VM EPG
 

Had a V6 installed (by me) last weekend and all's well, except I notice that the EPG for some channels (BBC4 C4 E4 More4 and the plethora of the ITVs) only shows a week ahead today and after that says 'to be announced' - so some planned recordings aren't showing either. I'll be needing to set up some more recordings for next weekend (by Monday) so does anyone know if there's an issue? I'm connected to the router by ethernet cable, and everything else seems to be listed.

Re: VM EPG
 

There's an issue, it's not your box or anything that you've done wrong during installation.

The only way round it if it doesn't update in time is to set some manual recordings.

Re: VM EPG
 

There's not an issue - it is normal.

Most of the major channels only release their schedule 8 days before the new week - so it is normal to only have schedules up to next Friday for those channels (BBC / ITV etc.)

Other channels release 3-6 weeks ahead so they'll will be complete but most likely subject to change.

Re: VM EPG
 

Thanks for the replies - it seems they have been updated overnight. However a series link set for Fridays is now missing out next week's episode but the following week's is there - so a regular check seems to be in order.

Re: VM EPG
 

What series & channel is that? If you look in Recording Hiccups, it might tell you why it is planning not to record it.

Re: VM EPG
 

Good Friday affecting things? Eg Gadget show on Channel 5.

Re: VM EPG
 

Thanks - it's NCIS channel 199 Fox - Series link marked to record tonight and in a fortnight, but next week's isn't so I've had to manually set it.

It seems our recording hiccups only goes backwards ..

Re: VM EPG
 

Looking at the EPG the 6th Apr episode isn't tagged as being a new episode. That is why it is missing.

Re: VM EPG
 

Ah! Great researching. Thanks. Need to watch out for that then ...

Re: VM EPG
 

The NEW flag has nothing to do with the logic of the recording of NEW programmes.

NEW recordings are based on the air date.

In any case the episode at 9pm on Friday 6th April is a repeat. The episode is actually on for the first time on 5th April.

Re: VM EPG
 

Ahh right, not noticed this until recently. This also explains why I get dummy programme entries that end up in 'Recording Hiccups' because they are later replaced with the correct programming.

There's a drama on ITV that keeps being listed (Girlfriends) despite having ended. Also, on ITV3 On The Buses and George and Mildred keep appearing and then replaced. You can tell such entries are false and delete them as the synopsis is always generic.

Sometimes Viacom list Impractical Jokers for hours at a time until they have decided what to show; it's annoying as it makes you think that actual recordings have failed!

---------- Post added at 15:03 ---------- Previous post was at 15:00 ----------

I've sometimes found advance recordings in 'Recording Hiccups' nearer to the scheduled time to be recorded. It's usually due to a clash that I am able to rectify.

---------- Post added at 15:06 ---------- Previous post was at 15:03 ----------

It took me a fair while to realise that 'New Recordings didn't necessarily mean a new programme! The fact that the EPG metadata is sometimes wrong doesn't help.

Re: VM EPG
 

The NEW flag is set by the broadcaster to highlight it is NEW. But it can mean NEW to a channel rather the being really NEW.

Some channels don't bother using the NEW flag at all.

Quite often ITV only release the series titles in advance - and then update the episodes later. If no episode is available then TiVo will record it in case it is one you need.

Once the episode is updated then it will drop out of the list if it doesn't match you series link settings.

Re: VM EPG
 

There seems to be slapdash checking of the information posted in the EPG. I don't know who is responsible for the accuracy of this, Virgin Media or a third party. Looking through my 'planned programmes' folder I found that the final two episodes of the thriller Beneath the Surface - Saturday on BBC 4 - would not have recorded had I not spotted that they are wrongly labeled as episodes 5 and 6. In fact, they are episodes 7 and 8. The previous 6 episodes are already recorded. I had my preferences set as 'new only'. I corrected my preference to 'new and reruns' and set them to record even though my V6 recognized them as repeats. I would have been annoyed if I missed these.

Less critical is that the final episode of the latest series of the X-Files is wrongly labeled as 'new' on Sunday on Channel 5 when it is a repeat that has already been recorded. I don't know what the V6 would do in this kind of situation, record it or ignore it as the repeat it is.

Re: VM EPG
 

Beneath the Surface this weekend (31st Mar) are episodes 5 & 6. They were scheduled for last weekend but got cancelled last minute. Only 4 episodes have so far been broadcast.

Episodes 7 & 8 will be on 7th April.
As already said - the NEW flag is nothing to do with the recording logic. If you TiVo has already record that episode then the recording logic is it is NOT NEW.

Re: VM EPG
 

I have 2 V6 boxes - I set a recording for Scarlets v La Rochelle rugby match on my downstairs box.

Just before 5.25 I thought I would start watching it, but the recording (due to start at 4.45) was not happening - still in future recordings list.

My upstairs box was recording it as expected.

I deleted the recording (which interestingly said it was recording, despite not doing so) and reset it - then it started recording ok.

Anyone got any thoughts?

Re: VM EPG
 

I had a problem with two programmes after Stephen Hawking died. Because the EPG isn't dynamic, TiVo thought that it had recorded them after they were replaced with a two hour tribute programme.

They were actually shown the week after, so I manually set them to record as, presumably, the TiVo would think that they were duplicates.

---------- Post added at 18:34 ---------- Previous post was at 18:23 ----------

I've twice come across a programme that should be recording and displayed in 'Recordings.

I assumed that it had failed and tried to set them to record manually from the EPG, but the EPG said that they were already being recorded!?

I corrected this by stopping the recording and immediately starting it again; both 'halves' of the recording were then displayed in 'Recordings'.

It seems that recordings are occasionally not being displayed; what would happen if the programme was allowed to record in full I don't know.

I was once looking for a recording that I definitely knew I had and couldn't find it. Thinking I had imagined it, it then reappeared later in the list a few days later when I had to do a reboot. I suspect that this is what would happen to these recordings too.

Re: VM EPG
 

That would be if the series link setting was "New and reruns" rather than "New only". There is a time limit on how long ago a programme had already been recorded before it is put back on the recording list. When there is a large number of series with a programme, Eg 15 with NCIS, you have to use "New only" or it would pick up series 1, 2, 3 etc.

Re: VM EPG
 

You can set it to start recording from a specific series though to get round this AFAIK.

Re: VM EPG
 

Thanks for clearing that up. I like to binge-watch series so I hadn't tried to view my recordings until I can watch them back to back. I wonder what the V6 recorded and labeled as the two episodes of Beneath the Surface? What added to my confusion was that my TV listings magazine had this Saturday's episodes down as the final ones. I guess magazine listings are even less dynamic than the EPG.

Looking at my planned programmes this morning I now see that the final episodes will be shown next week.

Re: VM EPG
 

This just got a little weirder. I had a quick look at these supposedly cancelled recordings interested to see what had been shown in their place only to find that episodes from Beneath the Surface appear to have been recorded after all. Now the EPG shows these episodes set to record this Saturday and they are now labelled 'new' when they were not before. It's all very odd.

Re: VM EPG
 

Were they actually recorded or did your box extract these episodes from on demand?

Re: VM EPG
 

Beneath The Surface got replaced by a subtitled film last week, which is now on iPlayer.

Re: VM EPG
 

Well, I learned something tonight. I missed the BBC News at 10.10pm tonight because (most unlike me) I forgot to record the news!

I went to the BBC i-Player but the news was not available to view. However when I went to the EPG and did the old 'backwards' thing, I OK'd the news and it took me to the player, where it WAS available!

Good old Virgin, I didn't know it could do that!

Re: VM EPG
 

I only had the briefest of looks and saw a subtitled programmed had been recorded. I took this to be the episode of Beneath the Surface.

This must have been what I saw and mistook for my scheduled recording. Mystery solved.

Re: VM EPG
 

I think they become available after a certain period of time, possibly this was reached whilst you were messing around. I had similar experience the other day.

Re: VM EPG
 

No, it wasn't that. With the i-Player, unless you can stream the programme at the time of broadcasting, you have to wait about six hours before it becomes available on demand.

Just to be sure, after I saw the news, I came out of the i-Player then went back in via Apps and Games, and again it was showing 'Not available'. So it seems that the VM EPG is the way in if insufficient time has elapsed since your broadcast for this to show on the main app.

Re: VM EPG
 

Done this a few times, you'd think that they would both become available at once.

The BBC once said that as a rough guide it takes about the length of the programme involved after the end of the linear showing for it to reach the iPlayer. If it isn't on by this time, it will take a while longer as there is a problem or extra work to be done on the material.

Re: VM EPG
 

I've found that if you go into iPlayer while the programme is still running and click on 'channels' and select the one you were viewing there is the option to watch the entire show from the beginning.

Re: VM EPG
 

That's right; its the live feed which you can see from the beginning. Unfortunately, when the next show starts, you can no longer view that previous one, which is why I couldn't view the news on the app.

Re: VM EPG
 

Going away for more than two weeks - don't turn off your router! You won't get any planned recordings on your V6 in the third week and beyond.

I don't know if anyone has posted about this previously (I did a quick search but couldn't see anything) but we recently found out the hard way not to unplug our router when going on holiday (like we've always done previously) as the V6, unlike the ordinary Tivo, loses all programme guide info after two weeks because of lack of contact with the network.
Fortunately we managed to catch up with most of the shows that didn't record through on demand, repeats and catch up services after we re-connected to the network on our return.

Re: VM EPG
 

Thanks, well worth knowing should I win the lottery and be able to afford to be away for longer than 2 weeks😄

Re: VM EPG
 

Unlike the old Liberate platform boxes (V boxes & V+) that pulled their EPG from the linear TV system, the TiVO & V6 use the internet. TiVO has an inbuilt modem, V6 does not so uses your Hub. No Hub no EPG updates, simples.

Re: VM EPG
 

There seems to be a issue with BBC 1 , 2 and 4 on the EPG as it only goes up to Sunday the 29th of July while ITV , C4 and C5 go up to the 3rd of August.

Re: VM EPG
 

This is normal for the BBC. I have sometimes seen the BBC4 schedule only available for 4 days ahead.

Re: VM EPG
 

Where does the blame lie as surely it can't be that hard to update the EPG on a daily basis.

Re: VM EPG
 

See post #3