EPG as crystallization core for free-TV and new markets

With the foundation of the European project for the development of Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) in 1993 an ambitious time plan had been agreed between key market players in that field. After the standardisation process core techniques for video and audio coding, multiplexing, modulation, common scrambling and first service information concepts had been finalised DVB was launched. However, at that time it had been noticed that first success stories with DVB were written outside of Europe and one of the first DVB services at all was launched via AsiaSat. The reason for this was simply the fact that those activities far from Europe encountered no or only little competition from analogue TV services. The success of DVB there is based on a much simpler market scenario than in Europe, where an attractive range of television services is already in place. Electronic programme guides (EPG) are the crystallisation core for interactive television. The three fundamental types of programme guides are defined