Difference between revisions of "Schedules Direct"
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| − | Schedules Direct | + | {{Note box|In October 2014 Schedules Direct announced that they would start serving the data directly from their own servers instead of from the servers of TMS (providers of the data service). The old feed from TMS would cease on November 1st 2014. MythTV has already changed over to use the new URL in 0.27.4 and the future 0.28 release. Schedules Direct users should see no change and no interruption in service if they upgrade to the latest MythTV release. Or see [[Schedules Direct URL Change]] for other options.}} |
| − | + | {{Warning box|There is a Schedules Direct grabber available which uses an alternate JSON feed. '''This grabber is not supported''' by the MythTV team. It inserts data directly into the MythTV database, bypassing MythTV's ability to sanity check, correct and act upon information at a single point of insertion. We will be unable to assist users who run this grabber if they encounter bugs or broken features as a result.}} | |
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| + | [[Schedules Direct]] is an organization created by several MythTV developers and others with similar projects to provide program listings data as a replacement for the packaged Data Direct feed from the Zap2it Labs division of [[Tribune Media Services]]. The project was originally known as Easy TV Data, but was changed to Schedules Direct due to some concern over possible trademark infringement. The new project web site can be found at http://www.schedulesdirect.org/. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The cost of a Schedules Direct membership is currently US$25/year, with a 7 day trial. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The standard MythTV distribution supports the Schedules Direct data feed. | ||
| + | |||
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| + | == Original Announcement == | ||
''Greetings from the newly-formed team at Easy TV Data, | ''Greetings from the newly-formed team at Easy TV Data, | ||
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''We know that many of you are waiting on the edge of your seats to find out what's going on behind the scenes here, and we're just as excited to tell you, but we can't give you many details while we are still involved in negotiations. We can, however, let you know that we are actively working on a solution that will provide what we hope will be a smooth transition away from Zap2it Labs by the September 1 deadline. We will release more details as soon as we are able to do so, so please keep an eye on http://schedulesdirect.org/ for updates. | ''We know that many of you are waiting on the edge of your seats to find out what's going on behind the scenes here, and we're just as excited to tell you, but we can't give you many details while we are still involved in negotiations. We can, however, let you know that we are actively working on a solution that will provide what we hope will be a smooth transition away from Zap2it Labs by the September 1 deadline. We will release more details as soon as we are able to do so, so please keep an eye on http://schedulesdirect.org/ for updates. | ||
| − | ''In the mean time, we are in need of a good lawyer who is familiar with business contracts and federal nonprofit law (preferably someone willing to work pro bono, at least initially). We are also looking for a good accountant (we are registered in Washington State) to help with any eventual financial/tax paperwork. If you are qualified and willing to help, please contact us at http://schedulesdirect.org/contact | + | ''In the mean time, we are in need of a good lawyer who is familiar with business contracts and federal nonprofit law (preferably someone willing to work pro bono, at least initially). We are also looking for a good accountant (we are registered in Washington State) to help with any eventual financial/tax paperwork. If you are qualified and willing to help, please contact us at http://schedulesdirect.org/contact |
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*''Daniel Kristjansson (MythTV) | *''Daniel Kristjansson (MythTV) | ||
*''Kevin Odorczyk (MacProgGuide) | *''Kevin Odorczyk (MacProgGuide) | ||
| − | *''Chris Petersen ( | + | *''Chris Petersen (MythWeb) |
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As gleaned from the mythtv-users mailinglist: | As gleaned from the mythtv-users mailinglist: | ||
== Q). Who is funding this project? == | == Q). Who is funding this project? == | ||
| − | *' | + | * You are if you're a member :) |
| + | |||
== Q). What will a subscription cost? == | == Q). What will a subscription cost? == | ||
| − | + | *''"The cost of a Schedules Direct membership is currently US$25/year, with a 7 day trial." | |
| + | ** Early adopters received extended terms on their subscriptions as well as some bonus days of data. Members of the mailing list inquired sharply as to what the conspiracy was behind ''this'' behavior... with their tongues firmly in their cheeks. | ||
== Q). What payment methods are supported? == | == Q). What payment methods are supported? == | ||
| − | + | *''PayPal and Google checkout, but other methods are in the works. | |
| − | + | ||
== Q). What is the schedulesdirect board cut of the profits? == | == Q). What is the schedulesdirect board cut of the profits? == | ||
Nothing | Nothing | ||
| − | *'' | + | *''No one gets paid for being a SD board member, however expenses are now reimbursed. (they were not initially) |
| − | *''We all have full time "real" jobs, and some of us have even had to use up vacation time | + | *''We all have full time "real" jobs, and some of us have even had to use up vacation time to get this started. |
| + | *''Some people do get a small stipend for non-board related duties (development,support,administrative stuff) | ||
| + | |||
== Q). Why not just accept credit card numbers directly? == | == Q). Why not just accept credit card numbers directly? == | ||
*''No one involved with Schedules Direct wants to touch credit card numbers -- PayPal and other similar processors like Google Checkout will do all of that for us, and assume the risk of dealing with the security nightmare. | *''No one involved with Schedules Direct wants to touch credit card numbers -- PayPal and other similar processors like Google Checkout will do all of that for us, and assume the risk of dealing with the security nightmare. | ||
| + | |||
== Q). Where will schedulesdirect be hosted? == | == Q). Where will schedulesdirect be hosted? == | ||
| − | *'' | + | *''SD currently pays for hosting with Amazon Web Services. |
| + | |||
== Q). Where will the data be served from? == | == Q). Where will the data be served from? == | ||
| − | * | + | *The data is served from Schedules Direct own servers, hosted by Amazon Web Services. |
| + | |||
== Q). What about long-term or lifetime subscriptions? == | == Q). What about long-term or lifetime subscriptions? == | ||
| − | *''We don't want to start offering long-term subscriptions | + | *''We don't want to start offering long-term subscriptions because we don't know how many people will be signing up. The cost to us (and thus to you) is significantly different if 1000 people sign up vs 5000 (or higher!) -- we're estimating (relatively high) on the initial fees in case only a few people sign up. If you were to sign up for a 2 year membership at the initial rate, and we can drop the end user cost by 5x within the first couple of months, you'd probably feel like you got ripped off. |
| + | |||
| + | == Q). How do you configure MythTV to take advantage of Schedules Direct? == | ||
| + | *''Read [[User_Manual:MythTV_structure#Video_sources | this section of the user manual]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Category:EPG Providers]] | ||
Revision as of 23:01, 15 October 2014
Note: In October 2014 Schedules Direct announced that they would start serving the data directly from their own servers instead of from the servers of TMS (providers of the data service). The old feed from TMS would cease on November 1st 2014. MythTV has already changed over to use the new URL in 0.27.4 and the future 0.28 release. Schedules Direct users should see no change and no interruption in service if they upgrade to the latest MythTV release. Or see Schedules Direct URL Change for other options.
Warning: There is a Schedules Direct grabber available which uses an alternate JSON feed. This grabber is not supported by the MythTV team. It inserts data directly into the MythTV database, bypassing MythTV's ability to sanity check, correct and act upon information at a single point of insertion. We will be unable to assist users who run this grabber if they encounter bugs or broken features as a result.
Schedules Direct is an organization created by several MythTV developers and others with similar projects to provide program listings data as a replacement for the packaged Data Direct feed from the Zap2it Labs division of Tribune Media Services. The project was originally known as Easy TV Data, but was changed to Schedules Direct due to some concern over possible trademark infringement. The new project web site can be found at http://www.schedulesdirect.org/.
The cost of a Schedules Direct membership is currently US$25/year, with a 7 day trial.
The standard MythTV distribution supports the Schedules Direct data feed.
Contents
- 1 Original Announcement
- 2 Frequently Asked Questions
- 2.1 Q). Who is funding this project?
- 2.2 Q). What will a subscription cost?
- 2.3 Q). What payment methods are supported?
- 2.4 Q). What is the schedulesdirect board cut of the profits?
- 2.5 Q). Why not just accept credit card numbers directly?
- 2.6 Q). Where will schedulesdirect be hosted?
- 2.7 Q). Where will the data be served from?
- 2.8 Q). What about long-term or lifetime subscriptions?
- 2.9 Q). How do you configure MythTV to take advantage of Schedules Direct?
Original Announcement
Greetings from the newly-formed team at Easy TV Data,
This organization was formed by members of various software projects in response to the announcement from Zap2it Labs that they will be discontinuing the free TV listings service that they have been providing to the non-commercial free and open source communities for the last 3+ years.
We know that many of you are waiting on the edge of your seats to find out what's going on behind the scenes here, and we're just as excited to tell you, but we can't give you many details while we are still involved in negotiations. We can, however, let you know that we are actively working on a solution that will provide what we hope will be a smooth transition away from Zap2it Labs by the September 1 deadline. We will release more details as soon as we are able to do so, so please keep an eye on http://schedulesdirect.org/ for updates.
In the mean time, we are in need of a good lawyer who is familiar with business contracts and federal nonprofit law (preferably someone willing to work pro bono, at least initially). We are also looking for a good accountant (we are registered in Washington State) to help with any eventual financial/tax paperwork. If you are qualified and willing to help, please contact us at http://schedulesdirect.org/contact
Thanks for sticking with us,
The Easy TV Data Board:
- Isaac Richards, Chairman (MythTV)
- Robert Eden (XMLTV)
- Daniel Kristjansson (MythTV)
- Kevin Odorczyk (MacProgGuide)
- Chris Petersen (MythWeb)
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Frequently Asked Questions
As gleaned from the mythtv-users mailinglist:
Q). Who is funding this project?
- You are if you're a member :)
Q). What will a subscription cost?
- "The cost of a Schedules Direct membership is currently US$25/year, with a 7 day trial."
- Early adopters received extended terms on their subscriptions as well as some bonus days of data. Members of the mailing list inquired sharply as to what the conspiracy was behind this behavior... with their tongues firmly in their cheeks.
Q). What payment methods are supported?
- PayPal and Google checkout, but other methods are in the works.
Q). What is the schedulesdirect board cut of the profits?
Nothing
- No one gets paid for being a SD board member, however expenses are now reimbursed. (they were not initially)
- We all have full time "real" jobs, and some of us have even had to use up vacation time to get this started.
- Some people do get a small stipend for non-board related duties (development,support,administrative stuff)
Q). Why not just accept credit card numbers directly?
- No one involved with Schedules Direct wants to touch credit card numbers -- PayPal and other similar processors like Google Checkout will do all of that for us, and assume the risk of dealing with the security nightmare.
Q). Where will schedulesdirect be hosted?
- SD currently pays for hosting with Amazon Web Services.
Q). Where will the data be served from?
- The data is served from Schedules Direct own servers, hosted by Amazon Web Services.
Q). What about long-term or lifetime subscriptions?
- We don't want to start offering long-term subscriptions because we don't know how many people will be signing up. The cost to us (and thus to you) is significantly different if 1000 people sign up vs 5000 (or higher!) -- we're estimating (relatively high) on the initial fees in case only a few people sign up. If you were to sign up for a 2 year membership at the initial rate, and we can drop the end user cost by 5x within the first couple of months, you'd probably feel like you got ripped off.
