Turner Entertainment has just released Watch TNT and Watch TBS apps for the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. As is usually the case with apps from cable networks, both of these new additions do require activation with a participating cable provider. Since these two networks are owned by the same company, the apps are pretty much identical, apart from their content of course. Thankfully though, these are some of the nicest and full featured network station apps that I’ve seen.
The home screen of both apps features highlighted content found within the app. Both TV shows and movies are highlighted. Right off the bat, you’ll find large “sign in to watch” buttons in place of most “watch” buttons. Activating the apps is straightforward and involves entering a device code at tntdrama.com/activate or tbs.com/activate, and logging in with your cable subscription credentials. Interestingly though, activating one app will automatically activate the other app. In the few minutes I spent with each app, I did not come across a full length episode or movie that did not require activating the app to watch.
The Shows section of the apps is where you’ll find the majority of the available content. Each available show features large artwork along with exactly how many episodes of each show is currently available to watch through the app.
Browsing the available episodes of a show is a pleasant experience. Instead of selecting a show to see the episodes, you simply press down to dig deeper into the content. By not having to constantly jump in and out of different screens, it means you hardly ever have to use the back button on the remote and you can quickly browse through the app and its content. Another great aspect of the app is the clear display of exactly when each episode expires, so you know how long you have before the episode is no longer available through the app. This is a feature that is unfortunately rarely found in streaming media apps.
The movies section of each app is fairly sparse compared to the shows section, but there are a decent number of titles available. Movies are listed in a single row, without any way to filter by genre or other metrics, but the selection is so slim that you really don’t need it. Expiration dates are also listed for movies, along with the title’s length and description.
The Extras section of each app is where you’ll find the majority, if not all of, the free content that does not require activating the app. It mostly consists of trailers, interviews, and behind the scene showcases. You’ll occasionally find actual shows in the extras section, but when you do, they’re usually just short 2 to 3 minute clips.
Thankfully, both apps include a live stream of what is currently airing on the cable channel, so you don’t have to wait for a show to become available on-demand if you’re available to watch it when it first airs live. These apps take their live stream a bit further than most network apps of this sort by providing access to both the east coast and west coast live stream.
Network television apps often feel like afterthoughts and don’t seem to receive enough attention. The growing movement towards streaming TV instead of watching through cable boxes is starting to get the attention of big networks and it shows in these two new apps from Turner. It’s a pleasure to navigate through these apps and the information needed, like expiration dates, is present and easy to find. It’s too bad there is no a-la-carte subscription option with these apps, like we’re starting to see with other networks.
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THE important questions are:
* after activation can I travel with fire to a different isp?
* will it play over VPN?
* is there any Privacy Rape?
I had to google “Privacy Rape” and nothing returned. What is that?
* does it prevent scrubbing through interstitial commercials?
TNT works great including East/West Coast live feeds. TBS VOD works great but I could not get the live feeds to work?
Apparently it doesn’t work with Time Warner Cable which is a major percentage of the cable going market.
While I had it, I don’t remember apps for any channels working with Time Warner Cable. It made it that much easier to get rid of cable.
FX App works with TWC, which I would say overall is the most important for me- just watch Random Simpsons episodes for hours. Wish there was a way to go commercial free, there are only like 4 different commercials and you see them over and over.
Can I now watch Conan while on the go?
You can sideload the team coco app from the google play store and it works well
While not perfect, I’m running many liveTV apps from the networks without major issues with TWC as my ISP in SC. Just trying TNT and TBS, both work fine. My ONLY other ISP choice is AT&T… and I love to hate them both, believe me.
That’s pretty cool that more networks are starting to provide their own apps. It will really expand the offerings for on demand content on your TV. Elias, do you know if Sling or PlayStation Vue are included in the list of cable providers?
Has anyone else encountered an error saying that there was troubles loading content right now on both these apps relased today?
I am still running an old firmware versionn btw, just want to know.
Anyone?
yes, I am getting that! I’m on the latest firmware. I’m in Ireland though using a DNS service so thought that might be it although the sideloaded version of TNT works for me.
Thanks, that might be it. By any chance did you also encountered an error while trying to start the My5 app? Mine always ends with an error (FTVD5-500)?
I don’t have My5
Worked great for me but the voice’s were not in sync. I like the design of the app as well. I dont have cable anymore and miss TBS on weeknights just playing in the background so that will be nice. I also miss having A Christmas Story running on TBS all day on Christmas so that will be fun and a tradition my kids will get to experience like I did growing up.
Has anyone be able to get this sent tothe original FireTV box? I’ve been trying to get Amazon to deliver the apps to the device but they don’t seem to be “compatible”.
I can’t get it installed on the new Fire TV Stick that was released last week.
Same here.
Aggravating. For me TNT randomly kicks me out to the Fire Stick home page in the middle of streaming. Then you have to go through the whole schtick to get back to what you were watching. At least it resumes where you left off once you make your way back. Sometimes the kick out happens every 5 minutes, sometimes 10 but so aggravating I had to stop watching. This doesn’t happen with any other app or streaming. I’ll give it another try another time but pretty near giving up.
Are you still having the same issues you describe on Nov. 27? I am trying to watch episodes and kicks me off as well…live tv is fine but is doing exactly as you described, did you resolve? Thank you
Anyone else having this problem? the app says it’s has had Success when I put in the activation code but the show are still locked.
Kicks out in the first moments of VOD of the librarians…
Not sure why, only app problems on Fire stick so far
I keep getting the activate note eben after a successful activation for tnt. We are running fire tv. Anyone have a suggestion?
I have Amazon Fire and NO TV service provider, so I get stopped at the login for my TV service provider. How can this be okay that a TV service provider is required?
I’m hoping to get that info also. We want to ‘cut the cable’, and we’re happy with the fire stick…..but if we have to have a full cable package to access these channels then why have the fire stick?
Did you ever find out how to load the TNT app without having to do a cable provider I’ve been trying to figure that out myself I have the basic package just so it runs our Wi-Fi I don’t wanna have to upgrade if I don’t need to so if you could please please let me know if you found anything out I would be greatly appreciative
If I had a cable provider then why would I need this on my Amazon fire stick? I could just watch TNT on my cable provider. My question is how do I get TNT without subscribing to cable dish or dish?
Did you ever find out how to load the TNT app without having to do a cable provider I’ve been trying to figure that out myself I have the basic package just so it runs our Wi-Fi I don’t wanna have to upgrade if I don’t need to so if you could please please let me know if you found anything out I would be greatly appreciative
TNT on Firestick freezes very often. Annoying. You can get audio but the video freezes.
If you don’t have cable but internet access..can I still get to use this with fire stick
What is the use of streaming apps if you still have to have a provider? Seems like we are paying twice. Once because we have to pay for the provider and once more because we have to watch the commercials. Arrrrg!
Did you ever find out how to load the TNT app without having to do a cable provider I’ve been trying to figure that out myself I have the basic package just so it runs our Wi-Fi I don’t wanna have to upgrade if I don’t need to so if you could please please let me know if you found anything out I would be greatly appreciative
Why cant I watch Animal Kingdom on prime tv.I thought TNT was one of the channels on this ap
I am on Hulu how do I get TNT? I just want it with my fire stick that is connected to TV only: Do I have to pay for it through my TV provider too?
Wants to get tnt tv
I have firestick and internet only through Xfinity and I am trying to activate but it tells me that I cant unless I upgrade my cable, not quite sure what I should do as I defintely dont want to pay for cable just to add a network to my firestick, any help would be great.
I have Centurylink and my App freezes up constantly. That’s on my fire stick and Dishnetwork.
Ive had my tbs app for 3 mos and all of a sudden it stopped working , ive done the unplugging, cleared app and downloaded it again , unplugged the internet still nothing .