Guide days swapped? (Melbourne)

[Neon Kitten]

I was surprised to find Ghost Whisperer on my Beyonwiz when I got home last night (Wednesday) - it usually airs on Thursdays. But on playing the recording, I discovered it was actually Thank God You're Here.

Looking at the current Ice Guide, I see Thank God You're Here is listed for tonight (Thursday). However, the official sanctioned guide at YourTV still has it being Ghost Whisperer in that slot, and since the Wednesday schedule was borked I'm putting all my money on YourTV being right.

Spicks & Specks is also listed for Thursday, even though it aired on Wednesday (but in this case was dutifully recorded by the Beyonwiz).

Err... what on earth is happening here?

[martymonster]

Yep, ICE set Ghost to record last night (MELBOURNE) but when the recording started, it said it was actually recording TGYH.

Just checked YAHOO7 guide for today, Sydney has TGYH and MELBOURNE has Ghost Whisperer.
Yet, Ice guide for MEL has TGYH

[csutak40]

Yep, ICE set Ghost to record last night (MELBOURNE) but when the recording started, it said it was actually recording TGYH.

Just checked YAHOO7 guide for today, Sydney has TGYH and MELBOURNE has Ghost Whisperer.
Yet, Ice guide for MEL has TGYH

Yep, just checked on Ice, still showing as TGYH, so I hope they will change it soon. (before I download today's)

Yep, ICE set Ghost to record last night (MELBOURNE) but when the recording started, it said it was actually recording TGYH.

Just checked YAHOO7 guide for today, Sydney has TGYH and MELBOURNE has Ghost Whisperer.
Yet, Ice guide for MEL has TGYH

[Garyvx]

I've logged a support call in reference to the incorrect guide info for tonight in Melbourne.
As well as highlighting incorrect info here please log a support call (via the web) as it will get looked at quicker than them reading these forums.

Regards Gary

[ddre78]

Yes I missed TGYH last night. Not happy. Its set to record tonight.

[martymonster]

Yeh, especially when on the front page of their web site it says

Never miss your favourite shows again 

[csutak40]

Yeh, especially when on the front page of their web site it says

Never miss your favourite shows again 

I think we should give them a break.  They are human, after all, so an occasional stuff up can be forgiven.  Of course, I have to admit, that it didn't hurt me any, as I have both shows marked to record 

[prl]

I don't know if it's related, but (very) early yesterday morning, our Beyonwiz S1 woke up and recorded "Grand Designs" twice. While the tennis was on. The normal recording times for GD seemed to be unaffected.

IceTV ACT guide.

[impact]

Yeh, especially when on the front page of their web site it says

Never miss your favourite shows again 

I got caught with this... and of course not very happy...

As a long time user of Ice and long time supporter - I thought Id seen all the possible problems, but this one is a new one... Fancy just moving one show and swapping its night... Not very professional.

Where is the Quality Assurance ?
Where is the apology or comments in the forums when someone just mentions it ?
Will it happen again next week ?


So we missed a TV show - big deal some say - well it is a big deal if its a show you want to watch, and you pay for a service which purpotes to tell you that you will never miss a show again...

So give them a break ? hmmm... I think everyone has given icetv a break for a long time - we supported them while they setup, while they get their act together... while they fought neine. And we are glad they have survived.

But to continue to survive, there needs to be innovation and improvements. Windows 7 is not far away, and although there is a beta guide it is riddled with some problems, yet no subsequent releases.. Along with new software, needs guide improvements.

What about notifications via email or SMS if errors are found at a late moment to avoid missing your show ?
Service Level Agreements ? Discounts if something goes wrong and affects you ? ie. Icetv makes a boo boo like this - you get an extra week in your subscription...

Time to move forward and improve - as others will come along and innovate and icetv will die.

[Mitch IceGuide]

I don't think anyone wants to hear excuses after something has happened. But for the record, we do not go swapping nights around for TV Programs to confuse people. We leave that to the Channels to do. And in fact, earlier in the week, that is exactly what they did - swap days for these two programs. So, it was missed in the late changes checks. Sincere apologies for that.

As for quality assurance? The quality is there in the programs you don't notice and don't miss because of our vigilance. Any answer to comments to the one previous to this can be seen in only one way - defensive. So there is often little point answering them. They are however not ignored. So please keep posting, keep suggesting and until we' die', we shall continue to bring you the Guide with the most effective 'Broadcaster Disregard for Viewers Damage Control' process going around.

[Neon Kitten]

But for the record, we do not go swapping nights around for TV Programs to confuse people. We leave that to the Channels to do. And in fact, earlier in the week, that is exactly what they did - swap days for these two programs.

Does make one wonder whether they do this on purpose to throw "unauthorised" guides out...

[Mark]

Thanks for your comments, Mitch.  I can appreciate your "damned if you do, damned if you don't" problem with posting responses on these forums.

But even so, your reasoning does not seem very sound, at least for those of us iin Melbourne (and probably elsewhere).  You say Channel 7 did a swap on you earlier in the week.  I don't know what you consider to be a "primary" source of information, but for we Melbourne viewers there was never any indication of a swap -- not in the Age's Green Guide, not in the Sunday Age's M Magazine, not in the daily papers, and not in Channel 7's own transmitted EPG.

But you guys are based in Sydney, right?  Hmmm...

"Impact" is right.  IceTV has done the hard yards, and spent the big bucks, to pave the way for other providers.  Now that the High Court has had its say, it is only a matter of time before you face real competition.  I am sure that many of us would love to keep supporting the innovator, but $100 per year is too much just for program guide data (especially if it is unreliable).  IceTV justifies the higher charges by adding value through the "Interactive" features, which is a good business model if people want those features, and they work reliably. 

But there has not been any update to the IceTV Interactive application for well over a year, despite niggling bugs and limitations, such as the ongoing "corrupted cache" problem in Windows, intermittent failures of the Media Center extended padding feature, the fact that Interactive does not perform a "true" synchronisation with the server (ie it makes a difference whether a series recording was originally scheduled via the web on in MCE, and if you do both your scheduled recordings can end up in a bit of a mess), and the fact that you cannot view or set hard padding values via the web (use of hard padding is pretty much essential, given the Australian channels' inability to run programs to schedule).

I have been through the free trial period, and I am currently still taking it one month at a time and continuing to evaluate the service.  I have experienced all of the above issues during the past 2-3 months, and I know it is not just me because I have searched these forums and found the same problems discussed time and again.  On top of this, the recent change in the SBS channel names caused a complete mess.  I realise that this was not really IceTV's fault (SBS did not announce the change, and the corruption of all of my series settings was due to poor design in Media Center), the the management and communication around this change was sub-standard for a commercial service provider charging premium rates.

I am currently running with the Interactive features disabled, and my setup is now stable and predictable (unreliable EPG data notwishstanding).  But I am really questioning the value for money of this setup.  If I could get this same basic service for a lower price, I would take it.  I know I can put together a "home brew" solution for free, but this creates separate issues of reliability and ongoing maintenance (avoiding this is what you pay for, surely).

[Mitch IceGuide]

As the blurb on the website says Mark, it's less then a cup of coffee for this service. It's not my place to get into a discussion on the technical upgrades or services offered. There is another forum for that. But I will say, that at a time when there was little competition (if any) and a grim future (court case), IceTv continued to offer and develop extra services. It's been suggested also on this thread that an sms for program changes might be appropriate. At 25c/sms, it's hardly practical. I'm sure you understand that. I paid 3 times as much for a TV Week years ago, and it didn't seem to change each day after I bought it. If you honestly think that you're not getting value for money with $2 then we will have to agree to disagree. Greater minds than mine determine the purchase price. I will ask you this .... did Telstra or Optus offer you a free trial for your phone service? Do they respond to your queries or as quick with technical support. Will they offer you advice on hardware you have purchased at another shop? Have you asked Telstra or Optus for a price justification rundown? (I've wanted to). Apples and Oranges? Maybe. Your 'home-brew' solution might take more time and be more hassle than $2? Up to you Mark. We want you to become a full time subscriber and welcome your feedback; but ask for perspective when evaluating what we know is a ground breaking, terrific service.

[Mark]

Mitch, there are lots of things that cost less than the price of a cup of coffee.  This is not a universal standard of value!  By the time I have paid all my insurance premiums, ambulance subscription, utlility bills, and everything else which is advertised as costing "less than the pice of a cup of coffee per day/week/whatever", I could be swimming in virtual coffee!  However, whatever the price of the service, it would be preferable that there not be errors in the Melbourne guide data due to mucking around up in Sydney and against all evidence and information available to those of us actually located in Melbourne!