[mythtvnz] Return to NZ

[NZ Russ]

Hey all,

Been a subscriber to the NZ mailing list for about 18 months of the 3 yrs I
was in the US. I am glad to be home in good ol' Auckland - and looking
forward to being a bit more active in the local Auclkand_Linux and MythvNZ
community.

I managed to get my mythtv box (with a Skystart II DVB-S) card hooked into
Freeview with no problems, and am really happy with the results.  (Before I
left the US I also bought a second card, which turned out to be that later
model that is not supported by Linux - so only have one DVB-S card currently
fitted). Let me just say thanks for all the tips and advice on getting setup
with mythtv in NZ.

I do have one major observation about the differences between my experience
here and the US with Mythtv. Three words: EPG, EPG, EPG.  After having been
a subscriber to the fantastic EPG that SchedulesDirect offer, NOTHING beats
good EPG to rapidly improve the Mythtv experience.  ( I dont recall ever
having a seen a fault with SchedulesDirect EPG in terms of program names
changing and you could have real confidence that your Myth box would not
miss your shows.

When the whole Zap-2-it labs folded and they had to setup Schedules-Direct,
there was much discussion around the source of the EPG. From what I gathered
Schedules Direct get their info from Tribune Media Services for a small fee.
It also seems that the TV companies PAY Tribune Media Services to scrape
their TV guides and then Tribune SELLS the aggregated data to other
companies (I guess like TV Guides etc). Anyway, this company makes money
coming and going.   I guess they have good economies of scale to work as
well as a large and fragmented TV market.  I have to admit that I haven't
used any of the webscraping tools or the unofficial feeds. Partly as I'm not
sure where they are (www) or just how reliable they are, but also to ease my
(and your) Internet GB/Month (p2p anyone?. Also it seems to be a constant
game of cat and mouse with cease and desist letters from what I see on the
MythtvNZ site - so telling me to 'shove off and use those' might also be the
answer.

It IS great having the EPG off the EIT on Freeview, and while I believe it
is getting better (it seems thanks to Steve talking with Freeview), I think
it has way to go.  I'm also not sure the EIT stream supports all the info
that MythTv can accept (anyone?), or even if standard Freeview boxes would
benefit from good EPG, and I haven't got many ideas on how a suitable long
term solution could be resolved. But I am willing to do actual work toward
getting one.

I'd be interested in any ideas and am willing to make some calls if we can
collectively come up with a robust approach that benefits everyone. Perhaps
Advertising in the EPG Stream? Paying for a XML feed from "TV guide"?   I
have some good friends in marketing companies that have regular contact with
these companies. Also seems Steve has direct access to TVNZ and Freeview...
nice one!

So is it worth putting in some ideas toward getting better EPG? Or is "the
collective" happy with what we have?

Cheers again, and look forward to being a bit more active on the list.
Again, thanks to you guys, Steve, Hads, Nick, Dean, Robin and the other
regulars who keep the rest of us interested.
(BTW, Robin, did you work at Waikato Polytech c 1992?)

I do have a tecnical issue, but that is another subject...

Cheers

Russ.
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