ABCs one minute attack on TiVo and other DVRs

Michael Gartenberg | November 01, 2004, 08:16 AM

So last Wed night, I had set my DVRs to tape Lost on ABC at 8pm followed by the West Wing on NBC at 9pm. Then I go outside and look at the lunar eclipse. So far, so good. Except someone notices that the West Wing isn’t taping… I went back inside and sure enough, no red light. A few clicks and I’m up and running but I can’t figure out why it didn’t start. I look at the Replay, TiVo and MCE machines and they all have the same problem, except the MCE 3005 box. Now I’m really curious so take a closer look at the EPG guide. It seems ABC has messed with their TV listings. Shows run from 8:00-9:01 which means if you’re recording something on another channel after those shows, it won’t happen. The MCE 2005 box handled the mess by cleverly using the second TV tuner automatically to switch over to NBC at 9:00 while Lost went to 9:01 on ABC. A closer look at the guide seems like ABC has done this to all their primetime shows. Not an issue, unless you planned to change the channel and record something else.

Well, my solution to the problem was simple. I stopped recording any ABC show that conflicts. None of these shows are so wonderful that not watching them will make a difference in my life. In fact, the West Wing is so bad this season that out of the content, I’d rather watch Lost, but I’ll skip it until ABC stops this nonsense and changes back their listings to normal time slots.