4TVinteractive

On non-compatible boxes, the 4TV channel now displays a rotating programme guide. It's not much use, since you have no control over what channel it's selecting, and it take ages to get to anything useful because it cycles through every region for BBC1, BBC2 (even English regions although there are no regularly scheduled variations now) and ITV. I've yet to see how many channels it covers.

EDIT: To make it even more awkward (if that were possible), it displays listings in midnight-midnight format, although the TV programming day runs from 6AM-6AM


Further edit, it's displaying tomorrow's listings, and the ITV stations are listed with quite a few discrepencies. They were corporate aware enough to list 'ITV1 WEST OF ENGLAND', but then went on to list 'TYNE TEES TELEVISION' and 'ULSTER'

further further edit: below is a complete list of all the channels it lists (in order):

BBC1 (all regions)
BBC2 (all regions, including english regions which aren't being used)
BBC3
BBC4
BBC News 24
ITV (all regions except Channel)
ITV2
Channel 4
ITV News Channel
S4C Analogue (which isn't even available on digital)
S4C2
Channel 5
QVC
TV Travel Shop
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 4
BBC Parliament
BBC4 (again!)
Cbeebies
BBC Radio 5
BBC 6 Music
BBC7
BBC 1Xtra
BBC Asian Network
Community Channel (full listings even though DTT only carries it overnight)
Sky News
Sky Sports News
Sky Travel
UK History
TMF
UK Bright Ideas
FTN
Kiss 100
Smash Hits
Kerrang
Jazz FM
Oneword
BBC World Service

And that's it. They've got most in, but notably are missing the CBBC Channel, aswell as a number of radio stations. Strange order, too.

I hope this is just a system in development, because as it is it's pointless.

It is useless just for general viewing, unless you just like to sit and watch the listings scroll past to see if there's anything interesting on, but it's not designed as an interactive service. The point is that boxes that support the guide (currently only the forthcoming Fusion boxes and I believe the Setpal VCR (available Christmas) are known to do so) will download the listings to their internal memory so they can be viewed any time of the day or night.

People on Digital Spy have suggested that the data you do see is only part of the data transmitted, and it's there as a visual check to make sure the data is being correctly transmitted on 704.

If you want an interactive guide, Teletext is currently testing on channel 54 but it's only available from the Crystal Palace transmitter. It's expected to launch everywhere else early December. I don't know what will happen to the existing TV guide on channel 9.

They do have the CBBC Channel. Its lisited as CBBC. I checked this morning and it goes:

BBC 1 (all regions)
BBC 2 (all Regions)
BBC 3
BBC News 24
CBBC
ITV1 (all regions except Channel TV)
ITV2
etc
etc

What I find strange is that it says BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 as numbers but BBC Four as a word! I wonder why???

Also on Channel 9 Teletext it has BBC1/BBC2 as numbers but BBC THREE and BBC FOUR as a word. Is it because outside of England, it lists BBC1Scotland, BBC1Wales etc. It uses numbers so it can fit the Nation in? Is that why??? Can someone check.

They released a PVR before a DTT VCR. Morons.

So, skimming, I understand that ex-sub boxes are incompatible ?

afaik only Setpal boxes (Daewoo and someone else use Setpal) are compatible. Apparantly the full service appears on other boxes for an hour in the middle of the night. I will have to tune in to see that at some point.