Wrong Guide for ABC Tonight?

[dzar_1]

Anyone else not able to see that Desperate Houswives was on at 8 p.m. on ABC tonight? My guide says "To be Announced" so my search for it earlier today did not show it and now I got yelled at by my wife

She also tells me "the guide is often wrong. Stop using technology and just switch to the channel!"

So, why, when everyone on the planet except me (it seems) knows that tonight is/was the seasion premire of DH does the guide that I pay for not know it?

Is this really typical? (I don't use the guide but once a week so I've not noticed this, before).

[callmeox ACE - Wizard]

My condolences.

She should be able to watch it here.  http://abc.go.com/

Message Edited by callmeox on 09-28-2008 09:57 PM

[jay_stl]

What the h#@&!!!! I relied on my DVR to record Desperate Housewifes and now it is over and it did not record. I am SOOOOOOOOOO upset and I want an answer as to why the schedule was incorrect/missing. Can't someone watch other guides (like Dish or cable) and update the ATT guide with that info. They can seem to get it right, why cant ATT???????

Very frustrating!!!!

It's the season premier for God's sake! HELLO! IS ANYBODY LISTENING?

[anewman35]

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jay_stl wrote:

What the h#@&!!!! I relied on my DVR to record Desperate Housewifes and now it is over and it did not record. I am SOOOOOOOOOO upset and I want an answer as to why the schedule was incorrect/missing. Can't someone watch other guides (like Dish or cable) and update the ATT guide with that info. They can seem to get it right, why cant ATT???????

Very frustrating!!!!

It's the season premier for God's sake! HELLO! IS ANYBODY LISTENING?

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Well, I have no idea who's fault it was, but for situtations like these, you should ALWAYS doublecheck the DVR schedule.  It just takes a second, and you sometimes catch some of these little errors like this. 

[callmeox ACE - Wizard]

A member of my household once became a bit chippy when a program didn't record due to a schedule error. I invited them to manage their own recordings and to check at least weekly to be sure their shows were in the schedule properly. It's technology and unfortunately it's not foolproof.

[jay_stl]

I have been using a DVR for 6 years now starting with Tivo/cable and then Dish and now Uverse and I have never had this problem with a show not recording escpecially a primetime show, season premier! I am very upset and I am going to catch hell about it too.

Thanks for your input!

[jay_stl]

I thought there was a way to view your DVR recording online, but I cannot seem find this feature. Anyone know how to do this?

Thanks!

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

Man, you must not have watched any ABC shows for the last month.  That's about how long they've been promoing that it premeired tonite 9pm Eastern.  And yeah they had 'to be announced' here in the Detroit area, but I didn't fall for it, I DVR'd Cold Case instead (watched DH live). 

Chris

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I want FSN Detroit HD (all local sports HD), MGM HD, Speed HD, Travel HD & Weather Chan. HD.
Local on the 8's or good weather w/radar & 5 day forecast -coming soon!
Please NO SD stretch-o-vision HD Channels

Message Edited by mibrnsurg on 09-28-2008 10:28 PM

[hpmsrm]

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callmeox wrote:

A member of my household once became a bit chippy when a program didn't record due to a schedule error. I invited them to manage their own recordings and to check at least weekly to be sure their shows were in the schedule properly. It's technology and unfortunately it's not foolproof.

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                                                                   -0-

You bet.  Ditto.  My wife keeps the Sunday newspaper weekly TV section on hand for backup.

Phil

[shanhop]

When today's portion of the guide first became available, two weeks ago, there was an issue where it said "Desparate Housewives" in the grid, but if you selected it, it was "Backyardigans".  Then a couple of days ago, the grid simply stated "To Be Announced". I just recorded the "TBA" from the guide, and didn't have any problems.

[siouxmoux]

My Mom would be very up set if she missed tonight's "Desperate Housewives" but here Tivo had no problems recording the show. I would be piss off tonight if ATT UV DVR did not record The Simpson, Family Guy and American Dad. At least my ATT UV DVR did record these shows.

Message Edited by siouxmoux on 09-28-2008 11:07 PM

[marcindublin]

There are significant problems all over the guide. If there is anything that can stand in the way of UVERSE being successful, this is it. I thought Time Warner's user interface was horrible (it was), but at least the information was correct. It is incredible to me that a company can make the kind of investment in UVERSE that AT&T is making, only to be derailed by a guide that is riddled with errors. It's as if someone built a BMW with no windshield washers.

[dzar_1]

Thanks for all your "input" but for those who think the solution is to check the TV listings in the paper are missing the point, I think. I do not watch much TV (nor does my wife, for that matter) but once in a while we want to record something and I am paying for this wonderful "guide" which, from searching and from reading these comments, is often wrong.

Why can my low-tech, printed once and never updated, newspaper guide get it right but the electronic system that could be updated in a microsecond not have correct information for something scheduled so long in advance?

I can understand when the President interrupts programming on a few hours notice that things might not be quite right (or any other live event such as sports, for that matter) but this wasn't just off a bit, it was totally wrong. There is no reason to make excuses for AT&T. They blew it. Will I continue to trust their guide? Probably not, but that's a shame for it's the one source of information that should be the most accurate. 

This should be embarrassing to AT&T, but I suspect it's not and that they simply don't care for the reports of major guide problems like this one stretch back over a year from what I can see. I was mildly irritated last night, but after more research, I'm furious for this is a systemic problem, it seems.

[CGI_1]

This is unacceptable to me. My wife was very upset with me about this. I thought that somehow I made the mistake but I was sure I set it correctly 2 weeks ago. I dont watch the show, however, I depend on AT&T to have a correct guide. When my wife asked where the show was, I didnt have anything to say except thats another strike against this service. If this keeps happening , Im cancelling the service, not like any of you care but AT&T should

[JamesTheName]

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mibrnsurg wrote:

Man, you must not have watched any ABC shows for the last month.  That's about how long they've been promoing that it premeired tonite 9pm Eastern.  And yeah they had 'to be announced' here in the Detroit area, but I didn't fall for it, I DVR'd Cold Case instead (watched DH live). 

Chris

I did the same thing you did. MY wife loves DH and CC but, they're on at the same time. So she watched her DH and I DVR'd CC and then we both watched that right after DH went off. And we watched it in a different room than where the DVR is. Love that THDVR.

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I want FSN Detroit HD (all local sports HD), MGM HD, Speed HD, Travel HD & Weather Chan. HD.
Local on the 8's or good weather w/radar & 5 day forecast -coming soon!
Please NO SD stretch-o-vision HD Channels

Message Edited by mibrnsurg on 09-28-2008 10:28 PM

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[djrobx]

This really bites.  We also missed the ER premiere due to bad guide data.  My other half put in an ER series recording assuming the "First run only" option would actually work, like it always has for the 7 years of using TiVo and Time Warner DVRs.

AT&T should, at very least, hire someone to double-check primetime guide listings.

[gtwendt]

dj - NBC shows seem to have the issue more than any other stations.  ER was the same for us.  Double check anything on NBC that you have set to first run only

[randyl]

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CGI wrote:
This is unacceptable to me. My wife was very upset with me about this. I thought that somehow I made the mistake but I was sure I set it correctly 2 weeks ago. I dont watch the show, however, I depend on AT&T to have a correct guide. When my wife asked where the show was, I didnt have anything to say except thats another strike against this service. If this keeps happening , Im cancelling the service, not like any of you care but AT&T should

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         now now ,   i care  but have  no power to fix it for ya 

         I cant set the priorities where they throw the $$   at .....

Message Edited by randyl on 09-29-2008 11:40 AM

[CGI_1]

Understood  Wife wasnt too happy with me so had to vent somewhere. I forwarded her this post and she felt a lot better that it just wasnt our house. I have tried to get her to monitor her own shows but thats a whole other battle.

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

To be on the safe side, look in the paper or online and set up a manual recording so the guide can't screw you up.  As I said earlier I DVR'd Cold Case, tried to watch it last nite and it would only go as far as 3:03 into the hour, tried 4 times same thing.  This morning is played like normal, another huh?  Oh yeah it's Uverse.

Chris

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I want FSN Detroit HD (all local sports HD), MGM HD, Speed HD, Travel HD & Weather Chan. HD.
Local on the 8's or good weather w/radar & 5 day forecast -coming soon!
Please NO SD stretch-o-vision HD Channels

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Now that we all know Uverse has deficiencies it  gives  one more reason to double check to make sure our recordings are occurring as they should.  It is not always a good idea to completely rely on technology, especially this.  An ounce of prevention is worth a quiet and peaceful home.

[dzar_1]

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RCSMG wrote:
... It is not always a good idea to completely rely on technology...

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Just to put this perspective, no lives were at stake, but this "feature" that's central to the usefulness of my DVR should be much more reliable. If my battery indicator on my cell phone was wrong at times and I kept losing calls due to my battery dying, would someone suggest I always plug in when using my phone? I'm relying on some pretty basic functionality of my system to keep me informed and functional. 

My point is that the guide should be the most reliable, up-to-date listing available. If it's not, it should be fixed. I'm not going to lose sleep over it, but to dismiss this as "no big deal" is missing the point; the guide is central to the usefulness of the DVR both for watching live TV and recording it. Technology is here to help us, not confuse us and not to make us second-guess it. If it's not useful and reliable, get rid of it. I would get rid of the above cell phone if I had it.

[directorcoop]

U-verse's guide is wrong a lot of the times, whether it be the show's name, whether it is new or not, and most often the description of the show.  I notice many people complaining about his.  Hopefully they fix it soon.  Until then, all we can do is to constantly check and double check the recordings.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

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dzar wrote:

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RCSMG wrote:
... It is not always a good idea to completely rely on technology...

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Just to put this perspective, no lives were at stake, but this "feature" that's central to the usefulness of my DVR should be much more reliable. If my battery indicator on my cell phone was wrong at times and I kept losing calls due to my battery dying, would someone suggest I always plug in when using my phone? I'm relying on some pretty basic functionality of my system to keep me informed and functional. 

My point is that the guide should be the most reliable, up-to-date listing available. If it's not, it should be fixed. I'm not going to lose sleep over it, but to dismiss this as "no big deal" is missing the point; the guide is central to the usefulness of the DVR both for watching live TV and recording it. Technology is here to help us, not confuse us and not to make us second-guess it. If it's not useful and reliable, get rid of it. I would get rid of the above cell phone if I had it.

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Since we aren't talking about your cell phone battery and people are missing recording shows, I think it would be to a person's advantage to make sure their shows record properly.  Than to rely on a service that has been incorrect more than to often.  But if plugging your cell phone when you make a call means you would get to complete the call, then by all means plug it in.

As with the other issues and flaws that have been corrected, it would only tend to follow that AT&T is working to correct the flaws in the program guide.  Even if it means going to another program guide service or whatever it will take to get accuracy in the program guide.

[dzar_1]

WIth

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RCSMG wrote:
...

As with the other issues and flaws that have been corrected, it would only tend to follow that AT&T is working to correct the flaws in the program guide....

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With all due respect, I see no proof of this. Their track-record, thus far, is poor, in fixing bugs that are reported in these forums (HDMI, audio dropouts, etc.) and new bugs get introduced with things like THDVR (the FF problems people are reporting, for example.). I'm constantly mystified as to why software should be held to any less of a standard than hardware. (I design both and have both running in mission-critical situations such as medical equipment and edge networking equipment... I know it can be done!)

Don't get me wrong, I love (90%+ of the time) my U-verse service, but I'm paying for it and I expect problems to be fixed. Except for a wiring problem at my home, they have fixed nothing I've reported over the past nine months. And the things I've reported apppear online from others, as well.  Nobody seems willing to defend cable companies when they act the same way. Why do we defend AT&T? 

[showtime48 ACE - Guru]

the price my man, the price...

[djrobx]

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dzar wrote:
I'm constantly mystified as to why software should be held to any less of a standard than hardware. (I design both and have both running in mission-critical situations such as medical equipment and edge networking equipment... I know it can be done!)

...

Why do we defend AT&T? 

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I hold software to a higher standard than hardware.   I understand that certain glitches in hardware may exist, and are going to be costly to fix (equipment replacement).  Software, on the other hand, can be updated.   I'm disappointed that the rumored software HD audio dropout fix wasn't included as part of the THDVR update.    Guide data is also fixable.  TiVo has been known to "repair" the guide data they get from Tribune.   If the little guy TiVo can do it, surely a massive corporation like AT&T, or the massive corporation they hired to deliver the software (Microsoft) can find the resources to do it as well.

Leaving bugs and glitches to rot is exactly how cable companies earned the poor reputation they have.    I know U-verse is a new product, but AT&T+Microsoft needs to not follow that lead.   They can do better.

Message Edited by djrobx on 10-01-2008 08:49 AM

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

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dzar wrote:
WIth

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RCSMG wrote:
...

As with the other issues and flaws that have been corrected, it would only tend to follow that AT&T is working to correct the flaws in the program guide....

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With all due respect, I see no proof of this.

There is no proof that they aren't

Their track-record, thus far, is poor, in fixing bugs that are reported in these forums (HDMI, audio dropouts, etc.)

The issue is not that there are bugs in their software, the issue is the different clock speeds of the hdmi in the stbs and the clock speeds of certain tvs.  There are those who use hdmi with no problems at all.  And then there is a fix and a workaround for the hdmi issues.

and new bugs get introduced with things like THDVR (the FF problems people are reporting, for example.).

The FF issue is not a bug.  This is an added feature of the dvr that I have seen in dvrs, such as the dvr I had with Directv.  When you are ff through commercials and you see the show you were watching, if you hit the play button dvr will put you so many seconds back into the last commercial so you don't have to search back.  The faster mode of the ff you use the further the dvr is going to put you into the last commercial break.  This is not a bug.

I'm constantly mystified as to why software should be held to any less of a standard than hardware. (I design both and have both running in mission-critical situations such as medical equipment and edge networking equipment... I know it can be done!)

 

Don't get me wrong, I love (90%+ of the time) my U-verse service, but I'm paying for it and I expect problems to be fixed.

AT&T is and have been working on problems, the issue is we want the problems fixed 5 minutes ago.

Except for a wiring problem at my home, they have fixed nothing I've reported over the past nine months. And the things I've reported apppear online from others, as well.  Nobody seems willing to defend cable companies when they act the same way. Why do we defend AT&T? 

I can't speak to nobody defending the cable company because I have never gone to any of their peer to peer sites.  And maybe nobody wants to defend the cable companies.  Just a thought.

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[dzar_1]

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RCSMG wrote:

With all due respect, I see no proof of this.

There is no proof that they aren't

 

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No proof of a negative is not logic to indicate the positive is true.  It may well be they are working on the problems, but I see no proof of it. That's my point.

        This discussion got way off topic... the guide is wrong. I now know that it's been wrong for a long time and that AT&T is actively working hard on fixing it because somebody said so.

Thanks for the help.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]