Web channel policy update

Ever since the day TVmaze was created we've explicitly supported Web Channel shows, such as Netflix, alongside traditional broadcast TV. Pretty soon it turned out that allowing Web Channels opened us up for a whole lot of so-called "shows", namely pretty much every video ever uploaded to Youtube.

To ensure we would only get the real shows and not the crap, we soon added a separate policy for "non curated" web channels: sites where any user can upload their own content without curation, such as Youtube or Vimeo. This policy was mostly centered around view counts and served us well for a year or two.

But lately it has become apparent that these rules have unwanted side effects. Videos that all of us consider a proper TV show were being blocked, while low-quality content was slipping through. So after much deliberation and discussion, we formed a new policy. Read it in full at http://www.tvmaze.com/faq/13/shows, but the gist of it is that shows must adhere to a couple of elements found in every regular TV show, as well as prove their notability through a notable cast- or crew member or the show's budget.

All new requests as of right now will be handled according to the new policy. Unfortunately, this change also means that some shows previously allowed by the policy are no longer OK. These shows will eventually be tracked down and deleted. If a show is marked for deletion, this'll be clearly noted on the show page like here: http://www.tvmaze.com/shows/15010/3. You can also visit http://www.tvmaze.com/edit/deletions for a full list of shows pending deletion. If you spot one and think it's compliant with the new policy and thus incorrectly marked for deletion, please open a thread in our data forums straight away! If it doesn't fit the new rules, it'll be permanently deleted within 7 days so if there's any data you want to preserve please download it off of TVmaze.

On the flip side, if one of your non-curated show requests was rejected in the past, it's possible that the new rules do allow it. If so, feel free to re-create the request and we'll get it added. We hope these new rules will serve us well for many years to come and allow everything that's worthwhile, while keeping out low-quality content that doesn't belong on TVmaze.