Freeview EPG: end of year
Freeview's Electronic Programme Guide will be some time behind the branded equipment which is expected in May.
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Freeview’s Electronic Programme Guide, which was originally intended for May, will not be ready until the end of the year, according to The Australian.
Free-to-air television broadcasters expect to have signed up 15 hardware manufacturers to release Freeview-endorsed digital equipment in stores as early as May 1. The full EPG is only available on Freeview branded equipment.
Kim Dalton, the chairman of the free TV digital marketing body told the Get Ready for Digital forum in Sydney much of the content on the 15 channels would also be available “on demand and online” through a catch-up website supported by the Seven, Nine and TEN and the ABC and SBS by December.
“Freeview intends to offer its own TV online and on-demand service,” Mr Dalton said. “This will be the most extensive online TV service in Australia.”
Within two years Freeview would offer its own internet-enabled set-top box which would move catch-up TV viewing from the computer screen to the lounge room. That follows moves by Seven’s TiVo digital set-top box to offer an internet connection allowing content to be downloaded on demand, and expectations Telstra will make a similar move later this year.
“The box with an internet connection is probably 24 months away,” Freeview CEO Robin Parkes said.
The second phase of the industry’s $50 million advertising campaign will begin on April 26th.
Source:Â The Australian
23 Responses
-And the poor people in the shops haven’t got a clue about the products they try to sell.
The epg still hasnt happen at all, so they have either stuff up big time or they just dont know what there doing yet..
As AJ says: March 31, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Then there’s Freeview. Then there’s an EPG for all. Then there’s an EPG for Freeview products only. Then there’s One. Then there’s not One for regional viewers.
I wish australia just get there act together and just become one whole group and sort this matter out quicker and smarter before some american company comes in and takes over…
Why not set a release date to have everything ready by including the EPG, availibility of the branded equipment, the new extra channels on the networks and then make a big splash then – and – make sure it is available to the whole country – not just 5 capital cities. There is no point promoting FreeView otherwise.
And as for the idea of being able to download catch up shows on demand, there is nothing stopping that from already happening with the websites the TV channels have now.
So many questions and all Free View is confusing the issues!
I just bought a new HD Set Top Bockus last Wednesday (25MAR09) and it has an EPG that seems to work but I had a bitch of a time offing it.
Does it bring up all the FTA channels in one grid a la Foxtel?
Sounds like just about anything that has happened in this country in relation to stepping forward. First all TV stations would be fully digital by 2008. Then 2010. Then it’ll only be half cutoff until mid 2010s.
Then broadband would be built. Then it wouldn’t. Now it is, but is it?
Then there’s Freeview. Then there’s an EPG for all. Then there’s an EPG for Freeview products only. Then there’s One. Then there’s not One for regional viewers.
Australia, listen up – Stop Fartarse-ing about and get a freaking move on! Take a leap! Risks are there to be made!!
Freeview looks like its going to cost alot of money to have….whats free about that
so yet another technology that makes existing ones obsolete, why even bother with the freeview EPG box when in 1 year there will another one that downloads from the internet. just skip that middle man entirely, go straight from current products you already own to the internet one, because that feature is actually worth having. but people really do get sick of buying something only to have to buy something else in a couple of years, it really makes people want to just hold off and skip several middle steps at once, unfortunately this could result in oldies having no tv come 2013 because they were waiting for the products to finally settle down and become less confusing and they never did.
So my one year old Topfield will have no free EPG in 8 months time, yay, and the plasma I want to buy too wont have one either! It keeps getting better and better! Ohh in case you didnt realise, I’m being sarcastic… Well Duh! Just give us a decent 7 day guide for free which is available over the air. Surely that cant be too much to ask. We really dont need Freeview. It is not going to improve anything, stop it while you still can.
Dear TV Land…. here’s a tip… organize what you’re going to do, then announce it, then set a date… not the reverse
Guys, we already have a broadcast EPG.
The last thing we want is a ‘propriety’ EPG that knobbles existing digital receivers. Some of us have been buying these things for around 8 years, we’re happy with the way things are, we don’t really want Freeview.
And good grief, get yourself some spell/grammar checkers on your PCs. Yes Craig, I’m looking at you.
Sorry, is he saying that all FTA will be available online as catchup TV in December?
Well at least freeview boxes from may won’t miss out on the inability to skip through ads. That’s the main selling point of freeview… isn’t it?
Also im skeptical about on-demand tv. I can imagine it will be littered with non-skippable download hogging ads (which i suppose you can’t blame it, i mean why would you watch a show live on tv with 3-4 minute ad breaks every 5 minutes, when you could watch it ad free online).
Ofcourse, the main problem with an on-demand video service is the fact that we aren’t up with america, or any other developed nation in terms of broadband. It would cost too much to watch shows online because it would use your download limit within a week. That’s why non-freeview branded pvrs are the way to go if you really want Free view, freedom from late starts in tv shows, and freedom from no ad skippping.
as if freeview wasn’t enough of stuff up already now it wont even have an epg from launch one of it’s most basic yet important features, will those who buy freeview before december get access to the epg once it becomes available, it’s pathetic that in we in Australia we have had beg the fta for something as simple as an epg. the on demand service sound good though as long as it really is “the most extensive online service in australia” and not just a few shows.
Suggestion: Wait until the new satellite gets up in the air for Foxtel. Then any theoretical Foxtel “Viewfree” satellite package (which would probably be a stripped down HD service (to allow people who want HD but don’t want the IQ2), with the four commercials (Ten/One, 7, 9) ABC1/2, SBS1/2, plus Fox8,111,Fox Sports 1,2,3,HD, APAC and Sky News for a flat price) that Foxtel will probably use to boost subscribers and reduce churn during the economic crisis, will be taking Freeview on.
Freeview only worked in England because BSKYB has a stake in it, even though it competes with the Sky Digital (whose architecture is similar to Foxtel’s digital services, look at the remotes, the only difference is that the Sky button labeled as the Foxtel button.) platform that BSKYB owns.
It will take one blow by Foxtel or even by Win-owned newcomer SelecTV, like I have described above, to kill Freeview and TiVo.
FTA digital TV in Australia is just the biggest joke ever!
Compare this to the UK which is fantastic for digital and interactive TV. I was hoping freeview would be a step in the right direction with an eventual upgrade to MPEG4 allowing for more content and interactive features. But the fact that it takes them over a year from announcing freeview to rolling out the EPG just seems incompetent. Then there was the nonsense announcment today about labeling tv’s digital ready/ capabel etc. – all tv’s these days have a digital tuner, what a waste of time. Plus the fiasco of HD before Multi-Channeling, they should just scrap what has been done the last 10 years and start from scratch!
Even New Zealand has decent FTA digital. And don’t get me started on digital radio !
So why would I buy a box that will be outdated in less than 2 years?
Who didn’t see this coming?
As for there online services, they will be useless for those without ADSL access either through their location, lack of ADSL ports or the cost of plans, who with a 1Gb limit is going to waste 700Mb on one ep of a show? ISPs will need deals with Freeview to allow access that is not counted towards your monthly uploads.
And where is ch7 and it’s 2nd SD channel plans and how does this effect TiVo.
I do think freeview can and will work, they have just gone about it all wrong. Already it has a bad rep.
I like the idea of an on-demand/online service, kind of like hulu.com. Hopefully it isnt years away.
I can see myself getting a freeiew set-top box when they come out, as i will be buying a PVR anyway, so i may as well get one that hopefully has a decent, up to date PVR, however i will wait until i hear some reviews.
Back in November there were ads promising Freeview was ‘coming soon’ with an EPG as one of its selling points. Twelve months (or longer, because let’s be realistic) is not ‘soon’. And then there are these new boxes out in the next 2 years? What is the point of Freeview it just seems to be one blunder after another. Did Foxtel have this much trouble upgrading its subscribers and channels to digital??
Just wish we had a decent net connection to take advantage of this 21st century technology as opposed to the 28.8 POS that we have.
Tell the guys at Freeview to stop wasting thier money & scrap this already, Its already shaping up to look like a joke!. Now the EPG which is one of the major things on Freeview wont be out until the End of Year!. There is no point bringing Freeview / Trainwreck out now until the end of year with the EPG!