RTÉ and The Sky EPG

Rick_

I e-mailed RTÉ about the Sky EPG and whether they would be providing information to viewers on which programmes were in widescreen, carry subtitles and had rating classifications on them, like they are able to do for Digiguide and their online TV service. 3 weeks after I e-mailed them, this is the reply I received (after many "sorry, that person is off sick, I will get them to reply to your enquiry ASAP" messages.)

Apologies again for the delay in responding to your query.

In response, below is the information received from the relevant RTÉ Presentation department:-

RTÉ Schedules are released to a third party for conversion to EPG (electronic programme guide) schedules. The schedules are released fourteen days prior to broadcast and updates are provided daily to ensure maximum accuracy. Widescreen, Subtitle and Classification tags are programme dimensions that are not readily available fourteen days prior to broadcast and are not part of the standard listings that are released. These tags are only available on our Playlist which drives broadcast of programmes on RTÉ platforms only. Presently the Playlist is not available to our service provider and therefore the additional dimensions you request are not available on the SKY EPG. As technologies are rapidly changing we are reviewing how and what information can be made available to our service provider. However, it will be late 2008 before a technological solution may come available. In the meantime, I will explore with my colleagues to see if any other means could be used to enhance the level of information we provide specifically in relation to Subtitles.

I hope that the above information is helpful.

Kind Regards

With regards to the text in bold... surely that information IS available prior to broadcast. If not, then how the hell do the UK channels correctly list if a programme has subtitles or is in widescreen. I doubt it's a guessing game and they predict correctly 99% of the time. If updates are sent daily to keep the schedule correct, then surely after the main information has been sent someone could check if they hold subtitles or a widescreen print of the programme / film and then send that information over as well??? Christ, it's not rocket science, or is it? Are RTÉ just being lazy (which isn't like them :rolleyes:) or have they got a point in saying that it's hard to find that information out?

watty

Sky isn't their service. They regard it as a convience to Multichannel viewers. Since they don't have an official Digital Platform yet, it's nearly criminal that they do WS at all (degrades the only OFFICIAL and FREE TV service which is only Analogue).

I'd imagine when their own Digital Terrestrial Platform launches, that then they will sort it.