Best approach to map channels (2 Viewers)

[madas]

OK, so following on from mm's explaination of how the mapping is done.

I've attached my SD lineup.

The lineup shows WTNH as

8-1 WTNH

So i renamed my unknown-****** to

8-1 WTNH (also tried 8.1 WTNH and 8 WTNH)

It doesn't produce any EPG data for this.

My other listing in SD is my satellite channels. WTNH is NOT available through my satellite so i know it is not mapped anywhere else.

By the logic above i assume this should be mapped by your step 2. ?

Any thoughts? should I go and edit the DB and populate the SD XMLTV ID manually?

 

[mm1352000]

If I had to guess, I would say the "callsign" is just WTNH, not 8 WTNH or 8-1 WTNH. I'd further guess that 8 is the major channel number and 1 is the minor channel number.

mm

 

[madas]

unfortunately having the channel named as just the call sign isn't very intuitive. You are correct, WTNH is the call sign, 8 is the major and 1 is the minor. So I would expect 8-1 WTNHDT to work

I went to the db and just added the schedules direct information (externalid) next to the channel manually and it seems to work just fine and it now shows the EPG information

Is it possible SD will unmapped this at some point or will it leave it alone now?

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again

unfortunately having the channel named as just the call sign isn't very intuitive. You are correct, WTNH is the call sign, 8 is the major and 1 is the minor. So I would expect 8-1 WTNHDT to work

As I said in my earlier post, SD doesn't work that way. It *only* looks at the call sign. I have no idea why that is but I guess there must be a reason. I'm curious: why do you say it isn't intuitive? When you refer to a channel, what do you say? Over here we use channel names like "Prime" or "TV One" rather than call signs or channel numbers so I'd be interested to know what you consider "normal".

I went to the db and just added the schedules direct information (externalid) next to the channel manually and it seems to work just fine and it now shows the EPG information

Great
For the people who aren't able to manually update their database: are you able to confirm that if you'd named the channels with just the call sign then the mapping would have been created automatically?

Is it possible SD will unmapped this at some point or will it leave it alone now?

According to what I read in the code, it should leave it alone... but then I'm not an SD expert.

mm

 

[madas]

Hi mm

In the US the call signs represent the local channel franchise. My wife for example knows ABC as channel 8. Channel 8 is actually WTNH which is our local ABC franchise. If it just shows WTNH in the tv guide then it will be hard for people to figure out what national this represents (especially if people just want it to work). I thought from your previous post that it looks at the call sign then moves on to look for the call sign with the major and minor channel numbers

I'll try adding another local tomorrow with only the call sign and see if it works...otherwise i'll at least post some instructions to do the mapping manually (and a script)

 

[mm1352000]

In the US the call signs represent the local channel franchise. My wife for example knows ABC as channel 8. Channel 8 is actually WTNH which is our local ABC franchise.

Hmmm, so nationally channel 8 is always ABC? And I take it there are also channel numbers for NBC, CBS etc? It doesn't make sense to me why the stations wouldn't just be called ABC, NBC and CBS. Apparently NZ used to use call signs for our radio stations but they are certainly no longer used today.

I thought from your previous post that it looks at the call sign then moves on to look for the call sign with the major and minor channel numbers

You mean this?

First, for any MP channel that has:
- at least one tuning detail
- is unmapped in SD terms (ie. external ID not yet set)

1. Match SD "local lineup" channels to MP ATSC channels by major *and* minor channel numbers.
2. Match SD "local lineup" channels to MP analog [cable???] channels by MP channel number <--> SD broadcast channel number.
3. Match SD "non-local lineup" by linking between MP channel number and SD major channel number.

NOTE: for (2) and (3) the SD "allow channel number mapping" option must be enabled *or* the MP channel tuning detail must have a non-zero frequency (as well as the channel number).

The matching done there is not done on the channel name - rather it is done on the fields in the channel tuning details (channel number for analog cable channels, and major and minor channel numbers for ATSC and QAM channels). These matching conditions don't entirely make sense to me as I don't understand what local and non-local lineups are.

 

[spachti]

In the US the call signs represent the local channel franchise. My wife for example knows ABC as channel 8. Channel 8 is actually WTNH which is our local ABC franchise.

Hmmm, so nationally channel 8 is always ABC? And I take it there are also channel numbers for NBC, CBS etc? It doesn't make sense to me why the stations wouldn't just be called ABC, NBC and CBS. Apparently NZ used to use call signs for our radio stations but they are certainly no longer used today.

I thought from your previous post that it looks at the call sign then moves on to look for the call sign with the major and minor channel numbers

You mean this?



No, it's not nationwide. Here, for example, ABC is on channel 9. His callsign is only the franchise name which, of course doesn't help anybody except him. The people living in the next bigger town might have already another name and channel for ABC.

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks spachti
So this concept of "franchising" - how does that work? Let's take the example of ABC. Without knowing anything else at this stage I would guess that someone buys the rights from ABC to rebroadcast their content. They buy a broadcast license for a particular frequency slot (AKA channel) in a particular area and get assigned a call sign for that slot. They exclusively broadcast ABC content with local ads, and maybe also local news or a few other local programmes. They make their money from selling the advertising and local programming slots. This allows ABC to focus on production of content rather than the more technical issues involved in broadcasting and frequency licensing.

Is that how it works?

 

[spachti]

Yep, you got it.
To make it even funnier, here we have one franchise holder who owns ABC and FOX franchises. You can watch the local news at ten on FOX, and then, at 11, the same news, with different call sign of course, on ABC. Got that one too?? LOL

 

[mm1352000]

You can watch the local news at ten on FOX, and then, at 11, the same news, with different call sign of course, on ABC.

I guess that arrangement makes better business sense for larger countries like America and Canada. Here in NZ the opposite is true - the channel providers are quite closely associated with the actual broadcasting. We also only have 1 pay TV provider (!!!). Anyhow, thanks for helping me understand.