New EPG Info data - strange

DishSubLA

SatelliteGuys Master
Original poster
Apr 9, 2006
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Has anyone else noticed that the descritons for TV shows is different from what they had been? For example, the use of the dash - is prominent in nearly every info description. Also, the text itself is very different. Before it was a brief, dry (but dry can be GOOD) description of the episode. Now, the text is more like a description of the movies. Now, the TV episode INFO is longer and all of it won't display, and the descriptions have a writing style that starts out normal, but the often reads "--But, Mary finds that . . ." the rest won't fit.

I've done a terrible job of trying to describe this observation, but it is as if they are using someone else's writing or review than before with longer descriptions and almost crossong into critique such as for I Love Lucy, "In this classic episode . . . " for the Vitamega-whatever. Totally different style and so long that all of it won't display.

I've noticed this for at least a month or so. Anyone else? It almost reads like Rovi EPG guide Info.
 
Yes I have noticed it. And yes it must be Rovi because TIVO has the thing happening.
 
I noticed this with the description of an episode of Murder She Wrote. At the top of the guide, the description ended with something like "...and what happened to the missing $3..." By pressing the Info button on the remote control, a slightly longer description appeared which showed that it was talking about "the missing $3 million." Kind of a big difference, there. :)
 
This happened pretty much simultaneous with me replacing the 622 with a Hopper 3, I figured it must be a Hopper thing getting extended show descriptions, cast photos and biographies and other trivia from the Internet or somewhere.
 
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It's almost too descriptive now...
Too much text explaining inconsequential details, with not enough room to get to what the program's actually about...

Blah...
 
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Rovi has destroyed great Tivo guide data since they bought the company. It's causing all sorts of problems with it handling recordings. Plenty of people at TCF are now saying they'll never buy another Tivo because of this.

I don't think Rovi cares, and due to their track record over the last few years, I doubt they will do much to ever fix it.

Dvr's are USELESS without good and timely guide data.
 
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Yes, I've noticed the same thing and it is aggravating. Also for some of the shows that I record, the episode numbers are missing. Was wondering what had caused the change.
 
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Somehow the show Check Please Arizona which I record is now sometimes called "Check Please Arizona" and sometimes called "Check, Please Arizona" so I end up with two groups of episodes. Both record under the same timer. Is this related to program guide data?


Sent from my iPad using the SatelliteGuys app!
 
Somehow the show Check Please Arizona which I record is now sometimes called "Check Please Arizona" and sometimes called "Check, Please Arizona" so I end up with two groups of episodes. Both record under the same timer. Is this related to program guide data?
Sent from my iPad using the SatelliteGuys app!
.

Yes, different name, so two folders. Yet the name is close enough that they at least both record. Be happy you get them both at all. That's not all that's happening with Tivo's new Rovi based guide data.
 
Tmz seems to be renamed on the hopper 3,
The timer for 630 only sees the weekend show, a new timer sees the 1hr show earlier in the afternoon. 30 minutes is enough tmz for us, lol
Also motorcycle racig on a seek picked up Supercross, now its not seen this weekend on fox, have to set a timer for fox Supercross too.
 
Somehow the show Check Please Arizona which I record is now sometimes called "Check Please Arizona" and sometimes called "Check, Please Arizona" so I end up with two groups of episodes. Both record under the same timer. Is this related to program guide data?

Just curious...is the name switching back and forth, or was it all one name up to a certain date, then the name changed, and all recordings since then are the different name? I've seen names change on some recently, but I don't think I've seen one switch back and forth.
 
Does this mean they dumped Gracenote?

I don't see their copyright info anymore.

Compare the listings online to your dishguide. It's easy to tell what's being used. I don't have my dish receiver connected anymore to check myself.

tvguide.com has Rovi data. screenertv.com has Nielsen (Gracenote/Tribune) data

Example for Chicago Med tonight
Rovi data on tvguide.com has

Chicago Med
Theseus' Ship 8:00 PM
Dr. Rhodes takes a medical trip with Dr. Latham, which puts Latham's personality issues to the test. Also: Dr. Manning treats a young cancer patient; an unhealthy woman arrives and refuses to listen to doctors; a case involves a personality disorder.

Screener with Gracenote data has

Chicago Med
Episode: Theseus' Ship
NEW
S02, E13

Dr. Rhodes persuades Dr. Latham to accompany him on a medical trip out of town; an 8-year-old cancer patient wants to give up his battle; a woman with a personality disorder complicates a case.
 
Just curious...is the name switching back and forth, or was it all one name up to a certain date, then the name changed, and all recordings since then are the different name? I've seen names change on some recently, but I don't think I've seen one switch back and forth.
I have noticed this lately in the guide with the 10:00 AM hour of The Today Show. Usually, the upcoming episode is listed as "Today - Kathie Lee and Hoda" (or something like that. I am not actually looking at the guide at the moment, just going from memory.) while the episodes farther out in the guide are simply listed as "Today". Presumably, the title gets corrected when it is closer to the date of each episode, so timers will still work. However, unless NBC is on the bubble about firing Kathie Lee or Hoda (or both) I wonder why the title would not be the same for every weekday episode in that time slot for the entire length of the guide.
 
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Impractical jokers season 6 is in spanish for description. The one airing after is English, 2 different timers the 230 set to skip, 2pm was not to record or skip. Wtf, sigh....
Example sunday 242 at 2pm cst. Missed the season premier because the information is incorrect,

Next new one is Thursday, 9pm, no information in episodes for Spanish one, tons of episodes in the other one.

Tmz name change also i had to set a manual timer. The 630 show
 
Impractical jokers season 6 is in spanish for description. The one airing after is English, 2 different timers the 230 set to skip, 2pm was not to record or skip. Wtf, sigh....
Example sunday 242 at 2pm cst. Missed the season premier because the information is incorrect,

Next new one is Thursday, 9pm, no information in episodes for Spanish one, tons of episodes in the other one.

Tmz name change also i had to set a manual timer. The 630 show

Welcome to Rovi data. :( I had a Hallmark movie that had the description in French. Foreign languages in some descriptions has been a complaint on the tivo forums since Tivo's were switched to Rovi data. Maybe more complaints through Dish will force some changes at Tivo(Rovi) but I doubt it.
 
Let me add this: now the experience is like the TiVo mess in that dear old mom has created several ONCE timers and with NO RECORDINGS to show for it. She may be a senior, but she is competent in using the Hopper knows more than some younger folk. As for me. I also noticed that according to my SEARCH, Match Games was also airing on BET, so I set ONCE timers for them just to see what the difference was from GSN's Match Game. Later, I found that my BET timers were NOT in the Daily Schedule. I did the search, again, and it showed Match Game on BET. Then to confirm, I went to the guide verify Match Game on the days and times that the SEARCH (one part of the database) showed it was to air. Of course, on the EPG, BET does NOT show Match Game at those days and times. My conclusion was that this was all a MESS with unreliable EPG metadata just like with TiVo.

As another poster noted, I've also noticed that Tribune's (now Nielsen) required copyright/credit is also no longer on any Info data I've seen. Also, only SOME of the program info reads like Rovi, while other descriptions read like the short, but good and sufficient info from Tribune (Nielsen). It seems like a migration of metadata in progress. Also, I've noticed some search results for some shows like latest Star Wars Rebels showing THREE folders with ONE of them being completely EMPTY. I've had EMPTY folders in search results for a few other shows.

As an owner and user of TiVo, I have had to go through the nightmare of TiVo's switch to Rovi with missed recordings, messed up OnePass timers, difference in the names of the SAME TV show (even the 5 o'clock news mis-titled as the 4 'clock news for which I had to open a ticket at TiVo because it wasn't getting fixed and was not recording even as a NON OnePass timer), and out of market channels being forced as "You Receive" in the channels list which messes up the OnePasses that record NOTHING instead of tuning to the proper local channel. In other words, just a huge mess that after many months seems to be a little less worse, but still problems persist. In other words, some of the same problems as the TiVo migration to Rovi EPG and metadata now experienced on Dish.

Well, I presume Charlie either got a better price from Rovi, or perhaps Rovi responded better (or pledged to respond better) than the old Tribune regarding some if its own flawed data (always listing Hal Linden on all episodes of the Golden Girls along with incorrect episode numbers for that show). Hey, Charlie, since you are supposed to be listening, how about this:
for our troubles, you reduce our bills a bit during this pain of making timers and NOT getting recordings and whatever other problems we experience related to this like NOT being able to read the entire description for our TV shows.

As we have all learned with the TiVo fiasco: a DVR is only as good as its EPG/metadata. All the other fancy, fun, and powerful features mean NOTHING if the DVR can't at least records what it is set to record with the parameters requested.

BTW, on TiVo there are still several shows that still have NO INFO for each episode of a TV show. Instead we get a generic description of the SERIES, and this caused timers to fire and record episodes we already have recorded or record repeats like Doc Martin, that are due for NEW (premiering in the US) episodes this year. I am starting to see a few shows with generic INFO on Dish.

My money is on Dish migrating to Rovi (now using the TiVo brand). can only hope Rovi learned from the great TiVO fiasco and we at Dish won't have to endure what drove many long-time TiVo "Lovers" to dump TiVo and get cable DVR's or even move to Dish or DirecTV. Let me be CLEAR--Dish you are LISTENING as you claim in your new ads?:
THERE MAY BE SOME GLITCHES, BUT DO NOT MESS THIS UP, AND YOU HAD BETTER RESPOND DIRECTLY TO THE CUSTOMERS SHOULD THINGS EVEN START TO LOOK AS IF IT WILL IMPLODE AS THEY DID AT TIVO. YOU HAVE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT AND MAKE IT WORK AND COMMUNICATE WITH US WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON BECAUSE IF OUR DVR'S MISS RECORDINGS, WE WILL GO TO COMPETITORS, JUST AS TiVo OWNERS DID. COMMUNICATING WITH US CAN GO A LONG WAY TO KEEPING US AS CUSTOMERS.

At this point, I may be wasting my typing fingers as I feel Verizon may soon be the new owners of Dish, and probably change the "Dish"name to something else. So, Charlie may not care at this point.

Let us know if any see "TiVo" at the end of our Dish guide data or even a TiVo bug on the EPG. I would not doubt it. BTW, TiVo seems DONE with any TiVo DVR retail products. Instead TiVo is licensing some of its patents and name along with the use of its logo for other DVR makers to use as "Powerd by TiVo" but NOT a TiVo product (only a mere TWO tuners) , and this includes Arris making its own box for CATV, but with some licensing from TiVo including use of the TiVo logo along with the Arris logo. So, Rovi is all about EPG metadata and licensing it tech and logo.
 
Is this just a VIP thing?
Because I'm not seeing this on the Hopper3.
This is what I see.

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