jay_spirit's profile

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30.3K Points

Friday, August 18th, 2023 6:05 AM

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Removal of pre-2007 episodes of 'The Archers'

What was the point of removing the pre-2007 episodes of The Archers?

Some knowledgeable contributor spent enormous effort to add that information (after I added the series and basic information). And now it's gone.

Yes, it's true "The Archers" did not become a podcast until 2007. What of it?

Nothing about the series changed in 2007. It simply added one more way for its fans to listen to it.

When it comes to data, IMDb's bias has always been toward inclusion, not exclusion. Why should it be different here?

No one is served by the destruction of this data. One or two of the tunnel-visioned may be happier. No user or contributor will love knowing a paper-thin technicality keeps pre-2007 data about this series out of the database.

Years and years worth of data now gone, to no purpose.

Please restore the information. It's all upside, no downside. No one but a random hair-splitter will complain, and everyone else will be happier.

Employee

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2K Messages

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20K Points

1 year ago

Hi @jay_spirit,

The episodes for The Archers were removed as per a new IMDb policy on title eligibility, which you can find detailed as part of our title guidelines. As Radio Shows are now an ineligible title type and The Archers is listed as a Podcast Series, all episodes listed prior to the title becoming a podcast were removed.

I understand that this may not be the desired outcome for this thread, but please know that I have forwarded your comments and this use-case to our policy team for visibility and future policy discussions.

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30.3K Points

@Ozzy​ Thank you for forwarding my comments. I hope the staff will reconsider the issue. There is only upside to restoring the data.

2.8K Messages

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84.1K Points

1 year ago

@jay_spirit IMDb doesn't list radio shows. Just like it doesn't list books, for example. IMDb has never listed radio shows (or books), a fact I assume you are very well aware of. Therefore, they should not be on IMDb. There are also some tv soap operas that got their start on the radio, but these radio episodes are also not listed on IMDb, as it should be.

Apart from that, I see no reason to call people who do not agree with you on this 'hair-splitters'. But then again, I apparently am one of those, so I guess I should learn not to make a big deal out of this minor issue. :)

1K Messages

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30.3K Points

@Marco​ IMDb includes hundreds of radio shows, as long as they are available in podcast form. Some include pre-podcast episodes.

Sadly for the contributor who spent a lot of time adding pre-2007 episodes, THE ARCHERS stood out from the others because it's so old.

Allowing audio-only content has broken the seal. It feels inevitable to me that IMDb will accept all radio shows, along with audiobooks (a natural, considering that Amazon owns Audible), albums, etc. If that happens, and IMDb is not able to recover the deleted data, the contributor will have to do the work all over again.

2.8K Messages

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84.1K Points

@jay_spirit​ "It feels inevitable to me that IMDb will accept all radio shows"

Perhaps they will, perhaps they won't. But for now, they don't, so there shouldn't be any radio shows listed on IMDb, simply as that.