Freeview Australia's MHEG-Based EPG Goes Live

Strategy & Technology--a UK-based provider of interactive TV playout systems and middleware, which recently received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of the significant growth in international sales of its products that it has achieved over the past four years (see the article published on itvt.com, April 21st)--contacted [itvt] last week to let us know that Freeview Australia's EPG platform has launched nationally (note: Freeview Australia, which is a non-profit joint venture between broadcasters ABC, SBS, Network Seven, Nine Network, Network Ten, Prime Southern Cross and WIN, is designed to bring free-to-air digital terrestrial TV to Australian viewers). S&T worked on the project in partnership with its Australian reseller, Magna Systems and Engineering.

According to S&T, the Freeview Australia EPG is a customized version of the company's MHEG Guide product, and will be available on "Freeview EPG"-branded receivers that will go on sale this month. The company says that it delivered the MHEG application for the EPG, together with schedule data processing and playout at each of the Freeview broadcasters; and that Magna Systems provided installation and integration of the EPG and S&T's TSBroadcaster carousel playout systems at each of the broadcasters' sites. The guide provides eight-day listings for all 16 Freeview channels, and will be available on all services--providing Australian TV viewers, S&T says, with a significant enhancement over existing EPG services which only provide listings for the network they are watching. Also playing a key role in the Freeview Australia EPG project, according to S&T, is Australian TV metadata provider, HWW, which it says will collate program data from Freeview networks for simultaneous transmission in a consistent format. "We are delighted to have completed this complex project for Freeview Australia, which comes after an extensive period of analysis and implementation," S&T's director of international sales, Colin Prior, said in a prepared statement. "Freeview Australia has deployed a solution that will enable the free-to-view broadcasters to offer new and innovative services via both broadcast and also in future via the broadband Internet connection using the MHEG Interaction Channel capability already built into the Freeview receivers." Added Freeview Australia CEO, Robin Parkes: "The Freeview EPG will, for the first time, provide a consolidated platform for the consumer when navigating Freeview channels, and will also provide consistency of experience across multiple digital TV's in the home, so that the consumer only has to learn the navigation once."

S&T claims that the new Freeview Australia EPG is one of the most complex MHEG application systems delivered outside of the UK, managing schedule data presentation, as well as integrated PVR booking, series links and accurate recording for multiple broadcasters across multiple time zones. According to the company, the underlying MHEG platform will enable other applications to be delivered to receivers in the future, while the new technology also means that the Freeview EPG will have video streaming and text capability, including a live "boxed" TV display.

Other key features of the new EPG, according to S&T, include:

• A seven-day program guide.
• Program reminder functionality.
• Detailed program information.
• Ethernet connectivity.
• A parental lock system.
• Common "buttons" for remote controls from each manufacturer.

Additional features when the EPG is used in conjunction with a DVR-enabled Freeview receiver, S&T says, include:

• One-touch recording
• The ability to record a series, using "series link" functionality.
• Accurate recording of shows using Content Reference Identifiers (CRID's).
• The ability to watch and record different channels at the same time.
• The ability to pause and rewind live TV.

S&T says that it has also been working with Freeview during the past year to provide "consultancy input" to the service's receiver specifications and the Freeview Australia MHEG profile. This, the company says, includes hybrid broadcast/IP support using the MHEG Interaction Channel, as well as HD display capabilities in common with the latest UK and New Zealand Freeview HD specs. According to the company, this will allow Freeview Australia to support catch-up and on-demand TV services that will be delivered over the Internet to Freeview EPG-enabled set-top boxes, TV's and DVR's. "As with Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Freeview Australia project, the S&T solution we implemented for the EPG is very easy to operate,." Magna Systems CEO, David Bowers, said in a prepared statement. "One significant difference between this and the original EPG's is that viewers are able to record material by genre or program with the Freeview-approved PVR. We are delighted to again be an integral part of this significant step in the Australian broadcasting landscape and look forward to Freeview Australia's future innovation."