[mythtv-users] Any way to pay?

Jarom McDonald jarom_mcdonald at byu.edu
Wed Jul 4 05:45:11 UTC 2007


One thing I haven't yet heard (unless I've missed it in all the 
cacophany) is the suggestion to use listings from another PVR software 
package--commercial software generally includes listings as part of the 
whole deal. For example, BeyondTV costs something like $70 (with a 
Firefly remote included) and gives the user access to a personalized 
account on their web page that has listings data -- this could be 
scraped much easier than Zap2it or TvGuide. What's more, BeyondTV 
actually has an API that lets people write plugins for their software. A 
plugin could be written to get the listings data from that personalized 
account, format it according to XMLTV specs, then imported into MythTV 
via mythfilldatabase's option to import from a file.

Yes, BeyondTV is a Windows package. But for those who are already 
claiming to be willing to pay $5 a month or more, this would be a 
one-time charge with no monthly fee after that, and it could be run on a 
virtual machine launched via VmWare or something right on the backend 
(or another Windows box somewhere in the house). Theoretically, the APIs 
might be such that the actual software wouldn't be needed, but anyone 
who paid the licensing fees could access the personalized account with 
the language of their choice (I haven't studied the APIs in detail).

Another company, OrbTV, lets you set up an account for free and install 
a service on a Windows machine that, among other things, continually 
communicates with a web service run by fyitelevision.com and downloads 
listings -- for a zipcode and service provider of choice -- in XML 
format. It's wrapped in a SOAP envelope and uses some customized 
elements, but it would be trivial to set up an Orb account, have it get 
your listings for you, then run a script that uses XSLT or something to 
get it into the XMLTV format necessary for mythfilldatabase to import it.

Yes, a free, open-source, community solution would be best in the long 
run. MythEPG has the potential to really challenge the established model 
of distributing TV Listings. But in the short term, some of the 
possibilities outlined above are at least as viable as the idea of 
brokering a pay-for-usage deal with DataDirect.

Jarom McDonald

Tim Schall wrote:
> Carl is correct.  I am not a computer programmer and I don't know that 
> MythTV will or won't support a source other than datadirect.
> 
> What I am is a television station 'transmission engineer.'  I take care of 
> all the last mile stuff such as transmitters and fiber connections to cable 
> companies for KCTS-TV which is the PBS station in Seattle, WA.  We were the 
> first PBS station in the US on the air in digital and the second one in 
> Seattle by about 8 hours or so.  We cranked digital up in April of 1999.  I 
> got a lot of time under my belt with it.
> 
> As far as PSIP goes, it is not a part of either the ATSC or mpeg standards. 
> The FCC "decided" that it should be included 'by reference' so we're stuck 
> with it.  It is required that all digital television stations transmit EPG 
> data out 12 hours that is "substanially accurate."  The comission has 
> declined to define exactly what that means.  I transmit data out 10 days and 
> believe that it would meet anyones definition of  'substanially accurate.' 
> I check it frequently and can count on one hand the number of times I have 
> found it incorrect since I put it on in May of 2000.  (A long time before it 
> was 'required.')
> 
> I'd be happy to provide whatever input I can as far as generating a new, 
> freely available, open source of EPG data for MythTV and whatever other open 
> source applications are out there.  In the meantime I would be happy to pay 
> (for data I handed to TMS for free, but that 's another rant for another 
> time....)
> 
> How may I help?
> 
> Tim
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Carl Reynolds" <mythtv-users at hyperbole-software.com>
> To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 11:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Any way to pay?
> 
> 
> Doug Meredith wrote:
>>
>>
>> Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but it seems like you are saying that
>> you can’t be bothered to research this, and just want us to tell you.
>> It would appear that you place greater value on your time than on the
>> time of everyone else.  That about right?
>>
>>
>>
>>
> 
> Doug,
> No. What he's saying is he's not a computer programmer and doesn't know
> whether MythTV will support any other sources besides datadirect. If
> anyone knows the answer without having to do the research for him he
> would appreciate an answer.
> 
> Tim,
> As far as I know there is no commercially available source of guide
> data. There has been discussion on the list the last week because of TMS
> announcing they are removing the freely available source of guide
> listings. Probably one of the alternatives the devs are considering is a
> commercial listing, but from what I've gathered from the discussions all
> paths lead back to TMS at the moment.
> 
>  From what I can tell PSIP is an optional part of the DTV signal and is
> considered to be rather unreliable. It's my understanding that the
> information provided is often incorrect or missing. While it is a
> required part of ATSC, that system is not yet widely enough used to be
> considered the standard for receiving TV signals, from a user's viewpoint.
> 
> 
> 
> Carl.
> 
> 
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