Poll - Guide Data Quality

[richard1980]

(a) the guide has not downloaded the specific info on a show, and so it is deemed to not be a "new" show

That is not correct. When a listing does not have specific episode data, WMC records it anyway. WMC basically uses a "better safe than sorry" approach. So if a recording isn't being scheduled when it should be, it's because the listings are actually wrong. At the same time, when a recording is scheduled that shouldn't be, it's because the listings are wrong (either the listings are blatantly wrong or they are missing episode data), keeping in mind of course that partial and missed recordings are designed to be rescheduled.

[barnabas1969]

For an extra $20.00 per YEAR, I can get EPG data somewhere else. For that minimal amount of money, I'm not going to dump Media Center. I keep discovering new reasons to love 7MC, why would I dump it?

[newfiend]

Ok,.. put in my 2 Cents on the vote as well.. I picked getting worse!.. They either need to get a better Data Monkey or give the current one more banannas! My HTPC recorded 12.. YES 12 episodes of Wife Swap.. Some were a total of 4 min in length.. WTF?? Not only did it record 12 episodes but GAK! Wife Swap.?? That's one of the wife's shows...YUCK! Thank God for extenders so I can watch "normal TV"...lol
newfiend~

[lurch66]

I seem to have voted getting better for some odd reason. I must have just finished preparing to show my 4 year old the star wars saga for the first time and not been thinking straight. I in fact have seen it getting worse lately as with deadliest catch it has generic descriptions and therefore records between 4 and 6 episodes every Tuesday. very frustrating.

[STC]

lol

I have adjusted the poll so that you can change your vote.

[lurch66]

Thank you I have fixed my vote. I guess everything is better after a star wars viewing

[slowbiscuit]

For an extra $20.00 per YEAR, I can get EPG data somewhere else. For that minimal amount of money, I'm not going to dump Media Center. I keep discovering new reasons to love 7MC, why would I dump it?

It's actually $25 a year now, if you're talking about Schedules Direct. Still cheap for what you get, and they are responsive to issues with the guide. I used it for a MythTV setup with clear QAM channels on Comcast a few years ago.

But as I mentioned, if Ceton or someone else wants to use SD instead of the free service, it *may* be tricky to license because SD is only supposed to be used for noncommercial apps.

[brennok]

I voted accurate but I mostly use my TiVos which have yet to have any issues and I record a lot. Media center for me though has always been inaccurate. I daily have multiple recordings of the same shows. Some days it will record every airing in the same day even though it has accurate data. I also find Media Center doesn't go out as far as I can with TiVo so maybe Microsoft doesn't send the latest guide data every day?

[STC]

Ugh...

Scheduled recordings lists 24 instances of duplicate recordings. All the same shows playing at different times. One set to record 6 times.
These are 'New and Rerun' shows with each one listing exactly the same meta data.

The quality of guide data on my rig is pitiful right now.

[duffman984]

I've actually noticed that my Tivo's guide data has been getting worse too. The wife uses the Tivo because it's simpler and she has The Real Housewives of wherever setup as a series and it records 3-4 episodes every Sunday. I double checked the settings on the series and it's set to new only. I was flipping through the guide the other day and noticed that the episode did not show (repeat) or (new) so I think the Tivo just did a best effort and recorded it anyway. The only way I was able to get it to stop was to limit the timeframe to record to 9PM or whatever time the new shows come out that night.

I thought it was just my RCN service that had the bad guide data and not to be a jerk but I'm glad it's not just me. Reading this thread gave me a lot of good info. I voted "getting worse" because my WMC series have been recording multiple shows on different nights. I caught it the other night recording an episode of Mythbusters and I checked the guide and it wasn't listed as a (repeat). What I wind up doing now is going through my upcoming recordings for the week and manually removing the duplicates so they don't record

[Ack]

Ugh...

Scheduled recordings lists 24 instances of duplicate recordings. All the same shows playing at different times. One set to record 6 times.
These are 'New and Rerun' shows with each one listing exactly the same meta data.

The quality of guide data on my rig is pitiful right now.

Mine too, but probably not as bad as yours (if I remember right from your previous posts, you have cable with lots of channels where I only have OTA).

I've just gotten into the habit of checking occasionally for duplicates and deleting them. I did have my shows set to record New and Rerun thinking WMC wouldn't record any rerun it has previously recorded, but it was recording everything regardless of it being previously recorded. I set them all back to new only and will see what happens.

But I feel I still have to keep a watchful eye to be sure we don't miss an episode - that would be horrible if we miss an episode of something.

[slowbiscuit]

I've actually noticed that my Tivo's guide data has been getting worse too. The wife uses the Tivo because it's simpler and she has The Real Housewives of wherever setup as a series and it records 3-4 episodes every Sunday. I double checked the settings on the series and it's set to new only. I was flipping through the guide the other day and noticed that the episode did not show (repeat) or (new) so I think the Tivo just did a best effort and recorded it anyway. The only way I was able to get it to stop was to limit the timeframe to record to 9PM or whatever time the new shows come out that night.

This probably happened because the eps had generic program descriptions instead of actual ep data, this happens sometimes and is a channel provider issue. If it's a regular issue the best way to work around it is to create a wishlist that has the show title as a required phrase and then exclude the generic ep data as another phrase, and also set it to record new only. If the eps didn't have generic data, they probably set the first run date wrong, I see this occasionally with some shows on PBS (Globe Trekker).

Advanced wishlists with boolean search features are a big advantage that Tivo has over WMC, but IMO not a lot of people take advantage of them. I use a few to auto-record all the sports I want - for example, I can get the Tivo to record NASCAR races but not qualifying, practice, etc. just by setting up a wishlist with what I want.

[STC]

[Going OT]

^ A feature I have always wanted on MC is thumbs
Maybe something similar could be added to the Ceton Q, hint hint

[crawfish]

How's this for a notable event? I just checked Zap2It, and it has "The Walking Dead" tonight as a new episode, which is incorrect. Media Center, however, does not have it scheduled to record. So for a change of pace, Zap2It is wrong, and Media Center is right. Of course, Media Center's rightness in this case is probably the stopped clock variety, because if it were working properly, it would agree with Zap2It.