XMLTV GUI - Radio Times Vs Digiguide EPG (Whats best?) (1 Viewer)

[karl10247]

Hello everyone,

I thought i would post a topic to discuss the pros & cons of using Radio Times or Digiguide epg data via the XMLTV plugin in the TV server.

Two things i expect a good guide listing to have is 1) A genre specific to movies so i can colour movies in my guide so they stand out 2) Series/episode numbers to utilise the prevent dupicate recordings feature in the tv-server. However there are pro's and cons to using Radio times data vs Digiuide data which i have outlined my opinions beneath:

Radio Times
Pros:
-Free
-Accurate (from what ive seen so far)
-More series/episode data than digiguide (that ive found so far)
Cons:
-No "movie"or "film"genre so cant colour movies in guide accordingly
-Some series missing series/episode numbers

Digiguide
Pros:
-Star ratings in titles (a nice touch i think)
-Accurate
-"Film"genre to colour guide
-Some series/episode numbers
Cons:
-Pay service (although not much) (and its only a 7 day trial now i might add)
-Not as much series/episode numbers as RT



Open for discussion on experiences/alternatives etc..................

 

[jameson_uk]

Open for discussion on experiences/alternatives etc..................

I have used Digiguide for a few years. It has more channels that RadioTimes (including radio) and more importantly has about 14 days worth of data compared to RadioTimes which I think only has about 7.

My experience was that Digiguide was actually better with series info (IIRC last time I tried RadioTimes as a source it only had series/episode info in the descriptions.

 

[robbo100]

I agree with Jameson.

By the way, how do you get your radio channels to populate with DIgiguide data?

 

[jameson_uk]

I agree with Jameson.

By the way, how do you get your radio channels to populate with DIgiguide data?

Select load channels without selecting a group...

 

[LJG]

I get about 12/13 days data using Radio Times via XMLTV GUI - with Series / Episode Numbers and Episode Names. I don't use genre groupings so can't comment on that.

So in the EPG it says something like 'The Americans (3/13 Gregory)'

I did look into subscribing to DigiGuide but their terms and conditions state that they don't allow you to use the data in the way we want to:

http://digiguide.tv/general/terms_software.asp

• 4.4 You shall not use any feature within the Product or use any external tool, to systematically extract listings schedules data or information from the Product for any use and for any reason; this includes, and is not limited to, the use of the data in any tool, product, web site or publication whether it is for your own personal, commercial or non-commercial use.

Which kind of put me off giving them my money.

 

[karl10247]

Which kind of put me off giving them my money.

I wouldnt let that stop you using it lisag, besides whos to know?

Im into about day 4 of my meager 7 day trial with them, so far so good but i am noticing that for some programs new episodes i have lined up in my scheduled recordings now dont have episode/series numbers while before when i was using RT they did. I'll keep trialing though before i make my decision

By the way have any of you tried webEPG for comparison? I havent touched it, just assumed the data would be inferior to the two "best" options mentioned here

Also..... theres a few subscriptions you can sign up for with digiguide, which is the one we need to take out for xml? (I presume the windows digiguide one since thats how we've set it up so far - unfortunately the most expensive at 14.99 a year)

 

[LJG]

Ha! Yes, but I don't think Digiguide has any real advantage over RadioTimes, which is free, so I am happy with that.

I actually only use XMLTV for 8 channels which are in a 'main channels' group as I only really watch those.

However, I don't like the rest of the EPG to be unpopulated, and sometimes things crop up on those channels that I want to record (some stuff on Radio 4) so I use WebEPG for those. I manually updated the Digiguide WebEPG grabber as some new channels are missing from the one supplied with MediaPortal.

The data is not as good as that via XMLTV, no episode numbers and only 10 days.

 

[karl10247]

Hey jameson_uk which digiguide service are you signed up to? The premium (2.99) or windows (14.99). Im wondering if you still get the web service with premium

 

[karl10247]

Hurrah ive found an answer to the lack of "film" category with RT data here:

http://forums.gbpvr.com/showthread....rary-fix-up-for-Radio-Times-XMLTV-users/page7

its a pain to setup and you need to replace the channels.dat included in the zip file with this one to get it to work:

http://xmltv.radiotimes.com/xmltv/channels.dat

If anyone needs a hand il talk through what i did to get it working

 

[GaryMartynUK]

The only problem with the RT XMLTV source is that Radio Times passed the running of it onto a company called MetaBroadcast. At the time both companies said they were committed to supporting the XMLTV community, but since then MetaBroadcast have said they are working on replacing the service with their own product (Atlas) and the XMLTV source is no deprecated and they will no longer be adding any new channels. For example RT is not in there, UKTV Drama is not in there and it appears they won't ever be added.

I'm looking at something like DigiGuide now as I want to keep my EPG upto date and not see more holes develop in it as Radio Time XMLTV becomes less viable/complete.