One method is to take an XMLTV-formatted document and translate it into listings data. It's not as hard to pull off compared to the previous method (in that you don't have to manually write every listing one-by-one), and obtaining data is pretty easy, by using programs and services that pull listings from a source and save them to a file:
If you don't want to go through the process of downloading and setting up additional software, you could also subscribe to Schedules Direct, a non-profit paid service that does most of the same things these programs can do plus a lot more. As of March 2023, plans currently go for $35/year, $9 for 2 months, and a 7-day free trial.
Zap2xml is a command-line utility (and Perl script) that scrapes listings from Zap2it.com or tvguide.com (untested as of 2024) and compiles it to XML. As far as I know, this is the only method that requires you sign up for a Zap2it account.
Obtain a copy of either the executable or Perl script from it's official website, which also contains some additional information on how to further operate it.
zap2xml -u <zap2it username> -p <zap2it password>
When run, it will begin to scrape listings from the last location/lineup you chose on your account. If this is your first time, it will be default to one of the few default/generic lineups.
Once done, it saves the lineup to a “xmltv.xml” file in the same folder as the program.
Mc2xml is a GUI + command-line utility that, like the previously mentioned program, scrapes listings from a variety of sources, including Zap2it (which, unlike the previous method, does not require an account.)
Obtain a copy of it for your platform from it's official website, which–like Zap2xml–also has some additional information on how to further operate it.
Out of all the options, Zap2it is the only one I've had success with in the past. (scraping from TVGuide.com no longer works.) Here, all that is really required is a ZIP code.
Additionally, you can pick any of 5 options before you get the desired listings:
-U: output UTF-8 (default = “ISO-8859-1”)-u: output date/time in UTC (default = localtime)-F: output channel “name” first (rather than “number name”)-A: append " *" to live programs-a: append " *" to new programs
Once entered, a new window should appear with all of the available lineups for the entered ZIP code. Pick one of them and press OK.
When scraping is done, it will be saved to a “xmltv.xml” file in the same folder as the program.
Another method is to manually write every listing from scratch. It's a pretty tedious task and might take a while depending on how many listings you are planning to add.
Now that you have your listings.
