Guide Data Provider Switch Has Happened

Effective tuesday july 9, 2013 verizon fios has had a new company that is now responsible for their guide data where the switch was made from fyi television of grand prairie texas to tribune media services of chicago illinois. It has been over ten days now and this is a major change where i have noticed differences in the guide data where it has improved but there is still work to be done. There are still some glitches and kinks that need to be worked out by verizon with their network as there are still some issues that remain before the overall improvement of the guide goes into effect. They are also seeking to fix the issues with missing or wrong logos on channels which are also network issues. Now verizon has the same guide data provider that tivo and roku use. If you were to look at the fyi television website you will see that verizon is no longer listed as a client on there where their only major client now is at&t. If people want to check this out with verizon then only people who have access to the most well kept information at verizon like a network technician can provide people with this inside info where when they look to see who verizon's guide data provider is it will be listed as "TMS" (tribune media services). So now with a new img release and a guide data provider switch that has happened what is next in store for fios tv customers are more hd channels and a six tuner dvr which will be happening over the next few months.

Accepted answers

mm112

Take a look at your guide now. On july 24,2013 at 9:30am the state of new jersey now officially has tribune media services as the guide data provider for verizon fios tv customers. From what i understand new york also has it too. So what that means is that for people in new jersey they now have the best provider of guide data television in the country. It is the same one that comcast, cablevision, time warner, dish, directv, roku and tivo use. Pretty much every tv provider in the country uses them except for at&t and every newspaper in the country uses tribune media for their tv guide that appears in their tv section of their newspapers. The look of the guide has not changed, but the information that appears on it has improved significantly. It is way better than what fyi television had to offer for verizon customers where a lot of it was wrong. Tribune media is responsible for the information that appears on zap 2 it's website and zap 2 it is widely regarded as the best online guide data source while another website like titan tv a company whose guide data is provided by fyi television is one that a lot of people do not trust because fyi is responsible for that info. If you were to look at the zap 2 it website you will see that the fios guide data and the one that appears on that website are identical. Everyone who has fios tv will be getting this update within the next month depending on where they live. If you look at the guide you will see that 60 minutes no longer has andy rooney on there with this new update and abc news now channel 108 now has an actual schedule as opposed to what it had before which was a general programming message with no break down of the shows that appear on it.

All comments

sangs1

You sure this has already happened? I just did some comparisons between my FiOS guide data and Zap2It guide data and the program descriptions vary greatly. I'm pretty sure you've said in the past that Zap2It also uses TMS for its data, so shouldn't the information be the same?

mm112

100% confirmed. As a matter of fact i got a call from verizon's security after i posted it telling me not to reveal this kind of inside information and they wanted to know how it is that i continue to get so much accurate inside information before they even alert their own employees to these things. When i first found out about it months ago i was told that customers would be getting emails notifying them to the change but they chose to not do that for two reasons. The first was that when the switch was made everything was not going to be perfect just like that so they have to make sure that everything is compatible. The second is that they did not want to humiliate fyi television who ended up losing a major client and now only has one (at&t). It has happened and if you are one of those people who has called into technical support about this issue before your account will have in huge caps "GUIDE INFO WRONG" because what they are trying to do is find out what is going on now that the switch has happened as there are still some big issues where they are using the accounts of people who have called in before about this as a frame of reference. The guide data will never be perfect but it has and will continue to improve. Give it a little more time as they are seeking to work out the issues that exist with the fios network that may be the cause of a lot of the guide data errors. Tribune media services has a 1 800 number you can call on their website and you can confirm this with them on a weekday or if you know people within verizon who can access this information then they can confirm it too. Tribune media actually has a forum on their website where you can post issues with the guide data on there so you can try that too. I suppose i will now be getting a call from verizon again.

sangs1

No, I won't be calling them about guide data - never have, never will. Do find it funny that Verizon security called you about guide data providers though. If only they'd have been as protective of our info with the NSA. 😉

mm112

sangs1

You shouldn't highlight the "60 Minutes" listing as the new TMS listing has Katie Couric on the show and she hasn't been there since 2011. A very quick Strike 1 for the almighty TMS guide data. 🙂

sangs1

Wow, the TMS guide data is just dreadful so far. I never had a problem with the previous provider and am regretting Verizon's decision to switch so far. The sports listings are terrible. TMS is the alleged gold standard? Ugh.

sangs1

Hey mm1, sure am glad you banged the drum for so long to get FiOS to switch from FYI to TMS. I hope FYI is following the many threads complaining about the switch to TMS and laughing their arses off. What a nightmare so far. TMS is horrible on FiOS right now.