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{{Use American English|date=May 2021}}
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[[File:Mythbuntu Program Guide.png|thumb|330px|right|Electronic programming guide interface in [[MythTV]].]]
'''Electronic programming guides''' ('''EPGs''') and '''interactive programming guides''' ('''IPGs''') are menu-based systems that provide users of [[television]], [[radio]], and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for current and upcoming [[broadcast programming]] (most commonly, [[TV listings]]). Some guides also feature backward scrolling to promote their catch up content. They are commonly known as '''guides''' or '''TV guides'''.
Non-interactive electronic programming guides (sometimes known as "navigation software") are typically available for television and radio, and consist of a digitally displayed, non-interactive menu of programming scheduling information shown by a [[cable television|cable]] or [[satellite television]] provider to its viewers on a dedicated channel. EPGs are transmitted by specialized video [[Character generator|character generation]] (CG) equipment housed within each such provider's central [[cable television headend|headend]] facility. By tuning into an EPG channel, a menu is displayed that lists current and upcoming [[television
A more modern form of the EPG, associated with both television and radio broadcasting, is the interactive [electronic] programming guide (IPG, though often referred to as EPG).<ref>{{cite web|title=A typical PVR website which makes no references to "IPG", using instead "EPG" throughout for the interactive electronic programme guide, as can be confirmed with a site search|url=http://www.toppy.org.uk/|website=Toppy|access-date=3 June 2010|archive-date=12 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612081520/http://www.toppy.org.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref> An IPG allows television viewers and radio listeners to navigate scheduling information menus interactively, selecting and discovering programming by time, title, channel or genre using an input device such as a [[keypad]], computer [[
Data used to populate an interactive EPG may be distributed over the [[Internet]], either for a charge or free of charge, and implemented on equipment connected directly or through a computer to the Internet.<ref>{{cite web|title=An example of a computer program to export Internet-derived data from an EPG (DigiGuide) to set timers on a PVR (Topfield)|url=http://website.lineone.net/~rwein/toppy/toppy.htm|website=Lineone.net|access-date=3 June 2010|archive-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415070640/http://website.lineone.net/~rwein/toppy/toppy.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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====North America====
In 1981, [[
[[File:SuperGuide 1 screen 16L.jpg|thumb|left|SuperGuide from 1986]]
In 1986 at a trade show in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]],<ref>1986 STTI exhibitor list, p. 33</ref> STV/Onsat, a print programming guide publisher, introduced SuperGuide, an interactive electronic programming guide for [[
[[File:SuperGuide 2 screen 8L.jpg|thumb|2nd generation SuperGuide screen, 1990.]]
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In June 1988 a patent was awarded that concerned the implementation of a searchable electronic program guide – an interactive program guide (IPG).<ref>{{Cite patent|country=US|number=4751578|pubdate=1988-06-14|title=System for electronically controllably viewing on a television updateable television programming information|assign1=David P. Gordon|inventor1-last=Reiter|inventor1-first=Eli|inventor2-last=Zemering|inventor2-first=Michael H.|inventor3-last=Shannon|inventor3-first=Frank}}</ref>
TV Guide Magazine and Liberty Media established a joint venture in 1992 known as TV Guide On Screen to develop an EPG.
Scientific Atlanta introduced the 8600X Advanced analog Set-top box in 1993 that included an interactive electronic program guide, downloadable software, 2-way communications, and pause/FF/REW for VCR-like viewing. Millions were deployed by Time Warner and other customers.<ref>"Honoring the Past, Scientific Atlanta 1977-2000", "Time Warner Taps S-A for Interactive Analog Box", Multichannel News March 14, 1994</ref>
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==Current applications==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:TV Guide Interactive.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''[[TV Guide Interactive|i-Guide]]'', a [[TV Guide]] IPG for North American [[digital cable]] boxes from 2007.]] -->
Interactive program guides are nearly ubiquitous in most broadcast media today. EPGs can be made available through television (on [[set-top box]]es and all current digital TV receivers), [[mobile phone]]s (particularly through [[smartphone]] [[mobile app|apps]]), and on the Internet. Online TV Guides are becoming more ubiquitous, with over
For television, IPG support is built into almost all modern receivers for digital cable, [[
Demand for non-interactive electronic television program guides – television channels displaying listings for currently airing and upcoming programming – has been nearly eliminated by the widespread availability of interactive program guides for television; TV Guide Network, the largest of these services, eventually abandoned its original purpose as a non-interactive EPG service and became a traditional general entertainment cable channel, eventually rebranding as [[Pop (American TV channel)|Pop]] in January 2015. Television-based IPGs provide the same information as EPGs, but faster and often in much more detail. When television IPGs are supported by [[digital video recorder|PVR]]s, they enable viewers to plan viewing and recording by selecting broadcasts directly from the EPG, rather than programming timers.
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The aspect of an IPG most noticed by users is its [[graphical user interface]] (GUI), typically a grid or table listing [[channel (broadcasting)|channel]] names and program titles and times: web and television-based IPG interfaces allow the user to highlight any given listing and call up additional information about it supplied by the EPG provider. Programs on offer from [[virtual channel|subchannel]]s may also be listed.
Typical IPGs also allow users the option of [[Search engine
The latest development in IPGs is personalization through a [[Recommender system|recommendation engine]] or [[semantics]]. Semantics are used to permit interest-based suggestions to one or several viewers on what to watch or record based on past patterns. One such IPG, [[iFanzy]], allows users to customize its appearance.
Standards for delivery of scheduling information to television-based IPGs vary from application to application, and by country. Older television IPGs like [[Guide Plus]]+ relied on analog technology (such as the [[vertical blanking interval]] of analog television video signals) to distribute listings data to IPG-enabled consumer receiving equipment. In Europe, the [[ETSI|European Telecommunications Standards Institute]] (ETSI) published standard ETS 300 707 to standardize the delivery of IPG data over [[
Devices embedded within modern digital cable and satellite television receivers, on the other hand, customarily rely upon third-party listings metadata aggregators to provide them with their on-screen listings data. Such companies include [[Tribune
Some IPG systems built into older set-top boxes designed to receive terrestrial digital signals and television sets with built-in digital tuners may have a lesser degree of interactive features compared to those included in cable, satellite and IPTV converters; technical limitations in these models may prevent users from accessing program listings beyond (at maximum) 16 hours in advance and complete program synopses, and the inability for the IPG to parse synopses for certain programs from the MPEG stream or displaying next-day listings until at or after 12:00 a.m. local time. IPGs built into newer television (including [[Smart TV]]), digital terrestrial set-top box and antenna-ready DVR models feature on-screen displays and interactive guide features more comparable to their pay television set-top counterparts, including the ability to display grids and, in the case of DVRs intended for terrestrial use, the ability – with an Internet connection – to access listings and content from [[over-the-top content|over-the-top]] services.
A growing trend is for manufacturers such as [[Elgato]] and [[Topfield]] and software developers such as [[Microsoft]] in their [[Windows Media Center]] to use an Internet connection to acquire data for their built-in IPGs. This enables greater interactivity with the IPG such as media downloads, [[Season ticket|series recording]] and programming of the recordings for the IPG remotely; for example, [[
In developing IPG software, manufacturers must include functions to address the growing volumes of increasingly complex data associated with programming. This data includes program descriptions, schedules and [[
==See also==
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==External links==
{{commons category}}
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* {{cite web|url=http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/300700_300799/300707/01.02.01_60/en_300707v010201p.pdf|publisher=ETSI|date=April 2003|title=Electronic Programme Guide; Protocol for a TV Guide using electronic data transmission|quote=300 707 V1.2.1}}
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