How can #1 on priority list get bumped due to conflict

[CptKirk]

I've got a favorite in the #1 priority spot.

Got an information message saying that it was not completed because of conflicts recording on other tuners.

How can that happen?

There should not be any conflict possible. It is in the #1 spot and should have priority over anything else scheduled to record.

[GKusnick]

Manual recordings take priority over Favorites.

Also, being in the top slot does not guarantee that it will be recorded first. If program A conflicts with program B, and A has a later airing but B does not, then A will get postponed so that B can record, even if A has higher priority.

[Taddeusz]

I think this is one of my gripes about SageTV prioritization. It would be nice to at least have a flag in each favorite or a global option to never postpone first airings.

It annoys the crap out of me when something gets postponed just because some re-run the kid has a favorite for comes on at the same time as a SyFy channel show that has later airing dates. IMHO, first airings should always trump re-runs.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I think this is one of my gripes about SageTV prioritization. It would be nice to at least have a flag in each favorite or a global option to never postpone first airings.

It annoys the crap out of me when something gets postponed just because some re-run the kid has a favorite for comes on at the same time as a SyFy channel show that has later airing dates. IMHO, first airings should always trump re-runs.

This topic has come up before and while it can be frustrating to have to wait an extra day or two to catch your show, the way Sage works now is really the only logical way to do it.

Having multiple various levels ("always record this show the first time it airs, even if it means some other favorite may never be recorded" or "record this show if you can, but only if nothing better is on") would get really confusing - difficult to implement and difficult to troubleshoot.

I really think you are in the minority on this wish.

[Taddeusz]

Don't get me wrong, I realize the reason for that scheduling. I just think there should be some way to modify the behavior.

Worst case is I have to wait an entire week. By that time I could stream the episode, watch it on my cable's PPV. Depending on the show they generally show the previous episode prior to the new one. They also might have an airing on Sunday, depending on the show. I still believe it shouldn't happen. At the least there should be limit to the number of days forward it will look for considering future airings.

Not that I don't have anything else to watch in the mean time but, IMHO, a week is too long to wait for a show you watch religiously.

[gabrielcab]

As manual recording gets priority, there could be an "Recording Season button" or something like it that could take priority over all the favorites. Just a taught.

[SWKerr]

It works pretty well for most things but occasionally I will see something that I would rather go first. I just go to the show in question and create a manual recording fro that show.

I am not sure there is a great fix for this. The only time it is really frustrating is with a live sporting event. I think a sporting event should always take priority but I am not sure there is enough information in the EPG to make that call.

[Fuzzy]

Regardless of your thoughts on the delayed scheduling of shows, this is not what appears to have happened for CptKirk. If he recieved a message saying it was missed because of a conflict, then it was not a reschedule. It was missed because something was trumping it (manual recording, or live tv viewing).

[Brent94Z]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I think this is one of my gripes about SageTV prioritization. It would be nice to at least have a flag in each favorite or a global option to never postpone first airings.

While that sounds reasonable in concept, most of the shows I watch that re-air later in the week have the shows later in the week also showing as a first airing. I'm not sure what determines this or if each network does it differently but some shows that have aired 2 or 3 times already for the week may still show as a 1st airing when it is really the 4th!

I too have been slightly frustrated at missing a show I wanted to watch on say Monday (no kidding first airing) but it got bumped to Friday. However, I understand that this is pretty much how it has to work and, IMO, is the best way.

The solution, while manual, is to monitor your "no kidding" favorite shows and just every couple of days look at the recording schedule. If you notice that your #1 priority show you want to watch is being bumped for a #40 priority show that you can live without, make your #1 priority show a manual recording (just highlight it in the guide and hit "record this show") and problem solved

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Brent94Z

While that sounds reasonable in concept, most of the shows I watch that re-air later in the week have the shows later in the week also showing as a first airing. I'm not sure what determines this or if each network does it differently but some shows that have aired 2 or 3 times already for the week may still show as a 1st airing when it is really the 4th!

Most the stations treat the 'First Run' as just that.. the first RUN of an episode (as opposed to a re-run). While the episode is still in it's first RUN (usually within the first weak, or before the next episode airs), they will all be marked as 1st. Later, in the season, three years later, etc, if they are broadcast again, this is considered a Re-run, and will not have the 1st flag.

[Taddeusz]

Unacceptable. I make things favorites so I don't have to babysit it. The only thing not stable on my machine right now is Show Analyzer v1. Other than that it is pretty much hands off. Keep in mind I am a long time user. I am to the point where I just want it to work. The less I need to muck with it the better. I shouldn't have to babysit it at all.

[GKusnick]

It does just work, and you don't have to babysit it -- unless you think you can do a better job of scheduling manually than it does automatically.

That said, anything you can do manually through the UI can in principle be automated by a plugin. So it would be quite possible for a plugin to override the default Favorite scheduling algorithm by marking certain airings for manual recording. I don't know of any plugin that does that, however (which may be an indication of low demand).

You might also want to play with the scheduling lookahead timer (under Detailed Settings > Customize). I honestly don't know if reducing that will prevent it from bumping a favorite to a later airing, but if it's important to you, it's probably worth an experiment.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

It does just work, and you don't have to babysit it -- unless you think you can do a better job of scheduling manually than it does automatically.

That said, anything you can do manually through the UI can in principle be automated by a plugin. So it would be quite possible for a plugin to override the default Favorite scheduling algorithm by marking certain airings for manual recording. I don't know of any plugin that does that, however (which may be an indication of low demand).

You might also want to play with the scheduling lookahead timer (under Detailed Settings > Customize). I honestly don't know if reducing that will prevent it from bumping a favorite to a later airing, but if it's important to you, it's probably worth an experiment.

Scheduling lookahead doesn't have an effect on this airing arbitration (which is part of the conflict resolution).

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I think this is one of my gripes about SageTV prioritization. It would be nice to at least have a flag in each favorite or a global option to never postpone first airings.

It annoys the crap out of me when something gets postponed just because some re-run the kid has a favorite for comes on at the same time as a SyFy channel show that has later airing dates. IMHO, first airings should always trump re-runs.

I second that. This happens all the time to me during baseball season. Red Sox games are replayed at 12:00 am each day. So SageTV inevitably ends up scheduling the replay instead of the "live" event (and even though I have an open SD tuner that would allow the game to be recorded "live", Sage gives priority to the replay b/c it is in HD). This is a real bummer and I have to manage it all manually.

I've logged a feature request with Sage on this sort of behavior (a sort-of "prefer first airing" flag), but that was a long time ago and I doubt we'll see any improvements to the way this stuff is scheduled.

[loomdog32]

I see this kind of behavior all the time as well..

Specific Example: White Collar on USA.
I have a free tuner during the original first airing. I often watch that airing live. Sage still (after watching that airing live), records later airings. I have also seen this happen with Breaking Bad.

Having an option for Sage to ALWAYS USE FIRST AVAILABLE AIRING would be appreciated here.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by loomdog32

I see this kind of behavior all the time as well..

Specific Example: White Collar on USA.
I have a free tuner during the original first airing. I often watch that airing live. Sage still (after watching that airing live), records later airings. I have also seen this happen with Breaking Bad.

This is most likely an EPG issue. If the first airing had the same showid info as the later episodes, and a tuner was genuinely free for the entire time, it would have recorded it the first time.

[Taddeusz]

The way I've found to work around my problem is to specify the time slot in the favorite. That way it only records the airing I want. It becomes hands off if SyFy keeps the same time slot season after season. If they change the timeslot it would fail to record.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

The way I've found to work around my problem is to specify the time slot in the favorite. That way it only records the airing I want. It becomes hands off if SyFy keeps the same time slot season after season. If they change the timeslot it would fail to record.

Other than "add more tuners" (surprised I didn't see that one) this is probably the best suggestion for regularly scheduled shows.
I too am a Sox fan like another poster and even with 6 tuners (only 2 usable for the Sox games unless they are on network Tv instead of NESN) I have trouble getting a 4 hour block in prime time that I can keep a tuner free to record/watch the game.

If this fan truly wants to trump everything else and force the Sox game to play then put a time slot on it that ends so that the midnight or 2 am showing won't be included. Then the live airing should win as long as it is high enough in the favorite priorities and there aren't any manual recordings blocking it.

Another trick I use is to manually look to see if there is another airing (even if its non hd) of the show preempting the show/episode I really want in a given time slot. If there is a later airing I'll set that up for a manual record which Sage will then recognize and free up the slot it was going to record it in so that your other show can record.

Believe me, with over a hundred favorites and IR turned on I have to massage my recordings like that once or twice a week on average.

As an aside, IR has gone spastic on me the last day or two. Suddenly just about EVERYTHING on my 2 tuners with STB's is an "intelligent" recording. Right now I'm wearing out the "don't like" button on the remote.
Of course part of that is probably because Comcast just added several channels in my area and SageTv just wants to record it all!

[Fuzzy]

Just keep in mind that sage is programming this way for a reason, and forcing a show to record when sage wasn't planning on recording it will result in a different favorite being missed. Obviously, for sporting events, you always want to do this - luckily, with football, there are no re-airs to complicate matters. For other shows, though, i never see the need to get the 1st airing, if it means sage will be able to record everything i want doing it it's own way. I always have a backlog of shows to watch, so it's not like I'd be getting to the show the first night anyways.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Other than "add more tuners" (surprised I didn't see that one) this is probably the best suggestion for regularly scheduled shows.
If this fan truly wants to trump everything else and force the Sox game to play then put a time slot on it that ends so that the midnight or 2 am showing won't be included. Then the live airing should win as long as it is high enough in the favorite priorities and there aren't any manual recordings blocking it.

Another trick I use is to manually look to see if there is another airing (even if its non hd) of the show preempting the show/episode I really want in a given time slot. If there is a later airing I'll set that up for a manual record which Sage will then recognize and free up the slot it was going to record it in so that your other show can record.

Don't think I can use the time slot trick for the Sox since the games replay about 4x over the next 24 hour period (so there's more replays avoid than just the 12am slot - although this is a great suggestion).

My concern with the Sox is that I do have a free tuner during this time slot. But it's an SD tuner and Sage ignores it because the later airing is in HD. Even if there were a way to say: "I don't care about HD for this favorite" so that the SD tuner will get used when there is a conflict on the HD tuner - that would go a long way towards not having to massage the recording schedule.