August 31, 2007

Schedules Direct Status Report.

Not much to report, but here's a status update..

First, we would like to thank everyone for signing up. We have surpassed "break-even"!! That means we're now financially viable and should be around for a while. Since TMS Labs hasn't even shut down yet, the numbers will only get better. As we mentioned before, we do plan on reducing pricing before the initial 3 months are up, but we still don't know how much. The goal remains $20/year.

In other news, Tribune has informed us that the Canadian broadcast channel issue should be fixed. Check your available lineups, and if they're not there by Monday, please post in the lineup forum, or possibly a new ticketing system, if it's ready.

Thanks Again
Schedules Direct

August 25, 2007

Schedules Direct is happy to announce we're ready to take memberships!

We still have a temporary Privacy Policy and Web Terms of Use posted. If you're not comfortable with the current versions, please wait to sign up until they're replaced with the final version. We plan on discussing drafts of the new documents in the forum.

When the new policies take effect, you will be notified via email and will need to sign in to read and accept the updates on the Schedules Direct account status page. If you do not agree to the terms you will be able to cancel and obtain a refund.

There is a known problem with over-the-air channels in Canada. Tribune is working on it. If this is a major issue for you, you may want to wait until this is resolved before signing up. Please check the Announcements forum for updates.

Check the support channels of your application for the status and difficulty of using Schedules Direct with a non-upgraded version of your application - they may have a workaround you may use for the time being. We expect you'll be able to get about 14 days of data from Zap2IT labs through 8/31.

August 21, 2007

Schedules Direct progress update.

Not much to report. Took 300 users in the beta. After an initial hiccup all is smooth. We've allowed approved applications access to the beta program, so they are all hard at work preparing their applications to support Schedules Direct.

Primary hold up are the legal documents: Website Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Stay tuned for more info!

August 16, 2007

Schedules Direct progress update.

The Schedules Direct forums are now open! Feel free to drop by and chat while we wait to go live.

Many applications have been added to the "Approved Applications" page. If you would like yours added, let us know via the Contact page. In your message include the project name, URL, email contact (private), and up to 400 characters of description.

If the Application application (ha ha) is for a Free / Open Source project with no commercial ties we'll add it to the list.

We're getting closer to going live. Primary holdup is the Web site terms of service and the privacy policy. Both are still with the lawyers.

When we do roll out, we'll start by taking groups of 100 accounts. We'll make sure the first group is working fine before we take the next group. Once everything is running smoothly, we'll open it wide.

Stand by for future announcements.

August 13, 2007

Subscription Agreement Released

http://www.schedulesdirect.org/sagreement

*** FLASH *** we're looking into the data backup provisions... please no more emails about it! :)

The Schedules Direct board is sorry we're not able to accommodate all Open Source projects. We are trying to serve as many of you as we can.

We need to point out you may not use our listing data in commercial applications, even if provided through an Open Source plugin (XMLTV) or proxy server.

Redistribution of the data is also prohibited. This includes displaying the data on a publicly accessible web page. Password protection, as practiced by default on MythWeb is acceptable.

Please refer to the Schedules Direct Subscription Agreement for details.

If your project needs clarification, or inclusion in an approved products list, please fill out the Contact form.

August 10, 2007

Welcome Slashdot!

Schedules Direct is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the state of the art in providing low-cost television program guide listings for end-users of Open Source and Freeware applications. Our aim is to build upon the foundation that Tribune Media Services has created with their DataDirect product and utilize our expertise in web services and database design to bring that information to a wider audience.

While we are incorporated as a non-profit and plan to apply for federal 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, no portion of the proposed membership fee (at least for now) will be tax deductible as a charitable contribution.

The Schedules Direct Board:

August 9, 2007

Schedules Direct Announces Initial Pricing

The answer to everyone's top question is.... $15 / 3 months non-recurring.

That's too much money!
Sorry... until we have some idea as to the subscriber count we need to make sure we can pay the bills. We expect pricing to drop by the end of the initial term. Our goal is $20/year.

Why don't you offer recurring pricing?
We expect to lower the price and offer other terms after the first quarter, so you'd need to switch to a different subscription plan at that time anyway.

Why don't you offer lifetime subscriptions?
Kinda early to say we won't, but probably not. We're looking for a long-term solution and it's not fiscally prudent when we don't know what our long-term costs will be. Remember we're just offering a data service, not hardware that has a 2-6 year lifetime. Our goal is to provide quality data at the lowest possible price. If you want to donate $10k or so, we'll consider a lifetime subscription. :)

I refuse to get a Paypal account!
The initial rollout will not require a Paypal account (but will offer Paypal CC processing). We're looking into alternatives. Paypal was quick, and we had developers experienced using it. (Quick is important... we don't have much time).

Great! When can I sign up?
As soon as we're ready and not a moment sooner. Ok, you'll probably be able to sign up before we're really ready. But then we'll fix things and most folks will be happy. This is rapid development after all.

An announce mailing list has been set up. Click HERE. Look for a forum or user mailing list soon.

August 7, 2007

Schedules Direct licenses TMS Data

Schedules Direct is pleased to announce that it has licensed US and Canadian television program information from Tribune Media Services. This data will be distributed directly to the users of Open Source and Freeware applications.

Membership dues will be billed through PayPal and will be offered to non-commercial users in the United States and Canada.

Information on pricing, terms of service, and a FAQ will be released shortly.

August 7, 2007

Schedules Direct close to a detailed announcement

Sorry we've been so quiet. Contracts are being finalized, trying to sync with lawyers, waiting for our business license, bank account, you can imagine. We can't announce details until we have a contract, but progress *is* being made.

While the business side is going slow, the technical side is making significant progress.

• We have a functional web app to create/manage accounts/lineups
• We have a working XMLTV grabber.
• We have a working MythTV grabber
• We have a working GB-PVR grabber

July 20, 2007

Easy TV Data renamed to Schedules Direct,

You may have noticed that you are now being redirected away from easytvdata.org to this new website.

Due to some concern over trademark infringement, we have decided to change our name to Schedules Direct, which does not appear to conflict with any existing trademarks in the TV/Media space. Please update your bookmarks to point to our new website: http://schedulesdirect.org/

We also thank you for your suggestions and all of the lawyers and accounting people who have offered their help, since we now have a fairly sizable pool of good candidates to look over.

July 12, 2007

Greetings from the newly-formed team at Easy TV Data,

This organization was formed by members of various software projects in response to the announcement from Zap2it Labs that they will be discontinuing the free TV listings service that they have been providing to the non-commercial free and open source communities for the last 3+ years.

We know that many of you are waiting on the edge of your seats to find out what's going on behind the scenes here, and we're just as excited to tell you, but we can't give you many details while we are still involved in negotiations. We can, however, let you know that we are actively working on a solution that will provide what we hope will be a smooth transition away from Zap2it Labs by the September 1 deadline. We will release more details as soon as we are able to do so, so please keep an eye on http://schedulesdirect.org/ for updates.

Thanks for sticking with us,

The Easy TV Data Board: