Anybody notice that the epg.geek epg listings are not available now?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Anybody notice that the epg.geek epg listings are not available now?

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3449 posts

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#307302 15-Mar-2010 10:00

Yes sadly Sky have decided to issue C&D notices to a bunch of EPG hosting websites over the last week or two which is a real shame for the local PVR community.

IF you have a DVB-S card their data is available in the EIT streams for their channels, and isn't encrypted. This includes their HD channels.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

paulfransen

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#307312 15-Mar-2010 10:14

My EPG on my Mac is up and running again.

I used epg.pvt.geek.nz for my EyeTV guide until Yesterday and I've now switched to nzepg.org.

Below is the link to download my Apple Script that downloads the EPG, and loads into EyeTV. It also sends a growl notification if you have that installed.

http://files.me.com/paul.fransen/hiudhk

netd

21 posts

Geek

#307321 15-Mar-2010 10:26

Faced with the prospect of no EPG yesterday, I spent the afternoon writing a quick script to convert the freeview xml to xmltv for my Mediaportal installation. So for those of you who want yet another choice, here it is.

http://3hams.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/netd_xml_tv_nz.rar

Written in Perl, it requires

XML::TreeBuilder;
XML::Writer;
LWP::Simple;
DateTime::TimeZone;
DateTime::Format::Natural;
DateTime

You can configure which channels to download in the channels.xml file (set download to no for channels you do not want). It is currently configured for dvb-t in Wellington.

natto

20 posts

Geek

#307331 15-Mar-2010 10:54

paulfransen: My EPG on my Mac is up and running again.

I used epg.pvt.geek.nz for my EyeTV guide until Yesterday and I've now switched to nzepg.org.

Below is the link to download my Apple Script that downloads the EPG, and loads into EyeTV. It also sends a growl notification if you have that installed.

http://files.me.com/paul.fransen/hiudhk

Hey,

Thanks a lot for that. Everything seemed to work fine for it but then it said 'false' at the end?

paulfransen

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#307333 15-Mar-2010 11:05

Mine says false also. I haven't fixed that little bug yet but it does everything it should. I may work on that bug tonight and update the file on me.com

lchiu7

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#307334 15-Mar-2010 11:06

netd: Faced with the prospect of no EPG yesterday, I spent the afternoon writing a quick script to convert the freeview xml to xmltv for my Mediaportal installation. So for those of you who want yet another choice, here it is.

http://3hams.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/netd_xml_tv_nz.rar

Written in Perl, it requires

XML::TreeBuilder;
XML::Writer;
LWP::Simple;
DateTime::TimeZone;
DateTime::Format::Natural;
DateTime

You can configure which channels to download in the channels.xml file (set download to no for channels you do not want). It is currently configured for dvb-t in Wellington.

Sounds cool but there is the actual file on the Freeview site? It wasn't obvious to me when I looked.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

Hinko

282 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#307337 15-Mar-2010 11:14

I look forward to the next time the nice lady phones and offers us that next sky offer.

I'm still thinking about what message I will ask her to pass up to senior management.

lchiu7

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#307338 15-Mar-2010 11:15

eXDee:
rvangelder: nice bit of code that.
eXDee: I see you've provided a link to the compiled version. I noticed there's a GNU license thingy attached to the source. I'm not really an expert at gnu, but I think that means you have to distribute the source code alongside the binary.

Nothing was changed from the original, so you can grab the source code from the site by grabbing the zip.
But to mate everyone happy, i referenced this next to my download link now.

Can someone test this to let me know if it works?

As I noted earlier it didn't work. But sbiddle notes that it broke last year when Freeview changed their format to add additional information for the Freeview PVR's or something.

The revised source is not in the zip that I can tell but in the subversion listings so if some kind person can grab the lastest updates and compile that, many would be grateful.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

netd

21 posts

Geek

#307345 15-Mar-2010 11:37

lchiu7:

Sounds cool but there is the actual file on the Freeview site? It wasn't obvious to me when I looked.

I used firebug to monitor where the online EPG on http://www.freeviewnz.tv/whats_on_freeview/ got its information from. The urls are all in the channels.xml I supply, but if you use the script it does all of the downloading for you.

RustyGonad

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#307359 15-Mar-2010 12:26

Hinko: I look forward to the next time the nice lady phones and offers us that next sky offer.

I'm still thinking about what message I will ask her to pass up to senior management.

Tell them its really really wrong for them to want to protect their intellectual property. Tell them its really bad for a business to run this way - protecting their IP and all that...

Maybe you can also convince them to turn off NDS from the streams while your at it...

Seriously - people may think of this a "free" information, but where do you draw the line, should Tivo be able to grab/publish it for commerical gain? At what point does the public good get overridden by commercial objectives and protection?

Everyone who use the download sources should have been well aware that it was treading a fine commercial/legal line.

While its a total PITA to have to go back to the EIT source for your Sky guide, its not entirely unexepected.

Satch

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#307364 15-Mar-2010 12:36

RustyGonad: Biggest advantage is that there is nothing Sky, Freeview or anyone else can do about it. You control the results...

Until Sky decide to go complelely anal and encrypt their EPG that is...

I just don't get it. To me, TV listings are like advertisements for a TV network. If I know what is on, then I will watch. In the case of the Freeview channels, I will also invariably watch some of their ads (which is what they want). And in the case of Sky, I will value my subscription and keep paying my monthly fee (which is what I also though they wanted, but am questioning this now!) Without knowing what is on, I won't watch. And eventually I will cut off my Sky subscription.

Now yes I can find out what is on via other methods, but what does it matter how I get their TV listings? Really, what is it to them? As long as I am not stealing their content, there should be no issue! Sure, sources like TV Guide, newspaper, Skywatch etc probably pay for the listings and in turn charge the customer, but I can also access them for "free" via their decoders or online. This has never made sense to me at all.

Rusty - I may have to get some more instructions off you if other online EPG sources get cut off too.

Apple TV

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).

Hinko

282 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#307375 15-Mar-2010 13:03

RustyGonad:
Hinko: I look forward to the next time the nice lady phones and offers us that next sky offer.

I'm still thinking about what message I will ask her to pass up to senior management.

Tell them its really bad for a business to run this way - protecting their IP and all that...

I suppose I could tell them that, but they'll already know that, because a number of people are cancelling their subscriptions...so it is bad for business....

Seriously - people may think of this a "free" information, but where do you draw the line, should Tivo be able to grab/publish it for commerical gain? At what point does the public good get overridden by commercial objectives and protection?

Well some people probably have already understood that there is no commercial gain involved in the epg listings, unlike TiVo. So what's the problem if there is no commercial gain involved?

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#307378 15-Mar-2010 13:04

RustyGonad:
Hinko: I look forward to the next time the nice lady phones and offers us that next sky offer.

I'm still thinking about what message I will ask her to pass up to senior management.

Tell them its really really wrong for them to want to protect their intellectual property. Tell them its really bad for a business to run this way - protecting their IP and all that...

Maybe you can also convince them to turn off NDS from the streams while your at it...

Seriously - people may think of this a "free" information, but where do you draw the line, should Tivo be able to grab/publish it for commerical gain? At what point does the public good get overridden by commercial objectives and protection?

Everyone who use the download sources should have been well aware that it was treading a fine commercial/legal line.

While its a total PITA to have to go back to the EIT source for your Sky guide, its not entirely unexepected.

I agree totally that it's IP owned by the broadcaster. What I don't understand is why the broadcasters seem to be so paranoid about protecting their IP. If TV guide's or listings didn't exist, people would probably watch a lot less TV because they would have no idea what's on.

What I don't understand is what harm individual users being able to access that IP for free is causing. I watch more TV with my PVR now than I ever did before. I can see what's on and schedule shows. With no EPG I'd probably just ignore a lot of stuff. It would be the broadcaster's loss and not mine.

A newspaper or the TV guide makes money from selling listings, you could argue it's fair enough that they should pay for that content. If they want to charge home users for delivering an EPG then go ahead and do it - but since no legal option exists people don't have a choice but to look elsewhere.

Nety

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#307381 15-Mar-2010 13:11

Much as I hate how hard it is to get EPG data for media centres because of Sky, TVNZ and Mediaworks sending out takedown notices I can also understand why they do it.

For all you might see it as being in their interests to encourage you to watch their channels they know very well that if you have a media centre the main reason you want to know when to record a program is so that you can watch it later and SKIP THE ADS! Making it easier for you to do this is absolutely NOT in their best interests.
Yes Sky provides Mysky/Mysky HDi but they work on you getting additional content at additional cost to counteract the money they lose in ad revenue. Even then I would suggest they have a PVR offering because the customer demands it not because they want you to have one.
They do not have that payback from those of us with media centres.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

Deev8

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#307382 15-Mar-2010 13:13

netd: ... a quick script to convert the freeview xml to xmltv ... Written in Perl, it requires

XML::TreeBuilder;
XML::Writer;
LWP::Simple;
DateTime::TimeZone;
DateTime::Format::Natural;
DateTime

Most people reading this could be quite interested in using the script, but have no idea how to supply these prerequisites.

If you have a few minutes to do it - a quick idiots set-up guide would be very useful.

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