Media Center Digital Transition Issues

Media Center Service Alert You’d think those using HTPCs for their TV recording and viewing would be the least likely to be affected by the Digital Transition last week, but you’d be wrong.  Many HTPC users (mostly Microsoft Media Center users) that rely on over-the-air (OTA) TV broadcasts for their TV signal have been experiencing major issues with incorrect guide data and incorrect channel mapping since the switchover.

Reports across the web have been streaming in about peoples entire TV Guide lineup showing incorrect channels, nothing but static or in some cases just disappearing. Here’s a few examples of rumblings on the issue:

Greenbutton – To see how angry many users are give this GreenButton thread a read. Here’s a quote from one of the many posts:

…and no it’s not wrong to be upset about it.  It’s been fairly obvious that MS couldn’t give two <shoots> about Media Center at the moment, we’re all messed up, it’s not just you.  For now you hack the file, deal with it, complain about it, and wait for MS to decide what they want to actually do or not do with this software.

Never overestimate the cantankerousness of a TV watcher

Chris Lanier says:

…the transition is causing grief for Media Center users, but for most that might be an understatement

Ben Drawbaugh, EngadgetHD said:

The exact cause isn’t known, but what is, is that while anyone who has a $50 digital converter box can just rescan to find the channels at their new home, Media Center users have to go well beyond anything your mom could do to get all the channels back.

ZDNet’s Ed Bott had this to say:

With all that experience, you’d think that Microsoft would have sailed through the long-awaited transition to all-digital over-the-air TV broadcasts in the United States this past Friday. Instead, the company failed, in dramatic fashion.

And one of the comments to that post at ZDNet was just priceless:

However, as my wife observed: Media Center users and little old ladies appear to be the only ones adversely affected by the changeover.

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