[mythtv-users] Zap2it discontinuance: any alternative?
DaveD
mythtv at guiplot.com
Tue Aug 7 04:17:16 UTC 2007
Is there any way to get TV listings into a computer? There must be
something out there. I'm not very well informed, but I'm curious why
they didn't just start charging for the service. Are there too many
alternatives in the mainstream (BeyondTV, ATI and MCE have listings
services) for them to compete with?
For my first multimedia system, I made the mistake of buying an ATI
All-in-Wonder(why I bought it). (I NEVER got the software working
right.) Any way, the ATI software included a listings service. I think
it came from TV guide, or an online subsidiary (or parent conglomerate)
or something. It was only available through their client which was
designed to play with the ATI stuff. Beyond TV and MCE include similar
stuff. Any way to get subscriptions to their services? My wife used to
subscribe to TV guide magazine. What a useless piece-O-crap that turned
into. But we paid for it until I started running Myth. I would gladly
pay for an online version if I could get an XML output from it. I can
write something to get it into a format that Myth (and xawtv and TVtime
and...?) can read. I just need a source.
Our Comcast home page links to Zap2it's web site for customers to get
current listings so it looks like they're still in the biz, just not
providing the XML stuff for free; something about abuses. Well, if
that's their beef, just charge for it. The "abusers" can get legal,
Zap2it can make money and we can continue to use our favorite software
with the simple addition of a fee for a valuable service. Nothing wrong
with that! I wonder if the Comcast(s) told them to nix it or else...
Hmmm...
DaveD.
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