SaveTV download script
UPDATE:
Aug 29, 2010: There is support for Save.TV XL but the sqlite database is not compatible with the old version. Delete save_tv.sqlite and start from scratch.
Apr 29, 2010: Around April 20, 2010, Save.TV redesigned their website. Get the new version below!
When I and my wife moved from Germany to New York few years ago we missed German television programming. To fill the gap I subscribed to SaveTV service – online DVR for German TV stations. It’s simple: I choose a program from a guide, click record, and download later. The shows are recorded in standard definition – no HD, but many stations air in 16:9 format.
SaveTV provides a windows application to download its shows, but other operating systems users can only download them using the browser. This is when my love to script kicked in. I wrote a simple Python script that logs in to the website, get a list of shows ready to be downloaded and gets them for me. I’d like to share the script because I believe there are many non-windows users out there who use SaveTV just like me.
The script depends on Mechanize library and wget utility. I’m releasing it under Apache License. No warranty and no support. The source is hosted on github.
The new version is a bit more sophisticated than the previous one. It uses sqlite to store downloaded shows and needs a configuration file. It can also send chat notifications (XMPP – Jabber, google talk, etc) and messages to Prowl (iPhone Growl client). To get chat notifications get xmppy module. For Prowl get this one.
Download the script here and the sample configuration file here. The config file is expected in the home directory as ~/.save_tv.cfg or globally as /etc/save_tv.cfg.