British Eurosport has become the first channel on the Sky Digital platform to introduce accurate EPG triggering, removing inconsistencies in the EPG and Now & Next information, caused by over-running events.
Designed by Red Bee Media, the technology is an improvement on previous implementations because it provides updates on the EPG planner. It is the first time the technology has been deployed for a commercial broadcaster by Red Bee, which also offers live updates for the BBC.
Live changes to the schedule, caused by an over-running event, are captured at the transmission stage in British Eurosport’s playout and the updates passed within 500 milliseconds to the Sky platform, directly triggering Sky’s BFS and ESS scheduling systems.
“We see the EPG as a vital marketing tool in promoting our programming to fans,” said Dave Kerr, Director of British Eurosport. “With over 50% of our channel devoted to live action, especially during daytime, we were delighted to pioneer the real-time triggering development with Red Bee Media to ensure PVR recordings were safe-guarded and viewers were given accurate information about their favourite events.”
Martin Harvey, managing director of Red Bee Media Metadata added that the company was proud to have been a part of the project. “My development team have worked closely with British Eurosport and Sky to ensure our triggering solution enhances their viewers and customers’ perception and usage of the service. “
It is hoped the system will be introduced both on the other Eurosport channels on Sky and on other platforms.