My instance of tvguide stopped downloading. I updated to version 31 with the same results.
I tried to start over and just create the channel listing and I got the same error. I'm in the US no VPN. I can go to tvguide site in a browser, so I don't think I'm blocked. Below is the exact error I get just trying to create the provider list for my zip code.:
root@webgrabplus:/app# ./update.sh
WebGrab+Plus/w MDB & REX Postprocess -- version V5.3.1.0
Jan van Straaten
Francis De Paemeleere
thanks to Paul Weterings, Mat8861, Blackbear199 and all the contributing users
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job started at 11/08/2025 10:42:07
Checking Internet ..
For License request/update data, see WGLicense.log.txt
Checking License ..
- Program benefits setting "donator"
found: /config/siteini.pack/International/tvguide.com.ini -- Revision 31
!! SiteIni tvguide.com.ini in channelfile creation mode !!!
processing /data/guide.xml ...
Found existing channel (xmltv_id=dummy) in the config file
...
i=index .=same c=change g=gab r=replace n=new
Group (0) :
update requested for - 1 - out of - 1 - channels for 2 day(s)
( 1/1 ) TVGUIDE.COM -- chan. (xmltv_id=dummy) -- mode ChannelList
i
error downloading page: Response status code does not indicate success: 403 (Forbidden).
Channellist file 68521 created.
Job finished at 11/08/2025 10:42:10 done in 2s
Any ideas what to try next?
they are blocking webscraping.
edit the ini and disable the urlsubdetail lines(add a * to the beginning of the line).
on the site {xxxx} set the retry show-delay to 3
if you only want the title disable the index_urlshow line also.
Thanks for replying so quickly. I only found 2 lines that started with urlsubdetail and I put a * in front of them, but am still getting the 403 error.
Did I need to do this for more than those two lines?
not sure how long they will block you for.
i blocked myself days ago messing with the delay settings.
if definitely more than a few hours,might even be a day.
its works again today is all i can tell you.
first time i tried it since i ws blocked.
i used my vpn to figure out what delays worked for me.
Thanks. I hold tight and try it again later or tomorrow. It seems like this may end up killing using TV Guide as a resource, or do you have more tricks up your sleeve? I'm curious if there are any techniques to make it more difficult for them to determine it's screen scraping. I definitely apricate your hard work on this. I've seen how quickly you respond to question and help.
At this point, hard times
I just experienced roughly the same thing. It would appear that I won't be able to use TVguide any more. Not sure what to do.
Any updates to this? I was also using TV Guide as well but it broke months ago. Now it will only pull the first channel and all others are 403. I have updated to version 5.5 and the latest siteini pack...no luck.