X

Televisions will still get EPG after Freeview

The head of Freeview has announced that existing customers will still be able to use an electronic guide if their equipment currently supports it, but won't be able to use any of Freeview's additional features.

Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Ty Pendlebury Editor
TV and home video editor Ty Pendlebury joined CNET Australia in 2006, and moved to New York City to be a part of CNET in 2011. He tests, reviews and writes about the latest TVs and audio equipment. When he's not playing Call of Duty he's eating whatever cuisine he can get his hands on. He has a cat named after one of the best TVs ever made.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury

The head of Freeview has announced that existing customers will still be able to use an electronic guide if their equipment currently supports it, but won't be able to use any of Freeview's additional features.

This week, Freeview CEO Robin Parks said that existing equipment would not be backwards compatible with the Freeview-branded EPG due for release in 2009.

However, Parkes has now clarified that while only Freeview-branded products would be able to display the Freeview-branded EPG, existing equipment should still receive some form of guide information.

"It's like an iPod, the same basic functionality will continue to work for the life of the product," she said.

Parkes was unable to elaborate on what extra functionality would be added as the "specifications are still being worked out".

She also added that Freeview was in talks with TiVo to release a co-branded version of the EPG for use with the video recorder.