Zap2It Labs Discontinuing Free TV Guide Service

QuijiboIsAWord writes "Zap2It Labs, which provides free TV listing data for personal use, has long been the main source of program guide information for users in the US and beyond. They've announced via their webpage that, due to abuse of the service, data will no longer be available after September 1st. There is no other direct source, and no option to pay for the service even if the users wanted to. Without a data feed of this type, users will be reduced to scraping websites at best. Is this going to be a killing blow for MythTV?"

Comments

Re:Anybody know what the "abuse" was?

[ChaosDiscord]

Based on their previous complaints and this message, I think the problem was people were using the free data set, then redistributing it, probably for profit, possibly indirectly (say, selling devices that used Zap2It's free service). Zap2It makes money selling their data set and they were very generously offering it for free to individuals. But you weren't allow to redistribute it.

Re:Anybody know what the "abuse" was?

[Minwee]

According to a posting on mythtv.org...

Some reasons and other comments given for the scheduled discontinuence, copied from the forum, copied from the mailing list:

• Continued use of the service to support commercial products, in violation of the agreement.
• Commercial products continued to grow despite previous appeals that this activity stop.
• There are significant changes to the supporting data structure forthcoming and we could not devote resources to the continued upkeep and enhancements of the service.
• Maintenance of the service is impacting our resource pool for other projects.
• We sought alternative options but were unable to find a solution.
• We recognize the hardship this creates for the user community. We are open to alternative solutions and would consider proposals that met the needs of the user community and our company.
• We looked into options to turn this into a paid service however we do not have the infrastructure at this time.

MythTV devs are working on this...

[cesman]

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users /275533#275533
And it isn't just MythTV that uses the guide data provided...

Re:Anybody know what the "abuse" was?

[Applekid]

While no longer linked from the front page, this link still works.

Basically, the content was provided free provided it remained for non-commercial use. After all, commercial ventures have to pay for those listings and if they could get it for free, nobody would pay.

I hope they at least tried to weed out the abusers before just cutting the cable.

It has another source

[TinheadNed]

MythTV can read the broadcast schedules on the airwaves - see EIT. At least that's what I use in the UK. I can also still scrape the Radio Times website in XMLtv as well.

Re:Myth will survive

[gurps_npc]

MYTH TV offers everything TIVO does plus:

Not having to pay a monthly fee to automatically record shows you watched previously

Not having to deal with commercials inserted when you fast forward 30 seconds.

Now, if they could only find a way to strip thos FREAKIN' RUDE graphics that certain vile channels overlay on top of the movie/show. I can deal with a tiny little station identification, but those rude obnoxious ads obscure vital parts of the show about one out of every 3 times. I swear my Blood pressure goes through the roof.

But EIT has limitations

[LionMage]

Excellent link. However, using EIT has at least one drawback:

Unlike DVB systems, an EIT in ATSC covers a limited time span. [...] It's possible to transmit up to 128 EIT tables for any virtual channel, but it's very rare that so many are transmitted - terrestrial systems have to transmit EITs covering at least the current time slot and the next three time slots.

So at least in the U.S., the EIT would be of limited utility to MythTV users, since it is unlikely that one would be able to use this data to schedule multiple days in advance. Also, the article you linked only indicates that EIT is a standard part of ATSC (the terrestrial digital TV broadcast standard), and wouldn't necessarily be present in analog broadcasts (which are going to be around for a little while longer) or in digital cable transmissions (which use QAM here in the U.S.). It's entirely possible that a broadcaster might supply EIT data, and a cable operator might strip it out to save some bandwidth.

I've seen some of the newer LCD HDTVs sold here in the U.S. which have the ability to display program guide data, no doubt culled from available EIT data, but this is really intended to allow viewers to see what's on right now or in the immediate future without resorting to channel flipping. I bought a Sharp Aquos one generation before this feature became standard, so I missed out, but I really don't feel like I'm missing too much because of the described limitations.