Fibe/Satellite PVR not labelling new episodes as new and skipping the recording

[disenchanted]

We have an annoying and recurring random problem.  We record british shows Eastenders and Emmerdale daily on One TV and on Vision TV.   We can program to record a series and all is well for many days.   Then without warning we find one of the scheduled shows does not record.   Last time this occurred I contacted Bell tech support and they recommended I do a factory reset, which I did.   Software was updated. (I also noted an anomolly whereby after the system was reset the time in the guide was wrong, so I had to follow with a system reboot).

So, after the software was updated all seemed to be fine for a few weeks, shows being recorded as scheduled. However we found out today (03/21/25) that the problem has returned.   Both Eastenders and Emmerdale failed to record yesterday.  Any suggestions?   Thanks. 

[disenchanted]

The problem seems to be related to the program/guide database.  Specifically today (03/23/25) Eastenders on 1606 OneTV has multiple showings on Sunday.  Progamming settings are set to record series, any time, both first run and reruns starting on the 1:30pm episode, and the 2:10pm episode is also included.  The 2:45pm and 3:20pm episodes are exlcuded (and sometimes cannot be highlighted with the cursor when scrolling back and forth).  Episodes onward from 4:00pm to 7:00pm are included.    Perhaps Bell engineering can investigate the issue?

[gaetanberthold]

When we select a series to record the full series on a time shifting channel, the first episode is recorded, but not the subsequent episodes. The series recording details are there in the list, but it says that there are not upcoming episodes. Is this a glitch?

[BellPatricia · Accepted solution]

Hi there @disenchanted & @gaetanberthold 

Thank you for reaching out to the Bell community 🙂

Can you both clarify what type of TV service & receivers you have?

Typically, a show does not record for the following reasons:

• Incorrect event information (such as the date/time) or a programing change 
• No available stream at schedule recording time - Do you have other shows scheduled to record at the same time?

We recommend that you delete and recreate your series recording and then test to see if you continue to have any trouble.

Keep the Community posted,

@BellPatricia 

[Jawzzy]

not sure if the problem is related to Bell's changing things, but my PVR keeps labelling new episodes as not a new episode (Hudson/Rex and Law and Order Toronto Criminal Intent for starters) and skipping them.  I've had to go into timers and restore many of the episodes "knowing" that they will be a new one.  The error seems to be in the info given, but I've found a few that say first showing with the correct date, but still not being recorded as a new episode.  Anyone else find this as well?

[dks · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your comments. The same thing can happen on Bell Satellite TV receivers. The reason I have found is that if the show's episode had been broadcast earlier (the date of the show is not today's or a recent date), the system thinks the program you select is not a new one and won't record it. The workaround on the satellite receiver is to record all episodes, not new episodes. Yes, that requires deleting recorded episodes. I believe it is a programming issue, possibly yet to be resolved. 

[gaetanberthold]

We are fans of the Amazing Race show. We normally watch it on channel 1201 (CTV Montreal). The show starts at 9:30 PM, which is a bit late, so we looked in our time-shifting channels and found it runs on channel 1251 (CTV Halifax) at 6:30PM.

To make sure we don’t miss an episode, we record the show series on both channels. The show is tomorrow, Wednesday. Today, we go to each channel and enforce recording the series on both channels. Tomorrow, both shows will be recorded.

On Thursday, checking the list of series we have programmed to be recorded, the channel 1201 series shows one upcoming episode, BUT the channel 1251 series shows NO upcoming episodes. Although the show is on, it is not recorded. So, every week, we have to re-select the channel 1251 series to be recorded. Seems to be a bug with the time-shifting option.

[dks]

I checked my own Satellite schedule. The Amazing Race is on from 6 to 7:30 EDT on CTV Halifax. It is on from 8 to 9:30 EDT on CTV Toronto and other Ontario and Quebec stations. I suggest you go into your PVR rules, delete any for Amazing Race and set it to tape only the show on CTV Halifax. 

[gaetanberthold]

Thanks for the suggestion. We are already ensuring that the Halifax show gets recorded.
The main concern is that recording a series on a time-sharing channel does not work as expected. It would be nice of Bell to investigate the issue and fix the problem or at least explain the option behaves this way.

[zarya1]

Late to the party but was searching for info on this very annoying feature of the fibe receiver.

I find that even with setting it to record "first run&rerun", and even changing the recording priority, it still randomly skips episodes. ALL THE TIME. I've also had trouble with it not recording a new season of a show. It's really annoying to have to set up multiple series for the same show and having to monitor the scheduled recordings all the time.

Another quirk I noticed is it will not re-record a recently deleted episode, there seems to be a waiting period of 3 or 4 weeks before it decides it's ok to re-record that episode. Rebooting doesn't solve this issue. (Yes, I can manually record that one episode, but I want it to record in the series.)

I never had these issues in 20+ years I had Satellite receivers - they didn't miss episodes or skip episodes and would re-record an episode after I accidentally deleted it. It's like the satellite receiver did what I told it to do, rather than deciding itself what to record.  It's 2025 now, Bell fibe should be better than what it is. 😔