[mythtv-users] Schedules Direct guide data for AU / NZ

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 8:04 AM, Mark Perkins <perkins1724 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Not sure if the following is a review of the Schedules Direct service or the
> tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite grabber, or a bit of both

Likely some of both.  It is a useful comparison.

> zz_sdjson_sqlite doesn't seem to have stars or originalairdate info. I use
> both so a little bit of an issue for me.

This could be one of the open issues regarding
episode and show data combination, or something
different.  You would likely have to provide the
the lineup and the program/show where this is
the case for research.

> The ratings are different but not sure one is necessarily better or worse
> than the other. Biggest difference is that mythweb seems to assume that a
> program will only have one entry in the programrating table for each program

That would be a MythWeb bug/feature, since the database
supports more than one rating (obviously).  Many grabbers
have historically only had one rating to supply, so it was
likely something not previously observed.  Now that MythWeb
has moved to legacy/maintenance status, I suspect it will
not get addressed unless someone steps up with patches.

> which is the way Shepherd does it, whereas zz_sdjson_sqlite has a separate
> entry for each rating.

Possibly different source rating sources.  Do
you happen to know where Shepard gets its
data?

> It probably goes without saying that all the programid values are different
> so moving to the zz_sdjson_sqlite will require battling through that
> conversion period. I scrubbed the programid values

I believe the approved method is create a new source
and attach the capture device to it, but that has a
different set of issues for transition(s).

Regardless, the different programids and description
(and channel numbers if you create a new source)
may result in duplicate detection being different.
Likely somewhat unavoidable.

> I will endeavour to test sd_json next and see if that materially changes any
> of the above.

I suspect there will be some differences, but the essence
is likely the same.

I think the question Schedules Direct would like answered
(probably best on their forums) is whether you would
consider subscribing to the service.  They have to pay
to obtain their data (and the support efforts), and if there
is not sufficient numbers of people (immediately or
projected) who would subscribe to fund those costs I
would guess they will not be able to justify the
expansion into AU/NZ,  But that is a discussion for
their forum(s) and their staff (and other potential
AU/NZ subscribers).  I am just a subscriber of their
US data (and in the US, they are one of the orgs in
the top right of the magic quadrant).