[mythtv-users] Duplicate recordings because of bad SD data?

[f-myth-users at media.mit.edu]

    > Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2010 03:42:38 -0400
    > From: "Michael T. Dean" <mtdean at thirdcontact.com>

    >   On 07/24/2010 01:53 AM, f-myth-users at media.mit.edu wrote:
    > > Speaking of blowing it with the wrong movie of the same title---this
    > > just happened again, today, with TCM.  The SD description was:
    > >
    > > The Poor Little Rich Girl:  Gwen's family is rich, but she is lonely
    > > and unhappy until a servant's mistake changes everything. Silent.
    > > (And claimed programid MV002775400000.)
    > >
    > > WRONG---while the description was for the 1917 movie, what TCM
    > > actually -aired- was the 1936 musical (very much non-silent) with
    > > Shirley Temple!  They introduced it at the 1936 version and that's
    > > what their website claimed they were showing, too.
    > >
    > > So it looks like TMS has a persistent problem of guessing completely
    > > wrong about -which- movie of the same title is actually showing.
    > > They've done this a lot.  I don't know if they just get titles without
    > > years or descriptions, and simply guess, or what, but it's pretty
    > > damned irritating.

    > Don't you mean that TCM has a persistent problem of failing to properly 
    > specify to TMS -which- movie of the same title they plan to actually show?

Don't you mean you don't have enough data to know?

    > Not a lot TMS can do if TCM doesn't give them the information they need 
    > or if TCM gives the wrong information...

Look, as I said very clearly above, TCM's data on their website was
CORRECT:  they claimed to be airing the 1936 Shirley Temple version,
and that's what they aired.  TMS/SD, on the other hand, claimed they
were airing a 1917 silent film of the same name.  I don't know what
data TCM gives to TMS and thus where the screwup was.  That's why I
sent the mail---to encourage someone who -can- find out, to do so.

I don't know if the typical flow is to name the movie (only) and let
TMS figure it out, or to include a year, or to include their -own-
description that TMS then rewrites so they can claim a copyright, or
what, and I'm betting it may even vary across broadcaaters.

[But I would find it surprising if TCM itself said, "We're showing
the 1917 silent version" to TMS, given that their website disagrees.
But who knows what twisty little passages their particular dataflow
takes.  All I know is that the outcome isn't always correct.  And
I've seen identical wrong-movie screwups -from other channels-, so
it's not just TCM---it just seems to happen more frequently to them,
but that may either be sample bias on my part of a mix of movies that
are easier to confuse on theirs.]