When is a recording not a recording?

[WelshGasman]

Decideded to record the last race of MotoGP this week.
Today I go to watch it and find I do not have a recording at all, but have to stream it from ITVX, which is nowhere as good?

Are all supoosedly recordings going to go this way, if the channel has a streaming option? 😞

[japitts · Accepted solution]

Sounds like you have a VoD "bookmark", which is part of TiVo-firmware and is intentionally designed to look & feel like a recording, listing in your "My shows" view alongside recordings.

There may be a high-level push from the broadcasters towards streaming, but it's certainly not replacing recordings on TiVo or V6 boxes - I completely agree with you that recordings are always preferable.

Without checking the specifics of Moto GP, there's normally 2 ways that you get a VoD shortcut instead of a recording.

1: You have a series link set for either "streaming videos" only, or "recordings & streaming videos" - and no recording was available due to a clash.

2: You have manually set a VoD shortcut by following the EPG/search links for "add bookmark"

If you set a recording via your EPG prior to broadcast, then you will either get a recording stored to your box's HDD or an entry in "Recording Hiccups" explaining why.

[WelshGasman]

Thanks,
I just always set a series link on the program.
Found the same issue with American Pickers, yet Blue Bloods has an actual recording.

[japitts]

Check your SL settings for whether they're set to include "recordings only", "streaming videos only" or both. I suspect VoD is there somewhere.

[WelshGasman]

Thank you.

I have now set it to recordings only.

[WelshGasman]

Despite setting to Recordings only, Brawn GP on BBC 2 was available only on bloody iPlayer, so it seem if there is a streaming option, that is what you get stuck with?

Might have to get a Freeview HD recorder, then all I will need from Virgin is their broadband.

[japitts]

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@WelshGasman wrote:

Despite setting to Recordings only, Brawn GP on BBC 2 was available only on bloody iPlayer, so it seem if there is a streaming option, that is what you get stuck with?

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The only scenario this should occur, is if the box was unable to record the chosen episode due a tuner clash. And this TiVo-logic defaults to the next best. I'm still surprised it links to VoD if recordings-only is set. It really shouldn't.

Check in your Recording Hiccups folder to find the entry for this programme - what's the reason given, for failure to record?

Are you definitely using a TiVo & not a V6? You've posted in the TiVo forum but notice you've also mentioned ITV-X, which I don't recall being available on TiVo. When was the box last restarted?

[Tavis75]

@WelshGasman The third episode of Brawn was not shown until Tuesday I think, due to the snooker on Sunday night, whereas the whole series has been available on iPlayer for some time, so that is probably why, assuming it was the third episode you were trying to watch on Monday?

[Tavis75]

The TiVo software will favour a recording over streaming, if something is available on streaming before it is shown and the series link is set up for both, then the streaming version will appear first but it will be replaced by a recording when the program is broadcast. The only reason you should still only have the streaming version after the broadcast is if the recording failed for some reason, and then, if the program is repeated the TiVo should replace the streaming version at that point.

[WelshGasman]

Hi Tavis75,
Sorry for the late reply. I do not seem to get notifications. 😞
Yes, I believe it was the third episode.