Thursday Oct 9 '25

Daily updates provided on WhatsApp to the group "Mom"

(when the cell towers go down, WhatsApp will still be working)

Switching from YouTube TV to Jellyfin: A Work in Progress

You may recall that I recently canceled the YouTube TV subscription, which cost $90 a month, and switched to Jellyfin for just $20 a month. The savings are significant, but the real goal was to maintain the ability to control my mom’s TV remotely. At least, that was the plan.

So far, things aren’t going as smoothly as I’d hoped. I’ve got Jellyfin working on my own setup, and I tested all four major networks—ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC—successfully. According to my mom’s viewing schedule (see below), ABC airs at 7:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., CBS at 10:00 a.m., FOX at 2:00 p.m., and NBC at 7:00 p.m. Everything works perfectly on my end, and I’ve set up a schedule to monitor performance over the next few days.

However, my mom’s system is a different story. I’m unable to control her TV remotely right now. I visited her place this morning to troubleshoot, but I may have made things worse. I’ve been working with Michael, the supplier of the service, who’s been helpful so far. Despite his support, my mom’s system remains uncooperative.

To document the issue, I created a short video for Michael showing how I attempt to control her app remotely. You can check it out [here]. I’m planning to visit Mom again on Sunday to manually start the game for her and ensure everything runs smoothly. Hopefully, I’ll get this sorted soon!