LG 2020 - LG OLED55CX6LA 55

The latest LG 2020 of TV primarily the LG OLED55CX does not support Catch up TV or Freeview play which I find ridiculous in at TV costing around £1800.
Discussing this with a supposedly LG expert, he tells me this is about to be foxed by a software upgrade. Of course he would say this to secure a sale but I am not prepared to pay for a TV with an unsupported promise from a salesman.

Does anyone have any information of this software upgrade and when is it to be released, and will it be an upgrade that will be downloaded to ALL of the existing 2020 models of the LG TV's to enable them to provide Catch up TV and Freeview play.

I suspect that the only people able to answer that question are LG, and then only when they've reached an agreement with the people in charge of the Freeview Play and catch-up platforms. AFAICT, there's no sign of any movement on this score so far. Some even suggest that it won't happen on the 2020 models, so you'll have to wait for the 2021 TVs to launch.

Keep an eye on the LG CX owners' thread at AVForums. Here's the link: https://www.avforums.com/threads/lg-cx-oled-owners-and-discussion-thread.2286262/


If this and other replies were helpful to you, then please do the decent thing and click the T-H-A-N-K-S button on all those the posts. This isn't a big thing to ask of you. It takes a couple of seconds to do, and it costs you nothing.

You'll find that the Thanks button appears when you hover the mouse pointer near the Quote Multi-quote buttons.

This is the proper way to show your thanks and respect for the time, experience and help someone gave to you when you were in need. Be a good forum user and say thank you in the proper way. It will help to ensure that you continue to receive advice.

Thanks so much Lucid. That information is very helpful.

Glad it helped. Now, why don't you do what was suggested and click on the Thanks button? It's not hard to do. TIA

Please thank me please thank me please please please, why is that little thanks button Sooooo important to you? The OP took the time to write thank you which took more effort than simply clicking a button so what gives?

Hi Lucid.
I did as was suggest and clicked on the thanks button. I have done it again if it helps.

Hi freddiemercuryst.
Must admit I thought it was a bit sharp, but clearly the Thanks is important and as such will do all I can to satisfy the helpful respondent.
I am assuming the Thanks Button is the 'Tx' in the reply pane.

No it's in the bottom of every post not the reply bit, you've not thanked the delicate petal.

Hi freddie
Got it - Now done it

freddiemercurystwin said:

Please thank me please thank me please please please, why is that little thanks button Sooooo important to you? The OP took the time to write thank you which took more effort than simply clicking a button so what gives?

Click to expand...

What's it really matter to you. Are you the newly appointed forum police or something?

Alright alright I've thanked you now. Jeez.

Hi Lucid.
I had a chat with LG.com support and they confirm they are in negotiations with the Catch up and freeview play platform providers and that these negotiations are still active. When concluded a software upgrade will be downloaded automatically. I could not get any guidance as to when this will be concluded as such no indications of progress.
So my conclusion is to wait if necessary until the 2021 models are released then check it out again.
Got to say I am staggered that a company such as LG release a TV without Catch Up as a standard feature.
Thanks for you help and guidance.

I think you're right. The 2020 negotiations are at a stalemate, so technically still ongoing, but the chances of them being favourably resolved are dwindling.

Presumably if they can't resolve the issue for the 2020 TV's, that will also apply to the 2021 sets.
Strange though that the 2019 TV's have the Catch up Freeview play facility. If LG have a problem with the platform providers then they may issue a software downgrade to remove the facility from Older TV's. I believe the earlier CX TV's had the facility but a software downgrade grade removed it.
LG need to sort it out as it will cost them an awful lot of sales when the customers twig on to the problem.
One of the prime functions of a Smart TV is Catch up TV.

It's pure speculation on my part, but I could imagine a situation where the services are licensed at a cost. As part of the agreement, there's guaranteed back office support for the particular streams for a minimum length of time, or until a technical limit is reached where the service requirements are more than the TV hardware can support. [We've seen this tech limit reached with some older devices that no longer support BBC iPlayer.]

Another factor could be that LG jumped the gun by including support on the CX range of TVs without having a signed agreement in place. If I was the rights holder, and I found someone using my service illegally, then I'd be rather annoyed and less open to making concessions in any licencing negotiation. Wouldn't you?

Covid could also be playing a part. Maybe those negotiations stalled because no one really knew what might happen to the world TV market, and that includes not only the end-consumers but all the supply and manufacturing chain too. Did LG try to hold this as a negotiating card to get a lower price but it backfired, or they shot themselves in the foot if it's true that the TVs included Catch-up and iPlayer without a firm agreement?

As I said, all this is pure speculation on my part. I'd be fascinated to learn what the truth actually is on this.


Whether the lack of catch up features on the TV itself matters, and how that might affect TV sales, we'd only really know once the sales figures are in. However, this isn't an ordinary year, so trying to make a year-on-year comparison isn't going to be a reliable guide to just the impact of some missing catch-up features. There's too much other stuff going on in the world.

One observation I would make though is that nearly all the customers for whom I've installed high-end TVs all had Sky or Virgin as their main TV signal source. These PVRs tend to have catch-up services built in too. The customers rarely seem to bother with the TVs own features. They use their Go-To service instead. I don't know then if not having catch up in the TV is such a big deal killer. It has to have some effect, but I suspect that the TV service PVR fills the need anyway.