Posted on 10/14/2004 11:38:49 AM PDT by jcsmonogram
A couple of weeks ago, I set up my TiVo to record the first Presidential Debate on Fox News Channel. I also scheduled it to record “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity & Colmes” on either side of the debate in order to get some pre- and post-debate analysis.
About 10 minutes before the debate was to start, my wife called me on my cell phone and said that TiVo was preparing to record the debate on CBS.
“Why would you want to watch the debate on CBS,” she asked.
“I don’t,” I replied. “I set it up to record on Fox News.”
“Well, it’s now set up for CBS,” she said.
She changed the TiVo’s “To Do” list to record on Fox News, and we chalked it up to a mistake on my part.
But, last night, it happened again. Despite the fact that I wanted to watch the debate on Fox News, TiVo felt that I would be better served by CBS News.
So I did a little searching on the Internet, and found out that this happened to a lot of people all across the country. The TiVo Community forums ( http://www.tivocommunity.com ) were filled with posts from users who experienced the same channel switch.
Some of the more forgiving posters chalked it up to a software glitch that caused TiVo to record the debate on the “lowest channel on the dial.” But this ignored the fact that schedules to record CNN, MSNBC, ABC or C-SPAN weren’t switched to CBS…it was only viewers of Fox News.
Many of the other posters saw something more sinister on TiVo’s part.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my TiVo. The reason I haven’t upgraded to HDTV yet is that until just recently there was no TiVo service for it. I have often joked with some of my friends that they can have my TiVo remote, when they “pry it out of my cold, dead hands.”
But my prior experiences with TiVo’s features are making me believe that this Fox News / CBS switch is not just a software glitch, but is rather something more.
You see, TiVo has a feature called “TiVo Suggestions.” This is where TiVo supposedly learns from your viewing habits and makes suggestions of upcoming shows that may fit your interests.
If you look at what shows my wife and I regularly record, you’ll see shows like “Special Report with Brit Hume,” “In Touch with Charles Stanley” and re-runs of “I Love Lucy.”
But does TiVo suggest any other Fox News Channel shows? No, it suggests Aaron Brown on CNN.
Does it suggest other shows about Christianity? No, it tells me I might be interested in a PBS documentary about a man who finds happiness through cross-dressing.
Does it suggest other classic comedies of the 50’s? No, but I am alerted to the super-sized episodes of “Will & Grace.”
One of my liberal friends has often joked that someone at TiVo has decided that I’m too conservative and that I need a little enlightenment.
I used to laugh at that.
But now I’m starting to wonder.
My TIVO recorded all three debates off FOX like I programmed it to.
What does it matter? It's not going to get CBS better ratings. Tivo'ed shows don't count for Neilsen ratings, particularly if you're not a Neilsen family.
It's Kerry's fault.
same happened to me. Didn't know that it happened all over.
You probably have given a "green thumbs up" to various political events in the past and thus TiVo was making a discretionary recording for you.
My Tivo also recorded all three debates on FoxNews as requested.
My TiVo totally sleeps around.
Mine as well.
Someone hacked TIVO to make it record C-BS. Any one who knows Linux could probably have done it. <shrug
Smacks of censorship don't it. Big Brother is telling you that this is what you want, not what you ordered.
Bad TiVo, bad!
I recommend turning off the "Suggestions" feature, or the next thing you know TiVo will think you are gay.
Absolutely true. If someone in your house likes ice skating (my wife's favorite Olympic sport), it assumes you like gay themed shows. The WSJ had a hilarious article on this about a year ago...I think the title was "My TV thinks I'm gay". Someone watched one hunting/fishing show and every show about guns was recorded, etc.
I totally agree, I've gotten nothing off of the suggestions that I thought was relevant.
Back in the dark ages before rottentomatoes.com, I had a CD with movie info and reviews.
One of its features was suggesting movies based on other movies you liked. I got suspicious when it always suggsted "9 1/2 Weeks", regardless of what else I said I liked.
Finally, I said my favorite movies were "Snow White", "Bambi", and "Sleeping Beauty". Sure enough, it said I would enjoy "9 1/2 Weeks".
Bullhockey. You think anyone who "knows Linux" can hack into the TiVo control system and direct it to wrest control over users' TiVos across the nation?
Good grief, man, get hold of yourself.
MM
My cable company, Comcast, has turned down the volume way down on Fox news, presumably to discourage viewership. Anyone else notice this?
I have the real TiVo AND a DirecTV receiver with built-in TiVo and have not seem anything sinister at all, but I'll keep this in the back of my mind and pay attention in the future. Not sure how I ever got along without my TiVo in the past.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.