Re: Request for clarification

On Wed, 15 Apr 2020 03:51:43 +0100, Nick Morrott wrote:
 
> When determining what is considered a first showing (and thus the
> applicable scope of <previously-shown>), grabbers have (and
> potentially do) based this on:
> 
> i) the territory the grabber serves (first showing on any channel in a
> country - the "UK premiere")
> ii) the network (first showing on broadcast TV - the "network premiere")
> iii) the channel (first showing on BBC One)
> 
> History suggests it has been up to the data source and/or grabber
> maintainer(s) to pick one and use it consistently over time, if at all
> possible. When writing or updating a grabber, a maintainer likely sees
> how the data source provides its data, checks the DTD for available
> elements, and combines the two as they see fit. The problem is that
> data is not always perfect, the DTD is not always explicit, and the
> two may use identical terms for different purposes (e.g. "new").

Yes, that's pretty much how I've done it in the grabbers I've written. View the data available and then find a relevant DTD element.

"New" is frequently misused by some broadcasters (e.g. the Channel Four group in UK) to mean 'new to them' despite it having been already shown on another network, or even on a sister channel in the same group (e.g. a showing on E4 might say "New" despite it having been previously shown on the sister channel C4)


> 
> The DTD comments that the absence of the <previously-shown> does not
> mean a showing is a premiere. I'm speculating here, but I would
> imagine that if the listings contained an episode marked as S01E01 and
> not flagged as a repeat, most consumers of the data would treat it as
> a <premiere>, and some additionally as <new>.

Channel Four are a culprit here too, rarely marking repeats as "repeat". So for any channels in that group I wouldn't add <premiere> or <new> if it wasn't in the source data, even for episode S01E01, (and I might even be inclined to remove those elements even if they _were_ in the source).

I think, as you say, the key is consistency so that once consumers of the data understand what triggers each element then they can act appropriately.

I must admit I tend to use <premiere> only for films, but that's just a personal preference.
  
Cheers,
Geoff