When your church starts live-streaming, getting it onto a computer isn't the only challenge to overcome. There are two more classes of device where you really want to have the stream show up. One is mobile. Maybe we'll talk about that in a future post because it is a huge opportunity for churches. The other is television. You might be thinking that the only way to get your service on television live is through a local station or public-access. In the past that was true, but today the internet provides other options.
Unfortunately, this is still a bit difficult for most people to do with browser-based video.
Let's assume your church wants to live-stream your service to people over the age of 70.
My mother (in her 70s) knows how to use cable TV like she was born with a remote in her hand. Computers, though, are illusive to her.
I don't want to generalize though. Someone who was really into computers in their early 40s in the 1980s would be in their 70s today, so you can't assume that retirees are all tech-novices.
So you have two groups of people, those who don't know how to use computers and those who probably built their first ones.
If you're only trying to get to the latter group, it's easy for you. You can make suggestions on hooking a laptop up to an HD TV using HDMI, heading to the website and watching it that way, for example. The tech-savvy person will do a majority of the “heavy lifting.”
If you have a live stream, you might find out that there are already people who watch your service on their TV.
But what do you do for people like my mother who don't have tech skills on the most basic level?
Smart TVs and set-top boxes might seem like a logical choice, but not all well-suited to novices.
Getting internet content into the living room has been something that a lot of companies have toyed around with for some time. In fact, Apple calls the AppleTV, their offering, "a hobby."
To figure out how to get your church's service onto a person's TV live, you need to figure out which box or TV is best suited to make it easy.
At first, you might think the Chromecast or AppleTV is the way to go.
Apple claims ease of use. If there's an app on the home screen, all you need do is select it. This includes live-streaming media as well as on-demand content, but there's a limitation.
Apple controls who can have an app on the AppleTV. Although you could ask, until they open that up, a church isn't going to make the cut as easily as HBO or CBS would.
If you have another iOS device like an iPhone or iPad or a Mac, you could use Airplay, but that's also the limitation. Even if the person in question has a smartphone or laptop, if they're not Apple devices, this won't work.
Podcasts and video podcasts are available in iTunes, but they're not live, so that won't work either.
In the Chromecast, Google is trying a different approach where there are no remotes to lose and showing a video is as simple as finding the video and sending it to your TV. This still relies on another device, and the ability to use it.
Chromecast does have apps and the process to get one approved is easier than doing so on the AppleTV, but without a remote, you can't control it. If the viewer you want to reach is starting out without either a computer or smartphone/tablet, the $35 Chromecast is actually a $200+ investment.
While there are other options, Roku might be the best for the novice user. Starting at around $50, but including a remote, the Roku 1 can connect to either an SD or HD TV.
Once your church has a channel created, getting it onto the Roku is actually really easy. In fact, it might be worth buying a few and setting them up ready to install by viewers in their own homes or with the help of a willing volunteer.
While there is an on-going cost in having an internet subscription, nothing other than that and a working TV is necessary.
Using the Roku, is easier for a person who can only watch television or play DVDs, but it's not easier for the church.
Setting up your channel is like setting up a custom web page, complete with editing XML and other code-laden files. Can someone who tinkers in web design do it? Yes. Can someone who thinks WYSIWYG web design services are the only way to go do it? Not without help.
There is help available though.
Roku has help files and tutorials available. Kind-hearted users have also created lessons on how to do it, available on Instructables and YouTube. There are even third-party services which will hold your hand through the process or do it for you for a fee.
It's possible that your live-streaming provider has a service that they offer a la carte or as part of your subscription to do this for you.
If you enlist help in creating your Roku channel, consider what happens if the people who help you, go out of business, drop support for the feature, or you decide to take your business elsewhere.
You could be stuck with an app that you can't update. It's better to create an app that you have total control of, but if you can't, then by all means, get help.
Using a Roku is the easiest solution I've found for tech-challenged people (viewers), but the hardest for the channel owners (churches). Letting viewers figure it out themselves or use a device like a Chromecast or AppleTV is the easiest for the church. It comes down to where you want to put your efforts and how many people you want to be able to access your live-stream.
There are other solutions that I haven't talked about, and in the future, perhaps they'll all be as easy as cable television is now, but until then, each church needs to decide how they'd like to proceed.
