Jonathan_S said:
The previous poster was almost correct. The data the TiVo looks at (aside from some hidden info that tells if whether the guide data is complete) is the Original Air Date (OAD) field.
Based on a little test I ran, the TiVo will consider a show First Run for up to 28 days after the OAD. (Unless of course it has already recorded it, then any additional airings would be Duplicates, not First Run).
So it is possible for a correctly operating, brand new, TiVo with a First Run Only season pass to record additional airing of episodes that first aired almost a month ago. (Of course for that to happen the channel would need to be airing repeats throughout the month, but many of the cable channels do).
Once it gets those recorded (or you cancel the recordings from the ToDo list) FRO will work more like you expect, and (guide data permitting) won't record episodes you've already watched.
Yeah, I guess this is true, to a point, regarding the 28-day rule. I may have misunderstood what that poster was saying.
If a first-run episode is recording several times within a 28-day period, and hasn't been recorded yet, then, yes, TiVo will consider that a new episode for the month. But you will still only get one episode of that program, not several repeats. A new episode is considered new for the month, which is beneficial when conflicts occur, as then it will grab a repeat airing of that episode.
I guess we need more information from the OP... i.e., is the OP getting multiple recordings of the same episode, or just one, and if so, is it a new episode within the past 28 days, or is it from months or years ago.
I agree the problem could be that the OP may have already seen these episodes two weeks ago before getting the TiVo HD, but since it's still within the 28-day window of its first airing, TiVo will still consider it a First-Run episode. To the OP, if this is the case, then your box would be working as designed. Hopefully that's all it is...
Jonathan_S said:
The data the TiVo looks at (aside from some hidden info that tells if whether the guide data is complete) is the Original Air Date (OAD) field.
Not necessarily true, as many of the repeats that get recorded have just very generic data for the episode with an OAD of the very first episode of the very first season of that program... If it went by the OAD, it would not record it because the OAD would signify it as a repeat, but it
does still record it, because new episodes can also have very generic data for the description with an OAD of the very first episode ever for the series, therefore TiVo records it to be on the safe side, because it could be, and often is, a new episode as well.
No one really knows exactly what TiVo is using to identify it as a repeat, just that it errs on the side of caution so as not to miss new episodes.