Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
JHJ
Enthusiast - Level 1

How do I identify TV shows as a first run or a rerun?  Just switched from Direct TV to Verizon Fios TV.  Direct TV identified the first time a TV show ran under "info" - apparently Verizon Fios does not.  Any suggestions?

Thank you.

JHJ

Re: Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
CSimpson
Contributor - Level 1

I think this is an issue with their TV guide service.  It's been known to be less than ideal for us customers and many of us are demanding that they look elsewhere for their TV guide services.  We certainly hope Verizon makes a switch soon because their current guide is pretty bad.

As of right now, when you set up a subscription to your show and select "First Run only", it will just record any show that isn't already on your DVR list.  If you do "First Run and Repeats", then it will record every episode including ones that are already on your list (creating duplicates).

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Re: Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
Keyboards
Master - Level 3

@JHJ wrote:

How do I identify TV shows as a first run or a rerun?  Just switched from Direct TV to Verizon Fios TV.  Direct TV identified the first time a TV show ran under "info" - apparently Verizon Fios does not.  Any suggestions?

Thank you.

JHJ


When you hit the INFO button, more information is presented for the selected program from the menu - this includes the NEW marking.  Unfortunately you have to tunnel down from the guide to see it Smiley Sad

Re: Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
Shirley4
Enthusiast - Level 2

We switched from Directv a couple of days ago and they (Directv) were not good about things like that also. I think they were pretty good about recording first runs only but they sure were not good about including that information in the descriptions we see.

TV schedules in general are not good. I think something needs to be done about it.

Re: Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
Justin46
Legend

@Shirley wrote:

TV schedules in general are not good. I think something needs to be done about it.


Unfortunately it appears nothing is going to be done, unless many, many people complain to Verizon every time they see an error.

People have been complaining about the quality of the Guide content for years. The content is supplied by a company called FYI, located in Grand Prairie, TX. I sent an email to Verizon's CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, a month or so ago about this problem. I received 5 phone calls in response, the final answer I received was "you need to call the FSC every time there is an error in the Guide data and report it." That to me is just not acceptable, it just takes too much of my time to do that, and anybody in Verizon that wants to take 5 minutes to look at the Guide data and compare it to what is actually showing on the channels will quickly see there is a major problem. For some reason, Verizon doesn't seem to want to push FYI on this, or change to another provider (probably a contractual issue).

I love FiOS TV, so much better than my previous cable TV supplier, I am not going to leave over something like this. But it sure is frustrating that they don't seem to recognize the problem, or want to fix it if they do recognize it. Ihave just learned to surf the channels rather than depend on the Guide.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.0, Build 06.89
Keller, TX 76248

Re: Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
Shirley4
Enthusiast - Level 2

Yes it is unfortunate that Verizon does not consider this to be a priority.

What I meant when I said "TV schedules in general" is that schedules most anywhere are not good. The TV networks charge for the information, and seem to be innacurate still. If I go to a TV network or station site then there is seldom useful information there about their own shows. I think there should be a law requiring stations to provide accurate schedule information for their programming for free; at least for the stations that broadcast using our airwaves (CBS, NBC, ABC and ohters).

I think that Verizon should not have to subscribe (as in pay money) for schedules. They should be able to get the information from the networks and stations and the most it would cost them should be the cost of developing the software, which would likely not cost much since it could be used by many businesses and such.

Re: Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
Suzanne7777
Contributor - Level 1

Just another viewer who wishes the Guide would be more accurrate.  A lot of the time, they don't have any information, just a general

program description, e.g. Leno, Dateline, etc.

My very favorite was before a presidential debate between Obama and McCain.  For days, the Guide info was "Final presidential debate

between Bush and Kerry".   I thought maybe they were going to re-run the '04 debate! 

This just exemplified how awful the Guide is, and how nobody bothers to even read it (wherever it comes from), because I cannot believe

anyone could be that badly uninformed. 

Re: Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
Justin46
Legend

@Suzanne7777 wrote:

This just exemplified how awful the Guide is, and how nobody bothers to even read it (wherever it comes from), because I cannot believe

anyone could be that badly uninformed. 


As I said earlier, it comes from a company called FYI Television; you can easily find them on the internet (link: http://www.fyitelevision.com/), where they say they are wonderful. The procedure, as explained to me by a Verizon representative, is that FYI gathers the data from the various channels, puts it into the correct format, and once a day sends the data to Verizon. My problem is that the other guide data providers have to do the same thing, and they apparently can do it far more accurately and completely than FYI. There are two other major guide data providers, Tribune is one I think, I can't remember the other one.

There were rumors for a while last year that Verizon was going to change guide data providers at the beginning of this year, but it obviously did not happen, and who knows when or if it will ever happen.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.0, Build 06.89
Keller, TX 76248

Re: Identify TV shows as "first" run or "Re"Runs
maxfrisco
Enthusiast - Level 1
I just switched from Dish network to Fios and am still learning how to use it all, but I have to say, Dish networks info. button was alot more informative than the Fios version. It would tell you with 1 thru 4 stars what the movie critics gave all the movies to let you know if it was worth watching or not. I love that. On t.v. shows, it would tell you the original air date and episode number of all the shows. That helps you for recording and lets you know if you've seen that episode already. It's also cool when watching old t.v. shows like Leave it to Beaver, it will say this is episode number 1 in the series. I like to know those things. I will let the Verizon Fios people know my opinion also.