Weeding channels
 

I just got hooked up with a Directv/tivo and am trying to make sense of
everything.

Whats the best way to weed out the channels that I don't actually get
from the guide? Can you not just tell it you have a particular package to
turn them on or off? Or do you have to make a decision for each of every
one of them?

IIRC, you can go into the Guide and press Info to get to these options.

"Banjo" wrote in message
k.net...
I just got hooked up with a Directv/tivo and am trying to make sense of
everything.

Whats the best way to weed out the channels that I don't actually get
from the guide? Can you not just tell it you have a particular package to
turn them on or off? Or do you have to make a decision for each of every
one of them?

IIRC, you can go into the Guide and press Info to get to these options.

"Banjo" wrote in message
k.net...
I just got hooked up with a Directv/tivo and am trying to make sense of
everything.

Whats the best way to weed out the channels that I don't actually get
from the guide? Can you not just tell it you have a particular package to
turn them on or off? Or do you have to make a decision for each of every
one of them?

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 18:55:19 GMT, Banjo
wrote:

I just got hooked up with a Directv/tivo and am trying to make sense of
everything.

Whats the best way to weed out the channels that I don't actually get
from the guide? Can you not just tell it you have a particular package to
turn them on or off? Or do you have to make a decision for each of every
one of them?

This may not be true on your equipment but with RCA 's it is best to
actively select only the channels you want rather than have it select
them. If you do it the other way it will pick new channels and all
the sports package channels that only exist when they have games on
them.
--
John Duncan Yoyo
------------------------------o)
Brought to you by the Binks for Senate campaign comittee.
Coruscant is far, far away from wesa on Naboo.

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 18:55:19 GMT, Banjo
wrote:

I just got hooked up with a Directv/tivo and am trying to make sense of
everything.

Whats the best way to weed out the channels that I don't actually get
from the guide? Can you not just tell it you have a particular package to
turn them on or off? Or do you have to make a decision for each of every
one of them?

This may not be true on your equipment but with RCA 's it is best to
actively select only the channels you want rather than have it select
them. If you do it the other way it will pick new channels and all
the sports package channels that only exist when they have games on
them.
--
John Duncan Yoyo
------------------------------o)
Brought to you by the Binks for Senate campaign comittee.
Coruscant is far, far away from wesa on Naboo.

This may not be true on your equipment but with RCA 's it is best to
actively select only the channels you want rather than have it select
them. If you do it the other way it will pick new channels and all
the sports package channels that only exist when they have games on
them.

Just to try to explain a little further:

There are 3 types of channel listings (for lack of a better word): All,
Channels You Receive, Favorite Channels.

All = Every channel that DirecTV broadcasts regardless whether you subscribe
to it or not.

Channels You Receive = This is where you pick and choose the channels that
you actually receive. This is also the list that the DirecTiVo will use when
deciding to record something that has to be searched for (TiVo Suggestion or
Wishlist item).

Favorite Channels = A subset of channels from the Channels You Receive list.


Knowing that, there are a few subtle things about selecting channels for
your Channels You Receive list which I don't think that they explain in the
manuals (this is typical for DirecTV receivers but I won't swear to it being
with every receiver):

If you select 'Check All Channels' and then remove the channels which you
don't like then as new channels are added (regardless of whether you
subscribe to them or not) then they will pop up in your Channels You Receive
list as selected and will show up in your guide.

If you select 'Remove All Channels' and then just add the channels which you
actually receive then the result is that when DirecTV adds new channels
(regardless of whether you subscribe to the new channel or not) it won't
show up in your guide listings until you explicitly add it.

Now, either way can be good or bad depending on your situation. It can be
nice not to see new sports channels which you don't receive or
infomercial-type channels showing up in your guide listings. On the other
hand, DirecTV may add some new channel to the package that you subscribe to
and you'd miss the addition until you found out about it by some other
means.

What I do is 'Check All Channels' and then I go and delete blocks of
channels that I don't subscribe to. This way, if a new channel does show up
then I'll see it. I use favorite channels to weed out PPV channel and leave
that as my normal guide-listing selection. This way I still have fairly easy
access to PPV (I don't watch PPV that often) but it doesn't clutter up my
day-to-day listings.

I hope this helped.

Have a Happy New Year!

Brad

This may not be true on your equipment but with RCA 's it is best to
actively select only the channels you want rather than have it select
them. If you do it the other way it will pick new channels and all
the sports package channels that only exist when they have games on
them.

Just to try to explain a little further:

There are 3 types of channel listings (for lack of a better word): All,
Channels You Receive, Favorite Channels.

All = Every channel that DirecTV broadcasts regardless whether you subscribe
to it or not.

Channels You Receive = This is where you pick and choose the channels that
you actually receive. This is also the list that the DirecTiVo will use when
deciding to record something that has to be searched for (TiVo Suggestion or
Wishlist item).

Favorite Channels = A subset of channels from the Channels You Receive list.


Knowing that, there are a few subtle things about selecting channels for
your Channels You Receive list which I don't think that they explain in the
manuals (this is typical for DirecTV receivers but I won't swear to it being
with every receiver):

If you select 'Check All Channels' and then remove the channels which you
don't like then as new channels are added (regardless of whether you
subscribe to them or not) then they will pop up in your Channels You Receive
list as selected and will show up in your guide.

If you select 'Remove All Channels' and then just add the channels which you
actually receive then the result is that when DirecTV adds new channels
(regardless of whether you subscribe to the new channel or not) it won't
show up in your guide listings until you explicitly add it.

Now, either way can be good or bad depending on your situation. It can be
nice not to see new sports channels which you don't receive or
infomercial-type channels showing up in your guide listings. On the other
hand, DirecTV may add some new channel to the package that you subscribe to
and you'd miss the addition until you found out about it by some other
means.

What I do is 'Check All Channels' and then I go and delete blocks of
channels that I don't subscribe to. This way, if a new channel does show up
then I'll see it. I use favorite channels to weed out PPV channel and leave
that as my normal guide-listing selection. This way I still have fairly easy
access to PPV (I don't watch PPV that often) but it doesn't clutter up my
day-to-day listings.

I hope this helped.

Have a Happy New Year!

Brad

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 06:36:25 -0500, "Brad Bishop"
wrote:
good explanation removed

What I do is 'Check All Channels' and then I go and delete blocks of
channels that I don't subscribe to. This way, if a new channel does show up
then I'll see it. I use favorite channels to weed out PPV channel and leave
that as my normal guide-listing selection. This way I still have fairly easy
access to PPV (I don't watch PPV that often) but it doesn't clutter up my
day-to-day listings.

My strategy is to have a profile that is selected from my favorites
and a second profile that I allow the box to select from my available
channels and remove almost everything to see what shows up. On the
RCA there is a choice for all channels in the profiles that I use to
find PPV which I don't often view either.
--
John Duncan Yoyo
------------------------------o)
Brought to you by the Binks for Senate campaign comittee.
Coruscant is far, far away from wesa on Naboo.

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 06:36:25 -0500, "Brad Bishop"
wrote:
good explanation removed

What I do is 'Check All Channels' and then I go and delete blocks of
channels that I don't subscribe to. This way, if a new channel does show up
then I'll see it. I use favorite channels to weed out PPV channel and leave
that as my normal guide-listing selection. This way I still have fairly easy
access to PPV (I don't watch PPV that often) but it doesn't clutter up my
day-to-day listings.

My strategy is to have a profile that is selected from my favorites
and a second profile that I allow the box to select from my available
channels and remove almost everything to see what shows up. On the
RCA there is a choice for all channels in the profiles that I use to
find PPV which I don't often view either.
--
John Duncan Yoyo
------------------------------o)
Brought to you by the Binks for Senate campaign comittee.
Coruscant is far, far away from wesa on Naboo.

In article , says...
Just to try to explain a little further:

There are 3 types of channel listings (for lack of a better word): All,
Channels You Receive, Favorite Channels.

Thanks for the detailed explanation Brad. I found customizing the guide
to be real pain. While some of the channels are logically grouped in
blocks, others seemed to be scattered at random.

Now that its done, I hope the receiver will retain that info through
power outages and such!