ABC messing with DVR times?

[csete]

Is ABC messing around with their schedule data? I have things set up to end 1 minute beyond schedule, but most ABC shows end up cut off at the end by a minute or so. Am I missing something about the way the Dish DVR's work?

 

[osu1991]

ABC runs some of their hit shows 5 minutes long and usually this varies week to week and show to show, so the guides can't get updated fast enough

 

[wtb955]

ABC runs some of their hit shows 5 minutes long and usually this varies week to week and show to show, so the guides can't get updated fast enough

Any show you DVR just extend the end time by about 5-6 minutes. Problem solved.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Any show you DVR just extend the end time by about 5-6 minutes. Problem solved.

Yes, except if you are trying to record on multiple tuners, and in consecutive hours.

I find that ABC usually starts shows (at least on the Denver affiliate) one minute before the hour. Kind of annoying, but as long as I start it a minute or two early, it is fine.

 

[aperry]

This is a HUGE problem with the way that Dish handles the guide data they receive. For example, tonight, Women's Murder Club runs from 9pm Eastern to 10:02pm Eastern. 20/20 runs from 10:02 to 11:00.

The guide data that Dish gets IS CORRECT. They CHOOSE to ignore the fact that the times are off by a minute or two or more and just show it ending on the hour.

This is my biggest complaint about Dish and their DVR.

They NEED to fix this!!! I'm tired of missing the very beginning, or worse, the very end of a show because Dish does not provide me good guide information.

Most people will think, well, just extend the timer. I have, but if you have a show starting at 8pm on one channel, then at 9 on another channel, the system can use the same tuner to record both shows, meaning I can miss part of one of the shows.

As often as the networks change start/end times of shows, Dish needs to address this. Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't already.

 

[wtb955]

Yes, except if you are trying to record on multiple tuners, and in consecutive hours.

I find that ABC usually starts shows (at least on the Denver affiliate) one minute before the hour. Kind of annoying, but as long as I start it a minute or two early, it is fine.

You can overlap two tuners, but you will be unable to watch a live show except if is one of the shows being recorded. I love my OTA and 622! Record two shows from the satellite and one from your antenna.

 

[osu1991]

It is also tribune not Dish that is providing the guide data.

 

[articos]

It's a combination of factors lately. Tribune's been lax in updating their data stream, so that show times are inaccurate more than usual (sci fi had shows listed 5 mins off all evening from the guide data), as well as networks possibly running a tad long, and the clock that Dish is using to set the DVR time from the satellite has been a tad off as well. All of which hopefully will be fixed asap.

 

[Brandie]

Okay, whose fault is this.

Picture it. Boston Legal. Great show, also on ABC. We record it, amongst others, to watch whenever. Last week ABC decided we needed to know more about the devasting fires out west. Never mind that at any given time you could tune to any of the news channels and learn all you ever wanted to know. They pre-empted Boston Legal.

The next week, Boston Legal didn't record because the DVR and/or the guide info apparently listed the program as not new and since we have the DVR set to record only new episodes, not repeats, we missed it.

Sometimes you can't win for losing!!!

 

[patmurphey]

Your fault - if you never check your timer schedule. If you did you would see the skip. Then all you have to do is select and restore.

 

[jayn_j]

I was running into problems where shows were being skipped unnecessarily. It turned out that my defaults were 2 minutes early and late for start and end times to avoid the cutoff. This was having me record back to back shows on the same network on different tuners.

I solved this by editing times. On the 622, you can set up custom schedules for each program that override the default, so I simply schedule Ugly Betty to start 2 minutes early end on time and Grey's Anatomy to start on time and end 2 minutes late and the problem is solved. I still leave the default to have a nice guard band.

 

[WildBill]

Another problem comes from wanting to record sequential shows on different OTA channels when the first one runs late. There is no easy option for starting the second program late. For example, Greys Anatomy on ABC usually runs 2 minutes late. Shark starts an hour later on CBS. If you set a timer for Greys, it will not let you record Shark because of the overlap, and there is no option to delay the start of program. The only way I've found to get around this is to set up a manual timer for Shark that starts 2 minutes late.

An easy fix would be to allow negative numbers on the option screen. That way you could not only start recordings late, but also end them early if you wanted to.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I just set up one timer for say Desperate housewives and set up the option to record 60 minutes more and I get no cut offs and get both Brother & Sisters and Desperate Housewive. THis works well when I am recording consective shows on my ota tuner in hd. Do the same thing for Heroes and Journeyman on my sat hd station. You have to play with it but you will soon learn how to extend certain shows so you won't miss the endings. THe networks like ABC are the ones to Blame , not DISH. THey are doing this to foil dvr users and to try to make you watch the damn commercials.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

You can overlap two tuners, but you will be unable to watch a live show except if is one of the shows being recorded. I love my OTA and 622! Record two shows from the satellite and one from your antenna.

Overlapping becomes difficult when you are using both tuners and on different channels in consecutive hours.

i.e., recording on ABC and FOX at 8pm and CBS and NBC at 9pm.

I usually use my OTA to fill in the gaps when that happens.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I just set up one timer for say Desperate housewives and set up the option to record 60 minutes more and I get no cut offs and get both Brother & Sisters and Desperate Housewive. THis works well when I am recording consective shows on my ota tuner in hd. Do the same thing for Heroes and Journeyman on my sat hd station. You have to play with it but you will soon learn how to extend certain shows so you won't miss the endings. THe networks like ABC are the ones to Blame , not DISH. THey are doing this to foil dvr users and to try to make you watch the damn commercials.

I have done that too. Only downside is you waste 2 hours of space until you watch them both.

 

[dlsnyder]

I wonder if the networks have done any research into how people actually use their DVRs. It just ticks people off if they can't watch the entire show when they do stuff like this, and they STILL don't watch the commercials. The most valuable spot in a commercial block is now the last one, right where they usually put station promos, because that is the only one that most people watch as they skip through the rest.

My wife uses our old 508 for recording her shows on ABC. NBR features don't work well for them. I had to set up weekly timers for Brothers and Sisters leading in to Desparate Housewives, setting Housewives to end 3 minutes late. She just knows she will have to watch the end of Brothers and Sisters at the beginning of Housewives. Didn't want to make manual timers in order to make it easy for her to see on the timer list. Seems to work OK for now. Also, with Dancing With the Stars being live two nights a week, there is no telling exactly how far over they will run each night. Always seem to miss a little at the end so I will have to put a longer extension on it.

 

[dlsnyder]

Okay, whose fault is this.

Picture it. Boston Legal. Great show, also on ABC. We record it, amongst others, to watch whenever. Last week ABC decided we needed to know more about the devasting fires out west. Never mind that at any given time you could tune to any of the news channels and learn all you ever wanted to know. They pre-empted Boston Legal.

The next week, Boston Legal didn't record because the DVR and/or the guide info apparently listed the program as not new and since we have the DVR set to record only new episodes, not repeats, we missed it.

Sometimes you can't win for losing!!!

That's funny... out here in the LA area the only programming that they DIDN'T pre-empt was the network block starting at 8pm. We got to see the shows out here. ABC also aired the soaps during daytime, but put them on KABC 7.2 digital subchannel. Of course Dish didn't pick that up in the guide data, so the only way you could record them was with a manual tuner. My wife learned long ago that her soaps get pre-empted pretty often so she only records the reruns on Soapnet at night.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I have done that too. Only downside is you waste 2 hours of space until you watch them both.

Its no waste for me I actually watch all 4 of the shows I talked about above. Besides I have the 722 and a 500gb external hard drive so I never run out of room.

 

[wtb955]

Overlapping becomes difficult when you are using both tuners and on different channels in consecutive hours.

i.e., recording on ABC and FOX at 8pm and CBS and NBC at 9pm.

I usually use my OTA to fill in the gaps when that happens.

I agree with with your scenario. It does make it more difficult. Like you, I fill in the space with OTA.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I've learned if you extend a program by 5 minutes it will definately extend the show you want to watch. IF you use 1 or 2 or 3 minutes it won't extend the recording if the following shows will conflict that are set to record. BUt if you do extend by 5 minutes , you will have a conflict if you have two shows set to record on the next hour and you will lose one of your shows by conflict resolution. THat is where the ota tuner comes in handy. I usually have most of my overrun shows on my ota tuner and I use 60 minutes or manual timers for record blocks . Kind of like when we had the 921 and no name based recordings.

Another channel I find that cuts off the endings for shows, is on Monday night on Cbs with the comedies. I have in the past set up a 2hour manual timer to capture all of them without losing the ending of any, since I like all 4 comedies. When I use name based timers, I lose the gotcha endings of" Two and a half men" every time.

THe networks need to realize that more and more people will use dvrs and not watch tv live ever. I think the future will be like video on demand anyway for all the networks. When you want to watch a show you hit start anytime you want from the vod menu. But I am sure that with this freedom will come forced commercials you can't skip through.

IT is a minor irritation to get cut off on the endings, but the work arounds I've outlined work for me.