Category Archives: Digital TV

Virgin Media TV Shutdown

Looks like Virgin are planning to pull the plug on the original TV service. Not sure what this will entail since they had already converted most of their SD channels to MPEG4 a couple of years ago, with the exception of BBC One and Channel 4 which remained in MPEG2, possibly for PSB reasons?

Here what’s shows up on a Virgin Media SD cable box (Pace DiTV1000 on UK2 software)

A look at Channel 4 on this box, one of the few channels that display video

Lets check the ntl software

I pulled out the Pace Di4000N running the ntl CR3 Bromley guide which dates from 2003

Horizon (HZN) is Virgins next generation TV platform

Same EPG data

I guess when a channel is off air it gives a link to the interactive services

Sadly no video, I never got round to amending the net id for this box, since it requires an SCART RS232 cable which seem of have disappeared off the face of the earth.

ntl Langely?

Last resort lets check the Pace Di4001N running ntl Langely CR3 software, which had a build date from 2004

Well this is a miracle, seems this box was able to locate and set my local netID

What the home screen looks like with actual video feed

Channel 4 still broadcasts in MPEG2 SD!

As does Birmingham TV (Our local TV station, that play Judge Judy all day)

A list of channels which includes the Tivo software update streams

ITV still remains an radio channel, this is because the video is AVC MPEG4, whilst the audio is MPEG2. No idea why they done this

Conclusion

So what will happen? likely the last few MPEG2 channels will disappear completely, leaving the boxes with nothing to receive. Possibly removing the SD versions entirely since all of their equipment would be HD capable, the exception is BBC1 which still has regional news in SD only. A shame since instead of investing in their playout and transmission network, they would rather invest in diversity (No, Not diversity of thought). Meanwhile if you want local news, your stuck with the SD versions for the future.

Radio channels may stick with MPEG2 Musicam, but could easily go MPEG4

Remembering UK Music Channels

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But why bother with music channels now that you have Youtube or Vevo?

Adverts: Music channels do run adverts typically every 15 mins, however these are regulated by Ofcom and typically run at the same volume, a common issue I find with Youtube adverts is the volume isn’t standardized across videos or with other adverts, so when you do get an advert, its generally played out at a higher volume level, which I find infuriating.

I am aware that I could just install an adblock, however use of these is against the terms of service. Also the same can be said for music channels, i.e I could pre-record the program blocks on a PVR and then just skip forward through the adverts

Algorithm – It’s a mess when it comes to music and will often recommend or autoplay another song that has little to do with the previous song, Generally I prefer to listen to music in the same genre at the same time

On that note, why do TikTok compilations keep cropping up when I have never watched a TikTok video?

New music – YouTube rarely recommends me new music, instead it just autoplay’s me previous tracks that I’ve listened to, sometime offering new songs by an artist that I’ve listened to recently, but never a new artist or one that I have never listened to

Google – I want to reduce my reliance on BigTech companies

Copyright – another issue that crops up that people like to ignore, whilst lots of videos are provided by VEVO are generally safe from this, unofficial music video uploads by other users can be pulled anytime, and some may pull the video without offering replacement upload.

Comments – I know I can just ignore them but occasionally you can find the odd good component. However most of the time it’s just some dead meme

Don’t get me wrong, our music channels aren’t perfect, especially in regards to how they handle 4:3 content in a 16:9 broadcast (They zoom in) and the bitrate and resolution they use could be higher, but they still offer benefits compared to online streaming services.

Channels closed in the digital era

VH1 (1994 – 2018)

A long running music channel that launched on Sky analogue in 1993, played contemporary music for adults, with occasionally American programs from the US version

PlayUK (1998 – 2002)

Part of the UKTV network, played both music videos and comedy shows.

MTV2 (1998 – 2010)

Launched as M2 initially, focused on alternative non mainstream pop/rock, Ended up being quite different to tis US counterpart, eventually rebranded to MTV2

MTV Extra (1999 – 2001)

A sibling channel to MTV, which played music whilst regular programming was shown on MTV, replaced by MTV Hits in 2001

VH1 Classic (1999-

Similar to VH1 but played classic music from the 70s – 80s, replaced by MTV Classic (not sure what the difference VH1 to MTV makes?)

Q (2000 – 2012)

An indie focused music channel based in a similar style to its magazine counterpart. Initially used an SMS voting system

Smash Hits (2001-

General pop music channel that also played various genres, also used an SMS voting system during the early years.

MTV Dance (2001 – 2020)

Dance music channel by MTV, rebranded to clubMTV before being closed down for good

Chart Show TV (2002 – 2019)

Pop and chart music channel launched in 2002, initially known for it’s low budget song title graphics, the channel was treated to a rebrand in 2008, one of the well known FTA music channels back when the Bauer/EMAP and MTV channels were encrypted

The Hits (2002 – 2008)

Launched around the same year of Freeview, played the same music as Smash Hits & The Box with the SMS voting system. Replaced by 4Music in 2008

TMF (2002 – 2009)

The free to view version of MTV and MTV Hits, launched on Freeview in 2002 and later on Sky and cable. Shows on MTV would later be broadcast on TMF, alongside music videos, was replaced by VIVA in 2009

ClassicFM TV (2002 -2007)

A unique channel, played the same music as its radio counterpart, mainly remembered for its large and detailed song titles, that listed the composer, record label and artist album

P-Rock (2002 -2003)

A decent rock channel focused on upcoming rock artists, played a lot of Japanese rock projects like the mad capsule markets

Playlist of channel music

Channel U (2003 – 2009)

Urban and grime focused channel that also played underground HipHop with the occasional US track. Introduced me to the grime genre that was thriving at the time, mostly remember for its low budget videos and its occasional technical faults. Also home of the Boo Crew

Channel clip

The Amp (2003 – 2006)

Indie and alternative rock channel launched by Sky, replaced by Bliss in 2006

Scuzz (2003 – 2018)

A rock and metal themed music channel launched by BSkyB in 2003 before being sold to CSC Media, kept its branding and genre before its closure

Channel clips here

Flaunt (2003 – 2010)

A memorable music channel that played through all genres, originally launched in 2003 as a pop/dance channel, in 2006 it changed its identity to cater to an LGB audience, would later revert to a dance channel. Would occasionally play urban themed music videos until the launch of Flava. Relaunched as Dance Nation TV

Snapshot of channel – 2007

VH2 (2003 – 2006)

Played indie and alternative music, replaced by MTV Flux in 2006, apparently due to mobile advertising

The Vault (2003 – 2019)

Sister channel to chart show tv, played older music videos, similar to VH1 classic

Musicians Channel (2004 – 2006)

B4 (2004 – 2008)

Originally a channel that played newly released music, sometimes before its release date, also played alternative and independently released music, replaced by Flava in 2006

Fizz (2005 – 2009)

The pop version of Channel U, worked on a voting system where the viewer could vote for their song, mostly remember for the horrendous sidebar that displayed chat messages alongside the music video. Rebranded to Startz in 2009.

Preview

Bliss (2006 – 2015)

Replaced The Amp in 2006, played chilled and relax music videos along with power ballads.

MTV Flux (2006 – 2008)

Replaced VH2, was supposed to be a viral video with music video’s.

BubbleHits (2006 – 2009)

A pop music channel focused on having only 60 second adverts

Clips from the channel

Rockworld.tv (2006 – 2010)

This was focused on indie and upcoming rock and alternative music acts, and rarely played videos, rather than to focus on live performances

Snapshot

oMusic (2007 – 2010)

Replaced ClassicFM TV, played the similar genre of music, focused more on chilled music.

FHM Music (2007)

Timeshared with Q

NMEtv (2007 – 2012)

Indie music channel similar to the magazine

Channel clip

Just Fabulous (2007)

Hip and RnB lifestyle channel

Brit Hits (2008)

This was supposed to be a music that focused on well known tracks from British artists, however it eventually turned into one of these physic channels before being rebranded and moved to another EPG slot, basically a filler channel for an EPG slot

Flava (2008 – 2017)

Replaced B4, played Hiphop, urban and RnB music.

Bedroom TV (2008)

A unique music channel where viewers would upload their own music videos mimed to actual music, video quality was mostly the same as MySpace video

Snapshot

VIVA (2009 – 2018)

Replacement for TMF, played both music videos and TV shows, typically older MTV shows such as Daria, Jackass and Cribs.

MTV Rocks (2010 – 2020)

Rock music channel, replaced MTV2, closed in 2020 due to mismanagement

Lava (2010 – 2011)

A rock themed music channel, that didn’t last long, replaced by Greatest Hits TV

Dance Nation TV (2010 – 2013)

A replacement for Flaunt, pretty much played the same dance music

Greatest Hits TV (2010 – 2013)

Vintage TV (2010 – 2018)

Played old music videos from the 60- 80s, and later the 90s

WTF (2011)

Weekly top forty, a chart music channel that operated on SMS voting

Massive RnB (2011 – 2013)

Capital TV (2012 – 2018)

Music channel that played contemporary pop and dance, like the radio station

Heart TV (2012 – 2018)

Music channel similar to the radio station, played older hits from the 80s to 90s

Buzmuzik (2012 – 2014)

CSC’s version of Starz/Fizz, displayed a sidebar showing tweets and texts from viewers.

Heat (2012 – 2016)

Pop and greatest hits music channel catered to a similar demographic to its magazine counterpart. Replaced by BoxUpfront.

Planet Pop (2013 – 2015)

Another pop music channel, replaced Massive RnB

Chilled TV (2015 – 2017)

Played soft music, later rebranded as Chilled90s

Kingston IPTV

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One of the first IPTV deployments in the UK, and possibly in Europe. here we have a look through the TV service and the Interactive services offered.

The set top box used was a Pace DSL4000, which was powered by Risc OS, with the ANT browser being used to render the KIT interface, and the interactive services.

This forum post has further information on how it all worked

Main Guide

The channel bar, that bares a resemblance to the ONdigital channel bar, however this one displays the date, and the program title and time remaining

It kinds looks like the Ondigital channel banner

The main TV guide listings, showing current program information

Looking at events in advance

Another look at the channel list, subscription channels are available through the service

Watching a PIN protected program via ON demand, conveniently it also shows how much has been spent this month on content.

Using the On demand interface to fast forward.

Interactive

Interactive was one of the main draws to the service, and Kingston invested heavily into them. The ANT Fresco browser was used to provide the service, which ran under a custom version of RISC OS

Main Portal

The Home screen

The main menu, this screen looks to take you to the main TV guide listings and the VOD listings

Top Picks – seems to be a showcase sort of service here certain programs are highlighted.

The loading screen

Like interactive cable, Kingston offered internet access and an email client built into the set top box.

Back then you could choose and download operator logo’s for your phone, which were downloaded via the GSM network, rather than through the set top box. here you are able to preview them.

Browsing the internet, The Kingston service included the ANT fresco browser

The main interactive portal, this was designed to be a competitor to the Sky active service offered by Sky, and the interactive services offered by cable, who’s interactive sites were written in HTML.

List of all retailer websites supported by the service

E-Commerce, the ability to purchase books and other releated goods

Another view of the interactive menu

Another interactive service, BlueSQ also had a service on Sky

Interactive home menu

Example of a sample advert series, that advertises local business

A third party website

BBCi Hull

More Information

News service on BBCi, which features news headlines and local bulletins

GCSE Bitesize

BBC Bitesize, an edutainment service by the BBC

Raw Talent

The Trench

Interactive counterpart to the TV program

BBC Sport

Eastenders

EastEnders microsite, contains additional material in relation to the show

Hull Life

A local focused newsletter

Video Nation

A local based service, which provided clips of local residents.

Yes

Yes was the main on demand content provider

My Life in your hands

This was an experimental VOD program that have the user multiple choices on where to progress the story, similar to games like Heavy Rain or Detroit: Become Human, the choices would affect the plot and would result in a different ending.

2002

Interactive portal on a later or revised version, since many functions are now covered here.

Further Information

KIT Kingston Interactive Television (kitv.co.uk)

Pace Micro ships millionth set-top box | Business Weekly | Technology News | Business news | Cambridge and the East of England

ntl: launch EPG (2000 – Langely)

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ntl launched it’s digital TV service in 2000, shortly before acquiring the Cable & Wireless consumer division. Since the two networks had select differences between the implementation, it took some time before the networks were fully merged. The original network is referred to as ‘Langely’ as that was the location of the main headend and playout centre.

Now & Next

Now and next banner that appear when you change channels

You can bring up the information banner, which shows what’s on now and next, and allows you to browse through the channels on ntl digital

TV Guide Listings

Pressing Guide bring up this menu, this gives two options. The regular channel guide and the On Demand (NVOD) guide

The guide layout is quite different here compared to the grid view that other systems like Sky Digital use. Here you select a channel from a list which will then show a page full of listings.

Pressing info brings up a description of the program or episode

TV On Demand

Front row was the services used to provide PPV events for cable customers, similar to Sky Box Office

A list of movies and events to order

Purchasing a movie,

Help Information

Appears when the set top box is in the process of starting up

Updated Build

A revised update now adds a reminder diary feature, that allows reminders to be set for future program’s – similar to the Sky personal planner

Channel list

Listings for a single channel

Viewing a PPV movie listings

Programs entered into the reminder diary

When a program is about to start

Telewest launch EPG (1999)

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Telewest launched it’s Active Digital TV service in 1999 and was built on the same foundation that Cable & Wireless used for their digital TV service.

These screenshots were originally hosted on Digitalspy and were captured by a forum member, but the links to them were broken in an update, and were no longer directly accessible. From the looks of it they were captured using the RF output, so they are not indicative of the quality available at the time.

Startup Screen

Now & Next bar, very similar in practice to Sky Digital

The main home screen

At-A-Glance

The main TV Guide, called ‘At-A-Glance’, this shows TV listings for the next three days

Pressing i calls up a description of the program

TV-On-Demand

This isn’t true video on demand, at this point only NVOD was supported. the customer selects a convenient time slot showing to view the movie or event

Different categories

Programs-By-Subject

This I imagine is similar to the A-Z listings on Sky, where you can view programmes by their genre. Useful for discovering new or similar programs.

Settings

Main settings area

You can set the reminder notification warning before the program starts. Its worth noting that cable had implemented this before Sky Digital,

Here you can change from RGB to Composite, and set the box to output widescreen or standard. Letterbox options are also available.

Interactive

The early implementation of interactive was done in a separate Liberate browser, that had to be loaded separately. this meant that red button functionality was not yet possible in this build, since the Liberate environment was not yet running full time.

The main interactive menu, very similar to the ntl interactive portal

List of all entertainment interactive services, which are customised websites that are designed for use on an embedded set-top-box.

Interactive is delivered using the internal broadband cable modem built into the set top box, a phoneline is not required and the service is always on

Nearly all of the content and service are built using HTML3, which makes it easy to develop and host service, although there are some differences and restrictions comparted to a desktop class website.

A navigation bar can be used to browse around the service, and to exit back to the tv channel you were watching

An email service was built into the service, and was tied into the blueyonder email service.

Vs Cable & Wireless

Pace DiTV 1000

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The DiTV 1000 was one of the first digital cable boxes released in the UK, and one of the first DVB-C box’s with a built in DOCSIS cable modem.

The DITV1000 was also used by Telewest, where it was branded as the Di1000T, however the internals should be the same, although there may be differences in the memory configuration

Two card slots are present, with the smartcard slot visible behind the front cover flap. Front panel buttons can be used to change channel, move and navigate the on screen cursor and access various different menus.

Power – Mains input

RF Output: Outputs a modulated RF signal to a TV

RF Input: In from antenna

Audio Output: Outputs audio to a HiFi system, useful for radio

Scart Ports: Supports compostie and RGB, and VCR passthrough

IR Remote In/Out: To connect external IR blaster devices, Not officially used but is power enabled

Ethernet Port: Originally used to provide broadband services to a computer using the internal DOCSIS modem, redundant as cable modems are now preferred.

Serial Port: Labelled as RS232, Not Officially used

Pararell Port: Labelled is IEEE1284, Not Officially used

Internals of the DITV 1000, note the various amount of processors in this box, no wonder it runs hot.

It kind of reminds me of the Sega Saturn, which itself had 8 processors for various different tasks. Remember this box has to function as a high end STB and a cable mode, and still has to remain the size of a typical VCR.

Note the lack of a fan, since these box’s run hot they would have benefitted greatly from an additional fan to extract the heat generated by the components. Whilst this would have increased the cost of the stb slightly, the increase in reliability would have paid for itself in time, remember ntl had to pay installers to come out and replace the box once it had failed, and then had to be sent back to Pace in order to be diagnosed and repaired. Also customers are generally poor at maintaining AV equipment, with many putting the boxes in Tv cabinets and stands with closed doors, often on top of a VCR or DVD player that already generates heat. It’s no secret that heat is the main reason electronic components die early, and this was before the days of thermal throttling.

View of the memory and flash chips, with the memory module. Interesting to note the two flash banks, one labelled C&W Flash and the other as Download, wonder if these store two separate images? One for main use and the other for backup?

View of the bottom right side, showing part of the PSU

The main set of processors, from top left working down

Broadcom QAMLink BCM3118BKEF – QAM & DVB Decoder

C-Cube AViA GTX – Graphics processor

C-Cube AViA-600 – MPEG2 decoder

Broadcom BCM3220KPF – DOCSIS Modem

Hitachi SuperH/SH3 Processor – Central Processing Unit

Another view of the main processors

Update Process

So looking into the update process for the Ditv1000 I came to a plausible theory, When pace had written the initial loader for the stb, they neglected to include a function to check for a firmware update on boot up, which the later boxes did support and do. Typically when you boot up a cable box, it checks the default frequency for a valid netID and if there are any updates available for that stb, and the loader application for the ditv1000 may not have done that.

Since the loader is present on some sort of ROM medium and its likely Pace had already manufactured the software on the ROM chips themselves, they did not want to write off these chips since it would be a considerable expense, instead they included a workaround in the software loaded in flash, where once the operator had released a new update, a signal flag would be sent out within the transport stream, of which the software would then corrupt itself in an extent that the loader would fail to boot (possibly by failing a checksum) and would then trigger the download process.

To force an update on the Ditv1000, Hold the power button upon powering on the box from the mains power, release the power button when OHAY appears on the screen. then press

Update Process, this is displayed after you enter the key sequence

Diag Screens

To access, hold the Up/Down front panel buttons together after powering the box from the mains, release once DIAG appears on the front panel.

Default Frequency settings

Hardware version information and the loaded software information

Software versions for various components

Date & Time Information

That’s a lot of credit

The bootloader status

Memory information for both RAM and Flash memory

Status and a list of logs and events

Signal information for the DVB tuner

Downstream signal information for the cable modem

Information for the DVB Signal Information that is currently being received

Cable modem upstream

Front LCD Display

There are three light’s to the right o the LCD display which indicate the following:

The top light indicates power is being received by the stb
The middle light indicated the return path status of the modem, this light should be steady which indicates it is connected, flashing means the modem is attempting to connect – also means interactive services are unavailable until the stb connects.
The bottom light is for the remote control, and light up when a command has been received

Message	Meaning
PACE	Appears when the stb is powered on
—-	Liberate middleware is initialising, normal part of boot up
LAIT	Wait, The stb is preparing to update
OHAY	Appears when you hold the power button down upon boot, stb waiting for a front panel command
ERAS	Erasing flash
FLAS	Flashing memory, part of the update process
GOOD	Checksum passed, last part of the update process
ERRX	Error code, where X means the error number

Pace Di4000T

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The Pace Di4000T was released in 2002, 3 years after active digital had originally launched, and was a new generation of digital set top boxes.

Like it’s ntl counterpart, certain features were cut in this version in an effort to reduce costs for the cable company.

Looks just like the Di4000N, with the main difference being the large Broadcom chip to the left

The main difference is the removal of the second card slot, it remainted in the Telewest version until the Di4000TC

The Di4000T is powered by the Conexant CX22490, same as the Di4000N and is paired with 32MB of memory

Broadcom BCM3250KPB, DVB demodulator and cable modem controller.

Another view, this time with the chips cleaned

Additional space for more flash memory

Front panel with the cover removed, the Di4000T has the same front panel as the Di1000/2000 series

Rear panel, exactly the same as the ntl version

Software Version: 3.7.37.P12EN.P.KNOW.P4000.R

Diag Mode

Displays the default frequency for the local area

Shows the NetID and the different address used to identify the box, also shows the build of the software

Return path information

Date & Time information

Rf output settings, here you can change the output channel and the colume control

Smart card status

Shows the different images stored in the flash memory

Memory and Flash memory capcities

Reboots the STB, not sure why cold reset is not avaliable

Status monitoring, List of errors and notifications logged by the STB

Shows signal information for the chosen frequency and symbol rate.

Same as the previous screen but with the cable modem downstream

Signal information for the DOCSIS modem upstream

When the box can locate a valid transport stream (multiplex) it shows the details of the DVB-SI, the amount of services found

Information relating to the flash memory

Virgin Media Guide

Other Information

Virgin Media Guide

Pace Di4000N

Humax Freesat with Freetime

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Freesat introduced its smart tv platform in 2013, which was designed to be a competitor to smart TV platforms like Youview and Tivo (Virgin Media)

The main home screen, appears when you first turn on the reciever,

Now & Next bar, you can skim through the channels by using the Up & Down buttons

Pressing the i button bring up information about the current program, you can also view information for programs on other channels and future programs

The main TV guide, shows what’s currently on. Like most other internet connected EPG’s you can scroll backwards through the guide, which will then take you to an on demand link for the program.

A list of genres for certain channels, accesssed by pressing the List button

Where have all the music channels gone? Seems you need to manually tune them in these days

Showcase

Freetime showcase is mean to highlight and advertise upcoming programmes of interest. Similar to how TV guide magazines showcase programs of interest

Settings

This model supports both Ethernet and Wifi, however a separate USB dongle is required for WiFi functionality.

An external hard drive can be connected via USB to enable recording functionality, if you have a Freesat box that does not have an internal disk drive. This allows you to record and rewind TV, but with only one tuner you are limited to just one program/channel at a time.

Non-Freesat Mode

TV portal is still accessible in this mode.

Personally if you wish to manually tune on channels without any BS restrictions I would advise just to get a standalone FTA receiver, or get a TV with one built in.

Settings – Non-Freesat

Non-Freesat mode can be used to add channels that are not part of the Freesat EPG, but are still FTA. This won’t work with encrypted Sky channels, rather channels that are testing or misc ITV regions

A list of all Astra 28.2E transponders that can be selected, save having to enter the parameters manually

On Demand

A good selection of both Free and subscription on demand services. Most of the major catchup service are present, most of them anyway. There are some omissions though like Britbox, Amazon Prime, StarzPlay, Nowtv and Channel 4

Search

Media Player

You can also play media files from an external USB hard disk or a DLNA server using the built in media player

Humax TV Portal

Humax TV Portal allows you to access interactive applications hosted by Humax, originally supported on their Freeview HD receivers.

Recordings & DLNA

On this model, an external USB Hard disk drive can be connected to the Freesat box, to allow the use of recording. The Freesat software will automatically format the box and prepare it for storage.

Alternatively you can also stream recoding from another Freesat box, or any box that allows DLNA streaming. Some Panasonic TV sets allow this.

You can select the recording, or file to play. And can fast forward and rewind at will, depending on the network conditions, ethernet is recommended.

Alternatively you can stream from a network attached storage device.

Finally there is a section to provide help and support, which takes you to instructions and articles on how to use the various Freesat services.

Looking at early Sky Interactive

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Sky and BIB (British Interactive Broadcasting) launched their interactive service in late 1999, one year after the launch of Sky Digital. Designed to be an alternative to the world wide web being delivered through the TV, the early service looked promising.

The service was originally to be branded BIB, but changed to Open…., I’m not sure if this is in reference to the OpenTV middleware stack used by BSkyB at the time. The Open interface was to mimic the experience of a TV High Street, with various banking, shopping and entertainment services being offered.

Open….

One of the loading bumpers for Open….

Austin Powers 2

Shopping Menu – Shows a list of retails who have a storefront through Open

Even more shopping, E-commerce was supposed to be a huge draw for the service, considering the popularity of shopping channels of the time. Payment is made via a credit card, which the customer enters, and information is sent back encrypted via the phone line. At some point it was planned to use the interactive card as a form of payment

Home banking services were offered, designed after the popularity of online banking

Entertainment sections, which leads to the popular game section

Music section, where you can check the latest charts, and purchase physical albums

Another loading screen, these were common to see on interactive satellite TV, since data is fed through a carousel like system, this means the digibox has to wait for the data to be transmitted

Film section, surprisingly there isn’t much integration with Sky Movie channels at the time (Premier & MovieMax)

Email – initial offerings were BT’s talk21 service. Email was not push based, you were not alerted when an email came through, instead you had to load the service and connect to open via the telephone line which would then display your inbox. Emails could be typed using the Open keyboard.

Whats New section

Any new additions to the service would appear here

Games – games were originally delivered on open itself, they later had their own dedicated section (Game Attic), before being spun off into Sky Gamestar and having its own place on the interactive menu.

Sky Sports Active

Sky sports active, one of the defining feature was the ability to choose your viewing angle when watching a main sports event, which was offered when Sky had first launched digital. This could be done via the interactive service, but it was also possible to tune into the stream via the other channels feature

Games

Beehive Bedlam

One of the classic games on Sky Digital, and the most well known. Beehive Bedlam was one of the only games that stayed free to play, with the exception of the master levels update in 2004, however the classic levels were still free to play

Corporal Cluck

King Tutti

Early EPG concept

An early pre launch EPG background design, also note the channel text below the Sky logo

Another look at the Sky guide design

Meanwhile, here’s the actual EPG design Sky launched with, note how it says TV GUIDE LISTINGS rather than ALL CHANNELS

Cable & Wireless launch EPG

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A few screenshots of the original Cable&Wireless guide have surfaced online. They look to have been taken from a magazine, and may have been an early preview of the software. Similar to the pre launch Sky software that was a redesigned prior to its launch.

There isn’t much to say since it looks remarkably similar to the Telewest guide that was used for its launched, and was possibly based on the same code base. the initial EPG used by both Telewest and ntl was built using by Pace, and was designed to be a basic EPG with the Liberate browser running in background.

The software below is known as CR1, this lacks interactivity as the liberate client was yet to be deployed to the STB’s of the time, and the service was still in the process of launching. ntl later rebranded the CR1 software to their own colour scheme, but the design remained the same until ntl started rolling out CR3, which saw the EPG being completely redesigned to use the Liberate TV Navigator. In some areas of London, the ntl CR1 EPG was still in use, due to the poor condition of the Videotron network that was originally deployed.