Zap2it Closing Down

[zed]

Got a notice from zap2it that my subscription was expiring so logged in to renew it and found this on their login page:

"For several years we have offered a free TV listings service to hobbyists for their own personal, noncommercial use. In October of 2004 we posted here an open letter saying the future of Zap2it Labs was at risk because of certain growing misuses of the Zap2it Labs data. Unfortunately this misuse has continued and grown. These misuses, combined with other business factors have led to the decision to discontinue Zap2it Labs effective September 1, 2007. ..."

Bummer...another example of a few ass-holes ruining things for everyone.

Any suggestions for alternatives?

[sub]

I heard a rumour about this a few days ago. Its certainly a pity, though I'm sure some alternative data source will pop up - almost certainly some xmltv utility.

xmltv has been pretty much neglected in the US for many years, since zap2it entered the scene. I'm sure when zap2it disappears, then one the hundreds of thousands of users of mythtv/gbpvr/mediaportal/etc will make a decent US grabber for xmltv.

For the first year or so of GB-PVR's life, the zap2it service didnt exist and everyone used xmltv. It sounds like we'll be going back to something like that. Of course the fact that a couple of years back the US xmltv grabber was changed to use this same zap2it interfaces doesnt help get the ball rolling with a solution...

[soccerdad]

(the maximum amount of frowns you can have!)

[HTPCGB]

It's a real pity that we have to see this great service go. Sub, do you think that a group of developers from this forum would be able to put together an XMLTV scraper? It would certainly be nice if GBPVR was all ready to go for the switchover.

[sub]

Originally Posted by HTPCGB

It's a real pity that we have to see this great service go. Sub, do you think that a group of developers from this forum would be able to put together an XMLTV scraper?

Maybe, but it wont be something I'll be doing myself. I'm sure there are developers here capable of doing it, so hopefully we'll see some action. That said, its most likely something will come out of the large MythTV community.

[zed]

Originally Posted by HTPCGB

...Sub, do you think that a group of developers from this forum would be able to put together an XMLTV scraper? ...

I wrote a TV guide screen-scraper for a .NET class I took a few years back that wrote out an xmltv compatible file. It was pretty crude but it (more or less) worked. It actually wasn't all that difficult to do. I haven't looked at it (or .NET, for that matter) since the class (.NET 101 at the local junior college) but it might be interesting to re-visit. OTOH, I'm sure any one of the .NET weenies here could do a much better job, tho.

[weisguy]

Hi All,

Just trying to see if I should be scared of this or not... I am a US user of GBPVR and use the zap2it data for listings. Of course the availability of the listing data is a crucial part of the experience of building one's own PVR. I've only been doing this for about 1.5 years, so I'm not all that familiar with the history before then. I'm trying to infer a lot from the discussion in this thread that's gone on so far and suspect others may be in the same boat. Could someone please correct or confirm my thoughts below:

Regarding this discussion of this so-called XMLTV "scraper" that will be needed to use listings after Zap2It shuts down: It sounds like perhaps this would be a tool to reach out to a commercial listing provider, such as TV Guide or Yahoo TV listings, impersonate an HTTP request as if I were bringing up the webpage in my browser, and convert that into a format usable by GBPVR (and other utilities). Is this correct?

If the larger MythTV community solves this for the Linux platform, how "close" are we to a solution for GBPVR/Windows?

-wg

[sub]

Originally Posted by tipstir

So what do the folks at SAGETV and BeyondTV use for their EPG?

This discussion only affects the free data service zap2it was offering. SageTV and BeyondTV will continue to get listings from zap2it, and pay thousands of dollars per month for the pleasure. I'm obviously not in a position to do that for you guys.

It's a shame Zap2it going to leave.. Now what's going to happen to GBPVR?

I dont think it'll mean too much. An alternative will be found pretty quickly. Zap2it was a nice easy/efficient way to get TV listings, but people will get by without it, just like they did before the zap2it service existed.

[sub]

Originally Posted by weisguy

Hi All,

Just trying to see if I should be scared of this or not... I am a US user of GBPVR and use the zap2it data for listings. Of course the availability of the listing data is a crucial part of the experience of building one's own PVR.

I dont think you need to be too scared. There might be a few weeks of uncertainty, but I'm sure some solution will present itself.

I've only been doing this for about 1.5 years, so I'm not all that familiar with the history before then. I'm trying to infer a lot from the discussion in this thread that's gone on so far and suspect others may be in the same boat. Could someone please correct or confirm my thoughts below:

Regarding this discussion of this so-called XMLTV "scraper" that will be needed to use listings after Zap2It shuts down: It sounds like perhaps this would be a tool to reach out to a commercial listing provider, such as TV Guide or Yahoo TV listings, impersonate an HTTP request as if I were bringing up the webpage in my browser, and convert that into a format usable by GBPVR (and other utilities). Is this correct?

It ultimately depends on the source of the listing data, but yes, thats probably what will happen. The same scheme is used in loads of other countries.

More elaborate schemes may end up being used, for example p2p distributed listing database, with each user only retrieving a few listings to add to the database. Or possibly ripping the info from someother app that gets this info and stores it in a local DB.

If the larger MythTV community solves this for the Linux platform, how "close" are we to a solution for GBPVR/Windows?

Pretty close I'd say. The old US pre-zap2it grabber was python based an ran unaltered on Windows. Even if a mythtv user comes up with a linux specific C app for doing this, someone will spend the hour or two required to port it to Windows.

[pBS]

i'm still pissed they don't have guide data inside the atsc streams...

and there is a kind of show title etc inside the tv signal [my tv picks it up] but it's usually spotty at best..tho that would be the best way to do it and already in use..but techincally challenging because of the lack of signal details...
[the shows title is inside the 'guard band' data at top of picture..]
but the decoding details are nowhere to be found and not all shows broadcast it..

i just hope we can find a source that has decently correct data and some of the advanced info like first-shown date etc.. [but not holding my breath]

one has to wonder why they don't just ban the offending users...but i think it's all about the money actually..