New CBC Programming guide launched
This past week we released a new version of the CBC Program Guide. This was a much needed upgrade as the old version was virtually useless because it constantly crashed.
The Nitty Gritty
This new version is written in Java using Struts and Hibernate. These are enterprise frameworks that eliminate the need to create custom libraries. These “custom libraries” are what caused a lot of the instability with the previous version of the Program Guide.
The previous version stored all of its data in an Oracle database, with no expiry policy. This means that you could go back years to see what was on CBC Television in 2003, for example. The new version stores all of its data in a PostgreSQL database with an expiry policy. There really is no need to know what was on CBC.
The new guide is also extremely extensible. Able to output in multiple formats including HTML, XML, and JSON. This allows other CBC developers to leverage the data located in the guide.
Quick Rundown
Program Guide information is available for all CBC properties: Television, Newsworld, Radio One, and Radio 2. It also includes A to Z guides of all CBC Programs and Personalities. The new guide has been redesigned so that it is easy for you to view what is currently on air right now, which is highlighted in blue.
You are able to “segment” your day into early morning, morning, afternoon, or evening. So you only can only see 5-8 hours blocks at a time. You are also able to view the full day, or a schedule for the entire week. Clicking on a show title will bring you to the program page which will allow you to see air times, plus a description about the show and its personalities. You can also filter your schedule by program category. So you can only see Sports, Comedy, Drama, etc.
The print friendly version of the guide is well formatted and easy to read.
The Future
With the new Program Guide framework we are able to provide a lot of new features. Some ideas floating around include RSS feeds of your favorite show (air times, descriptions, etc..). The ability to include program/personality information in our search engine is also a possibility.
The new Program Guide will be used during the Olympics to allow you to know exactly what event will be on-air when. You will be able to access this information from the Olympics page or the Program Guide main page.
Expect to see more features and pages that utilize the new Program Guide in the near future!
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| Under the Hood |
Still, it’s nice to have the historical record. Are the old schedules still preserved somewhere? You never know what the historians of the next millennium will find interesting — otherwise people would have preserved their potsherds from 3000 BC.
–Bob.
surely someone else has noticed that R3 is missing from the new guide, which negates the statement “information is available for all CBC properties”
Those aren’t all the CBC “properties” just fyi.
Hi,
Is there any chance the XML for the TV guide data might be published externally? I would be really interested in consuming the data for my PVR to be able to provide better guide data than is available using the Zap2it / SchedulesDirect data feeds.
If you have any info on how one might be able to get access to this data externally to the CBC would be great.
Thanks
Unrelated to the thread… sort of. I couldn’t seem to figure out how to e-mail Tod directly.
1. I noticed today that CBC News: Vancouver is now in 16×9 widescreen. They aren’t playing up HD-news coverage like an affiliate in the ‘States might be… it could just be 16×9 Standard Def. I know several stations here have pulled that trick.
Are they the first/only in Vancouver? I know that digital-only broadcasting is still a few years away for Canada.
2. CBC.ca/bc now has headlines specifically discussed, chosen, and translated into Chinese now on a M-F (not sure about Sa-Su) basis.
I did not use the Program Guide so I am not familiar with the level of detail that used to be in it. I have used your online play list historical information. I find that to be pretty slow but also very useful. It seems to go back two years into the past, so I suspect that you have a similar data archiving problem with that application.
I have in the past posted comments about the CBC’s retreat from classical music on R1, R2 and TV. I analysed the play lists to see what genres you do actually cover and look forward to doing that with your new fall schedule. However, since I have retirement hobbies outside of watching you guys, I prefer to look at historical information at my convenience, rather than check it every day, so I would hate to see you guys green field that application without maintaining a history. I am sure that there are other advocates in your public that find broadcasting history to be a an important tool in an informed debate over the direction of your organization.
I agree with James’ request to provide an export capability. Why not keep a few months of history and give us a chance to monitor you independently, yet not saddle your servers with a lot old data. Do what’s ever cheapest format to implement as long as it is consistent.
As a CBC outsider with an IT past, I am somewhat bemused about the bragging about converting from Oracle. It would be interesting to see the business case vs. implementing data archiving on the old application. Don’t forget to VACUUM regularly. I guess that’s “inside” thing, not “outside”.
Peter Brandon,
Edmonton