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Free to air EPG coming... soon?
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 9:08 AM on July 9, 2007
Good news: FreeTV Australia (a body that represents the free-to-air networks) has announced the networks will release a free EPG.
Bad news: This will be a conditional free EPG, given only to those hardware / PVR suppliers whose kit fits in with the tech restraints FreeTV Australia wants imposed.
Two steps forward, one step back? No dates for implementations. The announcement has a great spot of triple speak, actually - "set to transform... by paving the way for the development of..." So, in essence, they have announced that, after years of planning, they have laid a few pavers. Tops work!
"Free TV Networks usher in new era of digital TV." [FreeTV]
Massive blow to free-to-air TV [The Age]
Thanks to Miles for the tip!
Comments
Funky J
Posted July 9, 2007 10:28 AM
She said commercial broadcasters would make the electronic program guides available to manufacturers of personal video recorders and set-top boxes, providing manufacturers encrypted them to protect program makers' copyright.
What does this mean exactly? That we can't record shows on FTA? Or that we can't transfer them to, for example, a hard disk?
Richard
Posted July 9, 2007 4:41 PM
It means that they are SAYING that they will make EPG data available, but it won't be available to anybody who might want to use it.
Seriously, this press release says virtually nothing (as SB pointed out) and offers virtually nothing.
If these guys were serious about promoting an EPG they would:
* arrange to have Channel 9 drop its lawsuit against ICE-TV
* immediately arrange to feed EPG data to ICE-TV (remember that ICE-TV already has an infrastructure for distributing EPG data to a number of platforms)
* concentrate on providing programming that people want to watch (when they want to watch it) rather than the current manipulation that takes place.
Let's hope that they don't get any stupid ideas like BUYING ICE-TV. It would be a terrible shame to lose our reliable and independent (no strings attached) source of EPG data.
Tim
Posted July 9, 2007 6:26 PM
Ah, encryption... hasn't that been a truly successful way to prevent "inappropriate" usage of products!
I was deciding between building a HTPC with TV tuners etc, or simply buying a massive hard drive and torrenting everything I need. I went with the second option mainly because of the lack of EPG.
As for Richard's point about programming content at desirable times - definitely a good idea, but unfortunately you can't satisfy everyone all of the time! Plus, from the content provider's perspective, if they release EPG this absolves them of the need to address scheduling concerns, since you can then use EPG with your PVR to record content and replay at your leisure.
And then Ch10 can continue to broadcast bimbos & himbos 20 hours a day ;)
Tim
Penguinista
Posted July 9, 2007 9:50 PM
meh, I will stick to my perl script and Maxemum TV as a UI, so thanks for nothing, sheesh what a bunch of clowns.