[mythtv-users] Data Direct Subscription Expires?

[Brad Templeton]

On Mon, Jan 03, 2005 at 03:53:24PM -0800, Bruce Markey wrote:
> >And the stations have very little interest in providing accurate
> >listing data to people who don't watch their commercials.   Myth
> 
> The stations report their schedules to the listings service,
> period. They do not provide accurate data for the listings services
> paying customers and inaccurate info to give to end consumers =).

What I mean is, it is in the station's interests to report listing data
for viewers who will watch the show with commercials, such as those
who read listings in the newspaper and TV Guide, and those using
dedicated guides like the on-screen displays of satellite and cable
companies.  (The latter sometimes include vcr control, but it's a minor
use compared to PVR uses.)

My point is, it makes the opposite of sense for them to want the data
to be sold to paper users and given away to PVR users.   They would
much rather it be the other way around.

In addition, it is in their interests to not report precise showtimes
to tapers and PVR users when shows start a minute early or late.  They
want to discourage watching without commercials, and encourage watching
the commercials around the fringes of programs.


> >users are worse than Tivo users as they have automatic commercial
> >skip.
> 
> Data is gathered and distributed. There is no such distinction.

But there is.  They know what data goes to newspaper, what goes to
cable companies, to Tivo, to Replay and to datadirect/Mythtv users.
They may not be making any distinction at present, but they can make
it, and will make it if they see it as being in their interests.

> 
> That's moot. They are in the business of distributing data not
> preventing distribution. If they didn't want individuals to get

They are in the business of making the most money from the role they
play.

> DD is not a for MythTV only thing. If it was attributed to one
> applications it would be XMLTV.

Aren't PVRs like Myth and BeyondTV etc. the biggest users of XMLTV
and datadirect?   By far the biggest users?
> 
> * So rather than just assuming this, I decided to find out for
> a fact if stations pay the listings services. I called a couple
> local network affiliates and got voice mail for the person who
> knows at each of them. However, when I asked my local PBS station,
> KLVX, if they pay to have their listing go to Gemstar and TMS, I
> was told (emphatically ;-) that they absolutely and pay and that
> they "go through TRAC Media" (http://www.tracmedia.org/).

TRAC media is devoted to public television, so I am not sure what
this says about the rest of the situation.

However, if the stations do indeed pay Tribune Media to put the data
in and the media companies (newspapers, Tivo etc.) pay to get it out,
then they've got a sweet little deal going.

However, it doesn't suggest they will want to give it to us for free
forever.   If they feel they could charge, I think they will.  They
will, in any event, charge _somebody_ as they are not philanthropists.

I am concerned about the suggestion they would charge the stations for
feeding the PVR users data so the PVR users can watch commercial free,
it just isn't in the station's interests to subsidize that.