On 09/10/2007, Martin Deutsch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On 10/9/07, Brian Butterworth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I can't see a broadcaster wanting this kind of EPG on their system, as > > it removes the channel identities. > > > > As a viewer, do you really need to know which channel a programme is on > before you decide to watch it? I suppose there are a few cases where this > would be useful (eg: Scrubs is on now - is it the series I've been watching > on E4, or the series I've already seen twice on Paramount?), but generally > if I'm channel-hopping, I don't really care. >
But viewers don't get to run the EPG, do they? The ones in the UK are provided by BSkyB (satellite), Virgin Media (cable) and the Freeview one is run by a broadcaster consortium. Note, also, that the provision of an EPG is regulated by Ofcom. The problem with an EPG design that is personalised is that TVs are shared items. My modification to the idea would be to list the aviliable channels down the right hand side so they can be toggled on and off. I wouldn't use colour to denote a "record" status (as colourblind people can't see them), I would use a single/double red dot to denote "record"/"series record". For a system that is not online (and that is going to be the case if you have an EPG) the timeslot's previous week's BARB figures could change the size of the text. Finally, an EPG like this could deal with +1 channels well. > On the other hand, if the broadcaster is showing something unpopular, it > may not show in the cloud, in which case the channel-hopper won't know it's > on, and won't watch it. That's something for a broadcaster to be concerned > about - but maybe they should show better programmes. > > > > > > > Perhaps it could help Sky? > > > > http://www.screendigest.com<http://www.screendigest.com/online_services/intelligence/tv_and_broadband/updates/tvi-051007-gbb1/show> > > /online_services/intelligence/tv_and_broadband/updates/tvi > > -051007-gbb1/show > > <http://www.screendigest.com/online_services/intelligence/tv_and_broadband/updates/tvi-051007-gbb1/show> > > > > > AIUI, a large part of Sky's capacity problem is to do with > their receivers still being built to more or less the same spec as when they > launched in 1998. There are many things in them which could be done better, > but Sky are obviously keen to keep the user experience identical to all > their users, so haven't brought in features which might only work on newer > boxes. > Oh, boo hoo for BSkyB. It is they that made the commitment - if they need to swap out old Digiboxes to keep to their commitment, fine. Otherwise Ofcom should take away their licence to broadcast. > And you never know, they may even have users in mind and realise that 700 > channels is just too damn many to flick through. > So many of them are not "real" channels, and there must be much data compression that can be gained from most of them being +1s. - martin > -- Please email me back if you need any more help. Brian Butterworth www.ukfree.tv
