[mythtv-users] record a show on channel X or Y

[Bruce Markey]

Daniel Walton wrote:
> Is it possible to schedule a show to record only on specific channels?  That or
> say "record on any channel except channel X"?

Sure.

> I have one HDTV OTA tuner card and two PVR-150s.  Sometimes there are two HD
> shows on at the same time that I want to record so I record one of them in HD
> and the other in SD on a PVR-150.  In order to make this work I've assigned my
> HD card a higher priority and for any HD show I tell it to "record on any
> channel".  This way the higher priority show records in HD, the lower in SD.
> 
> The problem is when there is a third station that airs lots of repeats of a
> show. Take CSI for example, new episodes air on CBS via channel 5_1 in HD and
> channel 3 in SD but SpikeTV (channel 40) shows lots of older shows that aren't
> always flagged as 'Repeat'.
> 
> How can I tell Myth to record CSI on channel 5_1 or 3 but not channel 40?

Okay, there are several things here and in other messages on this
thread so bear with me while I try to touch on them all.

First, myth has what I dubbed 'channel matching'. If two chanids
have the same callsign, they are considered to be the same station.
At the time kChannelRecord was added, it meant channel and a show
would only record for that chanid. However, it would now be better
described as Station record. So, if 5_1 was KCBS and 3 was also KCBS,
a channed rule could record from either. This is generally a good thing
so it can failover if you have two HD shows at the same time. If they
were KCBSHD and KCBS, then a Channel rule would only record from the
channel you chose when the rule was created.

Your example indicates that what you really want is to record new
episodes and not the reruns. If so, you can select the "Record new
episodes only" duplicate option under "Scheduling Options" in the
record rule.

The very first kPowerSearch rule I ever created by hand, before there
was any Advanced search or Custom Record, was this:

program.title = 'PGA Golf'
AND channel.callsign != 'GOLF'

See: http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-12.html#ss12.5

Men's tournaments with Tiger, Vijay, Phil, Sergio etc. can be on NBC,
CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, USA, CNBC and possibly others. I also get The
Golf Channel (GOLF) which has "PGA Golf" for qualifying school,
European tour, and sometimes replays of recent events. They didn't
have the pull to show Tiger live (though that will change after last
week's new contract). So, I need to record 'PGA Golf' on any station
other than The Golf Channel.

I also exclude ESPN Classics for College Basketball.

You could:

program.title = 'CSI'
AND channel.callsign != 'SPIKE'
AND program.previouslyshown = 0

However, that only excludes SPIKE and it could potentially be shown
on other stations. Notice that this excludes showings marked as
previously shown. If the "Record new episodes only" option is used
it matches all the showings and marks the old ones as "r"epeat.
By using "program.previouslyshown = 0" the rule won't even match
the reruns and they won't be included in the schedule at all.

To answer the question in the subject line, I'll assume you have
different callsigns. The hard way is:

program.title = 'CSI'
AND channel.callsign LIKE 'KCBS%'
AND program.previouslyshown = 0

If they were different CBS affiliates with completely different
callsigns:

program.title = 'CSI'
AND (channel.callsign = 'KRAP' OR
     channel.callsign = 'KRUD')
AND program.previouslyshown = 0

but that would be the hard way. You could just make a Channel rule
for KRAP and one for KRUD then give a priority of one higher for
the preferred station.

> But then it will record CSI on channel 5_1 and 3, I only want it
> to record on one or the other.

This is a little difficult to parse but if two different rules
match different showings of the same episode, it will still only
record the episode once. KRAP would be Will Record and KRUD would
be Earlier Showing.

I use this to advantage. Say I have a weekly rule for a 10pm showing
of something repeated to death on a cable station. One week there
are some sports and specials and there is a log jam at 10pm. I can
look at the upcoming list for the show and pick a 2am showing to
Single record. The single has to record and because it is the same
episode as 10pm, the 10pm showing gets marked as "L"ater.

Kevin Kuphal wrote:
> I'm pretty sure you can do this with an advanced recording rule with
> something like title LIKE "CSI" and channel != 40.  Bruce is better with

Good effort of the top of you head but it should be "channun != 40"
or "chanid != 1040" or exclude SPIKE as above which would still work
if the lineup changes.

--  bjm