TVDB done March 2021

[jptheripper]

Looks like TVDB will be done in 6 months

Hello,

There are some big changes coming for TheTVDB that will affect both developers and our end users, most notably our brand new API (“v4”). With the launch of this new API fast approaching, we wanted to give an overview of all of these changes.

Two Models for API Access
There are now two ways to access TheTVDB API. Each company, platform, or project will have the ability to select their preferred method of access. This decision will ultimately be up to the developers of the projects themselves, so if you are an end user, you'll need to wait for the platform/software you use to announce any changes regarding your access.
Licensed

This is the way things work now. Companies and projects enter into a contract with us and are given an API key. License fees are based primarily on usage, company size, and how the data is used.

Example: Mobile apps & websites
User-Supported

This is new. Some companies can’t or don’t want to license API access directly, and have requested that we pass along any cost to end users. We have determined an approach that will keep this affordable and accessible for all, detailed below.

Example: Synology Video Station
A note for Plex users: TheTVDB is in ongoing active discussions with Plex. Please stay tuned for more information if you are an end user of Plex.
User Subscriptions
User subscriptions are global, and not tied to a specific API key. This means that if, as an end user, you use three projects that make use of TheTVDB API, your subscription will grant access for any of them that choose the user-supported model.


Important Notes

A subscription is required ONLY if the project/software you're using has indicated so — although we’d love for you to support the site anyway.
Subscribing will grant you a unique PIN, which will be entered into the software you use.
User subscriptions will be $11.99/year.
Subscriptions will also include an ad-free site experience, a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart, and future incentives that we’re planning.

While we believe this to be a reasonable subscription fee, we understand that some of you may prefer another approach. With that in mind, we’ll also allow users to earn a free annual subscription by contributing quality data to the site, like missing IDs, translations, and artwork. We’ll provide additional details concerning this model in the coming months.


Learn more about user subscriptions
v4 API Launch
Our relaunch of the site last October included a completely restructured database, and we’ve been adding features and functionality to it ever since. Our current and previous APIs are based on the old version of the database, and as a result are not only costly to operate, but don’t expose most of the new features. The v4 API fixes that and gives access to everything.


Important Notes

The v4 API will launch the week of 11/9.
All previous API versions will be deprecated approximately 6 months later, at the end of March 2021. This will allow projects time to convert.
Later in 2021, we’ll be adding writable interfaces to the API, allowing projects to push data back into the site.
Developers will need to create a new key for v4, which can be done from your TheTVDB dashboard under API Keys.
The v4 API is NOT backwards compatible.
New Features and Functionality
While some of these features have been available on the site since last October, they haven't been available in our API until now.
Tagging & Taxonomy

Our new flexible tagging system includes a hierarchy of data that is more useful than free-form tagging, and currently includes information like time era, series structure, social issues, character professions, and more. Tags can be recommended by users on the site so this offering will quickly expand.
Expanded Search Functionality

Unified search for movies, series, people, characters, franchises, companies — all allowing fuzzy matching to improve results.
Flexible Seasons

Supporting DVD and absolute orders as we’ve always done, but also supporting multiple official popular orders (for example, Money Heist being completely recut for Netflix).


Awards

We’re now tracking popular awards for both series and movies, including both nominees and winners.

Lists and Franchises

Fully translatable and sorted, allowing access to official franchises like MCU and Arrowverse.

Expanded Company Support

Companies will be expanded from studio, production company, and network to also include other relevant info like special effects studio. Plus company relationships, rebrands, and the ability to store co-productions on series and movies.
Expanded Content Ratings


Content ratings, previously displayed as parental guidelines, are now expanded from the US rating systems to all official international systems.

Also…
Many more features have been added and will be available in the v4 API. We’ve launched a new ticketing system in an effort to deprecate our forums. This will streamline responses from our moderators, prevent requests from being overlooked or handled incorrectly, and give better insight into potential improvements on the site itself. The ticketing system also holds our comprehensive Knowledgebase, which will be referenced throughout the site. Additionally, we have implemented UserReport, a software where you can upvote and make improvement suggestions to the site.
Next Steps for You
Project Developers

Start taking a look at which data licensing model works for your project moving forward — directly licensed or user-supported. Once you’ve decided, you’ll need to register for a new v4 API key (your old key will continue to work until the old APIs are turned off at the end of March 2021).
You can register for a new key on your dashboard by navigating to TheTVDB, selecting Dashboard from the dropdown in the upper right, and then clicking on API Keys.
The v4 API is accessible at https://api4.thetvdb.com/v4/, with documentation here. You can also view a current list of known issues here, and we'll be updating this list throughout the launch of the API.

End Users

Stay tuned to your respective projects to find out whether you'll need to sign up for an individual subscription or not. If you want to support our project regardless of what your programs do, or just want to remove ads on the site right away, we’d love for you to subscribe.
Subscribe Now
Thank You
We’re so appreciative of your continued support. We love our community and look forward to hearing from you with any questions, concerns, or ideas. Have a wonderful week!
TheTVDB Team

[jptheripper]

I have no idea what it would take to get a new key and port the project

[EnterNoEscape]

I would tackle this if I didn't have a baby on the way in a few weeks. I've been working on a few things the group might find exciting, but this wasn't on my radar. I ported BMT to use the v3 API (clearly wasted time now) and it's unlikely we'll see any ready to use libraries written in Java for v4 very soon, so I would need to write the whole thing from the ground up like I did for Schedules Direct support in SageTV. I will circle back in February and look at what it's going to take unless someone else starts working on this in the mean time.

[wayner]

When you hit the V4 API URL of https://api4.thetvdb.com/v4/ you get:

{"message":"Not Found"}

[KeithAbbott]

So I'm trying to understand what functionality/capabilities I would be missing if this change is not accommodated in the SageTV ecosystem. I am thinking that the metadata for a show recorded by SageTV is provided by the Schedules Direct epg. Imported movie data would be retrieved from TMDB or IMDB. So where does TVDB come into play?

[wayner]

I believe TVDB will give you Fanart and perhaps more detailed show information around description, actors, etc for TV shows.

[gary201]

I believe BMT today is used to populate most fields on imported shows, including genes, descriptions, etc.

[jptheripper]

yes we have no other solution for imported tv. many of us do bluray/dvd episode rips and this will be a nightmare

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by jptheripper

yes we have no other solution for imported tv. many of us do bluray/dvd episode rips and this will be a nightmare

Gotcha. I kept my approach simpler, I rip each of the full DVDs, name them Disc 1, Disc 2, etc. and store them in a folder that identifies the series and season. Of course, I don't really wind up with any metadata either, so that's a drawback to my approach.

[xjim1]

Phoenix has been pulling metadata for all my videos and even dvd's from tvdb, for both tv episodes and movies.
TMDB has tv episode info on it. Isn't there a plugin which uses that site available?

[gary201]

I am a heave consumer of BMT. I cut the cable years ago and record only OTA programs. However, I also use the PLayOn windows app to record most of the shows I watch off of Netflix, Hulu, Tubi, Crackle, and others onto a NAS setup as Sage import folders. Then use BMT to import them. For the past couple months, BMT hasn’t been able to import anything from thervdb, so I manually fill in a few req fields (episode, season, title) so they all show up as sage recordings. I really depend on BMT.

[NetworkGuy]

Is there anyway to use IMDB instead of TVDB?

[NetworkGuy]

I just found this

TV Maze

If you want to add TV information to your website or app then you've come to the right place!

We provide a free, fast and clean REST API that's easy to use, returns JSON and conforms to the HATEOAS and HAL principles. The root url is http://api.tvmaze.com and the available endpoints are documented below. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the API, please post them on our forums.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

I just found this

TV Maze

If you want to add TV information to your website or app then you've come to the right place!

We provide a free, fast and clean REST API that's easy to use, returns JSON and conforms to the HATEOAS and HAL principles. The root url is http://api.tvmaze.com and the available endpoints are documented below. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the API, please post them on our forums.

That's really interesting. This is the first time I've heard of them. It looks like they can be used as a tracker too.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

That's really interesting. This is the first time I've heard of them. It looks like they can be used as a tracker too.

So there might be an alternative to TVDB?

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

So there might be an alternative to TVDB?

Maybe, but it sounds like unless you pay, you might get less detailed data than TVDB, but TVDB looks like it's moving to something like a subscription model. I guess a little free data is better than no free data.

[gary201]

So assuming tvdb moves to a subscription model, would there be a way for credentials to be entered in BMT for one to use?

One thing that would really be useful is better logging. BMT hasn’t worked for me for months for tvdb queries and I haven’t been able to find any useful logs. It DOES work for the movie lookups (different site than for TV shows).

[emveepee]

Even with a pay model the API is changing so not knowing how many SageTV users would be willing to pay it probably makes more sense just to use another API like tvmaze.

Martin

[wayner]

Originally Posted by emveepee

Even with a pay model the API is changing so not knowing how many SageTV users would be willing to pay it probably makes more sense just to use another API like tvmaze.

Martin

The problem is that the same thing may happen with tvmaze. We saw this exact same issue with weather APIs. A lot of the free stuff that was depended on for years is going away. Arguably the same thing happened with Guide data.

[graywolf]

Most importantly is there someone willing and able to add tvmaze to BMT?
WAF will seriously decrease once BMT dies if tvmaze doesn’t get added