# UK Tivo Mentioned on News 24 Click Program



## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Today's edition of Click (Nov 3rd, 11.30am) on BBC News 24 had an item on Eye Tv and the presenter talked about one of its main advantages being the buffering of Live Tv and the ability to rewind parts of programs you have just seen instantly "much like Tivo or other PVRs".

Its nice to see a BBC presenter still describing Tivo as being an example of the definitive PVR and relegating Sky+ and Freeview Playback boxes and the like to also ran status.

Of course one suspects the presenter in question may own a Tivo himself.............


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## Sneals2000 (Aug 25, 2002)

I know at least one Click presenter owns a Tivo...


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## PaulWilkinsUK (Mar 20, 2006)

A Lion? He said a Lion ....


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

PaulWilkinsUK said:


> A Lion? He said a Lion ....


Who did. The ringmaster at the Zoo?


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## PaulWilkinsUK (Mar 20, 2006)

Pete77 said:


> Who did. The ringmaster at the Zoo?


No.. I think its something from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe... I could be wrong (usually am according to 'er indoors)


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

It was a "Mac"-centred programme this weekend so yes, Lions and Tigers and Leapords were mentioned


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## PaulWilkinsUK (Mar 20, 2006)

cwaring said:


> It was a "Mac"-centred programme this weekend so yes, Lions and Tigers and Leapords were mentioned


Ha Ha Ha very good Carl


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## speedyrite (May 18, 2002)

Nothing about witches or wardrobes though? Oh well I'll probably watch it anyway...




cwaring said:


> It was a "Mac"-centred programme this weekend so yes, Lions and Tigers and Leapords were mentioned


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## aerialplug (Oct 20, 2000)

Pete77 said:


> Its nice to see a BBC presenter still describing Tivo as being an example of the definitive PVR and relegating Sky+ and Freeview Playback boxes and the like to also ran status.


A lot of people who work in the BBC still have TiVos (many were given free ones when it launched as part of being a "trialist" programme).

I speak from experience as I used to work for them and was very involved with the TiVo pre-launch research team and also part of the post-launch support group.

I deny all knowledge of the Dossa & Joe experiment though as by the team I was working with were out of the loop - the first I heard of it was when all hell broke loose (and I saw it appear on my screen like all others) 

Although I no longer work for 'em (made redundant by them twice in the space of a year - directly and then indirectly when they pulled a nasty on the company I then went to work for) I still swear by my beloved TiVo and even the promise of a major revamp of the Sky+ interface won't stop me relying on TiVo daily!


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

aerialplug said:


> I still swear by my beloved TiVo and even the promise of a major revamp of the Sky+ interface won't stop me relying on TiVo daily!


The only thing that would tempt me away from Tivo would be something with all the functionality of a Tivo S1 (including Suggestions, Thumbs, Proper Season Passes and Proper Wishlists) with at least 3 weeks EPG data with several tuners, PDC like start/stop time control and with the ability to record HD and deal with encrypted Sky programs for those occasional months when I subscribe to Sky (usually for the Paris-Dakar rally on Eurosport).

However I have a feeling that all this is at least 3 to 4 years away (if indeed it ever arrives via an enhanced Windows MCE with Sky also finally being mandated by Ofcom to provide a CAM for their encrypted program services to third parties) and that any currently proposed changes to the Sky+ interface will only amount to trivial tinkering. I suppose there is always hope that Sky could decide to offer the "traditional" EPG based Sky+ interface but then also offer an "advanced" interface too for those with experience of other PVRs and who demand more in the way of power user functions. Something tells me that Sky will want to charge extra for such an "enhanced interface" though............................


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## aerialplug (Oct 20, 2000)

It's the proper season passes and wishlists along with a genuine 3 week EPG that's good to use that would tempt me away.

I don't use suggestions that much other than an ocasional programme that takes my fancy - otherwise its main use is an indicator of how full the disk is getting.

It would also ideally have web access - far better access than Sky+'s ability to set recordings (though all credit to them, this IS quite a good facility).

There are boxes on the market now that have "PDC like start/stop" - SKy+ to name one that I know of. However the broadcaster needs to update the information in their transport stream to support this. I know Sky do - programmes have occasionally overrun (when there are transmission faults) and Sky do update the end time for this. Don't expect this to happen on all channels though as the broadcast chain there isn't advanced enough to make these changes (heck, most of these channels can't even broadcast in widescreen, including some brand new ones that are just appearing e.g. Dave.


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## PaulWilkinsUK (Mar 20, 2006)

All things considered, it wouldn't be too hard to knock one up from scratch these days, would it?

Bit of fancy coding, links to TV guides etc etc

Sure, in its day the TiVo was a major miracle. However, these days the 'idea' is quite the norm. What makes this box so damn good is all the 'extra' stuff that the clever people out there have created for us. The fact that you can Telnet into the damn thing and do all kinds of amazing things has kept the old girl in business. If we didnt have the ability to customize the little chap, then I think that most of them would have been consigned to the trash.

Can I ask one question? Why does everyone freak out when someone mentions TiVo on the telly? I must confess, I don't go nuts when I see my kitchen appliances on SpiceXXX. Sorry, have I said too much ???


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

PaulWilkinsUK said:


> All things considered, it wouldn't be too hard to knock one up from scratch these days, would it?


This seems to be what quite a few Freeview box manufacturers erroneously assume only to learn how damn difficult it is to make a decent one. Why are you planning to leave Honda and start up a factory knocking up Wilkins PVRs then?



> What makes this box so damn good is all the 'extra' stuff that the clever people out there have created for us. The fact that you can Telnet into the damn thing and do all kinds of amazing things has kept the old girl in business. If we didnt have the ability to customize the little chap, then I think that most of them would have been consigned to the trash.


Well apart from noting your clearly confused views on the nature of Tivo's gender I must agree with your other points on why it is that I can sit here with total confidence knowing that nothing else in the PVR marketplace is currently going to be as interesting or as much fun as a Tivo for the time being. If the BBC do something amazing on their Freesat project and come up with an HD PVR box with several tuners and Wishlists and SPs and PDC type stuff it may be worth considering but even then one is stuffed by the need to record the Paris-Dakar rally by subscribing to Sky and Eurosport once a year. Unless those useless so and sos at Ofcom get off their big fat overpaid corporate asses and force Sky to release a CAM that allows their subscription services to be received and recorded on other hardware.



> Can I ask one question? Why does everyone freak out when someone mentions TiVo on the telly? I must confess, I don't go nuts when I see my kitchen appliances on SpiceXXX. Sorry, have I said too much ???


I think it is just our disbelief that the very existence of Tivo even manages to make it in to the UK national media when secret agents of Sky seem to be at work almost night and day to assassinate anyone who dares to suggest that there is any form of PVR in the UK other than a Sky+ box. As a Fiat X1/9 owner I always had similar feelings about any articles or books on the miracle little Ferrari that Fiat never really wanted to import to the UK in the first place (and indeed resisted doing so for the first two years of its existence).


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## PaulWilkinsUK (Mar 20, 2006)

Pete77 said:


> Well apart from noting your clearly confused views on the nature of Tivo's gender ...


 <Sigh> 



Pete77 said:


> As a Fiat X1/9 owner....


You a hairdresser Pete ??


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

PaulWilkinsUK said:


> You a hairdresser Pete ??


Oh so cruel.

But at least you know or remember the little beasts then.


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## kitschcamp (May 18, 2001)

Who doesn't? I always wanted one.


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## Ashley (Apr 20, 2002)

I used to have one. Great fun to drive. Not so much fun watching it rust. Is that why you don't see many around these days?


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Ashley said:


> I used to have one. Great fun to drive. Not so much fun watching it rust. Is that why you don't see many around these days?


It was the British climate that they weren't designed to take plus also the earlier ones rusted a lot more than the later production models.

There isn't much rust on the 1989 one in my garage but it has been there for 10 years now, plus there is also minor front end collision damage that put it there to sort out too. Not to mention all the seized brakes and perished water pipes etc, etc, etc.

I don't know if I would even fit in it now as I only just managed to at the time. I realised the other day that I need to try and lose about 3 stone to get back down to a respectable kind of weight.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

PaulWilkinsUK said:


> You a hairdresser Pete ??





Pete77 said:


> Oh so cruel. But at least you know or remember the little beasts then.


That's no way to talk about hair-dressers


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## Mark Bennett (Sep 17, 2001)

I had an X1/9
Fabulous car. Revved to 8000 RPM, stuck to the road like glue. 

I still collect articles on it when I see them, even though it's a mid-engined German car I own now.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Mark Bennett said:


> I had an X1/9
> Fabulous car. Revved to 8000 RPM, stuck to the road like glue.
> 
> I still collect articles on it when I see them, even though it's a mid-engined German car I own now.


Can't think of any mid engined German ones, only rear engined Porsche German sports cars come to mind.

I can think of loads of mid engined Italian cars so perhaps you can put us out of our misery by naming the little German beast.


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## martink0646 (Feb 8, 2005)

Try the Boxster or the Cayman


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## Ashley (Apr 20, 2002)

Mark Bennett said:


> I had an X1/9
> Fabulous car. Revved to 8000 RPM, stuck to the road like glue.
> 
> I still collect articles on it when I see them, even though it's a mid-engined German car I own now.


Did you see the episode of MythBusters where they smashed two semis (artics) head on with an X1/9 between them. 

The X1/9 badge was, for some reason, smudged out.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Ashley said:


> Did you see the episode of MythBusters where they smashed two semis (artics) head on with an X1/9 between them.
> 
> The X1/9 badge was, for some reason, smudged out.


I think I'm happy not to have seen it. I might have cried.


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## Ashley (Apr 20, 2002)

Pete77 said:


> I think I'm happy not to have seen it. I might have cried.


Then close your eyes!


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## PaulWilkinsUK (Mar 20, 2006)

Have we moved on from BBC Click to Top Gear now ??

Whoo Whoo Whoo OT Alert WHoo WHoo Whoo


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

PaulWilkinsUK said:


> Have we moved on from BBC Click to Top Gear now ??
> 
> Whoo Whoo Whoo OT Alert WHoo WHoo Whoo


Both BBC programs so clearly still on topic.


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## Mark Bennett (Sep 17, 2001)

Ashley said:


> Then close your eyes!


What was the reason for doing this? It's not explained in the clip.
I notice the rear boot has already been crushed flat before the 1st hit.


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2005/11/episode_41_compact_compact_and_1.html



> Myth: Two semi-trucks are in a head-on collision and get fused together. Awhile later in the junkyard people start to notice a smell coming from the trucks. They pull them apart and find that there was a small European car wedged between them with a dead driver.


The 'trunk' had been smashed in a previous attempt but wasn't considered too smashed to prove/disprove the myth - which they busted.


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## Sneals2000 (Aug 25, 2002)

aerialplug said:


> However the broadcaster needs to update the information in their transport stream to support this. I know Sky do - programmes have occasionally overrun (when there are transmission faults) and Sky do update the end time for this. Don't expect this to happen on all channels though as the broadcast chain there isn't advanced enough to make these changes


Yep - the BBC do this as well on their digital satellite services. The larger broadcasters - like ITV, C4 and Five - should all be able to do this as they all now have centralised playout (ITV Plc has two playout sites + plus the non-ITV Plc companies Scottish/Grampian, UTV and Channel, C4 one and Five one with an emergency backup)

Similarly the UKTV services, the Viacom services.



> (heck, most of these channels can't even broadcast in widescreen, including some brand new ones that are just appearing e.g. Dave.


Dave isn't really a "brand new" channel though - it is just UKTVG2 with a new name. None of the Flextech UKTV services currently support 16:9 material natively - though other channels played out by Red Bee - like BBC One and Two in England for example - do...


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Just as an FYI, I believe that all the channels played-out through Red Bee (UKtv, Virgin 1, etc.) will be going to widescreen format in the new year or, at least, "early in 2008"


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## gazter (Aug 1, 2001)

cwaring said:


> Just as an FYI, I believe that all the channels played-out through Red Bee (UKtv, Virgin 1, etc.) will be going to widescreen format in the new year or, at least, "early in 2008"


Widescreen? We'll be getting Colour next.....


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

gazter said:


> Widescreen? We'll be getting Colour next.....


I wonder if they will be programs actually filmed in Widescreen or just be 4:3 versions that have had the top and bottom cut off to fill the widescreen picture though.


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## Ashley (Apr 20, 2002)

Mark Bennett said:


> What was the reason for doing this? It's not explained in the clip.
> I notice the rear boot has already been crushed flat before the 1st hit.


The reason was to confirm or bust the myth.

Explained here.


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## aerialplug (Oct 20, 2000)

cwaring said:


> Just as an FYI, I believe that all the channels played-out through Red Bee (UKtv, Virgin 1, etc.) will be going to widescreen format in the new year or, at least, "early in 2008"


Excellent !!!

Maybe they'll discover HD sometime mid-2010s....

Still, at least we'll finally be seeing first run programmes in the right shape on Virgin 1.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

aerialplug said:


> Maybe they'll discover HD sometime mid-2010s....


Hey! I've only just gone W/S myself  (Well, about a year ago) No need for HD here at all. Complete waste of money I haven't got anyway.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

cwaring said:


> Hey! I've only just gone W/S myself  (Well, about a year ago) No need for HD here at all. Complete waste of money I haven't got anyway.


Did you go flat screen or secondhand CRT widescreen Carl?

I looked at upgrading but people want stupid money like £200 for a decent 36" widescreen CRT (Panasonice or Sony) and reasonable 37" Plasma widescreens start at £700.

I couldn't face all the back breaking of getting rid of my 29" CRT and then getting a 36" one in instead. So have decided to wait til 50 inch True HD widescreens are £500 and the BBC has a proper HD box with no subs needed and not cluttered up with a million channels I dont subscribe to in the EPG.

So the 29 inch 100hz 4:3 Philips continues to soldier on terrified to consider ever breaking down again known it will mean the knackers yard.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Pete77 said:


> Did you go flat screen or secondhand CRT widescreen Carl?


The latter; donated by my brother as it happens. A very nice Panny


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## Pugwash (May 23, 2003)

I had a really nice 36" widescreen CRT. 100Hz Philips. Cost me an arm and a leg a few years back! I just got a 1080p Toshiba 37" for considerably less. I almost gave the CRT away!
The Toshiba does nice upscaling.


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## dvdfever (Jun 2, 2002)

aerialplug said:


> A lot of people who work in the BBC still have TiVos (many were given free ones when it launched as part of being a "trialist" programme).
> 
> I speak from experience as I used to work for them and was very involved with the TiVo pre-launch research team and also part of the post-launch support group.
> 
> I deny all knowledge of the Dossa & Joe experiment though as by the team I was working with were out of the loop - the first I heard of it was when all hell broke loose (and I saw it appear on my screen like all others)


Glad to see the TiVo mentioned on Click, even if Spencer Kelly can be overly smug most of the time (and I still can't understand the point of Mark Cieslak).

Like the shooting of John Lennon (and for those older than me, JFK) I can remember where I was the day I read about Dossa & Joe... as I was having my annual checkup at the MRI in Manchester and it was all over the front cover of the Metro like a nasty sore.

However, that night I had recorded The Experiment (the prison thing which was rubbish) on BBC2 and padded 5 minutes on the end so it missed Dossa & Joe and I wondered what all the fuss was about as well as feeling as smug as a Spencer about the fact my TiVo hadn't recorded that dreadful so-called 'comedy' 

(The check-up's to do with this, for anyone who's interested http://dvdfever.co.uk/aorta.shtml )


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

I assume that any comments along the lines of "aorta have know" will be just be dismissed as bad taste?


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## dvdfever (Jun 2, 2002)

cwaring said:


> I assume that any comments along the lines of "aorta have know" will be just be dismissed as bad taste?


I had an aortic valve replacement
To save money I had the operation in my basement
They asked me what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom, boom, boom,
Son, he said, your attempt at rhyme has fallen apart and now you're just starting to copy the lyrics of Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill.

Hmm... doesn't scan


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## ericd121 (Dec 12, 2002)

If I could drag this thread back off-topic...  

I walked into my local Panasonic shop and asked which screens were showing HD.

Having said plasmas pointed out to me, I could not actually see much difference or improvement over SD.

I was a little surprised to say the least.

Maybe the SD feed was very good, but I was expecting to be blown away by the HD picture, and I wasn't.


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## dvdfever (Jun 2, 2002)

Sneals2000 said:


> Dave isn't really a "brand new" channel though - it is just UKTVG2 with a new name. None of the Flextech UKTV services currently support 16:9 material natively - though other channels played out by Red Bee - like BBC One and Two in England for example - do...


It wouldn't be so bad if they at least broadcast stuff in letterbox 16:9, but when something's cropped to 14:9, has a number of logos stuck on it ("Dave", the "UKTV Guide" one that appears at ad breaks, and probably onscreen nexts as well) plus the adverts and announcers and squashing of credits (presuming they do that), it all looks so chavvy.

(Edit: Almost like BBC1/2 these days with their end-credit squashing - they should just put Charlie Brooker in charge - 



 )


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

dvdfever said:


> Almost like BBC1/2 these days with their end-credit squashing - they should just put Charlie Brooker in charge


I've joined a Facebook group with Charlie for DG as it's remit - not that it is a serious proposition but it made me smile


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## dvdfever (Jun 2, 2002)

AMc said:


> I've joined a Facebook group with Charlie for DG as it's remit - not that it is a serious proposition but it made me smile


Ooh, didn't know there was a group for that. Just joined and had a big rant about continuity announcers since I saw that chump Duncan Newmarsh was even more cheery on his wall post about how he talked over the Doctor Who theme


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

ericd121 said:


> I walked into my local Panasonic shop and asked which screens were showing HD.
> 
> Having said plasmas pointed out to me, I could not actually see much difference or improvement over SD.
> 
> ...


IMHO the whole HD wheeze is just a great way for tv manufacturers to have millions of perfectly serviceable widescreen tvs thrown on to the skip before their time.

OK sure its an improvement but a much less significant one than colour to black and white and also a less significant one than 4:3 programs to widescreen programs.

But it does allow you to kick out your perfectly good CRT widescreen tv for a flat HD one and replace your DVD player with a Blu Ray one or HD-DVD one in the process.

So in marketing terms its a fantastic idea for keeping up sales of new tvs.

What I do approve of though is that at least the launch of HDTV does not have the same disastrous impact on those of us still using older equipment that launching widescreen tv programs clearly did.


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