# Sigh. NBA Playoffs. Guide never up to date



## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Sigh. Every year it's the same thing. The NBA playoffs arrive, the league announces the playoff schedules, zap2it.com for my zip code shows the correct games, yet TiVo guide data simply shows generic information even after connecting umpteen times. Have to go look up the schedule and use Manual Record By Time to schedule the first few games to record like in the VCR days.
Would be nice 1 year if guide listings would actually update in a timely manner...

And of course just as I start this thread I tried 1 more net connect and the guide finally has the data about 30 minutes before the 1st game I want to record. Better late than never I guess.


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## Shogun82 (Apr 29, 2012)

Interesting, thanks for the heads up...


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Guide data from any source is rarely up to date when it comes to any sort of playoff series in professional sports, especially if there's only a couple of days between the end of one series and the beginning of the next. They'll usually list is as a divisional playoff, but the teams involved are still unknown at the time it's published. Check the league schedule on their website and set up a manual recording if necessary. You can't rely on guide data unless Zap2It or other guide supplier has enough lead-time to get it incorporated into the published schedule.


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## seattlewendell (Jan 11, 2006)

Yeah, I set a recording based on the generic data which had the wrong start time. I was away from home when the game was scheduled to air. Tivo connected 30 minutes before the start time and received the correct data. Well the Tivo perceived the new data as a totally different show and cancelled my old recording and did NOT record the "new" show. In the todo list it is listed as "show not recorded because it on longer appears in guide".
Thanks Tivo!


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## CharlesH (Aug 29, 2002)

mr.unnatural said:


> Guide data from any source is rarely up to date when it comes to any sort of playoff series in professional sports, especially if there's only a couple of days between the end of one series and the beginning of the next. They'll usually list is as a divisional playoff, but the teams involved are still unknown at the time it's published. Check the league schedule on their website and set up a manual recording if necessary. You can't rely on guide data unless Zap2It or other guide supplier has enough lead-time to get it incorporated into the published schedule.


But somehow the cable company manages to get it updated in the guide THEIR set-top boxes use.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

CharlesH said:


> But somehow the cable company manages to get it updated in the guide THEIR set-top boxes use.


That's probably because they're updating it themselves and not relying on a 3rd party like Zap2it. Tivo doesn't actually charge you for the guide data, only the software that allows you to use it. My WMC PC also uses Zap2it as the guide data source, but I don't have to pay extra for the privilege of being able to record shows with it.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

NHL guide data has been pretty good so far in the playoffs.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

Gregor said:


> NHL guide data has been pretty good so far in the playoffs.


NBA has been too for me. Only one game had listed the teams as TBA. Considering their was only one off day between the last regular season game and the start of the playoffs, I think the guide data has been pretty good for the NBA Playoffs.


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

Its up to date on my tivo!


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

CharlesH said:


> But somehow the cable company manages to get it updated in the guide THEIR set-top boxes use.


 Exactly. The lousy cable-co DVR (or non-DVR boxes) have more up to date listings than TiVo for this kind of thing...


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

moyekj said:


> Exactly. The lousy cable-co DVR (or non-DVR boxes) have more up to date listings than TiVo for this kind of thing...


Charter doesn't. They use Tribune for many of their boxes so they are the same. And for the NBA playoffs the guide data has been really good on my TiVos.


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

to make things worse tivo thinks verizon fios deleted TNT HD! now i cant get any guide data at all! so u cant set my tivos to record any nba games on TNT!


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## severe (Dec 12, 2009)

celtic pride said:


> to make things worse tivo thinks verizon fios deleted TNT HD! now i cant get any guide data at all! so u cant set my tivos to record any nba games on TNT!


Noticed here tonight as well. Couldn't find TNTHD anywhere in my channel guide. Was pretty sure I'd viewed it recently. (This is a new Premiere)

At any rate, I went in and checked it in channel settings, but it's also not giving me any guide data.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

severe said:


> At any rate, I went in and checked it in channel settings, but it's also not giving me any guide data.


It's because the cablecard sees the channel but it doesn't exist in the Tribune lineup. You should report it to TiVo (or Tribune) to add it back.


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## severe (Dec 12, 2009)

rainwater said:


> It's because the cablecard sees the channel but it doesn't exist in the Tribune lineup. You should report it to TiVo (or Tribune) to add it back.


Thanks.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

And of course no sign of tonight's or tomorrow's games in the listings. Manual recordings here we come again...


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

moyekj said:


> And of course no sign of tonight's or tomorrow's games in the listings. Manual recordings here we come again...


This will always happen towards the end of each round. TNT/ESPN doesn't know which games they are showing until 24-48 hours before hand depending on who is eliminated.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

rainwater said:


> This will always happen towards the end of each round. TNT/ESPN doesn't know which games they are showing until 24-48 hours before hand depending on who is eliminated.


 The fact is that zap2it.com for my zip code has had proper listings for over 24 hours now yet TiVo doesn't even after forced net connections last night and this morning. The lag is just too long between when zap2it is updated and TiVo gets updated listings. It's been this way for years... this is just a venting thread more than anything. TiVo database should have a "mini-update" every day in addition to a "full update" to catch changes within the last 48 hours in a more timely fashion.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

mr.unnatural said:


> That's probably because they're updating it themselves and not relying on a 3rd party like Zap2it. *Tivo doesn't actually charge you for the guide data, only the software that allows you to use it.* My WMC PC also uses Zap2it as the guide data source, but I don't have to pay extra for the privilege of being able to record shows with it.


So TiVo doesn't pay anything to Tribune Media Services? Ever?


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

unitron said:


> So TiVo doesn't pay anything to Tribune Media Services? Ever?


They pay per subscriber to Tribune. And certainly part of TiVo subscriptions pay for the fee.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

rainwater said:


> They pay per subscriber to Tribune. And certainly part of TiVo subscriptions pay for the fee.


Well, if TMS can get up-to-date listings out to zap2it, cable company boxes, and satellite boxes, why can't it get to TiVo just as fast?


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## TerpBE (Jan 23, 2003)

I missed 47 1/2 minutes of the 76ers game tonight because of this. Since it wasn't on TNT at the time, and the only other NBA game listed was at 10:30 (Teams TBA), I assumed that's when they were playing. Luckily my wife walked in just before the end to tell me she saw it on at a store.


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## seattlewendell (Jan 11, 2006)

It's Saturday. Two games on today. Tivo shows one game on today. I am forcing connections but no update. If I have to babysit the Tivo what's the point?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

seattlewendell said:


> It's Saturday. Two games on today. Tivo shows one game on today. I am forcing connections but no update. If I have to babysit the Tivo what's the point?


 Sad isn't it? Manual record is your only choice in this situation (flash back to 80s style recording).


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

I guess I'll be resurrecting this thread every year around this time (though I guess I missed last year) as guide updates seem to be few and far between for TiVo...

I finally got so sick of this problem that I added ability to schedule manual recordings from kmttg now. So at least now I can schedule manual recordings away from home now rather than having to do so while sitting in front of the TiVo at home.


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## tomhorsley (Jul 22, 2010)

This is why we need the TiVo social network: Fans sharing manually updated schedule info .


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

I haven't had any issues with the 2nd round. They have been exact since it started since they schedule was set already. The first round fluctuates because some games get sent to NBA TV so it depends on who is still left. Going forward, there shouldn't be much issues since 2 more teams have been eliminated leaving only 2 remaining matchups in the 2nd round.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Clippers play tomorrow and despite forcing guide updates continuously since Tuesday night only tonight does it finally show up in the guide after I forced yet another update. So unless one forces guide updates there's a good chance a wishlist or season pass won't pick up the game. I scheduled the Clippers game early this afternoon with a manual record after getting tired of waiting for guide to update.

It still seems after all these years that TiVo gets guide updates only once per day as far as I can tell, and I'm not even sure exactly what time of day they get it, but it appears to be sometime in the afternoon pacific time. If someone knows more please post.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

Hockey hasn't been any better


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

As far as I could tell a while back, they package up the updates per TiVo and make them available sometime around 2:30pm to 3:30pm for me (Eastern Time zone). So calling around 4pm works for me.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

moyekj said:


> Clippers play tomorrow and despite forcing guide updates continuously since Tuesday night only tonight does it finally show up in the guide after I forced yet another update. So unless one forces guide updates there's a good chance a wishlist or season pass won't pick up the game. I scheduled the Clippers game early this afternoon with a manual record after getting tired of waiting for guide to update.
> 
> It still seems after all these years that TiVo gets guide updates only once per day as far as I can tell, and I'm not even sure exactly what time of day they get it, but it appears to be sometime in the afternoon pacific time. If someone knows more please post.


For my Roamio, the next guide update is Thursday afternoon so I don't forsee any issues. Maybe I haven't seen the issue because of the schedule my updates are on. But it seems my box always does the update and the guide is correct for that day.


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## hazelnus111 (Feb 4, 2013)

I have a Wish List for "NBA" category "Playoff Sports" set to record new only. It was working but now that we're into Game 5, the guide shows TBA and does not list the games as "New." It's 6:30pm CST and the BKN/ATL game has started. I forced a manual connection just now and still the game shows as a non-new game...so not recording automatically. However, the guide info on the TiVo app shows it as "New." Why can't they get on the Tivo the same info as the app? Are they using different services for them?

I tried changing the recording options to new and repeats but it wont record the second game on tonight unless I choose "Everything" which will get me all of the late night reruns of these games. Frustrating that this still requires so much manual oversight.

I've accepted this as a guide service limitation for years but now the TiVo app has correct guide info...why can't they get it on the TiVo...I tried three manual connections and game info still not updated.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Do you mean it actually has an original air date in the past?

Did you actually check the To Do list, etc., and not just rely on the 'new' showing up?


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## hazelnus111 (Feb 4, 2013)

mattack said:


> Do you mean it actually has an original air date in the past?
> 
> Did you actually check the To Do list, etc., and not just rely on the 'new' showing up?


Yes, shows original air date of 4/18/15. And it says "TBA" instead of "Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hawks," which is on the listing in the app at the same time.

I connected to the Tivo service twice, rebooted the Tivo and reconnected to Tivo service and after all that, no update to the game info, no "new", nothing in the To Do List, and no recording of either game on TNT tonight.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

TiVo is just about the worse when it comes to short term guide updates. Everyone else I've talked to with their own DVRs said their guide data has the actual team names this week. That's DirecTV, Uverse and Cox DVR users. Also zap2it has updated data. Yet TiVo manages to be woefully outdated. It's been this way for years and I don't expect it to ever improve at this point.

You may have to just resort to old fashioned manual time slot recording to get what you want.


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## hazelnus111 (Feb 4, 2013)

moyekj said:


> TiVo is just about the worse when it comes to short term guide updates. Everyone else I've talked to with their own DVRs said their guide data has the actual team names this week. That's DirecTV, Uverse and Cox DVR users. Also zap2it has updated data. Yet TiVo manages to be woefully outdated. It's been this way for years and I don't expect it to ever improve at this point.
> 
> You may have to just resort to old fashioned manual time slot recording to get what you want.


I agree but I'm hopeful that if the app has updated data, they can get updated data on our Tivo...it's the same source guide data from Tribune. Admittedly, it's going to take more than a once-a-day guide update, but that shouldn't be a problem, since our Tivo's are continuously connected to the internet...yet the connection setup is still back in the telephone line connection days.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

hazelnus111 said:


> I agree but I'm hopeful that if the app has updated data, they can get updated data on our Tivo...it's the same source guide data from Tribune. Admittedly, it's going to take more than a once-a-day guide update, but that shouldn't be a problem, since our Tivo's are continuously connected to the internet...yet the connection setup is still back in the telephone line connection days.


 Problem is TiVo only seems to update guide data on server once per day, so you can be up to 48 hours out of date even if TiVo guide listings on server get updated.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

Man I just saw this after creating a thread on this topic. Very annoying. NBA playoffs are fairly high profile as far as cable content goes. And yet I come home 2 days ago and they weren't recorded. 

Tivo needs to do something about this. Either add some intelligence to record these playoff games despite the guide data or work to get the guide data changed.

At the very least if I could record duplicates then I would have an non-hands on workaround even though that option would record each game twice since they replay the games in the am.


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## hazelnus111 (Feb 4, 2013)

For what its worth, here's my response from Tivo support after I first tweeted @TiVo about the problem.


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## hazelnus111 (Feb 4, 2013)

trip1eX said:


> Man I just saw this after creating a thread on this topic. Very annoying. NBA playoffs are fairly high profile as far as cable content goes. And yet I come home 2 days ago and they weren't recorded.
> 
> Tivo needs to do something about this. Either add some intelligence to record these playoff games despite the guide data or work to get the guide data changed.
> 
> At the very least if I could record duplicates then I would have an non-hands on workaround even though that option would record each game twice since they replay the games in the am.


If you are not able to select "All" on your OnePass, you could try setting up a WishList for NBA (can choose Playoff Sports category if you don't want all reg season games) and select "All" instead of "New" or "New with Repeats". That will also get the late night repeats but should get them all.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

last night had and tonight have accurate guide data.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

trip1eX said:


> last night had and tonight have accurate guide data.


 Miracles do happen!


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