# detection of multiple airings of first-run shows



## konakahuna (Mar 3, 2006)

the one thing about our tivo that makes me nuts is the inability to screen out multiple first runs of a tv show. 

for example, comedy central shows each new "daily show" episode several times during each day. because the episode is technically a first-run and not a repeat, TIVO dutifully records the same episode multiple times each day.

i wish under season pass options, there was a "first run - record single episode" selection.

thanks for listening,


david r.


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## NewYorkLaw (Dec 9, 2005)

I like this suggestion.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

The tricky part about doing this is that those shows have bad guide data. 

The TiVo can't tell one episode from another, which is why it is recording multiple first run only episodes in the first place. 

If there was full guide data for those episodes the TiVo would only record an episode the first time it was on (well, the first time it was on where there wasn't a recording conflict).


So to implement your suggestion the TiVo basically has to blindly guess when to start and stop recording. Should it be the first episode in the calender week? First episode on Wednesday? First episode at 8pm? 
It has no idea because all the episodes have identical guide data. As an end user you know what day/time a new episode usually airs, but without guide data the TiVo doesn't.


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## konakahuna (Mar 3, 2006)

i guess i have a totally different perspective.

we know the tivo can recognize a new show from a rerun. it does this now.

all i'm asking for is an option which only records a single "new" episode in a 24 hour period. ideally, should the initial new showing conflict with an to do item, it would bump and record the next showing.

that's all.

such a feature would mean that i would only get 1 episode of the daily show each day instead of 3 or 4 and the implementation seems simple enough.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

konakahuna said:


> i guess i have a totally different perspective.
> 
> we know the tivo can recognize a new show from a rerun. it does this now.
> 
> ...


I interpreted your proposed text, "first run - record single episode", too literally. You were talking about multiple recordings per day, but I somehow thought you were proposing recording a new episode once ever (which would be nice, and does happen in the guide data is right).

Yes is should be easy to make the TiVo only record one new (or no guide data) show per day. Depending on the show that might not be ideal, but it should be easy to program.

Maybe reword your proposed menu text to make the exact function of the setting more obvious. Possibly "first run - (1 episode per day max)".

Hmm. One further choice. Should the TiVo record two first run episodes on a single day under this setting if both of them have unique guide data? (For example Scrubs has been running two new episodes back to back on Tuesdays. Should both of them be recorded under this setting?)

If it should, then how should it handle a day with 1 new episode with good guide data and one or more episodes with no guide data?


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

konakahuna said:


> we know the tivo can recognize a new show from a rerun. it does this now.


It can do this ONLY if the guide date is good. If it isn't sure, it presumes it is new to be safe.



> all i'm asking for is an option which only records a single "new" episode in a 24 hour period. ideally, should the initial new showing conflict with an to do item, it would bump and record the next showing.


And what happens when two new episodes of a show air on the same day, as a special event, etc? This has happened with many shows. I believe even the daily show when they had a couple of special episodes on during election coverage.

If the guide data were solid you'd only get one episode of The Daily Show a day with the current software. And, actually, lately The Daily Show's guide data has been pretty good and I'm only getting the one recorded. From time to time it goes to crap, and then the TiVo can't tell so it errs on the side of caution.

And how do you judge a 24 hour period? What if the 11PM and 1AM showings have a conflict, so it records 10AM? If the guide data is bad it doesn't know that the 11PM showing the next night is NOT the same episode. You have a race condition - if it doesn't know in the first place, then it can't know where to draw the boundary and stop blocking new recordings. Say it records the 10AM Monday episode, which is a repeat of the Thursday night episode. It doesn't know that, now it will not record Monday night's episode before 10AM Tuesday, and then you cascade all week.

It isn't quite so simple.

I handle it by checking out my To Do list periodically and just killing any spurious recordings.


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## n21jc (Mar 17, 2006)

There are several shows I watch that have multiple first-run showings all week long - "Monk" and "Hustle" are my two worst. Tivo will record each of them 5 times a week or more if I set it on Season Pass for first-run episodes. The detection of multiple airings of first-run shows needs to be able to be applied for all week, too.


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