Programming eyeTV: A Work-around for Canadian Users

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UPDATE 2 (Nov. 1, 2008): Elgato has released a beta version of eyeTV for Canadian users with a program guide. I have been using it without issue for a week. You can download the beta at eyeTV beta.

UPDATE (Aug. 28, 2008): Elgato is planning to introduce a guide for eyeTV for Canadian users. You may sign-up to be notified at http://services.eyetv.com/canada.

If in your country the eyeTV program listings feature functions properly, read no further. Unless you really love macademic.info prose. And then you've got bigger problems, anyway.

eyeTV provides a good solution for Mac users to watch and record television on their Macs. The new version even enables streaming to other devices. Up until last year, a generous programmer, Guillaume Boudreau, provided a solution for the lack of EPG (Electronic Program Guide) support for Canadian customers. However, the solution stopped working when Zapt2It stopped making its data available.

(As an interesting side-note: many Canadians would be willing to pay for this service, but the company makes it virtually impossible to purchase the data from Canada... it is difficult to understand this business model strategy.)

In any event, necessity is the mother of invention. For Canadian users "Makemineamac" suggests this solution for Canadian users of eyeTV. It is abbreviated below:

1. Create an account at Schedules Direct ($20/year).
2. Add a new lineup to your Schedules Direct account by simply selecting the local TV provider you use.
3. Download the free, and fabulous, MacProgramGuide. Donations accepted. (And suggested by macademic.info.)

While this solution is not quite as slickly integrated as the Zap2It solution that the built-in program guide of eyeTV provides, it is a great alternative that involves only one or two additional clicks. Launch MacProgramGuide once you've created your SchedulesDirect account, find the program you'd like to record, and click the little "eyeTV" button at the bottom left of the MacProgramGuide window. Your program will be automatically added to the eyeTV recordings schedule.

Hope this helps with integrating media in your classroom.

And I swear, The Simpsons is educational.