[mythtv-users] tv guide line-up free

[Brad DerManouelian]

On Sep 4, 2007, at 12:42 PM, Robert Current wrote:

> Ok, I'm taking this out of order here, because this was the important
> point here...
>
> The data in the links I provided was not scraping data...  that was
> Direct Data, in XML.  Huge difference.
>
> And, IMHO, how TitanTV feels (judging by conversations on other
> forums), I believe they were slightly bothered but didn't stop it...
> UNTIL the GB-PVR wrote the backwards side of it, which changes
> EVERYTHING.
>
> TitanTV lives and dies on income from adverts.  And when GB-PVR wrote
> the bit where users go to the TitanTV website to schedule recordings,
> that increases TitanTV's income, so how could they be upset?  When
> users go to the website, and schedule the recordings there, they are
> viewing ads that are making TitanTV money.  If MythTV did that, I'd
> use TitanTV's website for scheduling recordings, why not?

I bet they would be upset if you used more bandwidth than you are  
giving back with scheduling recordings which is exactly what MythTV  
does and will continue to do. I know I would be upset. I guess I  
would rather pay $5 for an ad-free, already implemented and proven  
stable way of doing it than downloading a bunch of ads.

> I have nothing against them making an honest buck in adverts, and I
> could do it from a friends house, on the road, a hotel room while I
> was on vacation, anywhere... not just my local LAN to get at MythWeb.

My MythWeb is accessible outside my LAN as is many people's I would  
guess. I schedule recordings all the time from work, from my iPhone,  
etc. I love walking through the video store, seeing a movie or TV  
show box set I want and logging in to schedule it or logging into  
NetFlix and ordering it if it's too current to be showing on TV. :)

>
>> I'm not upset. I even said please. I looked at the TitanTV forum link
>> you sent. It gave a bunch of instructions on how to use it with
>> Windows and I got scared. Then I just went to TitanTV directly and
>> had a flash-back of all the previous problems screen-scraping with
>> TMS data. I got even more scared and then remembered I pay $5/month
>> to not deal with it.
>
> Just shows that it's been done.  Some people don't believe it can be
> done until they are shown someone else did it.

Everyone knows it's been done and can be done. It was like that  
before the DirectData service.

> Now, for my personal opinion on Schedules Direct...  (don't read the
> following if your easily offended):
>
> I don't pay $5/month because I didn't think the SchedulesDirect guys
> were giving honest answers, so I went out looking myself.

That's fine. Not upset or offended yet.

> First, I found free data was available, but they refused to
> acknowledge it.  Strike one.
>
> Next, I found that the other FUD statement on the website about EIT
> data was a total lie.  Where they said "In the USA, EIT data is
> supposed to contain at least 12 hours of accurate data for the digital
> stations. Only a few broadcasters provide anything more than that, and
> some broadcasters don't even provide the legally required EIT data."
> I found lots of people get at least 7 days data from SatTV stuff, and
> I was getting at least 3-4 days on my OTA HDTV card.  I guess going
> 1-2 years back maybe that statement was true, but at least locally I
> get decent OTA EIT data, so the statement was pure FUD on the part of
> SchedulesDirect.

EIT was never that accurate for me when I tried it about 6 months  
ago. I'm sure it's different depending on the station sending the  
data. Plus, I use DirecTV for which EIT data is not available. If it  
works for you, that's awesome! So why do you care about  
SchedulesDirect at all? Why would you even consider using it?

> So, with those to things made clear to me, and the attitude on this
> list, I just avoided Schedules Direct completely.  I am more than
> happy with OTA EIT, and I don't need a 2 weeks of listing data.  As
> long as it get's the show in time to record it, what do I care?  If I
> want listing data, I can go to tvguide.com and see what shows are
> coming up, and enter a keyword search in MythTV.  So, why pay $5/month
> for something I don't need, from people who seem to be less than
> honest about why it's so desperately needed.

Sounds like the best move. Don't use SchedulesDirect. As far as I can  
tell, SchedulesDirect is only for people who record lots of programs  
and don't feel like taking the time to record stuff manually. If you  
either don't care about using up all that time or schedule so few  
shows that the time isn't worth as much as the $5/month is to you,  
great!

Still not upset or offended. I'm concerned you're spending a lot of  
time on something you clearly don't want or need to use, but I'm not  
upset or offended.

-Brad