Sports - Golf, not always adding additonal hour to (New) recordings...

[MrSL]

So the additional hour that was supposed to be added automatically to 'New' programs on the Golf Channel: CH925 doesn't always work... Last instance today CH925: 09:00-11:30 PGA Tour of Champions failed to add extra time!

What is going on??? Of course if we had to option to add additional time to recordings it wouldn't be an issue!

Well the improvements are great, fantastic, awesome, yay, but excuse me if I don't jump up and down with excitement. I didn't sign up as a Beta tester with a discounted financial price for my 2 year contract. It still falls behind what I was using 20 years ago in basic functionality, yet I am paying full price for a sub-standard service.

Until TELUS acknowledges this, and financially compensates those stuck in a contract (or lets you cancel all services, TV, Internet etc without penalty), then just another example of a company taking, well, you know what I mean...

Couple of questions on the basic's...

1. 90 day recording retention, Is that it, or will it be extended further?

2. When are we going to get the ability to add time (5,10,15, 30 minutes etc) to recordings?

[MrSL]

So failed to add additional time to this 'New Live' recording today Golf Channel: 925 - PGA Tour of Champions 08:30-10:30 Sun 3rd Dec.

Yesterday's failure brings up another question as the 'New Live' program continued on a different channel - NBC Sports which is very common.

If 'Series Recordings' were working (maybe they are now?) they have only set recordings on a particular channel.

So when are we going to be able to set series recordings that work across different channels?

[KHR]

Hi @MrSL 

There was a bug identified in the auto-extending of sports recordings which led to some new sports programs not being automatically extended; round 3 of the Hero World Challenge was one such example. This is now being fixed and tested. I don't have an exact timeline for when it will be pushed to set-top boxes and to the TELUS TV+ app, as it needs to pass all testing first and then be rolled out according to Google and Apple's requirements.

As for your questions above:

1. No, we are not stopping at 90-day recording retention. Our plan is to continue to increase this in 2024.

2. The ultimate plan for recordings is for dynamic extension - if a show runs long, the recording would automatically extend until the show is finished. This would be particularly useful in the multi overtime NHL playoffs or multi-extra inning MLB games. However, this solution is extremely complicated as it requires cooperation with multiple vendors across hundreds of channels so we cannot promise timelines.  

[MrSL]

Hi @KHR , Thank you, it's great to have some feedback that actually gives some real information on the issues!

It's like waiting for a delayed train or plane. When you are not given any information then the frustration balloons.

Your answers:

1. Great!

2. Wow, fantastic if it can be achieved and is reliable. Sounds very complicated and a lengthy process. It's a pity that that the basic option of applying more time is not introduced until this happens though.

Any info / progress / timeline etc. on 'Series Recordings' working across multiple channels? It would be great to set a series for the say the PGA or LPGA etc and not have to worry which channel it's going to be broadcast on because it's often split between the Golf Channel & NBC over the 3-4 days.

[KHR]

Hi @MrSL

Recognizing that the current recording auto-extend for live sports still has some bug-squashing and doesn't deal up games/matches/events that go beyond 60 minutes, are there other non-sports shows that you record that consistently run over?

As for series recordings -  there are 2 things that are in progress:

• the first is unifying programs across multiple channels (golf and the golf network is the main culprit on this one) so that you can set a series recording across these channels. This is in validation and should be available 'soon'...I can't promise more precise timing due to testing and end-of-year change restrictions
• the second is a solution for shows that have no season and episode details (news and multicultural shows are the main culprits here), which should be coming in the earlier part of 2024.

[MrSL]

Hi @KHR 

I can't recall any non sports that consistently running over. Although initially I though some were, but that was an issue with the 'Play Next' & 'Dismiss' jumping to 'Play Next' if there was no user input and without selecting 'Dismiss' and pressing the right arrow to continue with the current recording which continued for around 2 minutes.

I can imagine the Golf Channel is a schedulers nightmare with so many delayed start's, playoff's and continuations switching back and forth to NBC Sports. I wouldn't be surprised to see another Golf Channel being added in the future with it's ever increasing popularity. I manually set each (3-4) days recordings rather than risking Series Recordings and like to add at least 2 hours on the 'Final Day' in case or over run. Also for NBC too, if it's on the schedule.

Once again, thank you for the great feedback!