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Network Scheduling to Mess with Tivo
Yahoo is running a bit about Networks messing with PVRs by adding a minute to shows. If a show runs to 9:01, then you can't Tivo a show on another channel that starts at 9. I've noticed this, although it's less of a factor if you have a dual tuner tivo, but it's interesting to see a bit of mainstream coverage.
I have noticed this for about a year and a half now. Most notably on Thursday nights with NBC programming.
ER starts at 8:59, which prevents me from recording CSI on CBS which runs from 8:00 to 9:00.
All TiVo has to do is change its programming a bit. They actually contribute to the conflicts by not allowing you to start recording a program late. Sure you can start recording early, or stop late, but unless you do it completely manually, it is not possible to start late and or end early.
My old VCR used to handle this somewhat more gracefully. If I had a weekly program, say from 7:00 to 8:00, and I had another program that recorded from 7:00 to 7:30, it would record the first program (if it had a higer priority) and then switch channels to record the last half of the other program.
I do not see why TiVo can't simply change the software to "record as much as possible, even if a few minutes are lost" rather than the current model of "even if one minute conflicts, the whole program is abandoned".
Hear that TiVo? Missing features!
TV has largely succeded, in the footsteps of Radio, by networks and stations being good about time boundaries. Once anarchy happens, where networks ge into the habit of 5 minutes this or that way, they can pretty much cut their own throats. This was extremely irritating when Turner did it.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
TiVo began advising its 2 million subscribers to watch out for such time conflicts and to adjust their recording settings manually.
Couldn't TiVo finish off the first one (maybe 31 minutes), and proceed to record the next despite it's 1 minute late?
Maybe a patch will check for any conflicts and prompt users to choose from a few options, for istance, give weight/priority to a particular show.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Just don't let TiVo change their 30 sec commerical skip code.
I'll miss a few shows as long as I can blast away commericals from my remote control.
Doesn't this affect the average tv viewer as well? I am watching ER from 8:00 to 9:01 and then I want to change the channel to watch (insert other popular program here) that airs from 9:00 to 10:00, I've just missed the first minute of the second show. Of course thats not a problem if you only watch one network, maybe that is what they are trying to promote more than fcking with TiVos.
"And why don't content providers understand that: 1. this won't stop pirates from pirating TV, and that 2. this only makes it harder on ordinary consumers?"
You're missing something. Content providers don't care about consumers, they care about advertisers. It hasn't been about providing content to consumers for a long time.
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
That example is a bit extreme (they might skip #2), but you can still see it in daytime TV when syndicated shows are on (Fox still does #6 before The Simpsons which is extremely irritating).
Now look at the way most prime-time shows are, especially sitcoms. The last big commercial break is around 8:55. They play the last few minutes of the show, usually have something funny in the credits, and then immediately go to a scene in the next show at 9:00, with credits appearing without any characters or anything. They keep you roped in for a couple of minutes or maybe more, then the first break comes in at 9:05, or later. You don't get a chance to see what's on the other channels.
In the US, TBS Superstation has all programming beginning
Honestly nowadays I don't have any "scheduled" TV time. Last show I was addicted to was 24 and I only saw it 50% of the time.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
...you are not their customer. advertisers are.
Ah yes, the contradiction of TV. The stupidities that annoy us all can be explained when we realise that the show is not the product. The viewer is the product and we are being sold to the advertisers. The TV networks care little about the show or the viewer at all. As long as they get the viewer in front of the tube so they can get their advertising revenue, that's all that matters.
This whole 'our programming' and 'our way' thing has not entered the mind of the TV execs at all. Again I am reminded of why I prefer DVDs.
I got around this by getting a MythTV box and setting it to always record 5 minutes after and 5 minutes before. Sure you can do this with TiVo, but MythTV has one advantage - it can support more than two tuners. This is important because back to back shows will overlap with the extra end and beginning padding. I currently have three Hauppauge PVR-250 tuner boards in mine, and I haven't had any real scheduling conflicts with the scheme yet (although I'm thinking of getting a 4th just in case).
This is, of course, a zero-sum game. For every person who quits watching CSI: Springfield because Law and Order: Metermaids runs late, there will be one person who quits watching L&O:M to catch CSI:S. If all networks synced up to the Naval Atomic Clock and started shows at hour-and-15-seconds and ended them at hour:59:45, more shows would get watched overall. A rising tide lifts all boats.
But hey, where does cooperation and common sense belong in corporate America, even if it can be easily proven that it's the best thing to do for all involved?
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