Comcast Drops Microsoft IPG in Washington
Microsoft TV Foundation Edition IPG Out, i-Guide with Comcast Central In
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 5/15/2007 8:21:00 AM
By September, Comcast expects to replace the Microsoft interactive program guide it was using in Washington state with an IPG that the operator designed itself that provides “video-rich navigation.”
Comcast had used the Microsoft TV Foundation Edition IPG in the software giant’s home state for about two years. The MSO said in a prepared statement that the new guide will provide a “consistent user experience for customers throughout the Puget Sound and Spokane areas, as well as in Comcast markets across the country.”
The new i-Guide IPG Comcast is deploying in Washington state was developed by GuideWorks, a joint venture of Comcast and Gemstar-TV Guide International.
As part of the rollout, the i-Guide will feature the Comcast Central video-rich navigation feature, which lets viewers see up to six different live TV channels on the screen at once. The video-navigation feature, developed by Comcast Media Center, is currently available on about one-fourth of the operator’s 19.5 million digital set-tops in various markets, including Chicago and Philadelphia.
i-Guide is scheduled to launch in Spokane starting June 5, and Comcast expects to complete the rollout in the state to Puget Sound digital-cable customers by early September.
“Comcast Central is the perfect addition to help our customers navigate the thousands of viewing choices available to them at any time, while also letting them preview several programs at once,” Comcast Washington vice president of marketing and sales Tom Pierce said in announcing the IPG changeover.
The operator said it is beginning to notify customers in Spokane and Puget Sound of the change through direct mailings and TV, radio and newspaper ads. Customers will also receive messages sent to their digital set-top boxes.
Comcast said customers’ digital-video-recorder settings and scheduled recordings, as well as most current guide settings, will automatically transfer to the new guide. The company added that the new IPG will support future “cross-platform” features that integrate Comcast’s video, high-speed-Internet and voice services, such as caller ID on the TV and the ability to program DVRs from any Internet connection.
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It seems to me that comcast is trying to make their service as user UNfriendly as possible. I am glad that I have at least Media Center Edition on my PC to avoid using the comcast crap. Once Uverse is ready here I am gone.
John Fredericks - 11/5/2007 6:08:00 PM EST -
This is very regrettable. The new guide is greatly inferior even when it
works. I find on my DVR there is often a delay of 10-30 seconds before a
command will execute. I can't think of anything more unacceptable. I am
looking around for alternatives. With the amount of money I pay Comcast
each month I should get something better than this. I wish there were
some way to go back to the old guide which was perfectly fine.
Robin Fairchild - 9/10/2007 5:29:00 PM EDT
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