How can I Automate the Download of TV Shows Using Python?


Automation has become an integral element of our lives in the modern day. We can increase productivity and save time by automating routine chores. For instance, Python can be used to automate the download of TV programs if you enjoy watching them. This tutorial will walk you through the procedures needed to use Python to automate the download of TV programs.

Choose the Television Programs you want to Download

Choosing the TV programs you wish to download is the first step in automating the download process. To find out more about the TV shows that interest you, use online TV show databases like TVDB.

Use Web Scraping to Gather Information

The next step is to get the quintessential records from the TV application database after you have recognized the TV sequence that you want to download. A technique that lets you extract data from web pages is called web scraping. You can achieve this by using web scraping packages for Python, such as Beautiful Soup or Scrapy, to collect information from the TV show database.

To Obtain Data, use APIs

An alternative method to obtain the TV show data is to use APIs. Numerous TV show databases, like TVDB and IMDb, offer APIs that allow developers to access their data. By utilizing Python's Requests library, you can create HTTP requests and obtain data from the APIs.

For the Download to be Automated, Create a Python Script

After acquiring the TV exhibit data, you can create a Python script that automates the download process. You can utilize Python's built-in libraries, such as urllib and os, to download the TV shows. Let’s understand through a script −

import urllib.request
import os

# Download function
def download(url, folder):
   filename = url.split("/")[-1]
   filepath = os.path.join(folder, filename)

   # Download the file
   urllib.request.urlretrieve(url, filepath)

# TV shows to download
tv_shows = [
   {
      "title": "Your Honor",
      "url": "https://example.com/yourhonor.zip"
   },
   {
      "title": "The Boys",
      "url": "https://example.com/theboys.zip"
   }
]

# Download the TV shows
for tv_show in tv_shows:
   title = tv_show["title"]
   url = tv_show["url"]
   folder = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "TV Shows", title)

   # Create if the folder doesn't exist
   if not os.path.exists(folder):
      os.makedirs(folder)

   # Download the file
   download(url, folder)

Let’s simplify the code by understanding the following points,

  • The function "download" is described in the code with two parameters − URL and folder name.

  • The code creates a listing of TV shows that want to be downloaded with the respective titles and URLs.

  • The code loops through each TV show in the list and performs the following actions −

    a. Extracts the title and URL from the TV show data.

    b. Creates a folder with the show's title in the modern-day working directory.

    c. File gets downloaded from a URL and saves in the folder

  • The "os" library is used to verify if the folder is already present or not. If not, it creates it.

  • The "urllib" library is used to download archives from the internet.

  • The code can be run periodically, such as each day or week, to download new episodes of the TV shows automatically.

In summary, the code automates the process of downloading TV shows by downloading files from the internet, saving them in specific folders, and running on a schedule.

Set the Script to Execute on a Regular Basis

Finally, you can plan the script to run periodically using an undertaking scheduler, such as Windows Task Scheduler or cron on Unix-based systems. This permits you to automate the download technique without any guide intervention.

Conclusion

To sum up, automating the download of TV shows with Python can make your life easier and save you time. You may automate the entire process by deciding on the desired indicators, gathering the data from TV program databases using internet scraping or APIs, building a Python script to automate the process, and setting it up to run on a regular basis. You may sit back and relax as Python takes care of everything with just a little bit of coding!

Updated on: 04-Apr-2023

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