Where does Windows Media Center get it's guide data?

[duder_me]

After some sleuthing, I found that http://www.locatetv.com's T.V. guide information is very similar to Windows Media Center's, including the cover art shown in the guide for each T.V. show. Although they may be similar, is there an official source for the guide data?

[blueiedgod]

http://www.zap2it.com/

[STC]

^ In a strange elongated, delayed cycle. That's why it's sometimes (often) not updated in time to late changes of the lineup. Zap2it will usually be adjusted but MC won't be and you end up recording something you don't want to see or miss the adjusted show entirely.

[gary94080]

http://www.zap2it.com/

I have sent them some comments on errors in the channel lineup in the past and they made corrections. that was a few years ago. I hope that is still the same company.

I often wonder what their financial model is. where they get their income to pay to maintain the databases of all the different channel lineups for the different cable companies.

[oakley516]

http://www.zap2it.com/

...where they get their income to pay to maintain the databases of all the different channel lineups for the different cable companies.

I'm sure Microsoft gives them a couple of dollars to use that database.

Actually, Zap2It is Tribune Media Services, a huge syndication company.

The EPG data is just one piece of the company. DirectTV, Tivo and plenty of others are also customers for the EPG data.

The name may actually have changed just last month because Tribune merged with another metadata type company called Gracenote.

[gary94080]

I'm sure Microsoft gives them a couple of dollars to use that database.

I can see that those subscription services provide some funding to maintain the service.

what I can't see is the WMC side. basically it's one and done for the funding. once you pay for your license you don't pay any more. and there is no advertising.

an extreme example would be someone that has an XP or Vista with a working WMC. there is no money coming in from that, hasn't been for years.

[mark1234]

There's a difference between what you pay Microsoft and what they pay to the data providers. I'm sure they pay a set fee, and are still paying, and can then distribute the data to WMC (Xbox One?).

If WMC was being built now then I'm fairly sure it would include advertising, just like the Bing apps do in Win8.

[mercalia]

In the UK WMC can get its epg data from Inband broadcasts of Freeview TV, in fact can I think be set up to only use that source - which bodes well for the time when or if MS abandons WMC? The impression I get is WMC falling out of favour in the US as many people use cable (rather than broadcast tv) and that is encrypted? WMC is still a good soln here as the main channels of digital freeview tv lacks encryption, even the HD I think. And we still get a few good programmes on these channels.

[CyberSimian]

In the UK WMC can get its epg data from Inband broadcasts of Freeview TV

...Except for the high-definition channels. The EPG for the HD channels is transmitted only on the HD MUXes, and in an encoded form that WMC does not understand (and never will). So using only the broadcast EPG, you can populate the EPG for the SD channels, but not for the HD channels.

I observe (in passing) that the MediaPortal media center software can perform this trick for the HD channels too, but MediaPortal is not without its tribulations.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[.Nico]

The guide can also be populated by using xmltv file. There are tools to transfer the data from these files to the EPG, like Big Screen TV. Using DVBLogic software there are a few plugins to capture xmltv data.

By the way, here in NL the HD channels EPG data are also populated from the cable stream, called the EIT scanner.

.Nico