Big Issue
The Sky+ Big Issue - This Week - Series Links - by Callum MacFarlane Posted on Sunday, 14th July 2002 at 13:41 BST by Callum MacFarlane
During the World Cup for example Sky+ diligently recorded each match at the crack of dawn, remembered any mid morning kick-offs and thankfully still had space left to record lunchtime matches. For the world cup, I only had to set one reminder on BBC1 and one on ITV. This was a great use of Series Links and I got to watch (and whiz through) a much greater number of matches than ever I would have seen otherwise, all recorded in glorious uncompressed format, as if I was watching live. When Series Links are present and can be chosen, life should be a breeze for the user & Sky+. So why have this article, if all in the Series Link garden is rosy?
1. Most channels do not support or provide series links 2. Series Links are not available on all programmes even on channels that do use Series Links 3. Series Links are not "set once and stay forever" features eg clashes 4. Series Links dont cover different series of the same programme 5. Series Links dont cover different channels 6. Series Links dont have a log file or remain on the EPG with a reason why they havent been set or retained 7. You cannot create a Series Link if one does not exist. So lets look at each issue in more detail:
This is the critical problem. I want to set up series links for Countdown on Channel 4 at 4.15pm mon-fri. However Channel 4 do not support Series Links. I want to record by Series Link all episodes of Touched By An Angel on Hallmark channel 9am mon-fri. Again Hallmark channel do not support Series Links. Now I can see you saying, hang on, when Sky+ gets its own manual record timer, (allegedly in the next software upgrade this summer) all will be well. But unfortunately things are not that simple. Countdown occasionally vary their time for specials like Champion of Champions. Touched By An Angel was showing Series 3 at 11am mon-fri but now series 4 is showing at 9am on weekdays. A manual timer wouldnt have picked this up. Only a Series Link would catch all eventualities 2. Series Links are not available on all programmes even on channels that do use Series Links This is a little more complex. UK Gold use series links for many of their programmes. So every Saturday and Sunday morning I wish to set a series link for Doctor Who, not as tricky as using a Sonic Screwdriver you might think. However the good Doctor has mysteriously got no Series Link - if you dont remember to program it in manually every week it wont record. A manual record timer option would be hopeless for Doctor Who too, as each full story differs in length and therefore start and finish at different times. The Daleks never did such a good job exterminating Doctor Who from view. Another example, Regional News on ITV a series link for this would be invaluable, but again, even though ITV support series links, they are not available on all programmes. A complication for any manual timer options would be that Saturday and Sunday regional news are on at completely different times each week. Even on Skys on channels Sky News CBS News show at 12.30am has no series link and neither has Sky Ones Total Recall at 01:05am (these were just the first 2 shows I looked at, at random.) The examples could go on and on but Im sure you get the picture (or not as the case may be, if series links arent present). 3. Series Links are not set once and stay forever features eg clashes For all that Series Links are invaluable the World Cup at the latter stages of the tournament threw the proverbial spanner in the Sky+ works. When ITV and BBC showed the same match at the same time, obviously Sky+ could only record one channel at a time (two channel recording is possible, just not allowed yet more on this subject in a future The Sky+ Big Issue) In my case ITV recorded the footy and the BBC series link failed with the word failed programme clash. Fair enough you might think, as long as the Series Link is retained for BBC1 future matches after all, this is the World Cup. But alas, no, Gary Lineker and all were consigned to history as the Series Link had vanished and no future recordings were set up for BBC1 World Cup. Of course Series Links themselves were working just fine for the BBC1 World Cup coverage, it was just that the Sky+ software got confused and made the incorrect decisions when coverage clashed. 4. Series Links dont cover different series of the same programme According to Sky there are
very strict guidelines on what constitutes a series. 5. Series Links dont cover different channels If youre a Star Trek
buff you have to check your listings carefully, BBC2 entries for Voyager, and
The Next Generation, Sky One for The Next Generation, Voyager and Enterprise.
E4 have been showing the original Star Trek series. Sky+ series links do not
look outside the channel the programme aired on when you set the link. You need
to be aware of what channel shows which show when. E4 by the way dont
support Series links at all. 6. Series Links dont have a log file entry or remain on the EPG with a reason why they havent been set or retained If it all goes pear shaped and your Series Link has been dropped, perhaps due to a clash with another programme , there currently is no way of knowing what has happened and why. There is no warning that your series link has failed just that the programme recording has failed, and Sky+ doesnt warn you that it has made a mistake. This is a serious weakness in the system. 7. You cannot create a Series Link if one does not exist. The Power is In Your
Hands says the Sky+ infomercial. If only. If there is no mandatory compulsion on the broadcasters to give every programme a Series Link, maintain it and keep its links up to date, then whole system of Series Links falls into disrepute and the potential usefulness for Sky+ is lessened. So whats the conclusion that we come to? Until there is a complete re-think on how Series Links work, there will be a major weakness in the Sky+ system. What can Sky do to rectify this situation?
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