Question on OTA database updates ...

[JDW]

Are these pushed down via CEs or National Releases only ... or can I essentially do an OTA/Antenna reconfig every day to see if the database has updated and Direc now sees the local(s) I "lost" when I upgraded to an HR20?!?

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[Fish Man]

The OTA local mapping is part of the overall channel mapping and guide data within the DirecTV data stream.

This means, when DirecTV adds or changes them them, they should update in real time, without you having to do anything.

[packfan909]

The OTA local mapping is part of the overall channel mapping and guide data within the DirecTV data stream.

This means, when DirecTV adds or changes them them, they should update in real time, without you having to do anything.

I can confirm this...

Living in the Sacramento, CA DMA our PBS station added a spanish language sub-channel on 6.3. Without having to add or remove channels, that channel appeared in the guide data and on my list of all channels.

Can't confirm when there are completely new digital channels added.

pf

[JDW]

Cool.

Thanks.

[Indiana627]

So how do we get them to add our missing OTA channels? I posted in the 'Missing OTA channels' thread and got into a dead-end email string with their CSRs. Our local 7.2 (WNGS) is missing from the Buffalo, NY OTA HR20 database. How can I get D* to add this so I can get it on my HR20 like I can with my TV's tuner?

[JDW]

So how do we get them to add our missing OTA channels? I posted in the 'Missing OTA channels' thread and got into a dead-end email string with their CSRs. Our local 7.2 (WNGS) is missing from the Buffalo, NY OTA HR20 database. How can I get D* to add this so I can get it on my HR20 like I can with my TV's tuner?


That sir, is the $64,000 Question.

I've had more luck with my local station manager and engineer than with DirecTV. They are supposedly running down the problem with Tribune. These guys own 3 of the 4 major networks locally and 2 of their 3 channels actually showed up in the HR-20 "Tribune database". They're as confused as I am as to why the ABC affiliate isn't showing up. But hey, they're aware and they're looking into it, so that's good news.

The CSRs keep falling back on, "Just do a scan!" ... and after talking to 4 or 5 different ones, I've given up on DirecTV giving me any guidance or relief on this.

[Indiana627]

That sir, is the $64,000 Question.

The CSRs keep falling back on, "Just do a scan!" ... and after talking to 4 or 5 different ones, I've given up on DirecTV giving me any guidance or relief on this.
It seems this is like D* version of "Who's on first?" by Abbott and Costello.

[Fish Man]

That sir, is the $64,000 Question.

I've had more luck with my local station manager and engineer than with DirecTV.

This is a good answer.

DirecTV does nothing but put the Tribune database into their data stream.

The most efficient way, by far, to get missing channels added or errors corrected in Tribune's database is to contact the TV station in question.

If you can talk to an engineer at the station, explain that their station is wrong or missing in Tribune's database (and that this, therefore, affects DirecTV's guide).

Thats how things get added or changed in Tribune's database. The station has to request the addition/change.

[dishrich]

This is a good answer.

DirecTV does nothing but put the Tribune database into their data stream.

The most efficient way, by far, to get missing channels added or errors corrected in Tribune's database is to contact the TV station in question.

If you can talk to an engineer at the station, explain that their station is wrong or missing in Tribune's database (and that this, therefore, affects DirecTV's guide).

Thats how things get added or changed in Tribune's database. The station has to request the addition/change.

I 2nd this - someone over at the avsforum board did this on three of our local stations to get missing subchannel listings added. (2 of these stations are actually both run out of the same studio, but cover 2 different parts of our viewing area) Within a week or so, all of the guide data updated to the correct subchannel info w/out us needing to do anything else to the receivers. (this was true of both the HD Tivo's & the HR20's)

[Indiana627]

The most efficient way, by far, to get missing channels added or errors corrected in Tribune's database is to contact the TV station in question.

If you can talk to an engineer at the station, explain that their station is wrong or missing in Tribune's database (and that this, therefore, affects DirecTV's guide).
I jumped through so many hoops trying to get our 7.2 WNGS added. First I contacted Tribune through their online 'lineup discrepancy' form. That got me nowhere. I then contacted the station engineer. His response was that his station sends the data to Tribune; Tribune then distributes it to other guide providers, such as Decision Mark. Tribune's online guide is www.zap2it.com, which if you put in my ZIP does not list WNGS 7.2. But on Decision Mark's online guide (www.titantv.com), WNGS 7.2 is listed. So his position is that the station is sending everything correctly to Tribune since Decision Mark is listing it correctly. That led me back to Tribune to see why WNGS 7.2 is not listed on www.zap2it.com nor in the HR20 OTA database.

This time I got the email address for the 'Sr. EPG Technology/Desktop Support Manager.' Well big whoop. His position is that Tribune is not getting the data from the station. He said they requested it in early May and it can take 10-12 days. He has not responded to subsequent emails.

So long story short, my local station and Tribune are pointing the finger at each other and nothing is getting fixed. SO... if there's anyone at Tribune or D* that reads this, can someone please pick up the ball and get this fixed somehow so I can get WNGS 7.2 on my HR20 via OTA?

[Fish Man]

Tribune's online guide is www.zap2it.com, which if you put in my ZIP does not list WNGS 7.2.

That is you're smoking gun, right there.

zap2it.com is Tribune, raw, pure, and untweaked.

Basically, DirecTV's data will exactly match zap2it.com.

Sounds to me like decision mark is "fixing" mistakes and omissions in the Tribune data on their end.

Of course, this doesn't tell you who's fault the problem ultimately is; Tribune or WNGS.

Best of luck with the runaround.

I do feel your pain, Tribune had my local NBC affiliate listed as "sign off" for weeks, which of course, made SL's impossible on NBC.

After weeks of them pointing the finger at each other (like is happening to you) they finally got it fixed. Of course, I will probably never know who's fault it was.

[Indiana627]

Basically, DirecTV's data will exactly match zap2it.com.
I guess I will keep on emailing the guy at Tribune then. Must be my wheel isn't squeaking loud enough.

[Alan Gordon]

I jumped through so many hoops trying to get our 7.2 WNGS added. First I contacted Tribune through their online 'lineup discrepancy' form. That got me nowhere. I then contacted the station engineer. His response was that his station sends the data to Tribune; Tribune then distributes it to other guide providers, such as Decision Mark. Tribune's online guide is www.zap2it.com, which if you put in my ZIP does not list WNGS 7.2. But on Decision Mark's online guide (www.titantv.com), WNGS 7.2 is listed. So his position is that the station is sending everything correctly to Tribune since Decision Mark is listing it correctly. That led me back to Tribune to see why WNGS 7.2 is not listed on www.zap2it.com nor in the HR20 OTA database.

This time I got the email address for the 'Sr. EPG Technology/Desktop Support Manager.' Well big whoop. His position is that Tribune is not getting the data from the station. He said they requested it in early May and it can take 10-12 days. He has not responded to subsequent emails.

So long story short, my local station and Tribune are pointing the finger at each other and nothing is getting fixed. SO... if there's anyone at Tribune or D* that reads this, can someone please pick up the ball and get this fixed somehow so I can get WNGS 7.2 on my HR20 via OTA?


I've gone through the same hoops trying to get station information added to my HR10-250's in the past, and some of them are still not correct.

I've had several station engineers (and others) tell me it's because I can't receive the channel. I've informed them that I could, but they'd just get tired of dealing with me, so sure in their knowledge that my problem is that I can't receive their signal...

~Alan

[RunnerFL]

So how do we get them to add our missing OTA channels? I posted in the 'Missing OTA channels' thread and got into a dead-end email string with their CSRs. Our local 7.2 (WNGS) is missing from the Buffalo, NY OTA HR20 database. How can I get D* to add this so I can get it on my HR20 like I can with my TV's tuner?

You need to call your local station and tell them to supply their data to Tribune. Without your local channel providing data to tribune you won't see the channel show up at all.

I did this with one of my local stations and the channel appeared within the week.

[RunnerFL]

I guess I will keep on emailing the guy at Tribune then. Must be my wheel isn't squeaking loud enough.

You're wasting your time emailing tribune. If your local station doesn't give them data there is no way they can put it out.

[Jeremy W]

The only problem with the OTA data here in Detroit is that it lists a subchannel (7.3) that no longer exists. I haven't bothered to contact anyone about it, because it really makes no difference.

[Radio Enginerd]

I've had several station engineers (and others) tell me it's because I can't receive the channel.

Now that's just a cop out answer, plain and simple.

If you get channel X.1 channel then any sub channels will be received at the same signal strength. They're the same channel, just different 1's and 0's in the same data stream.

[Indiana627]

You're wasting your time emailing tribune. If your local station doesn't give them data there is no way they can put it out.
My local station is telling me they are sending the data to Tribune. They say that since www.titantv.com is showing the channel correctly, that proves that Tribune is receiving it correctly from the station.

[Alan Gordon]

Now that's just a cop out answer, plain and simple.

If you get channel X.1 channel then any sub channels will be received at the same signal strength. They're the same channel, just different 1's and 0's in the same data stream.

I know, and I've explained that I got the sub-channels as well, I just didn't have any guide information for them, so I explained about DirecTV/TiVo and Tribune, and I was once again "informed" that the reason why I didn't get the guide data had nothing to do with Tribune, but with the fact that I couldn't receive the station (PSIP, and all that), and no matter how many times I tried to explain about Tribune, and that I could receive the stations in question, I still didn't get anywhere, and finally they just stopped e-mailing me...

~Alan

[RunnerFL]

My local station is telling me they are sending the data to Tribune. They say that since www.titantv.com is showing the channel correctly, that proves that Tribune is receiving it correctly from the station.

If tribune were receiving usable data you would see it on zap2it.com.

[waynebtx]

Best way to handel this is for D* to add scan vice useing this zipcode data base which sucks.

[Indiana627]

If tribune were receiving usable data you would see it on zap2it.com.
But doesn't titantv.com get their data from Tribune/zap2it.com? That's what my local station said. And if true, then Tribune must be getting usable data since they are passing it on to titantv.com right?

[RunnerFL]

But doesn't titantv.com get their data from Tribune/zap2it.com? That's what my local station said. And if true, then Tribune must be getting usable data since they are passing it on to titantv.com right?

titantv.com gets their data from Decisionmark Corp who is, to the best of my knowledge, not affiliated with Tribune.

http://decisionmark.com/techndata.aspx

[Indiana627]

Correct, titantv.com is owned by DecisionMark. My local station engineer said DecisionMark/titantv.com gets their guide data from Tribune/zap2it.com. Does anyone know if this is true or not?

[Alan Gordon]

titantv.com gets their data from Decisionmark Corp who is, to the best of my knowledge, not affiliated with Tribune.

http://decisionmark.com/techndata.aspx

According to what one station has told me, they use a service (company) which sends the information that they were given from the station to all the individual guide companies like Tribune...

~Alan

[RunnerFL]

Correct, titantv.com is owned by DecisionMark. My local station engineer said DecisionMark/titantv.com gets their guide data from Tribune/zap2it.com. Does anyone know if this is true or not?


You can use the link I provided in my posting to see where they state they provide their own data.


And I KNOW their data is NOT the same as Tribune just by comparing what is on zap2it.com to what is on titantv.com. The do not have data for 5-2 in my area on titantv.com but they do on zap2it.com.

[RunnerFL]

According to what one station has told me, they use a service (company) which sends the information that they were given from the station to all the individual guide companies like Tribune...

~Alan


According to a contact that I have, and have known for many years, who is the head engineer at my local NBC affiliate their data is sent directly to several different data providers, not to one "service" that then sends it out to the other providers.

[JDW]

Best way to handel this is for D* to add scan vice useing this zipcode data base which sucks.

Amen to that.

[JDW]

But *what if* your station DOES show up on Zap2It and NOT on DirecTV (as in my case).

The Tribune data is there.

GAAAAAAAH!

[Alan Gordon]

According to a contact that I have, and have known for many years, who is the head engineer at my local NBC affiliate their data is sent directly to several different data providers, not to one "service" that then sends it out to the other providers.

Which is why I was careful to say "one station has told me" instead of implying that all stations did the same.

The particular station I was referring to distributes their guide information to ONE company, who then distributes that information to the rest of them. He was very clear that they had no dealings with Tribune, but that he would contact their "broker" (or something like that... he actually told me the name of the service, but I just don't remember for sure) who would pass along the correct information to Tribune, and shortly thereafter, the problem was solved.

Some stations might not want to pay the fees for the "broker", but this guy knew what he was talking about (one of the few I've dealt with who do). I might still have the E-Mail at home with the name of the service... I'll check at home when I get off work...

~Alan

[Alan Gordon]

But *what if* your station DOES show up on Zap2It and NOT on DirecTV (as in my case).

The Tribune data is there.

I had a station appear on Zap2it.com for six months to a year before it popped up on my HR10-250... I never figured out why...

~Alan

[RunnerFL]

But *what if* your station DOES show up on Zap2It and NOT on DirecTV (as in my case).

The Tribune data is there.

GAAAAAAAH!


Then that would be something within D*'s control since you know Tribune has the data for it. I would think your situation is rare however because when we didn't have 5-2 here it wasn't on zap2it.com and I checked there daily for it when I notified my friend at the local channel. The day I saw it on zap2it.com is the same day I saw it show up in my guide on my HR20.

That made it seem as simple to me as Tribune providing data. Made me think D* hadn't nothing that they had to do on their end.

[JDW]

Could it be that since this station (WKDH in Houston, MS) is 100% digital and there is no sub-channel (i.e. 45-1), that there's a conflict somehow?

What I'm saying is that the main channel, 45, *is* the digital channel. They no longer broadcast in analog.

Could this potentially be causing the issue?

[Jeremy W]

Could it be that since this station (WKDH in Houston, MS) is 100% digital and there is no sub-channel (i.e. 45-1), that there's a conflict somehow?

What I'm saying is that the main channel, 45, *is* the digital channel. They no longer broadcast in analog.

Could this potentially be causing the issue?
No, it has nothing to do with anything. The channel is still 45-1, every digital channel ends in -#, it's just how it works.

[JDW]

No, it has nothing to do with anything. The channel is still 45-1, every digital channel ends in -#, it's just how it works.

I figured as much ... just grasping at straws with the information I have available.

Thanks.

[jbellanca]

The most efficient way, by far, to get missing channels added or errors corrected in Tribune's database is to contact the TV station in question.

If you can talk to an engineer at the station, explain that their station is wrong or missing in Tribune's database (and that this, therefore, affects DirecTV's guide).

Thats how things get added or changed in Tribune's database. The station has to request the addition/change.

I've got a station that's not in the database... I contacted the station but they want to know who to contact at Tribune, or how to get in contact with Tribune. Do any of you have contact info for Tribune you could give me that I could pass on to the local station?

Thanks!

[MontanaVike]

I know this is an old thread but I was wondering if anyone had any more info.

I'm missing 4 or 5 channels on my guide that are listed on zap2it.com. I've called DirecTV twice and they said the problem is my antenna. Said that I must not be getting a strong enough signal so that's why the info isn't in the guide. That didn't sound right to me but of course I have no proof that they're wrong.

I get one station that is a substation of channel 9 but I don't get the other two substations. Doesn't this prove that the problem is on DirecTV's end? Is there any recourse for us?

[John4924]

I know this is an old thread but I was wondering if anyone had any more info.

I'm missing 4 or 5 channels on my guide that are listed on zap2it.com. I've called DirecTV twice and they said the problem is my antenna. Said that I must not be getting a strong enough signal so that's why the info isn't in the guide. That didn't sound right to me but of course I have no proof that they're wrong.

I get one station that is a substation of channel 9 but I don't get the other two substations. Doesn't this prove that the problem is on DirecTV's end? Is there any recourse for us?

Which directv receiver do you have? The H20 would actually "scan" for the OTA signals and add to the guide, whereas the HR20 guide data is "filled in" by directvs database.

So if you have the H20 [non DVR] then the CSR could be correct about the antenna.

And, welcome to the forum! :)

Cheers,
John

[MontanaVike]

I'm sorry about that. I thought I had put the info in. I have an HR20-100. Love the HD-DVR. Just wish I could get all my OTAs.