DigiGuide Channels for Broadcasters

As a broadcaster, you can supply us with a channel information file that we will pull off your web site each morning and import into our database. This means that with no cost and very little effort on your part, your channel is listed on all DigiGuide products and web sites and will be seen by hundreds of thousands of users.

What do you have to do? Well just follow the instructions below.

1. Create a schedule file

The schedule file is a plain text file that can be edited using a simple text editor such as NotePad. It consists of records and fields. Each record or broadcast programme is on a separate line and each field is separated by a TAB character. The order of the fields is fixed and is as follows:

Date<TAB>Time<TAB>Duration<TAB>Channel<TAB>ProgrammeName<TAB>Category<TAB>Synopsis

Date: Full date in the form of dd/mm/yyyy e.g 31/12/2000 (NOT 31:12:2001 or 31/1/01).
Time: Full 24 hour time in GMT, 4 digits in the form of hhmm e.g 0000 or 2359 (NOT 500 or 3:20).
Duration: Duration of the programme in minutes e.g. 60 or 120.
Channel: Your channel name e.g XYZ TV.
ProgrammeName: Full name of the programme e.g. News at Ten.
Category: Category name for the programme e.g. Science Fiction Series. [ View full list of supported categories ]
Synopsis: Full synopsis for the programme. The more, the better as it allows DigiGuide to highlight shows that match the users searches and gives the user more information than they can get elsewhere.

2. Put the schedule file on your web site somewhere

All you need to do now is to put this schedule file somewhere on your web site and then e-mail Dan Petitt with details of its location.

Question: How do you get hold of this file?

Every morning, our import process looks at the URL given to us in step 2 above. Whenever you update your schedules you simply recreate this file at the same URL. We will then do a HEAD HTTP request and get the size and date and time of the file. If it was modified since we last imported then we will download and absorb it.

It is therefore very important that the URL you supply is to a static file and not a dynamically generated file. Dynamically generated files generally do not have a last modifed date nor do they generally have a size. By creating the file periodically, say once per week, you will substantially reduce the traffic for this file.

Question: How much information should I put in the file?

Our products provide a minimum of 14 days in advance listings. Therefore you should always have at least 14 days worth of channel information in this file each and every day. The best way to do it is to provide a 3 weeks worth and add an extra week each Thursday.