TiVo Community Forums Archives - ER/CSI conflict...can we change it?

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ER/CSI conflict...can we change it?
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Posted by: mitchb2

Do we have any power to get this changed, if we unite?
I'm not trying to be corny, but the more I think about it the more it irritates me.

What about the data that our Tivo uploads to headquarters, regarding viewing habits? If thousands of subscribers cancelled their ER SP's and kept their CSI SP's, would it get noticed?

Just a thought. Of course, if you don't watch ER, it doesn't really matter.
But if this becomes a trend, where networks think they will "teach those commercial-skipping Tivo people a lesson," it could really hose up our season passes.

Posted by: cello

I don't know if they changed the guide data to get back at us. It just reflects the way the show has been scheduled for at least the past year.

If they do care about how many people have season passes, they lost me. Unless they count manual recording schedules, that is. They lost 2 minutes a week of my viewership! :)

Posted by: DancnDude

I was happy watching ER a minute late all of last year, but now that they changed the guide data, I probably won't watch at all. It's just one of those things I am too lazy to fix by "working around" the problem. It's just NBC that's getting screwed. I can see them updating the times if it starts consistantly 5 or 10 minutes early but not a minute...

Posted by: dthmj

It's a ploy by DirecTV to get everyone to buy DirecTiVo's... I've got two - I can record 4 shows at the same time... Life is good.

Posted by: swinca

I've noticed that the last 5 minutes or so of most shows is nothing but commercials, credits, and maybe previews of the next week's show. So maybe you wouldn't be missing much of CSI if you cut the recording off in time to catch ER. I guess it's a matter of which one is most important to you, although I think it sucks that some stations are deliberately starting their shows at off times. I usually just miss the beginning because I'm too lazy to try to work around it.

Posted by: jsmeeker

I've got mixed feelings about this.. In the past, we all complained when a show was scheduled from 9:00 to 10:00, but really started before 9:00. In some ways, we want the networks to either stick the the published schedule, or adjust the schedule to tell us how the show really airs.. NBC did the later.. Of course, for TiVo owners, this can casue a conflict.

ight now, now problem for me, as I don't have anything else scheduled that ends at 9:00 PM on Thursdays. (at least I hope I don't. I'm pretty sure I checked the To Do list before I came out to L.A.)

Posted by: mitchb2

quote:
Originally posted by dthmj
It's a ploy by DirecTV to get everyone to buy DirecTiVo's

Some of us don't get local networks on DirecTV!

Posted by: TeeSee

quote:
Originally posted by dthmj
It's a ploy by DirecTV to get everyone to buy DirecTiVo's... I've got two - I can record 4 shows at the same time... Life is good.

Same here. Four tuners, no problems. I absolutely love the fact that the guide is accurate.

But if I had just one tuner I'd set a manual recording or wait until the summer to watch ER when it's in it's repeat cycle.

Posted by: TivoDaddy

What's the problem? I record both shows but on different TiVo's and they both show that they will be recorded.

Posted by: Gholrua

quote:
Originally posted by TivoDaddy
What's the problem? I record both shows but on different TiVo's and they both show that they will be recorded.

THAT right there is the problem. Not everyone has more than one TiVo or DirecTiVo, so they can't record both at the same time without "human intervention," as it were.

Posted by: TivoDaddy

quote:
Originally posted by Gholrua
THAT right there is the problem. Not everyone has more than one TiVo or DirecTiVo, so they can't record both at the same time without "human intervention," as it were.

So I'm guessing that ER is starting early this year thereby conflicting with CSI? Or has it been doing this for a while now and I've never noticed?

Posted by: cello

It's been doing it for a while, but this is the first season that the guide data reflects that. Last year, those of us who recorded both shows would just miss the first minute or two of ER. This year we have to fiddle with stuff to get them both to record at all.

Posted by: Crrink

What they ought to do is make the shows fit into the normal time slots. Is an extra minute of screen time really that crucial to telling the ER story? Besides, it's probably an extra minute of commercials anyway.

I'm lucky - I have 2 TiVo's and only record NBC and CBS on Thursdays. Still irritates me, though. Well, maybe I can at least get rid of my padding at the end of Friends...

Posted by: Mikkel_Knight

quote:
Originally posted by mitchb2
Some of us don't get local networks on DirecTV!

This is my problem too :(

Posted by: rtype

Back in my day...

When I signed up with DirecTv, they didn't have these new fangled "local" channels. We had east coast feeds and west coast feeds. Two shows on the same time? No problem, just watch one a couple hours later.

I'm sure there's a way to lie to DirecTv enough to get this. Maybe tell them you have a mobile home or something?

Posted by: Swirl_Junkie

What is the easiest fix for this? manual recording of ER? and keep CSI on the season pass?

Posted by: betamax

Don't know why TiVo can't ask if it's OK do a partial recording (in this case skip a minute). If I get the other 59 I'm pretty happy.

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

quote:
Originally posted by betamax
Don't know why TiVo can't ask if it's OK do a partial recording (in this case skip a minute). If I get the other 59 I'm pretty happy.

That would be a nightmare, however. TiVo's recording has to be automatic, otherwise you'd have situations where, e.g., you have a Season Pass to both ER and CSI; the Guide Data comes in; ER is suddenly long by one minute; TiVo asks you if you want to do a partial recording; you don't turn on your TV; TiVo is stuck on the confirmation screen and you never get ANY recordings.

The problem with allowing partial recordings is that if you do it, people (probably lots of people) will get partial recordings when they wanted the whole thing, and you'll have more people angry than you have now. Negative padding is a better option (because it keeps it simple while giving people a way out); starting and stopping shows on time is a much, much better option (because it keeps it simpler still and makes it unnecessary to have a way out). I think NBC will see the error of its ways some day, when enough people get pissed off at their silly little money-grubbing-at-the-expense-of-the-viewers games, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Posted by: betamax

quote:
Originally posted by Medieval Guy
That would be a nightmare, however. TiVo's recording has to be automatic, otherwise you'd have situations where, e.g., you have a Season Pass to both ER and CSI; the Guide Data comes in; ER is suddenly long by one minute; TiVo asks you if you want to do a partial recording; you don't turn on your TV; TiVo is stuck on the confirmation screen and you never get ANY recordings.

The problem with allowing partial recordings is that if you do it, people (probably lots of people) will get partial recordings when they wanted the whole thing, and you'll have more people angry than you have now. Negative padding is a better option (because it keeps it simple while giving people a way out); starting and stopping shows on time is a much, much better option (because it keeps it simpler still and makes it unnecessary to have a way out). I think NBC will see the error of its ways some day, when enough people get pissed off at their silly little money-grubbing-at-the-expense-of-the-viewers games, hopefully sooner rather than later.

So you're saying, if there's a conflict of a minute or two, don't record one show at all? That's just going to piss people off, who will blame TiVo, not recommend it to their friends and hurt sales. People rely on TiVo to do the right thing, and in this case, where we're talking minutes, the right thing to do is record both.

It seems pretty darn simple to me. I've given TiVo a list of shows in order of importance to me by using the season pass. The one on top would always get the full recording. In my case, ER is higher than CSI. It would record as much CSI as it could then switch to ER. Pretty darn simple.

As for the partial recording dialog, that would be only when you set up the recording.

If NBC can screw up a TiVo by doing something like this, TiVo needs to make the box more resilient. It needs to be able to cope with situations like this and let the consumer come out on top. This situation is just going to hurt TiVo and they need to protect themselves and the consumer in the future.

Networks are always trying to find ways to beat the competition. I wouldn't be suprised if we see more of this in the future.