Program episode descriptions are a joke

[neilpalmer400]

About a year ago Rogers changed the supplier of Program Guide information to another company.

In my opinion Rogers is being ripped off by this new company who often provide either plain incorrect program episode desriptions, or resort to "generic" descriptions (especially for Talk Shows & Soaps like Coronation Street and EastEnders).

The generic ones are particularly annoying.  I don't need to read a description of WHO David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers or Jon Stewart are and when they took over the program or how long it has been on the air, I  want the list of guests on a particular episode.  This problem is especially annoying when sometimes the East Coast airings of some of these shows have a generic description, yet the West Coast broadcasts have a correct list of guests (or vice versa).

Also recently (Jan 20-24) there was a whole week of reruns of The Late Show With David Letterman, each correctly listing the guests, yet all flagged as NEW episodes (they correctly listed the guests, therefore knew it was a rerun, yet listed the show as NEW).  I NEVER use the option to record only New episodes for a series because this useless bunch can't be trusted with their episode listing information.

One really bad example of a totally useless/wrong episode description was Conan on Jan 1, 2015 (02:32-03:31a on Ch.12 CTVSH).  The description was:

(2011) Prof. Charles Xavier and Magneto assemble a team of superpowered mutants in order to save mankind from nuclear annihilation in this comic-book prequel, which depicts the formation of the X-Men. (Talk Shows)

It's about time Rogers fired this company and gave the contract for Program Guide information to an outfit that knows what they're doing.  (Or maybe the problem is Rogers DID fire a previous external supplier and took this in house - and they are responsible fo these lousy episode descriptions now).

PS - I find it very interesting that this forum software has been programmed to remove certain words.

It must have been used so often to describe the RTN programmers or Guide Information Provider (or Rogers themselves) that this was deemed necessary.  Now if they could only put as much effort into fixing all the PVR related software programming issues we might be a happier bunch of customers.

***Edited labels***

[RogersMichaelT]

Hey neilpalmer400!

Really do appreciate this feedback.  For what it's worth, the descriptions are outsourced to an external vendor.  I have passed along your feedback internally to the team who manages that relationship.

Thanks again, and have a great day.

~RogersMichaelT

[neilpalmer400]

A few weeks ago I scheduled a new series of 'Yes, Prime Minister!' to record - as a Series, and it recorded the first episode on Jan 16. The second episode did NOT record on Jan 23) I see that was because the useless guide information provider Rogers uses decided to change the program title from 'Yes, Prime Minister!' to 'Yes, Prime Minister' - removing the exclamation mark '!' so the title didn't match the subsequent episodes. In the past they've broken other Series recordings by changing program titles back and forth, for example:

'The Daily Show' to 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart'

'The Colbert Report' to 'Colbert Report'

[Square]

Way to go Rogers and your Guide supplier!   The Kitchener Rangers Hockey Game today vs Belleville was scheduled for 2 hours??     From my experience watching Jr hockey for the last 20  years, I have NEVER seen a game under 2 hours!!

[jays77]

Unfortunately you cant count on the " NEW " designation, I have noticed that a few times It will say New for one channel but not for another that is showing the same program on the same day and time. For example, Tues, night Person of Interest is a new episode. It is marked as NEW on CBS but not on CTV.

[OLDYELLR]

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@jays77 wrote:
Unfortunately you cant count on the " NEW " designation, I have noticed that a few times It will say New for one channel but not for another that is showing the same program on the same day and time. For example, Tues, night Person of Interest is a new episode. It is marked as NEW on CBS but not on CTV.

---

Good catch! I believe I have it set to record first run on CTV and would have missed it. I usually try to set my recordings on the originating U.S. networks, not the Canadian simulcast ones for that very reason. That's how I have set 60 Minutes, except it always skips a few seconds at the beginning switching to CHCH, which is annoying.

[Gdkitty]

While its obviously ROGERS responsibility to track it down in the long run as to where the break is..

I wonder WHERE its happening.

Is it just the channel info supplier just not adding it where it should?

Or is the STAION not providing that information out, on weither its new or not?

[neilpalmer400]

As RogersMichaelT says above, Rogers outsource guide info to an external vendor.  I think it's past tiime they cancelled that contract and put it up for tender againn  Also a tip for Rogers - this time DON'T go with the lowest bidder.

[OLDYELLR]

The Zap2it TV guide shows Person of Interest as NEW on both CTV and CBS. Clearly Rogers is using a substandard source. Zap2it also shows season and episode numbers for all series, something else sadly lacking from Rogers.

[neilpalmer400]

Another example of lousy program episode descriptions. The Top Gear Xmas Special on BBC Canada has been airing for the last few weeks. I almost missed the second part/conclusion because the episode description is EXACTLY the same for both part 1 & 2.
Come on Rogers - fire this company and hire an outfit that know what they're doing.

[rkhatri1]

Even for the movies, it does not even show the star cast.

[neilpalmer400]

More recent examples of how the company providing program guidei info to Rogers are an absolute joke and need to be replaced.  There really is no excuse for such shoddy lack of attention, and even less excuse from Rogers why the end customer should have to put up with this.

- 2015/02/20 - guide lists Just For Laughs All Access show as The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, on FRIDAY night 11:00-11:30p Ch.492 CMDYH (also Saturday morning 3:00-3:30a) . The Daily Show is NEVER on Friday night (or Saturday, or Sunday).

- 2015/02/21 - guide lists Comedy Now show as The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, on SATURDAY night 11:00-11:30p Ch.492 CMDYH (also Sunday morning 3:00-3:30a). It also lists The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore on the same channel 11:30p-12:00a (also incorrect).

- 2015/02/22 - guide lists The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, on SATURDAY night (like The Daily show this ONLY airs Monday thru Thursdays) 11:30p-12:00a Ch.492 CMDYH.

- 2015/02/22 - another example of lousy program guide description, Oscar pre-show on Ch.518 CTVSH listed in schedule for 7:30-8:00p as CTV News Kitchener (which had ALREADY been in the listings for 6:00-6:30p - the correct time).

- 2015/02/23 - guide lists a stand-up comedy show as The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, on SUNDAY night 11:00-11:30p Ch.492 CMDYH.

[sandi667]

I also feel the same way about the program descriptions. It is really stupid when the guide states it's a show from 2012 but it says NEW!!!  I also hate that the description of a program quite often gets cut off. Come on Rogers get with it & give us correct guides. We sure pay you enough for them!! Find a new company. 

[jays77]

Another heads up to any who watch Castle on CTV and set to record all NEW episodes, When setting up my recordings for Monday I notice that it is not marked as NEW in the guide on Ch. 7(CTV) but is marked NEW on the ABC channel.

I almost missed Motive tonight because it was not marked as NEW, but lucky for me I double checked on Zap2it and noticed that it was a new episode.

[neilpalmer400]

Never, EVER, trust the NEW indicator in the Guide.

The company that supplies this information to Rogers is worse than useless.

(Maybe the CEO's brother runs it or something).

Always record ALL episodes, and delete the ones you've seen, or you risk missing new shows.

[Gdkitty]

Or, if you have the time/availability.. on the day of the recording, do a quick check to see that they have the scheduled recording on there.

(though if you have the space, now with the multi select delete.. that may be the quicker route, by just recording and deleting them.)

[parker13]

Yet another example of how bad these listings are. The tv show Dig on SHOWCASE says "Highlights.player profiles and interviews from the AVP volleyball tour. Sports Misc. NEW" Ummm did they just see the word Dig and assume that it must be a volleyball term? It's a tv show about a conspiracy .

Sick of how bad they are and how a "new" show is not new after it has been shown on an eastern channel a lot of times. It still should be considered "new" until 2am . Hate how shows are shown back to back and yet the 2nd one is never considered "new"

[senordd]

This is why I never rely on the record series feature.  I set all my recordings the night before manually to avoid problems like this.