Like millions of Americans, I have totally ditched my VCR and now solely rely on my DVR to record my favorite shows while I’m away from home. And the vast majority of time, my Scientific Atlanta box has my back. From Lost, to Prison Break, to The Simpsons, I can leave my house confident in the fact that my shows will be waiting for me when I return home.
Sadly though, one show has become like kryptonite to my DVR’s hard drive — Survivor. No matter how many times I tell it to record every showing of Survivor whenever it comes on, my DVR refuses to do it.
Even more fiendishly, Survivor appears in the program guide as if it will record right up until the show starts, at which point…nothing. Or, for the ultimate ass-punch, the record ing light will actually come on, telling me that it is recording, until the show is over and then…poof! Nothing.
At first I thought this was a localized phenomena, and I directed the full force of my rage at Time Warner and my stupid, hateful DVR. But, alas! After a little homework, I’ve found that this conspiracy runs nationwide. If you’re a Survivor fan, follow me down the rabbit hole…
Like any true Survivor fanatic, I have surrounded myself with other like minded folk with whom to discuss island politics, Probst-isms and the exploits of favorites like water-borne, Ozzy or super-human, James. So, once I’ve recovered from the crushing disappointment that results from Survivor being MIA from my recorded list, I immediately call fellow DVR owners to see if they had any luck. After three other friends experienced the same Survivor no-show, I knew that something was amiss.
What I’ve discovered is that Survivor just doesn’t seem to be recording. Anywhere. A Google search of "'Survivor' 'dvr' 'didn't record'" shows that this is a national crisis affecting not only cable subscribers, but satellite viewers as well. And, you TiVo owners out there saying, “Oh, that would never happen to us!” think again! One TiVo owner watched in horror as Survivor disappeared from her Season Pass list right before her eyes.
CBS, why are you monkeying with the metadata information that tells our hard drives to record? Why?!? CBS, while I thank you for posting episodes on your Website, I also have to wonder – is this some sick and twisted plot for driving those of us hooked on Survivor to CBS.com to watch in order to raise hits or something? The ability to record Survivor on a DVR is only going to reach crisis levels next season when CBS (finally!) starts filming and broadcasting the castaways in HD! "Worth playing for?" Absolutely! – John Sciacca
I've never had problems recording Survivor - not with my SD TiVo, not with my Comcast HD DVR, and not with my Fios HD DVR...
Posted by: Bruce | April 14, 2008 at 09:05 AM
I use a PVR provided by Rogers Cable in Toronto. I set the PVR so that all episodes of Survivor are set to record, however when it comes time for the show, the PVR does not record and it appears as if nothing was set.
Is this legal?
Posted by: M | April 16, 2008 at 03:57 PM
I too have seen this issue. I'm in North East Wisconsin on Time Warner with a SA 8300HD box.
Posted by: tom clifford | April 16, 2008 at 08:56 PM
I'm in Canada, and I have a Bell ExpressVU HD DVR. Survivor always records for me. Good to hear it's finally going to be in HD!
Posted by: Canadian | April 18, 2008 at 11:53 AM
I have a Toshiba RD-XS52 and have no problems recording Survivor.
Posted by: Phil | April 18, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Even as bad as Mediacom is in central Iowa, we've had no trouble recording Survivor this season on a Pace Tahoe TDC778x.
Posted by: Smitty | April 18, 2008 at 12:33 PM
I have never had this problem. I have a Directv Tivo and the Direct DVR+, and they both record Survivor with no problems.
Posted by: Bill | April 19, 2008 at 08:55 AM
I am on Long Island, with 2 Scientific Atlanta 8300 DVRs (HD and regular) Both of them won't let me set a scheduled recording for Survivor. It shows up for a different day of the week. This past Thursday, when I programmed it 10 minutes before the show...it did not record. I have friends with the same problem. Thanks for posting, and letting me know I am not crazy!
Posted by: LTM | April 21, 2008 at 06:57 PM
I'm not sure whether it is nice or sad to see so many people sharing in my plight. Every Monday I check my program guide for Thursday night, and every week it is scheduled to not record. Now, I just diligently tell it to record over and over and that seems to work for that week. Hopefully CBS will feel our pain and resolve the issue.
Posted by: John Sciacca | April 22, 2008 at 10:27 AM
We are in Florida with 2 Scientific Atlanta DVR boxes. It also refuses to record Survivor. It's always such a disappointment. No matter how many times we select "record all, at any time" each week it does not record. We are not having this problem with any other shows. Wishing I still had my VCR...not so sure this "modern" technology is so great for the consumer. Why pay for DVR when it doesn't work when you want it to!
Posted by: MD | May 01, 2008 at 10:19 PM
I have had problems the last two weeks frecording CSI Miami and one week with Moonlighting. Al are CBS shows.
Posted by: Dayton J Pruitt | May 13, 2008 at 02:59 PM
I have started having the same problem with Survivor:Gabon on my DirecTivo. When I go to work, it's set to record. When I get home, no episode. It always says someone in the household changed the settings. Guess what, I live alone, and no one is home to change anything.
Posted by: George | November 14, 2008 at 02:49 AM
This happens a LOT with me.....Rogers cable in London, ON (SA Explorer 8300HD).
More precisely, it USED to happen with Survivor way more, not as much now. But it randomly doesn't record LOTS of shows, even though they are listed in the 'scheduled recordings' list even after the date of the recording! wtf??
This week it was Heroes and Sit Down, Shut Up.
Posted by: Jason | May 06, 2009 at 02:29 AM
October 18, 2009. This morning I tried to record two NFL games on Fox and CBS. Neither would record even while I was watching. I called my DVR server (DirecTV) and the tech person says I cannot record any NFL games nor some other programs. This is something that only began this week!! Is this a plot to force the public to endure commecials? I live in Northern California.
Posted by: E. TePas | October 18, 2009 at 02:43 PM
As of the past 3 or 4 weeks my DVR is missing shows from CBS. Even though the Series Recoding window shows future episodes will be recorded, the guide view shows they will not. Very disappointing for sure.
I'm currently experimenting to see if other networks are also affected.
3 year Time Warner cable customer. Dallas TX
Posted by: Mr. B | November 04, 2009 at 08:21 PM