For many, issues watching YouTube on Apple TV

9to5 Staff | Jan 25 2012 - 9:08 am PT

Owners of the Apple TV set-top box around the world took to Twitter to complain about an unknown issue affecting the device’s ability to stream YouTube clips through the Internet section of the main menu. According to reports, attempting to play any YouTube clip produces this error message:

No content was found. There is a problem communicating with YouTube. Try again later.

It would appear that some sort of backend issue is to blame, but it is inconclusive. The problem persisted since the past couple days; with a bunch of posts over at the Apple Support Communities indicating it is widespread. One poster claimed an Apple representative advised him to contact Google because this is “a YouTube issue.”

It seems to be particularly bad in Japan, Australia, Canada and various European countries, including the United Kingdom, Scotland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, Denmark, Romania, Argentina and Croatia.

Not all users in the United States seem to be experiencing this issue, although some do. Resetting a router or the device will not help. Likewise, performing a factory restore to the latest 4.4.4 firmware did not do the trick for another poster. Some users are only able to see the videos in their History. Are you having same issues with your Apple TV? We would love to hear from you in the comments.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b4mlFqq6pQ]

It looks like Apple’s hobby business is gaining some traction. According to Apple’s holiday-quarter earnings from yesterday, the company sold 1.4 million Apple TV units during the 14-week period ended Dec. 31, 2011 (Apple’s first fiscal 2012 quarter). Taking into account the 2.8 million Apple TV units sold during last fiscal year, Apple so far moved 4.2 million iOS-powered Apple TVs. Apple CEO Tim Cook fielded a question in yesterday’s earnings call about the future of Apple TV, saying: “We continue to add things to it, and I don’t know about you but I couldn’t live without it. We continue to pull the strings and see where it takes us.”

Strategy Analytics estimated that Apple grabbed 32 percent of the connected TV player market in December of last year. This made Apple the top set-top box provider as it beat Android-based Google TVs by Sony and Logitech and dedicated TV boxes from the likes of Roku and Boxee. Still, just 8 percent of U.S. households had a connected TV player in December 2011, the research firm noted. Interestingly, Strategy Analytics mentioned that nearly one-third, or 30 percent, of the Apple TV customers rent movies and television shows versus 20 percent of users of other devices. The second-generation iOS-powered Apple TV with a tiny form factor and a price tag of just $99 debuted September 2010. Despite all the mock-ups, analysts and supply chain chatter, it seems unlikely at this stage that Apple is keen on entering the connected television market with a full-blown HDTV set of its own.