does not implement the integration of the paid channels into the main EPG. You therefore need to use the TalkTalk Player to watch live paid channels, and the TalkTalk player does not implement recording (even the recording of a live program).
A recent update brought the ability to pause the live feed, though.