Online Scheduling FAQ

TiVo Central Online is open to all TiVo enthusiasts, whether you own a TiVo DVR yet or not! TiVo Central Online is where you go to preview upcoming shows, e-mail your friends and family about your favorite shows, and schedule recordings when you're away from home.

TiVo Central Online allows you to search through your TV listings via category, TiVo Daily Picks, or by your very own local channels. We even give you the top watched shows of the week and a list of the week's most recorded shows.

TiVo Online Scheduling is one of the easy-to-use features included as part of the TiVo service that allows you to schedule recordings for your TiVo Series2 DVR from anywhere you have access to the web. Now, no matter where you are-- at work, on a business trip, or at a friend's house--simply go to TiVo Central Online, find a program on a channel you receive, and Schedule It!

You can get a Season Pass™ or schedule a single recording, all with the same recording options you enjoy at home.

Very! Just type in the name of a show (like "West Wing"), a favorite sport (like "basketball"), or a category of show (like "cooking"), and TiVo Central Online will list each matching show alphabetically with its program description.

Nope! Even without a TiVo subscription, you will be able to browse our television listings, see when shows are on, read about our daily picks, discover new programming and see what's popular.

However, in order to schedule recordings, you will need to have both a TiVo Series2 DVR as well as an active TiVo subscription.

If you've used Manage My Account before, simply sign in to TiVo Central Online with your existing e-mail address and password. Otherwise, register for a new tivo.com account, and you'll quickly be browsing TV listings for your TiVo box.

If you want to just browse and see your local listings, no registration is necessary.

From the TiVo Central homepage, click on the link "Get my local channels" and type in your zip code. Choose your lineup and you will be taken back to TiVo Central Online's homepage where you can browse your favorite shows customized to your lineup!

If your headend and lineup have changed, you can easily enter a new one by going into my.tivo.com and clicking on any program or search link. Once the program information comes up, there will be a link at the top of the page labeled "change". Click on this link to reset with your new lineup information.

Sign In to TiVo Central Online and use the search tools to find a show that airs on a channel you know you receive. Then, click the name of the show and choose either "Record this episode" or "Get a Season Pass™", if you want to catch every episode, all season long.

Confirm that your recording options are properly set, click "Schedule It!", and the next time your Series2 DVR connects to the TiVo service, it will receive the request and attempt to schedule the recording.

TiVo does not warrant that the Online Scheduling service will be uninterrupted or error free and makes no guarantees that any particular recording request will be received or scheduled on your DVR. The Online Scheduling service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis.

Daily Picks-Each day TiVo previews popular shows airing for the day. You can find program descriptions, times, and channels.
Don't Miss This!-Each week TiVo posts the top shows TiVo subscribers are recording.
Most Recorded Shows-Each week TiVo Central Online will post the top 25 shows of the week that subscribers have set up as season passes.

Viewers are able to rate the television shows they watch by pressing the thumbs up or thumbs down button on their remotes. The shows that are included in this section are shows that viewers have given thumbs up ratings to. For instance, if you choose The Simpsons, you can view suggestions for other shows that viewers who enjoy The Simpsons have also rated highly.

TiVo Central Online will only recognize the e-mail address you initially used when you activated your service or first signed up with Tivo.com.

If you did not give us an e-mail address when you activated your DVR, or if your e-mail address has changed, you can add your e-mail address to your account. If you're a new customer and you have not yet activated your DVR, please activate or upgrade your TiVo Service.

Please. We love to hear what TiVo subscribers are watching and welcome your suggestions. If you would like to suggest your favorite shows, visit the "Featured Show" article and follow the link or, click here to e-mail your suggestion.

With "Tell a friend" you can e-mail your friends a show recommendation, so you can let them know about entertainment they might enjoy. If you publish web content on your own site, use "Link to this!" to link your readers to their own TiVo Central Online search results from anywhere on the web.

For the fastest response, connect your TiVo Series2 DVR to broadband and request a show as soon as 1 hour before it airs. If your TiVo Series2™ box connects to the TiVo service through a regular phone line, you can request a show up to 36 hours before it is scheduled to air.

Note: If you're using a regular phone line and know you have pending TiVo Online Scheduling requests, you can manually connect to the TiVo service by going to TiVo Central > TiVo Messages & Setup > Settings > Phone & Network Setup. Connecting to the TiVo service sends your scheduling requests to your Series2 DVR, but this step could take multiple connection attempts.

TiVo Online Scheduling offers all of the same recording options you're used to at home, plus one new option that allows you to prioritize recordings scheduled remotely either higher or lower than previously scheduled recordings:

You can always learn the status of your Online Scheduling requests by checking your TiVo Messages (TiVo Central > TiVo Messages & Setup) and the To Do List (TiVo Central > Pick Programs to Record > To Do List).

In addition, you can choose to receive e-mail confirmations by clicking the checkbox on the Schedule It! screen and typing in your e-mail address.

Remember, anytime a program doesn't record, you can check Recording History (TiVo Central > Pick Programs to Record > To Do List > View Recording History) to find out why.

If you choose to receive e-mail confirmations, you'll receive one e-mail at the time you request your show, and a second e-mail after your TiVo box receives your request. The second e-mail tells you whether or not your show was scheduled successfully; if not, the e-mail includes the names of conflicting shows.

Please Note: These e-mails may contain information about the programs recorded on your TiVo Series2 DVR. In accordance with the TiVo Privacy Policy, this information is never associated with any personally identifiable information without your consent. However, since this e-mail is sent over public networks, it is possible that someone other than yourself could view its contents. If you do not wish to receive these e-mails, please leave the e-mail confirmation checkbox unselected. Selecting the e-mail confirmation checkbox gives your consent and permission for this information to be sent.

If you're searching for a show and you see that its air time is displayed in red (e.g., Mon May 10 4:30 pm), that means the show is airing soon (within the next 36 hours if your DVR connects via a phone line; within the next hour if your Series2 DVR connects via broadband).

As a result, your Series2 DVR may not receive the request in time if you attempt to schedule this recording. To be sure that the show records, either schedule it to record directly on your Series2 DVR, or look at the Upcoming Episodes and choose one with a later air time.

If you attempt to record a show that has an airtime displayed in red, this warning will be displayed to indicate that your TiVo Series2 DVR may not receive the request in time.

To be sure that the show records, either schedule it to record directly on your Series2 box, or look at the Upcoming Episodes and choose one with a later air time.

For fastest handling of TiVo Online Scheduling requests, you can connect your TiVo Series2 DVR to the TiVo service via a broadband (always-on) Internet connection. This will enable you to request programs as little as one hour before they air, plus your Series2 DVR will no longer need to use a phone line to connect to the TiVo service.

Although TiVo Central Online uses your current selected channel lineup; be aware that TiVo Central Online may display program info for shows that are broadcast on channels you do not actually receive. (For example, programs that air on Showtime™ will be displayed in search results even if you don't subscribe to Showtime.)

So before you schedule a recording, make sure it is on a channel you actually receive so you do not end up with an "empty recording" in Now Playing.

Unfortunately, no. Since purchasing a Pay Per View event usually requires an additional phone call to your service provider, most Pay Per View channels are not displayed in TiVo Central Online.

As usage of TiVo Central Online grows, we may hear about problems and/or workarounds. We'll list them here and try to address them as quickly as possible. Here's what we're aware of today:

Re-request ignored unless recording options changed Let's say that you request a show at low priority, and then receive an e-mail confirmation that the show will not record because of conflicts with a previously-requested show.

If you return to TiVo Central Online to re-request the show, be sure to change at least one recording option in order to ensure that your TiVo Series2 DVR recognizes the new request. Try requesting the show at high priority, for example, or changing one of the other recording options.

Multiple requests for News & Soap Operas within a 24 hour period
Certain news shows and soap operas that air every day (or multiple times per day) use the exact same (generic) program description for each airing of the show. As a result, TiVo Central Online cannot distinguish one episode from another if they occur within a 24-hour period.

This means, if you send multiple requests for the same news program or soap opera, your TiVo Series2 DVR will only consider the first request that airs within a 24-hour period.

Instead, try getting a Season Pass™ and setting "Keep At Most" to limit the number of recordings in Now Playing. For example, to make sure you always have the latest edition of the nightly news in Now Playing, get a Season Pass™ to "NBC Nightly News" and use recording options to set "Keep At Most" = 1. That way, an up-to-date Tom Brokaw will always be ready and waiting for you when you arrive home.