BSkyB previews HD Sky Guide

Will roll out across the country in the autumn

29 May 2008 17:34 GMT / By Katie Scott

It's been 2 years in the making, and is now being tested by hundreds of Sky staff, but a new Sky Guide is going to be available across the country from this autumn.

Sky previewed its new electronic programme guide (EPG) today (29 May) promising that it is easier to navigate than its original EPG that has been around now for 10 years.

Launching on all Sky HD boxes in the autumn, it is a complete redesign of the previous sky guide and is presented in HD quality resolution.

The key improvement is that all menu options are now easily accessible from the new single screen layout.

Another new innovation is the Series Stacking tool, which means that programmes that appear in the Planner or in Search results that belong to the same series, from the same channel, will be "stacked" together under one listing.

Other improvements include the Search facility that lets customers search for any show in the next seven days by entering a programme name or by genre and subgenre.

Sky has also improved the "Now, Next and Later" banner so that customers will be able to view information for any programme up to 12 hours ahead without interrupting their TV viewing.

Also worth a mention is the Mini TV, which means that customers can now browse and watch TV at the same time, or use the mini TV to preview programmes while browsing.