I've been thinking about making something like this, but for our actual TV. I just want to it to change channels and not think about what is playing. I want my little one to not have to deal with crazy advertisements, but get the benefit of preprogrammed TV. The current batch of solutions for this are:<p>1) Hardware modulators. This can get pricey, but it is basically the most like regular TV.
2) Kodi + PseudoTV.
3) ErsatzTV.
4) ChannelsDVR
5) dizqueTV<p>Ideally, I'd like to have stations pulling from Youtube channels, Twitch Live / prerecorded, local media libraries, and some TikTok.<p>I was thinking of having channels arranged around interests and genres. A few stations I am thinking of are Classic Cartoons, Artisian crafting videos (primarily on YouTube), Train Rides, Classic Sitcoms, Musicals, Music Production, and Kenji-Lopez-Alt would get his own cooking channel.
I like the project name. It reminds me of a Soviet joke. "In Soviet Russia there are two channels. First is propaganda. Second is KGB telling you to turn back to channel one."
Having worked with public access TV scheduling and playout software, this is perversely fun to try. Don't forget to fill out your FCC Form 2100 Schedule H, kids!
If one makes something that's good enough at doing this, it could potentially be an alternative for small TV stations to automate their on-air switching. Those commercial solutions are hella expensive.
This addon (or something like it at least) has been around for 10 years at least for Kodi. <a href="https://github.com/PseudoTV/PseudoTV_Live">https://github.com/PseudoTV/PseudoTV_Live</a><p>Probably the best channel I found was playing a random comedy from a list you provide. You could have it follow release order be random if you want. Most media players have a similar feature though usually called something like a smart Playlist, and that really solves most of the issue.<p>It is an interesting problem though, but also probably a very real sign that you really need to find a hobby.
This would be cool if I could broadcast to our set top boxes. My folks don't get along with streaming interfaces, but they can flip to a channel.<p>edit: I might have it totally wrong, but our STB is QAM/IP. With a QAM modulator it might be possible to transmit on the coax segment, and have the provider's box decode it. The modulators are pricy though, and I'm not sure about putting our own signal back down the (fios) coax segment.