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128 Comments
- thatkidandy, on 10/23/2007, -1/+62nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo /vader
- count, on 10/23/2007, -1/+45This just strikes me as odd. They say they're getting abuse, but it seems like there should be a solution that doesn't involve cutting off home users.
- heavyd14, on 11/02/2007, -0/+32Hey Google, you wanna make a tv guide thing?
- swordphish, on 10/11/2007, -0/+29We should all try to persuade Google to start some sort of TV listings service.
- thecheatah, on 10/11/2007, -1/+29Before i found mythtv, I wrote a script that I use to use for dvring. It got its listing information from yahoo:
http://tv.yahoo.com/listings;_ylt=An1cGgfcySTCUYx6Jo3AZ9yAo9EF
I just tested my old script and it STILL works!! If someone can give me the schema for the xml feed that mythtv reads, (I suck at researching stuff like this) I can write something that can use yahoo and translate it into a nice xml feed for mythtv.
I believe yahoo is a open source supporter, hopefully they wont mind!!! - gopanthers, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17Not from Google, but if Google had TV listings it would be just like Couchville. They even compare their interface to Google Maps. (No feeds... yet, but nice and simple UI) http://www.couchville.com/
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -4/+20You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell! /heston :P zap2it will be missed
- Massif, on 10/23/2007, -2/+16Yeah, MythTV users don't really have any alternatives except maybe using EIT data. I just got my MythTV box working perfectly. I really hope they change their minds or get bought by someone big like Google. I am reluctant to pay any kind of fees for this, but if it was the only option then I suppose I would do it.
- eth777, on 10/11/2007, -3/+16Someone posted a poll on there asking if people were willing to pay a small fee. I've been using this service forever. Free is good, but I've never had one problem with this service, so I would pay up for it.
- n8dawg87, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13it would be brilliant on googles end to do something like this.
step 1: create tv guide xml feed
step 2: find out what people are watching more accurately than neilson
step 3: sell data to TV networks and advertisers
step 4: profit
On a more serious note, I can't comprehend how much of a set back this is for the open source community. This forces a large number of users to use a Windows Media Center or a TiVo. Now if you're like me and live in Canada you're royally screwed b/c there is very limited cable card availability and no TiVo. This means we are stuck with REALLY ***** cable company PVRs that cost an arm and a leg and work horribly. alas... - zbeast, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12 Zap2it Labs was at risk because of certain growing misuses of the Zap2it Labs data?
How do you a abuse Chanel guide data? - squish102, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12Seems a pity that we going to have to probably go back to screen scraping and putting all that extra load on webservers.
- bootz52, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11gbpvr uses this as well.
- Pelapp, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12@ GrimRage
What an ignorant comment.
You obviously have no idea what MythTV and HTPC's in general are all about!
I'm almost embarassed for you, for making such a lame attempt to be cool,
but ending up looking so stupid because your so out of your element (and probably league). - Solstice, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10I've been using MythTV since 2004. Back then, MythTV used a HTML scraper to get the listings. It was slow, inaccurate, and didn't always return the correct listings. Furthermore, the XMLTV software needed to be updated everytime one of the sites it was scraping data from changed.
The Zap2It listings were a godsend. I suspect that if no alternative service is put in place, MythTV users will drop off. It was a true pain to have to update XMLTV every few weeks when the scrapers broke. Zap2It made the whole setup much more reliable. - swift, on 10/11/2007, -5/+15I think Microsoft bought them and this is a quick and dirty way to stop OSS projects like myth.
Dang it - I forgot my Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie... - drlha, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11Crap! I moved to zap2it after tv.yahoo.com turned into a *****. Anyone else recommend another decent TV listing site?
- Brasky, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9Yeah....TiVo is a solution....I love it when they charge you a monthly fee just so you can get these guides so you can use a piece of hardware that you bought.
Everyone is going to hate it, but at least MCE doesn't handicap you like this. - jark, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9This sounds like a great service / add opportunity for Google. Offer listings that are search able with adds on the sides along with a feed for Mythtv and others to use. Seems at least good enough for a beta right?
- speaker219, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Here's a sample guide feed:
http://ontv.orcon.net.nz/listings.xml - skippyatuw, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9Most countries use XMLTV to basically read sites such as zap2it.com and translate it into guide information. This puts a huge strain on such websites, hence why the Labs service was created in the first place. Apparently it was too easy to avoid their commercial subscriptions with this, so they decided to dump the whole thing.
As for a pay service, I have doubts if people would pay for a service if they get XMLTV to work for US listings again. Yea it doesn't work as well as Labs does, but when people are used to getting something for nothing, it might be hard to get them to switch. - longboarder543, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9TitanTV supports XML feeds I believe. www.titantv.com
- Ryokurin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8They charge companies for the data for profit. People were turning around starting to sell the information they were giving away for free for profit. Know some computer store that sold MythTV? They probably used zap2it for the guide, and that was against the terms of service.
- dinki, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. Back to screen scraping we go.
- vh1`, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8"Thats not going to be available to mythtv that site is owned by snapstream."
if it's on the internet, we can parse it - NSMike, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Wow, couchville rocks... Now if I could just make it work with MythTV...
- dagar, on 10/11/2007, -9/+16Many users are willing to pay a small fee for this kind of thing.
- Pilot85, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6But...but... I finally got my mythtv box to work like I wanted...
*****.
(thanks for the free service anyway) - fatdog789, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6MS pays a licensing fee for their service, so it will not discontinue on MCE boxes.
- postaldave, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9WTF?
so your pvr software may be going down so you decide to trash your whole computer? - redmaxx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6MS has an agreement with Zap2It.
- ydt89, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5wtf
- Notyavgkat, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7screw them check out meevee......their better anyways
http://www.meevee.com - scootinger, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I think that Google should start developing their own (partially ad-supported) PVR software. It wouldn't be a bad idea IMO; maybe they could buy out SnapStream (makers of BeyondTV) or SageTV.
- mesostinky, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5This really sucks. I hope they will change their mind and allow us to pay some sort of nominal fee to use the service. $10 a user couldn't possibly do anything but help them out.
- V1ncent, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5If you think that there are enough people that are willing to pay for a service like zap2it to keep displaying your listings, you're sadly mistaken.
- zort15, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4This really sucks. Hopefully some one will come up with a new grabber for XML TV that will get it from somewhere else, though I don't know where that would be.
- heavyd14, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Not only would it be brilliant, they might actually make a site that didn't suck.
Feature I'd want: Realize that I don't need a schedule for CNN (Every hour is news), the shopping channels (Every hour is shopping) and test pattern channel. (Yes, I have a channel of 24/7 test pattern complete with test tone 10x louder than the other channels.) - Handcannons, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Sadly the number of people actually willing to pay for something is far less than the number of people who will vote 'yes' for free.
- EricTheGrey, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4I used Zap2It years ago, when I didn't want to pay for a TV Guide or paper. Since getting Dish, I've not had to use it. Still, it's sad to see it go.
What needs to be done, is for someone to devise a scheme to acquire the information and pass it around, in bittorrent fashion. Each client doing part of the work, and passing it along.
Or perhaps, I'm insane. You decide. :)
EtG - ddrucker, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Canadians are now effectively without any listing service whatsoever. Zap2it was the only source for Canadian television listings on the Internet in xml form. Now we'll have to return to the days of checking stupid web pages for everything. Really pathetic.
- potterboy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5People still do that? I though everyone watched it on a portable device while doing other thing! This is an incredible revelation!
- WalkaWalka, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3
Odd.. I thought they made all videos available on demand for free, using HD v3 GreenRay Flash Cache they upload to your hybrid in free parking zones. And deposit credits to your Viza account for actually watching them.. if you have time for that. Donating plasma takes less time.. can't they just stream me the entertainment they know I'd like? And stop wasting my time? - wastern, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4The TV Tracker widget for OS X uses Zap2it as well...
They just showed off their new version they'd be releasing at WWDC. It looked like a great update, hopefully they can get a new source for their data feeds - durex, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Not seeing anywhere you can actually use this with MythTV or MediaPortal....
- jrandyw, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I've had a MythTV box since before the days of DataDirect/Zap2it. I think MythTV users will be able to simply switch back to an XMLTV based solution, like we did in the days before Zap2It was nice enough to give us free direct listings.
- t0ny, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5I switch from tivo to Mythtv. Why? Tivo is closed, I cant easily add a new hd or copy the shows off the tivo and transcode them to play on my palm pilot. Mythtv is a lot more work, but I like it more. Its faster. I hate updating a show on my tivo and waiting 5 mins.
/rant - jostheller, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5It would be nice to know the offending commercial parties and their contact information. I suspect their call center wouldn't be able to handle a 1000x increase on their phone system and network backbone. damn them for ruining a perfectly good thing for the rest of us... damn them
- unoriginal, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3ZAP2it is owned by Tribune which just went private in a leveraged buyout. They wont be open to selling out to anyone else right now.
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