Changes to the Radio Times XML TV service

[chriscolby]

Hello. As part of the recent relaunch of RadioTimes.com, we at Radio Times are handing over responsibility for the maintenance and support of the XML TV feed this week to our tech partner on the site, MetaBroadcast, who is best placed to continue to develop and support the feed and service going forward.

We will still be providing listings data and the feed should continue to work as before, with the exception of film ratings and the Radio Times Choices, which are not supported on the new platform.

The first thing to say is don't worry. The feed will remain at the same URL for now and in exactly the same format. MetaBroadcast is keen to understand how many people use the feed and, in general, work with everyone who uses the data to further improve it over time.

The second thing to know is both Radio Times and MetaBroadcast are committed to the XML TV community. We'd like your thoughts on how we can make it easier to access and process the data - the best place to get in touch is via MetaBroadcast's Atlas discussion group - http://groups.google.com/group/atlasapi/.

How can we make the feed better? If you're a developer, we'd love you to contribute, be it ideas or code, and the group is also the best place to report any problems with the feed. Hopefully there won't be any, but it's good to have a way to let us know how you're getting on.

You can read more about the switch on the MetaBroadcast website - http://metabroadcast.com/blog/provid...eed-from-atlas.

Best regards,

Chris, Project Manager
Radio Times
http://www.radiotimes.com/blog/2011-...xml-tv-service

[jtweed]

Hi

I just wanted to follow up on what Chris has said here and let everyone know that this switchover has now happened.

Please do let us know if you spot any issues with the feed or you have any questions or comments. We're excited to be getting involved with the communities who use this data and would love your help in further improving it over the coming months.

As Chris said, we have more information on our blog:

http://metabroadcast.com/blog/provid...eed-from-atlas

If you'd like to work with us on improving the feed, please get in touch on the discussion group for Atlas, our global index of video and audio data. Atlas is an open source project and we’d love you to contribute, be it ideas or code. The group is also the best place to report any problems with the feed. We hope there won’t be any, but it’s good to have a way to let us know how you’re getting along.

The Atlas discussion group is here:

http://groups.google.com/group/atlasapi/

All of us here at MetaBroadcast look forward to seeing what we do together!

Cheers

Jonathan, Product Manager
MetaBroadcast
http://metabroadcast.com/

[agitate]

Thanks for the heads-up Chris.

[jamesdisco]

I think alot of people would use the service if you also did radio listings. I know i would and thats the only reason i use digiguide..

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by jamesdisco

I think alot of people would use the service if you also did radio listings. I know i would and thats the only reason i use digiguide..

Series/Episode details used to be a bit poor too, no idea now and I have Digiguide paid up for a couple of years.

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

Series/Episode details used to be a bit poor too, no idea now and I have Digiguide paid up for a couple of years.

I'd also probably come back if it had better season/episode details (numbering).

[rickgillyon]

This is where the OP is whispering to himself "I said on the Atlas discussion group..."

[paulie]

No guide data for channels. As from tomorrow I have no guide data from Stephens xmltv importer and Brirtles Radio Times grabber. This setup has worked fine for me for years but now for no apparent reason no data.

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by paulie

No guide data for channels. As from tomorrow I have no guide data from Stephens xmltv importer and Brirtles Radio Times grabber. This setup has worked fine for me for years but now for no apparent reason no data.

Nothing in the XML file or in Sage?

[doc]

Originally Posted by paulie

No guide data for channels. As from tomorrow I have no guide data from Stephens xmltv importer and Brirtles Radio Times grabber. This setup has worked fine for me for years but now for no apparent reason no data.

I still have a full 2 weeks data, so there must be something wrong your end.

[paulie]

Sage seems to have lost contact with my xmltv lineups. If i try to assign a tuner to an xmltv lineup in the add tuner window my lineups are not there just a blank section under the "chose lineup form the list below" heading. I did have a corrupt winbiz file a week or two ago which I deleted (java update problem). Could this be the route of my problems ?

[rickgillyon]

I would go back to the instructions for setting up a lineup for your importer again, looks like you have to go through that setup. Perhaps you need to install the importer again? Don't know how much of this information is in the wiz.bin.

[doc]

Yes, in add/removed programs or programs and features - depending on your windows version, when you select the XMLTV importer there's a repair option.

Make sure that Sage is stopped when you do this.

I'd try that, then manually run the XMLTV importer, and your lineups should then appear. You might have to select the zipcode of 00000 again, not sure.

[paulie]

Thanks Guys. I reloaded my xmltv importer and all is well again. The corrupt winbiz must have messed it up.