Electronic Program Guides are one of the “future data services” that proponents of HD Radio have spoken of for awhile.
Digital stations in the United Kingdom have EPG capability with the Eureka-147 system and Unique Interactive. Now, Broadcast Electronics says it will demonstrate an electronic program guide for HD Radio at the NAB convention.
Ibiquity will help BE with the concept demo, which will feature program schedules of 20 HD-R channels in the Las Vegas market April 16–19. The demo uses BE’s IDi 20 Importer and BE’s The Radio Experience for broadcasting and managing the data.
A receiver platform with touch-screen interface will display station names, frequencies and HD channels, and advance through EPG schedules by station or by time. The interactive display lays the foundation for store-and-replay, setting program reminders or opt-in access and other advanced HD Radio features.
EPG will be featured at the BE TRE display kiosk as one of several data applications broadcast over HD Radio or RDS.