Zap to it...where?

[domc]

Where does Zap to it get it's info from?

This may be off topic but this is just a curiosity. There is a lot of info for the description of shows. Does someone type this stuff in? Is there a general database that these companies use?

Why are those companies that offer it free able to do that?

Just wondering...

[dbfresh23]

I'm pretty sure that They get it directly from the networks.

[Ryokurin]

Everyone pays for it in some way. Even here it originally wasn't free, and even going through labs.zap2it.com you still kind of pay for it via the surveys you fill out every few months to keep it.

Zap2it is just Tribune Media which is what most newspapers use

[domc]

I remember when using Medio I logged into there website (zap2it) and filled out that stupid survey.

With SageTV I did not. Sage didn't ask for a name and password. Are the developers of Sage paying for it? If you read the Docs from Sage, Frey has the right to charge at anytime the cost of access to Zap2It. Mmmmm.....

[Ryokurin]

I wasn't here then but it was my understanding that during sage 1.0 you did have to pay for it, but it was later added to free which they are absorbing, its just had the understanding that it could go back if it need be, similar to upgrades to Sage, they have the right to charge for an upgrade, but have not used it. Obviously the best way to do this is to stay on the top of your game and make something that people are willing to pay for, and it seems to be working for them.

[dkardatzke]

Originally Posted by domc

I remember when using Medio I logged into there website (zap2it) and filled out that stupid survey.

With SageTV I did not. Sage didn't ask for a name and password. Are the developers of Sage paying for it? If you read the Docs from Sage, Frey has the right to charge at anytime the cost of access to Zap2It. Mmmmm.....

To answer your question, yes we do license the data directly from Zap2it and have done this since the first release of SageTV. This is the same data that our competitors (including TiVo) licenses for the same use. We rely on Zap2it for coverage of the entire US and Canada.

To my knowledge they have a team that gathers all the data and then breaks it out by lineup for every provider across every network across every zip code, which is of course a helluva lot of data. Our policy has been to absorb this cost within the upfront license fee but we of course reserve the right to charge for the data if the model ever changes in the future. The good news is that we have yet to do that and SageTV has been out now for almost 3 years!

BTW, please let us know if you see any competitors of ours that are charging for their software but still using the Zap2it Data Direct service which is where you filled out the survey. That service is not supposed to be used for commercial purposes and of course would give any competitor an unfair advantage since we pay for that data and under that model they would not.

Hope everyone has a great new year. See you all at CES or in 2006!

Dan

[Kanati]

Pretty sure mediaportal uses it too... but that's not commercial.

[alan92rttt]

showshifter provides most of the tools required to use the zap2itdata. I think they consider it "ok" becasue they require the open source xmltv software to make it work.

[mikey]

BTW, please let us know if you see any competitors of ours that are charging for their software but still using the Zap2it Data Direct service which is where you filled out the survey. That service is not supposed to be used for commercial purposes and of course would give any competitor an unfair advantage since we pay for that data and under that model they would not.

CTpvr does this. http://www.ctpvr.com